Hey all,
I've lived with this for over 2 years, and finally I've decided to ask for help. Our one little Min Pin, Maya, is about 2 1/2 years old. We got her from a back yard breeder as payment for a debt he owed us. Anyway, when we got her, my wife joked about her being a little Ethiopian dog because she was very sickly (that's the main reason we settled his debt, she just looked so pathetic, and the debt was in the thousands, but she was worth it, she had a HUGE head, but almost no body to go with it.) Apparently the mother of the litter stopped feeding them at 1 week, and he fed them Pedigree canned after that, until we got her. We put her on Canidae with some esbilac mixed in, and after awhile, she looked a lot better.
The problem is that now she is extremely possesive of items (tennis balls and other toys,) and she's an extreme food guarder. We feed all 4 of our Min Pins in their crates so they have their own little private space to eat in, and the other 3 eat their food and knock to come out. She, on the other hand, will just watch her food, and when I let the rest of them out, and open her crate door, she'll lay at the door and when any of the others come close to the crate, she'll bark or growl to keep them away.
That's not the worst of it. If you talk to her, and don't do it in just the perfect tone of voice, she'll instantly drop onto her back and pee, and act like you're going to beat the crap out of her. We've had her since she was seven weeks old, and we've never laid a hand on her in anger, so she should have no reason at all to be scared. She is, on the other hand, the most playful of all of our dogs, and she likes to play rough, but even when playing rough, we never raise our voices to her or give her any reason to be afraid, and she's never afraid when playing.
My concern is that she does seem like she's scared a lot of the time, and she has nothing to be afraid of. Even if our Rottie tries to take one of her tennis balls, she puts him in his place, so she's not a wimp. She's been fixed since she was 6 months old, and she plays constantly with our other dogs as long as food isn't involved. Every night in bed, the other 3 min pins sleep by our feet, she sleeps right between my wife and I, and makes sure that one of us has our arm around her, so she obviously loves the attention and love.
Any clue why she's so loving, yet so scared at the same time? Could that first 7 weeks have made that bad of an impression on her? Or is she just that submissive? If it's just a matter of being submissive, why isn't she submissive at all to the 4 other dogs?
I have had, and have a lot of dogs, but I've never had a dog that can be such a bully one minute, and such a scaredy cat the next. If there's something I can do to help her out, I'd love to know what it is.
Thanks,
Tim
I've lived with this for over 2 years, and finally I've decided to ask for help. Our one little Min Pin, Maya, is about 2 1/2 years old. We got her from a back yard breeder as payment for a debt he owed us. Anyway, when we got her, my wife joked about her being a little Ethiopian dog because she was very sickly (that's the main reason we settled his debt, she just looked so pathetic, and the debt was in the thousands, but she was worth it, she had a HUGE head, but almost no body to go with it.) Apparently the mother of the litter stopped feeding them at 1 week, and he fed them Pedigree canned after that, until we got her. We put her on Canidae with some esbilac mixed in, and after awhile, she looked a lot better.
The problem is that now she is extremely possesive of items (tennis balls and other toys,) and she's an extreme food guarder. We feed all 4 of our Min Pins in their crates so they have their own little private space to eat in, and the other 3 eat their food and knock to come out. She, on the other hand, will just watch her food, and when I let the rest of them out, and open her crate door, she'll lay at the door and when any of the others come close to the crate, she'll bark or growl to keep them away.
That's not the worst of it. If you talk to her, and don't do it in just the perfect tone of voice, she'll instantly drop onto her back and pee, and act like you're going to beat the crap out of her. We've had her since she was seven weeks old, and we've never laid a hand on her in anger, so she should have no reason at all to be scared. She is, on the other hand, the most playful of all of our dogs, and she likes to play rough, but even when playing rough, we never raise our voices to her or give her any reason to be afraid, and she's never afraid when playing.
My concern is that she does seem like she's scared a lot of the time, and she has nothing to be afraid of. Even if our Rottie tries to take one of her tennis balls, she puts him in his place, so she's not a wimp. She's been fixed since she was 6 months old, and she plays constantly with our other dogs as long as food isn't involved. Every night in bed, the other 3 min pins sleep by our feet, she sleeps right between my wife and I, and makes sure that one of us has our arm around her, so she obviously loves the attention and love.
Any clue why she's so loving, yet so scared at the same time? Could that first 7 weeks have made that bad of an impression on her? Or is she just that submissive? If it's just a matter of being submissive, why isn't she submissive at all to the 4 other dogs?
I have had, and have a lot of dogs, but I've never had a dog that can be such a bully one minute, and such a scaredy cat the next. If there's something I can do to help her out, I'd love to know what it is.
Thanks,
Tim
