Had any of your pets ever made you angry?

We all know pets can make us happy. It is why we have pets in the first place. However, there are always rare occasions when the pets can do something make us upset or even angry at them.

I remember when I was a kid, my uncle had a large aquarium with 3 different species of large fish. The smallest one was over a foot long. Then one of the fish kept attacking every other fish and taking chunks of flesh out of them. It pissed off my uncle and he moved that bully into a half filled small tank. so the fish couldn't even stay upright, I bet it was scared in there. After 20 minutes or so the fish was returned to his own tank, and he had completely lost his aggression.

About two years ago, I have had one mean male Dwarf Gourami who believed the tank is his, and he was a big bully especially toward other supposedly territorial fish. He kept picking on my two female German Blue Ram every time they run into each other. He just kept rushing at them at full speed while flaring his fin. As a fish keeper, I know that when fish is stressed from any reason including aggression from another fish might cause illness and even death in the long term. So I wasn't happy.

At first I was doing big movements outside the tank trying to distract him right when he show aggression toward the GBRs. It didn't work.

Finally I moved the dwarf gourmai to his own tank to "teach him a lesson" just like my uncle did with his bully fish. This bully was so scared in that smaller tank and he was staying in the corner for entire two weeks until I moved him back. He was only slightly less aggressive after his return. That didn't work out well. Even though he was my best looking fish, and was born at my home, I was quite angry with his attitude.

Have you ever had such experience that one or more of your pets upset or making you angry?

I'm sorry the punishment phase on your dwarf gourmai didn't work out as well as you'd hoped, like it had for your uncle's bad fish!
Yes, I think our animals make us angry, just like children anger their parents sometimes. My parrots can anger me if they keep screaming loudly when I'm trying to watch TV or talk on the phone. My Eclectus likes to tease the Quaker until she screams, then he tells her, "No, no, no!" What a brat! My Tonkinese cat angers me the most of any animal I've ever had. He chases and attacks the Bengal on a daily basis, upsetting her to the point of insanity! I get very, very angry with him. But I also happen to love him best out of all the animals - mischievous little devil that he is! His worst punishment is the squirt bottle of water. Sometimes I chase him all around the house screaming and squirting water at him. Then he's very lovable and subdued for a short time!
;-)

I had a lab puppy that loved to chew shoes. It was always my daughters flip flops, and never a whole pair! they had them lined up in their closet, so he purposefully chose two different ones. He'd always get in trouble, but most of the time he would come back with another, just an hour or so later. And he would always bring it out to me half chewed with his tail between his legs and head down with the saddest eyes. It was almost like he was pleading with me. "I can't stop, I know I'm not supposed to but I just can't stop - help me"

Our cats have never made me angry because they're just cats and don't know any better. My fiancee does get mad from time to time, especially if one cat is in the cupboard and the other one is scratching the sofa. I can't bring myself to getting mad at them because they're great guys and I love them very much.

Cats will be cats and shouting or getting violent won't solve anything.

I once had a stack of old vinyl albums of Prince, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Michael Jackson, etc. that I kept on a low bookshelf next to my record player. (This was only 6 years ago, but they were my old albums and some of my mother's albums.)

One day I picked up the Purple Rain LP to play it and I noticed that album jacket had some rips on it. Then I noticed the one underneath it did too.

Upon closer inspection, I realized that my cat had been using my vintage record collection as a scratching post!

Was I angry? Was I devastated? You bet I was. But I didn't do anything except curse and yell, because CATS DO NOT SPEAK ENGLISH.

So I did the only thing I could do, I got over it and switched to MP3's.

I won't talk about the many times my Lab stole something off the counter or chewed something up. Her first three years were equivalent to the terrible twos mixed with a teenager. Some of her incidences, like when she stole a whole loaf of homemade bread of the kitchen counter, were so bad that they ended up making us laugh.

My Jack Russell is a pretty well behaved dog most of the time. Sometimes if we are not paying enough attention to her she'll sneak off and occupy herself. One time I was on the computer. I started to hear some noises. I went to check on her and she had pulled out about 2 inches of the yarn in the carpet right where it met the closet in the bedroom. She hadn't done this for almost a year. We thought she was over it. Yes, I was angry. It was anger out of frustration. The poor carpet was a bit bald in one place and couldn't be fixed.

We had a dog that had a very good temperament, until shortly after new neighbors moved in next door. We lived in a mobile home park, (full of families and young children) at that time, so the next door neighbors were quite close to us. When we left our house to go out, we put our dog on a long leash outside in the side yard, next to these neighbors. We didn't have a fenced yard. In just a few months, our dog got more and more aggressive towards children. He never used to be like that as he was friendly towards children, as he was in a home with children. He was actually quite protective of children, especially my three children. But, more and more he would snap and bark at children. we were even afraid that he might bite a child. We could not figure out why.

That is, until another neighbor explains that she noticed that our next door neighbor's son, when we were away and also, when his parents were away, would come out and tease our dog. He would poke a stick at our dog and was mean to our dog. This boy was deaf and was over-protected by his mother. Even if we showed a video of her son teasing our dog, I don't think this mother would believe that her disabled son would do such a thing. So, we ended up giving away our dog to a man who lived out in the country. We knew then, that our dog really did need a bigger yard and would be happy going for long walks in the country, with this kind man.

It was a difficult choice to make but by the time we found out about our dog, there was not much we could do to change the situation. It was best to find a new and better home for our dog. That decision was best for our dog.

When I was a kid, we had a schnauzer/poodle mix. It didn't take much for that dog to get snippy. But, I loved her dearly anyway. We got her when she was a puppy. If I remember right, it was right after Thanksgiving. I think I was around 5 years old. I remember how exciting it was to bring home this new puppy. I played with her every chance I could get. She slept on my bed. She was my one and only playmate. Christmas came. I was so excited to wake up and see all my presents from Santa under the tree. I noticed something wasn't right and looked closer. My stocking was supposed to be hanging on the wall by the tree. Instead, it was laying on the ground under the tree. I picked it up and saw that there was a hole in the top of the stocking. I turned it over and there was another hole on the side. I pulled out what was inside. There was lots of candy, but best of all, there was a stuffed dog that looked just like my dog. Then, I saw it. The stuffed dogs ear had holes in it and it was torn. I realized that my dog had chewed up my Christmas stocking and new stuffed dog I got from Santa. I was so upset. I cried and cried. My parents were doing their best to comfort me and tell me it was OK. I wouldn't play with my dog all Christmas Day. When night time came, I shut my bedroom door and refused to let her in to sleep with me. She whined and cried and my parents were getting angry because they couldn't sleep with all that noise, but I wouldn't give in. I think I stayed mad at her for a few weeks after that. Of course, I ended up playing with her and loving her as much as I did before after I got over my anger.

My cat has actually made me angry on several ocassions. I remember I was very busy one day trying to prepare dinner for a few
friends that were coming over. My cat was being very nosy that day so she would climb on everything just to see what I was
doing. At my most stressful point I remember running to the kitchen back and forth and suddenly I remember glass falling to the floor.
My cat has ran across the table and my favorite vase with fresh flowers had been completely destroyed.

When my dog Goodboy was a puppy he was very aggressive toward me. He would bite my feet right through my shoes. He did not listen when told not to do this and I got to the point of thinking I would have to put him down. A trip to the vet to ask what could be done with our dog's bad habit, proved to be the best thing we could have done. The vet suggested using medication of female hormones for 1 month. He said some dogs have an extra gland in their body that produces testosterone, even after they have been neutered and the medication would calm our dog down. Within a months time Goodboy, had settled down and we were able to stop the medication and safe an otherwise good dog from needing to be put down.

4sweed, you would seriously have your dog killed for biting your feet? :O
As for the subject, yes, of course my pets made me angry and annoyed, in many occasions. When they were kittens, they would both "play" with my feet and hands very roughly, it took them a while to learn to use soft paws. Of course, they would break stuff, chew on things, pull things, scratch things... Even some things that were dear to me. It's also a bit frustrating when we have guests, especially ones that never had pets, since my cats get more active when there are strange people around. Of course, I never let the frustration control my actions. I have never hit or yelled at my cats (except for a stern "No" at the moment when they're performing an action I don't like).

My previous dog made me angry once, but overall my pets have not really ever made me angry. During training them, they are going to perhaps tear some things up and maybe have behavioural issues until they become accustomed to being around you, and your family. I never got angry during training any of my pets because I had already expected them to be a bit naughty until they were fully trained. The one time I got angry with my previous dog, was when she decided to run off on me, endangering her own life too by crossing the road by herself. What happened was, I was talking to someone on the phone whilst I was walking her, and because I had raised my voice, my dog thought I was shouting at her and then ran off across the road before I could catch up to her. This was really unexpected behaviour from her, but I'm just glad that she was not hurt. Luckily there were no cars coming!

Andrew 320's comment makes me think of a quote from a book... "No sense being mad at a cat for being a cat." I've tried to remember that many times during the years we've had a cat living in our house. Most frustrating for me have been the times my temper-mental tortoise shell calico decides for no apparent reason to swat me when I go to bet her. It makes me angry, but it's also frustrating not to know what she's thinking and be able to comfort her (she doesn't accept comfort well!)

Our other cat is annoying at times from the opposite end of the spectrum...she always wants attention and doesn't care what you're doing when she wants it! We often enjoy dinner on the couch while watching a movie. It's not terribly enjoyable to have a cat try to jump onto your lap when there's a plate full of food there! She's super smart and I think she knows better....but well, she thinks she's the boss. It's taken some time but we're managing to teach her where it's okay to sit while we're eating this way.

Yes, my dog has made me mad. Usually he is a sweet dog ,just love to be loved.When he gets mad its an entirely different story. He seems to have a long memory and like to retaliate. I once went to put on my Birkenstock clogs, as I put my feet in to them in noticed they were wet. When I pulled my feet out ,When saw my yellow stained socks , I knew the dog had peed in my shoes.I yelled his name he sat up wagged his tail and went and laid down in his bed without a care in the world.

Sometimes I get mad at my aquarium fish for different reasons relating to something they do directly or something which happens. I got mad when I originally got my fish because the tank got a bad case of Columnaris that killed of a large percentage of the fish I had recently purchased. I also get mad when I am trying to do a water change, and the baby guppies keep getting in the way because I'm worried that I may suck one up and kill it.

However, I very rarely get mad about my aquariums, maybe only three times in the years which I have had them. I really do enjoy having them and they are really fun to watch when I want to relax.

Well, none of my pets have ever made me angry. i acknowledge that they are animals and do not know what their doing. I know of a dog that made me cry when I was little because he wrecked my favorite doll. It was my fault because I left the doll in the living room. My diog decided to get it from the sofa and munch on it. Since then I have been very careful not to leave my stuff anywhere the dog could reach it. I really loved the doll but I loved my dog too.

Pets are a lot like children, in that you never know what is going on in their minds, and they look at things much differently then we do, as humans.
I had one beautiful Blue Merle Collie, and when I was out in the garden planting flower bulbs, I happened to turn around and noticed that my collie, who was out there keeping me company, had come along behind me and dug out every single bulb as soon as I planted it.
I had to go back and plant each little flower bulb for the second time, while making sure that my Collie didn't come along and dig them out again.

I was really upset, but then I realized that dogs don't plant a flower garden, they dig holes to bury their bones and other "goodies".
So, to my Collie, I was obviously out there burying something that would be good to dig up and eat later, and he was probably very disappointed as he dug each one up, and only found a flower bulb !

Brogan makes me angry sometimes but I can never stay angry at him. When he has done something wrong I will tell him No, Bad Boy and completely ignore him (for a second anyway..haha). It is hard to stay mad at him but I know teaching him what's right and whats wrong is necessary. I think he understands the word no and bad boy but he just doesn't care sometimes. He is getting better though.

Yeah, you can love a pet endlessly, but then still get quite mad at them. I would get so mad about mine eating her own poop, but not just that, it was how she went about it. She has a pee pad indoors and she knew that I didn't want her doing it, and she would never do it if I was in the room. So since I was trying to stop her, I'd follow her in if I see her run off so she wouldn't do it. Now, to have a pee pad indoors, this isn't exactly something you want in the middle of your living room, so I put it a little out of sight in the office. She learned to sneak off at times where she knew I was least likely to follow her. If I sat down with a plate for food for a meal for example, she'd sneak off. It would be incredibly frustrating because I'd try to keep an eye on her, then you let your guard down for 2 seconds, she'd do it. I think that was the maddest I've been at her, it was just so sneaky! Luckily, now she no longer does it for whatever reason, so I'm quite thankful for that! Anyway, the thing to remember is, no matter how mad you get at your pets, don't hit them or anything like that, give a consistent NO and they'll eventually catch on. Potty training can be an especially patience-challenging time as well.

My beagle had some slick moves to steal food off of your plate. For as short and overweight as she was, she knew *exactly* what she had to do to get your food. It wasn't uncommon for her to trip you so you drop stuff. Or if there was a lace table cloth, she would pull on it until all the food fell on the floor. She could also get a running jump and swipe food off the edge of a table - she took out a chicken sandwich and fries one time that I had just come home from the restaurant with. She would also lurk around and be all stealthy and if you got up to go to the bathroom or something, that's when she would make her move on your food.

I get angry when my cat goes inside the couches, because they have mechanisms that can crush her. She doesn't realize what they could do to her because she sees this as solitude to be alone. I retrain her each time that she does this....I know never to closed the couch unless she is out of there. That's for sure! Otherwise she's pretty goo with all her other training and she takes very good care of Mommy.

Of course they have. I've gotten angry at just about every cat and dog I've ever had at one point or other, but never in a way that was personal if you see what I mean.

My old dogs went through a stage where they chewed everything they managed to get ahold of. They destroyed so many shoes, belts, books, etc. that it drove me nuts.

We got through it eventually, and in later years especially they were very mellow

One time our Shih Tzu pulled down the neighbor's pants infront of everyone at a party. Now that was pretty embarrassing and made me angry. Looking back now though, it was funny.

Our cats drive us nuts right now when they fight a lot. There is one in particular who keeps bullying the other cat. She will hide around the corner and wait till the other one is trying to use the litter box then will attack her right in the middle of her going - making a mess everywhere, lol.

My terrier, as much as I loved her, was very persistent when she wanted to go for a walk or wanted you to do something for her. She would bark non stop for hours nagging you.

I had no idea that fish could be so badly behaved! Who'd have thought? I've never gotten angry with a pet, but I do get frustrated sometimes. I have a cat that has a penchant for unrolling the toilet paper roll and rooting through the garbage. Not major infractions, but frustrating nonetheless.

When my cat Jane was staying at my mom's house for a bit, Jane and my mom's cat Bella did not get along at all. I think Jane really wanted Bella to like her, and Bella just wasn't having it. However, Jane did antagonize her occasionally by nibbling at Bella's food and sprinting between rooms upstairs so that Bella could hear her downstairs. I mostly found it funny though, because my mom's cat is kind of a grumpy brat.

I've never had a pet really anger me though, probably because I've never had a pet try to hurt another pet, or a human that didn't deserve it. As far as negative feelings towards my pets go, I've mostly felt annoyance or worry.