My dog is really stubborn.
His name is Wallace and I scooped him from a shelter in Ogunquit after observing the appropriate grieving window for my previous dog of fourteen years (two weeks because I’m weak and lonely). I’d never had a West Highland Terrier before, but he looked so handsome in his shelter photo and my family hails from Scotland so it felt like a good fit.
Right away, he had some pretty intense behavioral problems - the result of what the shelter told me was a terrible start to life. Something about being locked in a basement for all his five years until a sting operation landed him in the shelter. He was a bit of a biter and he loved to mark his territory (my house). My friends and family were really freaked out by him and kept begging me to take him back to the shelter, but I’m a big sucker for an underdog (ha) so he became my personal mission. Grandpa kept calling him black shuck but that doesn’t make sense because he’s a white dog. It took a lot of patience and a tight routine, but he’s going to be turning 13 this month and that’s all been pretty much resolved. He still gets aggressive about protecting his property (me and the house) but other than that he’s very chill. He loves the beach and watching the birds.
The only thing that still irks me is how stubborn he is. Did you know that westies are one of the most stubborn dogs out of all breeds, right up there with dachshunds and even more stubborn than huskies? I didn’t know that. Maybe it would have affected my decision to bring him home, but I doubt it. I instantly fell in love with his teddy bear eyes, black and shiny and huge with not a single thought behind them. But until I had Wallace I’d never had a dog go on strike before. He’ll go on poop strike where he refuses to poop for days and days (especially if it’s raining). He just sits on the back deck with his back to me, gazing off into the expanse of the ocean just beyond my back gate and sniffing the salty air as if deep in old doggy thought. If he’s really being difficult he’ll even refuse his kibbles and I pay a lot of money for the kibbles with the real meat pieces and everything!
I have a couple of methods for dealing with this but the most effective one is calling his bluff and waiting it out. Especially for the poop strike because who can hold it for that long? When it comes to his kibbles, though, I’ll be coerced by his big shiny eyes that are so good at begging and his little carrot shaped tail that never seems to stop wagging. Recently he’s been refusing even his cheese treaties and his favorite peanut butter snacks. The only thing I’ve gotten him to eat was a raw pork shank, but that was 5 days ago and an accident. He’s small and slow but when you turn your back he pulls off some pretty ridiculous stunts. I caught him standing on top of my wardrobe once, which is 6 feet tall and not set next to anything he could climb. Another time I searched the backyard to find him on the roof of my detached garage, hackles raised and growling something fierce at a neighbor. And the amount of times I’ve discovered the absolutely desiccated corpse of any animal that dares to come into the yard are too high to count. Two days ago I found the remains of what must have been a five foot rat snake, which was a little sad because they’re endangered, but I was grateful to not have to deal with it while it was alive.
Of course this most recent hunger strike was accompanied by a poop strike, because if you’re not eating you’re not pooping. I’ve been leaving him on the deck to pout while I go back inside because it’s cold and honestly I don’t have the patience for it. Every now and then I think I’ll see a streak of white from the kitchen window on the third floor, but then I glance down to the deck and see him sitting there sniffing the air and doing not much else.
I’m worried, though. He hasn’t eaten or pooped in close to a week and he’s acting strange. Lots of pacing and demanding yard time even though he doesn’t use it to go potty. I think I’ll try the raw diet for him if this continues, as the only things he’s been showing interest in have been my pre-cooked dinners, rodents in the backyard and the neighbor’s baby that’s currently learning to walk in their yard just beyond mine, though I think he’s just curious about that one.
Any advice as to how to get my little old man back to normal?