OMG I am going spare my dog is driving me crazy

[NoSoapInADirtyWar]

I really am at the end of my tether.

I am ill. DS is supposedly ill.

Dog is a handful at the best of times.
Today he is ten times as bad. I know he is playing up because I don't have it in me to play with him and take him for a long tiring walk but OH MY GOD.

He is barking, snarling, snapping (he was already doing this before I fell ill), stealing toys - cue ds going mental, he has ripped open a bag of dirty cat litter all over my landing (yes I know it should have been in the outdoor bin).

I really could bawl my eyes out but that will just freak DS out.

Dog is enrolled in dog training classes but not til end of month.

Also, my mum is meant to have dog for me in may for 5 days, I'm beginning to feel it won't be an option as his behaviour is just too much.

I got him from rescue and I feel shitty, like a failure. I just can't manage him.

[DooinMeCleanin]

There is no point training him if you cannot be arsed to exercise him properly.

Why can't you walk him? Is it a behaviour thing? Trust me your rescue dog will have nothing on The Devil Dog who is doing really well now ish

There is a way to manage everything, but it must start with a decent amount of exercise, otherwise there is no point trying.

Also I love my dogs. I detest people buying dogs only to rehome/abandon them. I have always said I'd rather move out and leave my home to my dogs than rehome them, but there have been times when I'd have happily given up Devil Dog. It's tough sometimes, but the good times should outweigh the bad, something is going very wrong if they don't.

[NoSoapInADirtyWar]

I can walk him usually. When I am well he gets 2-3 walks a day. He gets to run off lead with other dogs on a field nearby, he pulls on a lead but on the way home settles, and when he is walked he lays nicely at my feet.

Did you not see in my OP that I am ill?

He is a lovely dog most of the time, he just needs a lot of input to get good results (which he gets) however today I am ill and home alone with a loopy dog and a supposedly poorly, high maintenance child so I am venting on here.

[NoSoapInADirtyWar]

Dooin, would you mind sharing with me how you are turning things around with devildog? Hope you don't mind me asking I just figure the more tips I get the better!

[DooinMeCleanin]

Do you have a garden or safe space anywhere nearyou where you can sit on a chair/bench snuggled in a big coat and throw him a ball? It's not ideal, but it's better than nothing and might tire him out a bit more. Or is there a neighbour/friend who would give him a run out?

When I was had a chest infection over xmas I got my Dad to drive us to the beach and I sat on the sanddunes with half a million coats on while The Devil Dog chased waves and seagulls.

I did see you were ill, but then I also saw that you say he is too much all the time and you don't think your mum will be able to look after him.

What is bothering you most about his behaviour? Someone on here will have some tips to help you manage him before training starts.

[NoSoapInADirtyWar]

He is a handful but most days I can manage him.

I don't have a garden, and while he will happily pla fetch indoors, we don't have a lot of room. Don't drive, have no one who can come round, and a walk to the field means handling dog plus heavy DS in his wheelchair. I will make a cuppa though and do some indoor fetch for a while.

Main problems:

• chewing DS's toys - I am hoping this is a puppy thing he will grow out of, and DS is learning to put toys away properly
  
• when I need to go out he won't go into the kitchen he will lay flat and heavy and when I try to get his collar or pick him up he snarls and snaps at me. Once in kitchen he is scratching the door to bits
  
• is sleeping in my bedroom as otherwise he barks loudly ALL NIGHT and I am worried neighbours complain
  
• barking at and chasing the cat. I had him on a trial and he didn't do this once, now he does it all the time and the cat won't come downstairs.
  

My mum is not very confident, has a rather nervous disposition, and gets very stressed easily, I can see him being too much for her.

[DooinMeCleanin]

x-posts with you.

The Devil Dog no longer growls and snarls at people. We managed this a few ways. Firstly by indetifying why he was growling and stopping the cause of it. He growled at the dc if they sat too close to him on the sofa. We trained him not to go on the sofa during the day and put beds in 'out of the way places' where he can rest un-bothered. We managed to train this by teaching him off with the help of a clicker. I told him off and held a treat near the floor when he got off the sofa I'd click and treat him. He also got treats just for going into his own beds.

Proper snarling and snapping would happen when we would try to get him to go to bed/go out to the yard for the loo. We solved this by putting a house line on him for a week. We use this to guide him out/to bed. Again once he was where he was supposed to be he would get a click and treat.

Pulling on the lead has now stopped (when he is walked alone, I haven't managed to get him to stop pulling when we are out with cat-dog. I'm ordering him a gentle leader for help with this) I did that by stopping walking and turning him around n a circle and back to my side everytime his lead got tight. He soon learned if he wanted to go forwards he had to walk nicely.

Stealing the children's toys was stopped by squirting him with water when he went near them, but giving massive praise if he picked up his own toys. I don't really like squirting him tbh, but a lot of the time food is just not going to cut it.

Night time barking was simple to stop, we just moved his crate closer to the bedrooms where he could still hear us. This also stopped the nighttime pissing allover his bed.

Peeing up my cuboards was helped just be retraining toiletting.

It's just a case of working out what is going wrong and why and taking things from there. Different techniques will work with different dogs. He still has a lot we need to work on, but we're getting there.

[Abr1de]

My pup was dreadful on Monday and Tuesday, despite I couldn't work out what was bugging her, she was barking at nothing, both indoors and out.

Calmer today, thankfully.

Perhaps it is hormones? It was as though she had PMT. She is seven months. We have quite a few dogs and I forget that they go through a puppy teenager stage.

[DooinMeCleanin]

Devil Dog also chases the cat. It got quite nasty a few days ago, so I am working on building a better relationship between them. I spend about 20 mins a night getting dd1 to play with the cat in the living room, while I am with Devil Dog. If he goes to chase the cat I tell him 'leave it' which is a command he knows and is given a click and treat. He is also randomly clicked and treat just for sitting clamly while the cat is running around.

Throughout the night I have a bag of treats in my pocket. Whenever the cat or or dog2 comes near us Devil Dog is given a treat (but only if he stays calm), because he growls at them for sitting near us.

[NoSoapInADirtyWar]

Thanks it is helpful to see how you have gotten around things. He is laid at my feet now all angelic!!!

His other main issue (or my main issue) is how he is when people come round to the house. I am having to put him on a lead as he goes so fussy, barking, jumping up, etc. My bestfriend is visiting less and I don't blame her TBH.

He was jumping up at me and ds too but he is gradually coming out of that.

I will have to work on dog+cat relations, I feel sorry for the cat!

[NoSoapInADirtyWar]

Should have said, when the dog and the cat have a face off the cat wins, I think dog just wants to play but cat is a timid thing anyway (also from rescue, have had her 7 yrs now) and it isn't nice for her.

[NoSoapInADirtyWar]

Abr1de: my dog is (at a guess) coming up to one this month, and still looks very puppyish.

[Carrotsandcelery]

Can you fill a Kong with peanut butter or cheese for him to keep him busy for a while? It sounds like he is bored and is doing the things that get your attention. Has he got his own things to chew at? Can you let him out in the garden for a while? Can you phone a dog walking service just for while you are ill?

[DooinMeCleanin]

I find that it's calmer if my dogs are in a different room until everyone is in and settled.

If he is still bouncy/over friendly you could keep a houseline on him and hold him near you, whilst randomly clicking and treating when he is calm. You can give a command if want like 'near me' or something. He will soon learn that being near you is the best place to be when guests are around.

Also no one should fuss him while he is jumping. All four paws must be on the ground if he wants attention. Tell any visitors to cross their arms and turn their back on him when he jumps up at them, but to praise and fuss madly once he has calmed down and has all four feet where they should be

It does get easier, really, honestly it does

[NoSoapInADirtyWar]

Yep he has lots of toys, including a kong which I fill like you suggest. He has a bowl of food in the kitchen still from breakfast. He will only eat when I am in the kitchen with him.

Yep definetely attention seeking!

I think looking to see if there are any dog walkers in my area is a really great idea as I have no one who I can ask and he so benefits from getting a good run outside.

I am going to upload a pic to my profile so you can all see how cute he is

[Carrotsandcelery]

We have a rescue dog and he is fantastic. He needed a lot of patience to begin with but we have had him nearly a year now and things have improved massively. He has definitely worth the effort as he is the most special dog.

He does need a lot of exercise though or I can see him getting jumpy.

Good luck with the dog walker. They are usually experienced so they may be able help you and him too.

[Vallhala]

Dooin speaks much sense.

Re nightime and going out for SHORT periods without him, I'd introduce a crate, placed away from the centre of chaos in a quiet corner. Make it a place of warmth and comfort with toys and chews and an open door in the daytime, treat him when he goes in there, hide treats in it to make it enticing and NEVER use it as a punishment. He'll get to like it in time and view it as his retreat, which is how you will persuade him that it is better to be in there than howl and ruin your doors. Leaving a radio on when you go out/to bed may help too and there are various strategies to stop seperation anxiety barking, such as putting coat on, collecting keys then going nowhere, going out for only a minute and coming back in, gradually extending the time etc.

WRT visitors - train them. Give them a treat to feed pooch but ONLY when all 4 paws are on the ground and he has sat down. If he jumps they must ALL NOT encourage it but must turn their backs, fold their arms, not give eye contact and not reward the behaviour. Again, tell him to sit and treat and fuss as a reward when he does. Putting him on a lead when visitors arrive won't help IMHO.

Out of interest, what rescue did he come from and what have they suggested/offered in terms of support?

[Carrotsandcelery]

Our trainer advised us to use one of those tubes of sqeezy cheese to distract and comfort our dog at times when he was anxious. This may work for you when people come in. Hold it to your side and squeeze the tiniest amount out for him to lick off. It is supposed to be very comforting for a dog to lick and the cheese obviously tastes good - it may also distract him from jumping up. We used it to stop our dog lunging at passers by and barking. He is not food orientated but the cheese was tempting enough to entice him and calm him.

[NoSoapInADirtyWar]

Hav messaged you about the rescue place vallhala.

He does like 'squeezy cheese' I put it in his kong sometimes, I will have to try that next time we have visitors. Good point about training the visitors too.

Will look into a crate as a safe place for him, how much are they? (He's skinny collie sized).

[Vallhala]

Not so sure on crate prices these days but a word of advice - avoid the Argos type ones and go for the stronger type if you can afford to. I'm told Pets At Home do (or at least did) sell some pretty sturdy ones.

I have a crate without a metal tray any longer as my last foster Staffie chewed holes right through it!

She wasn't in the least aggressive... she just wanted to get out and be with me.

Have answered your pm, Soap, thank you. The explanation is in the fact that the place you got pooch from is NOT a rescue but is the holder of the council's dog pound contract. As such they are far, far less scrupulous than a pound and are anxious to get dogs out as soon as possible in most cases as they only get paid by the council to care for strays for 7 days (after which the law says those strays can be put to sleep and so often they are). Naturally councils only pay the minimum they can get away with for this legally necessary but unwanted responsibility.

Just one thing I beg of you... if ever you can't keep him, PLEASE don't take him back there. It could well be a death sentence. Contact me or a genuine 'NO KILL' rescue, please.

That said, I don't think it will come to that... I think that despite the pound's lack of responsibility and care this lad has fallen on his paws.

[Vallhala]

Rollocks.. I meant that a pound is far, far less scrupulous than a genuine rescue not than a pound!

[DooinMeCleanin]

Ah he is pound dog, that explains a lot. A rescue probably wouldn't have given you such difficult dog. The devil dog is also an ex poundie. I knew where I was going was a pound but I was a cocky little bint and was confident I knew what I was doing and could manage any problems the dog would have. There have been more than a few times when I have wondered if I did the right thing, but I wouldn't swap him for the world.

It won't be easy to solve all your dogs problems, but it can be done, with a lot of patience, time and hardwork. But that feeling you get of seeing your dog recall perfectly or realising it's been x amout of weeks since he growled at anything makes it worth it, especially when you can sit back and think "I did that"

I found MN to be a great source of advise (especially on clicker training) but tbh you can't beat a few one on one sessions with a good trainer, if you can afford it.

I tried the devil dog at training classes. The first one was all about pack theory and choking him into submission - we never went back, the second trainer met him at home first and told me it would be better all round to start off with some one on one sessions due to the amount of behavioral issues and lack of socialisation. He is now ready for classes. I'll be booking him in soon. The Devil Dog in a class full other dogs

I got a medium sized crate for cat-dog off ebay for around £35. It seems sturdy enough.

[Carrotsandcelery]

Our crate is from Pets at Home but we don't use it. Everytime our dog went in it he scraped a 10p sized chunk out of his nose.
His haven seems to have become our good lounge. He can open the door himself. When we first got him we couldn't leave him alone as he freaked out and scraped the front door to shreds.
Now he has learnt to trust us and know we will come back for him. His compensation for being left alone seems to be to sneak into the forbidden lounge and sleep on the forbidden sofa.
This is an acceptable compromise for us as I was stuck a few times when it would have been too hot for him in the car in the summer.
We did also go for one to one training (3 sessions) when we first got him and we are now working with a trainer towards introducing him to a group class, maybe just for 10mins or so to begin with.
You will get there op, once you are fit and well again you can approach it one step at a time.

[NoSoapInADirtyWar]

I feel rather duped TBH about the fact he can from a pound. The bloody place calls itself 'xy' RESCUE and makes out like it's a charity and is in fact, a pound! I didn't know this til Val told me.

Aw that's bad about the pets at home crate, I have one on my doorstep which would have been handy! I don't know if he would go in one anyway mind you. He has a bed in the kitchen which he will only lay in if I am stood next to it, he is basically a foot away from me wherever I am or he is freaking out. I guess all I could do is try it as a cosy place and begin with it right next to me.

He is good with other dogs, apart from occasionally getting too ahem, amorous - but the other dogs are teaching him this is not acceptable.


Thank you everyone for replying to my thread today, it has defintely kept me sane.

[Carrotsandcelery]

It doesn't mean your crate will do the same - just check it over thoroughly. My dog loathed it though.

[NoSoapInADirtyWar]

I mean I have a pets at home on the doorstep, not a crate. Mind you I think if I got one and he did injure himself on it it would be going back to the shop as unsafe.