Am I being fair on dog

[lilywhite32]

First time poster!
We have a 4 year old sheepdog cross, we've had him since he was 7 weeks old and love him dearly. However, since the arrival of our baby last Christmas I sometimes feel that he doesn't get the attention he deserves. He gets walked once daily, I have tried bringing him walking with me with the pram but he pulls so badly it always ends in disaster. My question is this, my DHs sister took him for a week while we were on holidays, she lives by the beach and he had a ball. Since we have come back he appears depressed out of his brains, she wanted to keep him and my OH thinks it's a good idea.
I can't bare the idea of giving him to her, on one hand I think she would be able to bring him to the beach for long walks etc and he adores her, but on the other hand he is mine and I love him very much.

Am I being unfair on him? He is a house dog, we have a decent size back garden but he doesn't like being out there on his own so he is usually inside with us.

He is great with the baby, there are no problems there.

Advice please. Thanks.

[pawsiespaws]

Could you share him? You have him for 3 days, she has him for 4 or whatever?
Split bills relevant to him?

[lilywhite32]

Thanks so much for your reply. Great idea but unfortunately she lives a 4 hour drive away so that wouldn't be feasible.

[JadeJ123]

Could you not get a dog walker in to take the dog out and get the dog out with other dogs so that he's kept occupied.

[SomethingVicardThisWayComes]

training classes if you really want to keep him. he can be trained not to pull on the lead, but it would require some effort.

sheepdogs need exercise and stimulation. they are intelligent and they need something to do.

plenty of walks.
training.
stimulation at home - stuffed kongs, puzzles, stuff to do.

if you cant give this then its unfair - yes. if your sister in law can then its a no brainer.

[Chumhum]

How long is his daily walk?

[lilywhite32]

Thanks everyone for your replies. He gets out for an hour a day. We throw a ball for him so he gets a lot of running done and is usually exhausted by the time we are home. We have a decent size back garden and he has lots of toys to play with but he prefers to be inside with us. Good idea about the dog trainer to teach him to walk properly without pulling. Thanks again everyone.

[HoneyDragon]

If you love him then train him to walk on the lead with pram. First step for safety is to invest in a 5 point training lead that you can wear over your shoulder.

You can then keep one hand on the pram all the time and the other free to correct him/treat him. When you need both hands on the pram the dog is still secure.

[lilywhite32]

Thanks Honeydragon I'll definitely get one of those! :)

[pepperfish]

Have you looked into dog walkers? The prices aren't usually too bad, particularly if your dogs goes out on a group walk with other friendly dogs.

Or could you and your partner do one walk each in a day?