Quote: shannon dippold

I think I just found the answer, I got my pup this bone from Wal-Mart, it is like a big ham bone type thing and besides her food that is all she chewed on, well I just picked it up to inspect it because I saw her licking the inside of it and there is fat inside the bone a bunch of fat, like the kind that's inside of soup bones and that is exactly what this looked like, it must really not be agreeing with her and is going right threw her, is there something I can give her to settle her stomach a little bit

Is it a marrow bone?

1. Throw it away.

2. Don't give supper tonight.

3. If the dog won't drink water or acts sick (lethargic, uncomfortable), call an e-vet.

She does this with every bone, treat, whatever I give her, I have been trying to break this habit and she is getting better but there are still times that she does it. I built her a sandbox outside to see if it would help break her of this but when she's inside she still digs, I didn't really think Pomeranian's were diggers like this but she does constantly.

I didn't think it was a marrow bone when I bought it, I just thought it was like a treat bone type of thing but I was wrong it must be an actual bone, I did throw it away, she's been drinking water and eating, and she's still running around in between vomiting, she's not acting sick at all.

Hi Shannon:

Im sorry that you only have four days out of the month to spend time with this child. I think if you were able to spend more quality time with her you may really be able to make an impact on how she relates to your pup as well as her relationship with you.

That being said, many people have suggested that you keep the pup and her seperated (or keep the pup tethered to you)while she is with you. I truly agree with this advice as it will minimize the chances that the pup gets hurt or sick as well as increase the chances of positive attention for the child ie. she wont be able to do things you wouldnt want her to do and will lead to lots of praise for her.

Wonder if the childs mom would consider some counseling for this child? At the very least counseling could address her feelings regarding divorce, family seperation or blended family issues or possibly pick up on more indepth issues that we sometimes see in young children.

 Quote: shannon dippold

Hey, another question to my above post about my pup being ill, she is litter trained and about a month ago she started burying her bones in her litter box, yuck!!! I try and catch when she does this and then wash the bones or whatever she buries off really good and give them back to her, is it possible that if I don't catch this every time and she digs them up and chews on them that the litter may be making her sick, is this possible?

I don't know what kind of litter you're using, but I'd be concerned about this.

Are you familiar with litters like Swheat Scoop? It's made from wheat. There are others that are made from corn stalks and such (I think there's one made from pine), but these kinds of litter don't have any chemicals and work great. If you're using the regular kinds of litter, you may want to check these other kinds out.

leih

Shannon, I have a 6 1/2 year old, and it's been a struggle at times to get him to intereact the way I want him to with our dog. He's much better now, but my worry is more for his safety, since our dog weighs 90 lbs.

At any rate, another poster once made this point to me, and I think it's a good one. Make specific plans to get your step- daughter to join in with you and the pup. Maybe a play session with you, she and the puppy, where you are actively guiding her as to how she should be interacting with the pup. Make it fun!

Get her involved in marker training with you. Eight is not too young to get started, and kids love to see dogs do fun stuff like shake hands, etc., Are you doing marker training with your pup?

When the session is over, put the pup in her crate and spend some one on one time with your step-daughter. It sounds like she could benefit from a positive relationship with you. Bake some cookies with her, or do a simple art project together, or take a walk with her with just the two of you. Good luck!

Hey Everyone, thank you so much for your responses, it actually brings tears to my eyes reading some of them because it is hard only being able to see my step-daughter 4 days out of the month and it is even harder watching her struggle and deal with all the emotional baggage that her short life has brought, she does not have the best home life with her mom and she is always upset about not getting to see her dad and I more, I feel there are so many things that are lacking in her life and that at the age of 8 she is already unhappy, lacks confidence, and at times is depressed. I know she doesn't know what half of these feelings are and because of that she acts out in ways that are unacceptable and even sometimes disturbing, I love her very much and she and I bonded from day one, it's hard to watch things that go on and know there is absolutely nothing you can do, it's heartbreaking.

This is where the struggle comes in with her and my puppy, no one else works with her so they just enable the bad behavior, it's like instead of giving her direction they fell sorry for her so it gives her absolutely no incentive to change. I stress about my pup the entire weekend she is here because I know the minute I leave my pup alone for 2 seconds my step-daughter will be sneaking over to her crate or to where I have her gated and for some reason she is always trying to pick her up and my pup is a squirmier and I fear that she may drop her or step on her, it's just so hard to get through to my step-daughter, it's like in one ear and out the other.

My step-daughters mother did have her in counseling, for a short period of time, because of an incident that happened that involved Children & Youth and everything, my step-daughter ended up getting kicked out of counseling because the counselor found out that she was lying about everything, then what do you do?

I am going to take everyone's advice and try a couple different things, we don't have my step-daughter again until next weekend so I will let everybody know how I make out, thanks again