Not enjoying my dog

[lookingforhelp73]

Hi there,
I have named changed as i feel awful for posting this.

I have a 15 month old and having another baby in November. Just for info.

I have a 4 year old dog who although is friendly and great with my son is driving me maad.

He is malting everywhere, i wash clothes and they are full of hair, there is hair all over my daughters things, in the kitchen everywhere. Ive tried changing food, bathing more, brushing more, i sweep numerous times of the day. I just at wits end. Ps he is a non malting breed.

Hes getting worse for begging for food. Now i know son gives him things when im not looking ive tried to stop but its getting to the point where dog is circling us whenever we have food. Never snatching but still.

Hes constantly getting under my feet ive nearly broke my neck three times in the past week.


I guess heres the thing, am i feeling these things as pregnancy, todder etc is just taking all my patience, but then i think all these issues were here before im just panicking about having two children and a dog making me mental.

Please be gentle.
xx

[midori1999]

If he really is a non moulting breed (and not a poodle cross or something) then maybe a vet visit is in order to check all is well with him? Other than that if you have a Dyson pet hoover they do a grooming attachment which brushes/hoovers the pet. That and lots and lots of hoovering are the only solution here. I do sympathise, if my dogs are moulting I have to hoover literally every five minutes in order to keep everywhere fairly hair free, but tbh, I just give in and accept there are a few weeks each year where my house is hairy.

I'm sure you know that the only way to change your dog's behaviour is to train him. If you can't stop your son giving him food (and I assume he drops food at his age anyway) then shut the dog out of the room when you are eating/feeding your son. You can give the dog a bone or kong to keep him busy at these times and he will then see being shut out as a good/not so bad thing.

[EasyToEatTiger]

You need to start training your dog, gal!! The moulting is not something you can train out of a dog though! We live in a very hairy house. Have you discovered the Furminator? It is a brilliant tool for getting out the dog's undercoat and extra fluff.
Do you have a crate for the dog? You can get them 2nd hand off Ebay. Ours is massive, and really is a separate bedroom for one of our dogs. Although it is huge, it offers a huge area to dump things on. You can't pile that amount of stuff in a dog basket! If you could train the dog to go in his basket at mealtimes, the opportunity for begging would disappear. It is important that baskets are where good things are - bones to chew, Kongs to get food out of, treats etc.
You have a lot on your plate, and I'm sure someone with lots of training knowhow will be along soon.
Are you keeping ok in yourself? Are you well supported at home, and with your family?

[OhDoAdmitMrsDeVere]

I will admit that I went right off my dogs when I was pregnant.
It was so out of character I can o ly put it down to hormones and possibly prenatal depression.
My youngest is two and I feel fine about hem now!
I was never mean to them but I just didn't feel the same about them.

Practically - can you get the dog clipped? I have mongrels and I often get them clipped short. It doesn't bother them and it makes life easier.
Keep dog off furniture
Shut out at meal times
Plenty of exercise. I know it's at but stick dc in the buggy and walk the dogz's legs off :)
Hoover everyday
Second taking dog to vet for check up. Not many breeds are .totally non moulting are they?
Best get the dogz's bad manners under ontrol now because it will be harder when the baby arrives.
It sound doable though

[StuntNun]

There are good recommendations here for grooming, clipping, training, crating. If you want to keep the dog then there are lots of websites to assist you with these problems. If, however, you decide you want to rehome your dog then I suggest you start sooner rather than wait until November. I'm sure you love your dog, it's just too much to cope with so you'll want to make sure you find a loving, family home rather than just put an advert in the free ads and hope for the best. My vet has a rehoming book and most pet shops carry adverts. It's a hard decision to make though. My dog was a complete nightmare through her 'teenage' years and we had a lot of problems with soiling, destructive behaviour, running away, etc. I persevered with the training and now have a biddable, companionable dog who I can walk without a lead. If I could just stop her emptying the bin when I'm out she would be perfect. But it took a lot of time and effort to achieve that. Only you know whether you have the energy and the time to work with the dog and do the necessary grooming.

[lookingforhelp73]

thanks for the replies ladies not sure where to start.

not wanting to say breed as would give me away i think but hes definately a minimal malter. "apparently" short haired.

I have an old dyson animal cylinder but the bloody attachment keeps getting matted with hair so hence i changed to brush. However whenever i brush the hair just flies in the air.

Will look out for a furminator. :)

Crate - Had one when he was little but sold as he got older. He actually sleeps in our room under the bed :O.

Not left on his own much except 2 days a week when my boys in nursery.

We actually went to the vet at the beginning of the year about his "fattness" and mentioned the malting at the time. They put him on a very expensive food which did slightly help the malting but the bugger gained weight instead and was miserable.

Thanks for the info on rehoming and as much as i feel thats the easier option right now my sons bond with the dog is so big i dont think i could ever break that. I mean seriously however much he annoys me, the dog is beyond far the friendliest dog with children ever!..

Thanks again for all the replies. I think im just so overstressed. I work full time as well its all a bit on top of me. xxx

[StuntNun]

I have an old Dyson Animal as well and I don't think it works as well as it used to. I have asked DH for a Miele Cat and Dog but it's a long time until my birthday lol.

Get some help on here, maybe you can post about specific problems? I never feed my dog from the dining table, if she does get any scraps (not many as she has fatness issues too) then they go in her bowl in the kitchen. This means she doesn't beg at meal times but as soon as someone gets up and goes into the kitchen, she's after them like a shot in case of scraps.

Can't help with the moulting but the furminator is supposed to be good.

[StuntNun]

Oh also I trained my dog to get up and move elsewhere when I say 'Beep beep' or 'Get out of the way'. Very handy when she's lying in the middle of the kitchen floor getting tripped over every time.

[panicnotanymore]

Put the dog in another room when you are eating. I can't bear dogs staring at me and dribbling when I am eating. Mine know they go outside or into the conservatory at meal times. I don't give them a bone or a kong, they just know their food arrives in a bowl at x time, and when mine is on the table they go out.

Re moulting - groom as often as possible and limit where in the house he can go. Non-carpeted rooms are easiest to clean.

Teach him a bed command, so that he stays on his bed when you are busy, and isn't a trip hazard. Speaking as someone who broke a bone tripping over a dog I can confirm this command is essential! You shouldn't need a crate for an adult dog.

[OhDoAdmitMrsDeVere]

I find my Hetty works ver well with dog hair.

[daisydotandgertie]

What are you feeding him?

If he's moulting so badly and really hungry, perhaps his food is not suiting him. Is he smelly too?