A really nice couple I have met a few times when dog walking have been told they have to get out of the country and return to England ASAP. The problem is, they have a 2 year-old Hungarian Viszla and due to the new quarantine laws in the UK, he can't go back to England for another 3 months.
This has been the hardest bit about all of this mess for them - they are pretty devastated about having to leave him behind, but they don't have any choice :(
We have an 11-month old dog and she is really coming on leaps and bounds. She is generally very well behaved (except she gets excited around other dogs) and her confidence is really growing.
We wanted to get her a doggie friend eventually, preferably an older male of similar size to her.
Our friend's Viszla fits the bill exactly, in this respect, plus he is one of the few dogs we meet who genuinely gets in really well with ours (she has a habit of over excitedly playing with some other dogs, to the point they get fed up with her). Her and the Viszla are perfectly matched in terms of size and playfulness.
So, I've offered to look after him for them for the 3 months until he can be sent back to the UK.....
I wanted a trial 2 nights first, so he's here staying with us at the minute. He's been here for about 16 hours so far and I am finding it REALLY hard.
I was awake at 4am thinking how I can let them down gently, even though I really want to help them :(
I don't know what to do and would really appreciate some advice - do I work through the issues, or would it be better for my dog in the long run if I didn't take this Viszla on?
(There don't seem to be any bullet points, so I shall use biscuits instead!)
He is INCREDIBLY nervy about every noise and bang, and I am worried that will rub off on my dog - I can't even get him to come to me or walk past the babygate because it makes a creaky sound. My dog used to be a bit like this, so I don't want her reverting to it.
He is terrified of the car since he had a car accident.
My dog shows some food and chew guarding tendencies around other dogs. The Viszla is on a whole other scale though - we were told to 'spray him with the water bottle' if we need to retrieve anything off him, so he is understandably incredibly possessive as a result of this 'training'. He snarls at us if he has something he shouldn't, such as one of my dog's Kongs which he found under the sofa. I can't give either of them ANY chews to keep them busy as all hell breaks loose - I gave them 3 pigs' ears last night but they both wolfed down their first one like I have never seen and then were about to fight over the 3rd, except my dog got their quicker and downed it in one! (She normally spends hours on a pig's ear...)
He peed in the kitchen last night, despite a walk before bed. I know this is understandable, but this is a woman at the end of her tether already!!!
They wrestle CONSTANTLY and it's wearing me out. Just when one has had enough and starts to settle, the other jumps on them again. I have tried following Kikopup's default settle around other dogs video, but neither of them show any interest in me or food when they have eachother.
All HELL broke loose at breakfast time. My dog is normally fed her raw diet while shut in her crate in the kitchen. So I shut her in there this morning with half a chicken and took Viszla off to the office for his kibble meal. My dog SCREAMED the house down, it was horrendous. There wasn't even a break in it for me to be able to go back in the kitchen to her. This upset the Viszla but he did eventually manage to eat his breakfast. When he went back into the kitchen my dog went nuts at him from inside her crate. I removed Viszla from the kitchen, let my dog out and removed the uneaten chicken from her crate. She then attacked him every time he came near the kitchen and won't let him in there. I have closed the kitchen door now and moved their water into the lounge, but they need to sleep in the kitchen together tonight and I don't know how I am going to rectify this situation now.
I'll stop now, there are other issues (such as the mess!), but these are the main ones.
There is a part of me that can't be bothered to deal with all these issues (as I found puppyhood very stressful and I am only just starting to enjoy her now). Having another dog around means that she completely ignores me now (focus has always been her weak point) and her recall goes to pot when he is around.
I don't think I can take 3 months of this. Do you think these issues are workable and do you think it would be bad for my dog to have this Viszla come and stay?
Please help me, I don't know what to do.
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The doghouse
Help. Moral dilemma with dog.
29 replies
feesh · 08/01/2012 06:17
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