Bilby
Executive Chef
I am really loving Binky-cat, cute little guy!
I am worried about Princess now. When we first got her there was a lot of jealousy between her and Lassie for attention from me. That has settled down and each has thier place and are happy.
But, lately Princess has taken to growling at the kids if they try and pick her up when she is next to me. Not a problem any other time. Also, she has taken to acting 'unloved' and 'hurt' when around me demanding constant loving and attention. I don't get it, we got her from a family that spoiled her, and our biggest problem was getting her off 'human' food. They apparently fed her a lot of that, which is not good for the dog.
It feels like she has bonded with me to the point that she is developing seperation anxiety leading to severe jealousy, etc.
EDIT: I am still looking for the photo of Ophelia (the English Springer Spaniel), with her head stuck in an ice cream tub. If I can find it I will scan it in and post it.
Buddy, the change can possibly be attributed to your recent stay in hospital and even your changes in your behaviour due to your heart issues (from before the op and since). One of my cats was very stressed on one of the occasions I was hospitalised and licked his fur off the lower part of his body.
When the dog growls at a family member though, you need to reprimand it. If it is sitting next to you at the time, I would suggest removing the dog from you for a brief duration with a couple of words. You will probably need to go thru some retraining with the dog with positive rewards for when it does well. I have one cat that is so possessive of me that he attacks the other cats on the bed at night. (It is getting to the point where the last two nights he has plonked himself down on my face!!! Can tell you that ain't going to be happening for long! LOL) When he does that though, he gets sent from the bed and sometimes relocated to another room. Likewise, he gets "timeout" for bad behaviour - shut in the bathroom or toilet until he meows twice. (Lasts about two to three minutes top.) It breaks the activity, and he comes out a bit quieter so he can go and tackle something else. (I cut him a fair bit of slack cos I think he has brain damage from a couple of car accidents he had before I got him.)
Good luck with the training though!