My rescue border collie is driving me mad!!!

[dreamingon]

Just having a rant I think really and looking for tips.

I posted last year after getting my border collie from the Dogs Trust, he was destructive and unsettled amongst other things. It turns out after £130 paid to dog therapist and trips to the vet that the dog they told us was 3 to 5 years old was in fact still a puppy.

I am so cross and upset still even though I have had him for twelve months now. I love him dearly but I feel guilty sometimes. He has grown so much and I am on my own with him. I would not have had a dog of this size is the honest thing I think. I cannot take him off lead still as he jumps up at people and he is strong. I cannot do what some people do and just think that if you are out walking you are "fair game" to be jumped at as this is not fair. He also runs off.

I have done dog training which I gave up as they contradicted their own technique of handling him when they realised how strong he was. I have tried finding a secure field to teach recall (it is excellent at home).

He is still not house trained although he is when I am at home.

The Dog behaviourist at Dogs Trust said he was frightened of men so told my daughter's boyfriend to give him lots of fuss and attention. We now know this was the worst thing to do and my dog is still terrified of him.

They said he was cat tested, again another untruth as he is getting worse at chasing the cat.

Loves the car ? - so much so it took me 6 months to get him in one.

On the plus side he know loves the car, he is good with children and other dogs.

I love him dearly but he is exhausting me totally. He gets on the settee at night and keeps putting his mouth around my arm. I do not know what this means. As soon as it happens I stand up and he gets off the settee.

Thank you if you have read all of this. I don't know why I am writing it really just needed to get it out I think.

[Endler32]

No real advice, we got our rescue boy 2 years ago as a pup, he is a collie x lab and very similar to your dog, he jumps up at people, barks at everything, his recall is good as long as there is no one about ( if there is he will run up and jump up at them ), he's a nightmare on the lead when he sees anyone and I try and walk him where we are less likely to see anyone, I can't take him far in the car and he is huge ( was told when I got him that he would be smaller than a lab as his mum was small ), he whines a lot, cries to be fed at 6am and is high energy. You have my sympathy, if I ever get another dog ( which I probably won't ) it won't be a working breed.

[Nearasdammit]

Where on earth do these rescue places get their "behaviourists"??

Time after time I hear about so-called experts, connected to rescues who are supposed to be helping new owners but in fact give terrible advice!

[dreamingon]

It is so hard isn't it Engler. There are some days when I hate myself as I wish I had not got him. Other days he is adorable. He has come on so much in twelve months but is so different to how my previous border collie was.

I am just so disappointed I think in the incorrect information given by the Dog's Trust. I have totally lost my faith in them. Everytime I have phoned for help it takes a week to call back and I get no positive help. I called the behaviourist we initially saw at the centre in tears after I walked into my house and found the settee destroyed, dog mess everywhere and all my kitchen cupboards emptied across the whole of my floor (including about 12 packets of crisps emptied out). His response was "I would be getting my camera out and saying cools". Good job I was not standing in front of him at the time!!!!

[Endler32]

I can see why some are wary of getting a rescue dog, ours was just a pup but I expected to be able to get help and advice from the rescue, I was wrong, when I contacted them they just said 'oh well, one of the other pups is the same' no real advice on how to train him. I love him to bits but he is bloody hard work, I have another dog and she's so much easier.

[dreamingon]

I know Nearas, when I paid out to see a private behaviourist he said he had until recently rarely been referred dogs from the Dog's Trust but now he is seeing a lot. He even knew the behaviourist I had seen!!

[dreamingon]

The irony is I wanted a puppy but felt that I could offer a rescue dog a home and that since I had never had a puppy before (last dog was also rescue) I was not sure how I would cope. To then end up with a puppy is unbelievable. The centre had him for 4 months, I do not understand how they got the ago so wrong. Just in the first month that I had him he grew substantially.

[dreamingon]

age even not ago.