What do I do about my mother?
What do I do about my mother?
Our dog Pepper is 8 years old. When I was away at college, my sister promised that she would train Pepper, but my family didn't really help her, and by the time I got back, Pepper was becoming untrainable. Now she is untrained.
I live with my parents. My mother constantly yells at her for eating the cats' food. When I tell her to put up a gate, she says that it's her house and she doesn't want to walk over a gate every time she wants to enter the room. I try to help her with my suggestions and she prefers to keep screaming.
She kicks her when we walk her and she keeps taking too long to sniff around. Rarely, Pepper has broken free from her lead outside in our backyard and run into other yards, but more commonly my mother has tried to let the leash go when walking her to get past a downhill slope or untangle her to see if she will stay.
Upon Pepper getting loose, my mother has threatened to let animal control take her away on multiple occasions. One time a neighbor did call animal control on her and the warden gave her a warning.
But at home, I am tired of the broken record. It gets tiring and infuriating. She prefers to keep screaming rather than stopping the actual problems.
You're mom sounds like she isn't the best person to take care of your dog. You need a solution, not for you but for your dog. If that solution isn't you, find someone else. A loving home is what any dog deserves, even if that means it is out of your life.
Relationships are complicated, and I'm sure many people will say you should never see you mom again... But that's not for us to judge. What seems clear is that the dog is your responsibility, and you need to be more responsible for it. You can choose who you spend your time with, and what you tolerate; the pup can't.
35She kicks her when we walk her and she keeps taking too long to sniff around
You need to stop letting your mom anywhere near this dog. That is straight up animal abuse, and is only going to serve to make the problems worse.
Never let your mom walk the dog again. Never let her join you on a walk while you are walking the dog. Try not to let the dog anywhere near your mom unless you are around, and make sure she knows that you consider any acts of violence against the dog (not done in self-defense) to be unacceptable behaviour.
25Move out, then train your dog....
24I recommend a shock collar. Put that on your mom and shock her every time she yells at or tries to physically assault anyone.
Also rehome the dog to a not abusive household.
23Well honestly that dog should be rehomed. Your family is not fit to have a dog.
21Get the dog out of there. Your mother is not fit to be around animals to say the absolute least.
17Be less soft handed with your mom. If your old enough to go to college, your old enough to remove her from your life.
Spend more time with your dog and spend more time focused on training.
10If you're old enough to give advice to people, you're old enough to learn about contractions.
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