I Am Getting Desperate

lol bella you remind me of my mom, she has a tiny ENERGETIC TO THE MAX little pit lab mix, and a pit lab mix that is huge, overweight almost, almost as big as a great dane, lazy lug.

hilarious cuz she is tiny and can barely control either of them.

anyways. i feel sorry for her lol, in a good way. she is SO not a pack leader, they would run the house if not for her hubby.

He has tons of toys to chew on...and ignores them when something better comes a long. I am really anti rawhide because it doesn't get digested and in some animals can cause digestive backups. And I hate Nylabones (Booda or any other brand) of digestable bones. We had an incident with Zoe when she was young with one. It isn't digestable....it came out in one big chunck.

The bitter apple.... I might try that.

BTW, this last week he has been so good. I've come home to some papers scattered around but no pee or poop in the house.

I am telling you, the worst times are when we are home but not with him (ie, upstairs with the baby). I think he's jealous.

Not good. The fact that he steals food from the baby further indicates he sees her as a lowly member of the pack. It might also be why he is marking territory all over your house. He probably has some alpha tendencies and Zoe keeps him in his place, but your daughter is seen as the weakest link in the eyes of Bailey. You need to put Bailey in his place with your daughter. I agree rolling him over is good, but you have to do at the moment the bad behavior happens. I think you will have to be very careful when your dog and daughter are together. As you daughter gets more mobile it will be harder to control to their interaction, but something to be wary of. You have to make Bailey understand that you are the leader and he is the lowest member of the pack, even beneath your daughter.

Well, that's the thing....he lets her climb all over him, hug him...he doesn't care. And he is so gentle with her.

I am just at a loss with this dog. He's a good dog, I know that. I just need to "get him" and things will get better.

I know dogs need consistency, and maybe you're doing that. But if you yell one time for something he does and ignore other times - busy with baby or whatever - he will be confused. He knows how to stay off of the bed, so he can learn about tables and countertops as well - but is he consistently told to get off of these areas? I know from watching the Dog Whisperer that problems with dogs are because of the owners. I'm not saying you're a bad owner at all, obviously you care about the dog or you wouldn't be here. But there's something wrong in the way you and the dog relate. I would also agree with (I forget who said it) the poster who mentioned being very careful of leaving your child unattended with this doggie around. Dogs can be unpredicable and your comments about the dog being perhaps jealous, like chewing up the child's things in the bedroom & stealing things, are a clue that the dog is feeling ticked off.

He definitely wants the attention and bad attention is better than no attention. I don't exactly agree that being aggressive with your dog, such as in showing who's boss by throwing him to the floor and standing over him are ways that will endear you to him. I do notice on Dog Whisperer that he doesn't have to be mean or aggressive with the dogs. Try to get inside the dog's head and figure out what pushes his buttons. Also be careful in letting a small child handle a dog. Children don't mean to hurt animals but sometimes they poke or pull and biting is the inevitable outcome, which is not the dogs' fault. Hope it works out for you.
Bathsheba