I feel like crap.
Today I lost it and yelled at Delilah. I mean, I really yelled. Hunched down, in her face pointing and yelling. And now I feel like crap.
Let me set the scene.
It’s morning, just around breakfast time. As usual I am feeding the dogs, preparing my lunch and washing up dishes. Since Sampson requires a handful of supplements at the moment, we need to be inventive in how we get him to take his pills.
This morning I’m using American Cheese and wrapping it around the pills, holding them in my hand for a minute to help the cheese form around the pills. As we usually do, Delilah will also get a small piece of cheese.
Since I’m doing dishes, I decided to dump a dip that had been in the fridge for a while. I pulled the garbage pail out and it was full, so I removed the bag and set it in the corner of the kitchen while I gave Sampson his cheese.
The bag was in the corner, against the counter and I was standing in front of it.
I gave Sampson his pills, turned and gave Delilah a small slice of cheese and as she came in for the cheese, she swallowed it and kept right on going into the garbage, managing to grab a large mouthful of very old dip.
I lost my shit.
I grabbed her nose and dug as much of the dip out as I could, then I yelled, chasing her as she went.
I suck as a dog parent.
If I’ve told you once, I’ve told you 100 times. If it’s on the floor, it’s mine. If it’s unattended on the counter, it’s mine. If it’s food of any kind that I can possibly reach, it’s mine. This is not my fault at all, it’s totally yours.
Oh dear! You aren’t a bad dog parent. Mom loses it occasionally with one or all of us too. She always feels bad too and wishes she wouldn’t lose it sometimes. If you had been beating or hitting her we would be alarmed but now and then Moms need to just yell at us we think. It somehow clears the air and when things settle we have a nice treat and go on with lives all feeling a bit better.
Ohhhh don’t feel bad! If we are all honest, we have ALL yelled at our dogs (and cats)….sometimes I call Cody the “fat gray B—–d” lol…and…when I go to put his food in his bowl he has to put his HEAD in and become one with his food….often I can’t get the food in because he is trying to climb into the bowl and I say “move your head A-hole!!” And…………when Dakota is on a barking jag and i have just had enough….I will yell “stop barking you neurotic nutcase!!!”
Hmmm….guess I will be reported when people read MY comment!
We have ALL been there, we ALL love our babies but just like with kids or anyone we love, sometimes they get on our last nerve! Don’t be too hard on yourself.
Aaawwww….I think all pet owners can sympathize with you in situations like these. I am the patient one in our house and really takes a lot from the fur-kids to upset me. Our hound is currently on a special diet in an effort to attempt to rule out different food allergies. The food she’s eating is extremely expensive for us so we have tried to be diligent about not giving her anything else while she is on this diet since we went to make the most of this “test” and not F it up. Well, the sly devil decided to help herself to her sister’s food one morning last week. I chased her up the stairs as soon as I realized where she’d gone only to find her head buried in her sister’s bowl of food. She can be territorial about her food so trying to get her away from her sister’s bowl once I caught up with her just aggravated the situation. She gave me all sorts of sass and attitude. It was much too early in the morning for this shit. I went off! Like you, it made me feel like crap too. But by the time I got home from work that evening and she was sucking up to me, I was no longer pissed or feeling like crap. Long story short, it happens…
Whenever we’ve lost anything to George is has been totally our fault. We know he’s a chronic thief. Doesn’t make it any easier to swallow.
Why do you feel bad? I probably would have done the same. Delilah is no soft dog, she will bounce back and probably try it again. 🙂
Well, I can understand yelling at her, as the dip could have made her sick, so you reacted out of fear and worry.
The best thing about dogs? She has already forgiven you and moved on, they don’t hold grudges. So give her a hug, and all will be right in her world. 🙂
Oh, I’ve been there too. We can’t all be on top of our game all the time. Sometimes you just lose it. I yelled at Rita the other day when she was going ape in the car and making me insane. I felt bad afterwards. Some of us have dogs who… keep us on our toes. We and our dogs are all works in progress, I guess.
Oh don’t beat yourself about it!!! My goodness I don’t think there is one single dog parent out there who hasn’t yelled at their dogs!!! We may not be proud of it and many people probably don’t talk about it, but its true all the same!
We aren’t perfect , we are human! It happens!
So don’t feel to bad about it, smile 🙂
((Husky hugz))
Frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky
Oh Miss Jodi…Ma is feeling the same way. She yelled at me last night when we were on our evening walk. I’m a bit reactive on leash so we have been working on that and well, last night I just lost it…so then Ma just lost it…and now Ma feels like a terrible dog mom. I think you both are terrierific dog moms…and even terrierific moms can have a bad moment or bad day. Don’t worry, Delilah and I still love you moms!
Oz
Don’t be so hard on yourself! So you “lost it”. You reached the end of your patience thread and D pulled it away from you. It just proves you’re human. You have no idea how many times I’ve lost it with Ducky (especially), Shadow, and/or Callie when they’ve pushed me to the limit. And, yes, I felt like crap too. But Delilah got over it as soon as you walked away from her.
Delilah sure knows how to get what she wants! I pretty much feel like a bad dog parent every single day lately.
This morning . . not 10 minutes ago: Kenzie was a perfectly good puppy on her walk – she went out in the back yard and did poopies and then she lost her freakin mind when she came in the house (she was wet and muddy) and ran away from us instead of getting dried off. Jumped on the sofa, rolling around and snapping those shark teeth at us – THREE times!! We both finally hand to stand in front of the sofa with our hands on our hips with our “you better f’ing settle down” look, until she finally sat down with a sad look on her face. They certainly know how to play the guilt card!!
You are a great dog mom and they know it – they just like to keep it interesting 🙂 Big hugs to you!!
So what you’re telling us is you’re human? Glad to know it.
Delilah has already forgiven and forgotten. Hopefully you can too. No one here thinks anything worse of you. Except maybe for causing us all to remember the last time we all did the exact same thing. 🙂
Not a bad mom at all, we all have those moments and I have them a lot with Gambler. I really think they were separated at birth. Hug her and all is good!
This makes me feel better. Because I have lost my shit with all three of my dogs, on more than one occasion. I have sunk as low as calling them bad names more than once-Bitch, asshole, and bastard.
BOL mum I think D said it all , it is mine. Joking aside we can understand your frustration particularly as it might have made her sick. She really is a one like no other. Have a terrific Tuesday and fret not you are a wonderful mum.
Best wishes Molly
So is there a dog owner who hasn’t done that? Even the ones who write the books to tell the rest of us what paragons on human virtue they are. The important thing is that you learned a lesson from it. Now it’s up to Delilah to reinforce your learning.
I’m fairly certain that for the second year of his life, Cooper assumed I had renamed him to DAMMIT COOPER. I know it doesn’t help you feel less bad to know that we’ve all been there, but… we’ve all been there.
Well, if you ever wanted confirmation that you are a wonderful dog parent, your immediate guilt is pretty much the clearest sign there is. If you were a bad dog parent you wouldn’t have thought you had done anything wrong and would still be steaming at Delilah. So give yourself a break, we all make mistakes, and go give your dog a belly rub.
You know, it happens. I promise you that I’ve yelled at Silas, who is about 100 times as sensitive as Delilah. I am so familiar with what you’re feeling right now.
Our dogs aren’t perfect, and we forgive them. We aren’t perfect, and they forgive us. The hard one is that we also have to forgive ourselves.
I have lost count of the times that I’ve lost it and told Hurley he was the worst dog in the entire world. We’re human. Yelling happens. Just like dogs are dogs and sometimes fights happen. I’m sure Delilah has already forgotten…about the yelling, she surely remembers how delish the bad dip was. 🙂
We’ve all been there! It would take super-human powers to not get fed up once in a while. The important thing to remember is that D has already forgotten about it – so let yourself off the hook. And maybe a baby gate would help keep her out of the kitchen?
You are a great dog parent – you gave your dog heck when it was needed – and like any parent immediately felt bad. No dog is perfect – and we have to protect them from themselves at times – so correcting the behavior and blowing off a little frustration and fear by yelling is not always a bad thing.
awwwww, I’m sure by tonight you would have made it all up to her! I don’t recall losing it with Princess, BUT my cat Leppy?, YES, many times!!! If I ever did lose it with Princess, I’m in denial and its buried in my subconcious now!!! Its a terrible guilty sick feeling for me if or whenever I have ever lost it with my pets. But I have lots of patience, beyond patience , with everyone in my life, humans and fur babies!!
Smooth move, D. Sometimes speed is everything. I’m sorry your mom caught you, though, I’m pretty sure old, sour, nasty, spoiled dip would’ve been delicious.
Love and licks,
Cupcake
I completely understand why you lost it. I’m not saying it was right, but I understand. I have been guilty of similar incidents. The very first time Pierson put his paws on the counter, I reacted. I reacted badly and scared the heck out of him. I felt terrible, especially since my husband commented on my crazy reaction. But on the bright side, Pierson never got onto the counter again.
Don’t beat yourself up too much. I think all us dog owner’s have had those moments. I have lost it on Hailey. We are only human. To err is human to forgive yourself is divine.
On the occasion that the human loses it and turns into a magnificent screaming witch, Donna will tremble, couch low and look ready to sink into the ground. The human felt crap too and the only thing that helps is to focus on moving on, and tomorrow will be a better day. Because the dog always seem to move past it better than the human does, and it will be like it has not happened, when tomorrow comes. Celebrate tomorrow, Jodi! : )
D always challenges you and has clear guidelines of what belongs to her…I am thinking that your coping mechanism had a sticky spot.. maybe needs a new spring!!! Love to all.
you aren’t a bad dog parent, i’ve lost my shit at gwynn a few times about food, though usually it’s manky suspicious stuff on the ground while we walk. The nice thing about dogs is that they forgive so very easily when we have a bad day/moment and lash out.
I think we have all been there. learn from it, and don’t dwell.
Sorry does that sounds harsh – I really don’t mean it to be! I made a mistake with BD, I lent over the back of the couch to kiss his head while he was dozing. Something I have done a million times with Mity. But BD isn’t Mity and doesn’t like his space being invaded and he went for me.
It was awful. 1 because my stupid actions had cause him to be stressed and react and 2 because he went for me. He has no bite inhibition and that worries me more than I dare admit! I can justify (weakly) his getting upset and going for a dog that comes up to him, in his face, doesn’t pick up on his signs and he feels trapped by. But at home, with me and the ex, no one else. Even when startled I would like to think he felt safe enough that he would know I doesn’t have to attack…
But I saw my mistake. I have learnt from it and I have not so far made a similar mistake.
Hugs
Awww Jodi, don’t be too hard on yourself. I’ve definitely yelled at Toby when I’ve found him shoulder deep in the cat box and can’t even reach his collar to pull him out. It happens. Plus, the dip could’ve made her sick.