This will be long; I have a few problems and a need to vent/talk through what I know I need to do/work out what I don't know. Apologies for any time wasted through the reading of this post.
I have two dogs. The older is a mixed breed rescue from Romania. He was 5 months old when I got him, and was a nervous puppy. He's now 3 and can still be nervous on occasion, but is well-behaved and very human-focused. He was well socialised with people and dogs, and we attended training classes (albeit too early IMHO - should have waited until he was less worried about the world)
The younger dog is the one I have so many problems with. I'll preface this with an acknowledgement that these are problems of my own making, and that I most likely got the wrong dog at the wrong time.
He's a lurcher, at my guess a whippet x saluki x terrier-of-some-sort. I got him from a UK rescue at 12 weeks. He'd had at least two homes before the rescue, and had an unsettled stomach after moving in, but otherwise seemed to settle well with me. He was crated overnight for a couple of months until house trained, but outgrew his crate and has free range of the downstairs, the stairs and the landing (used to have babygates splitting downstairs into dog and dog-free zones, but he can jump them with ease) He's now 13 months old; was castrated at 10 months. As with Dog1 he has been socialised with dogs and people, and we attended basic obedience training.
The problems mostly stem from failing to continue with his training, and are influenced by his breed(s). I have a 3 month old son, so a lot of Dog2's time with me, I've neglected his training in favour of pregnancy exhaustion, and now actual baby things.
1 - house training; my mornings are a lot less structured whilst on mat leave, sometimes meaning I'm not able to get downstairs to let the dogs out, meaning Dog2 messes in the kitchen. This should be easily solved by getting up earlier and letting them out, even if it means the baby gets grizzly - it's a 10 minute task. Done.
2 - recall; I have never quite cracked this with Dog2. In the house he comes when called (more promptly if he knows I have treats) but outside I seriously struggle to get him to respond. We practice recall in the garden, again, if he knows I have treats he might come back, but not 100% of the time. Once we get anywhere else, the urge to run and play seems to take over. I've tried taking the tastiest treats I can find but still it's incredibly hit or miss. If there are other dogs around it's even more unlikely that he'll pay me any attention. It's got to the point that I barely let him off lead which means he's not getting enough exercise, and he's become a terrible puller on the lead, meaning I'm hating walks due to the constant correcting his pulling (plus walks these days are done whilst babywearing, so there's the stress of worrying he might pull me over.)
He's not that interested in toys or treats when outdoors, and I'm scared his sighthound breediing is going to make it so much harder to teach him recall. I'm going to look up long-line recall training on youtube, as I tried that with Dog1, but always ended up with a tangled mess. Both dogs are walked on harness, so no risk of him picking up speed and damaging his neck. Any tips on recall or long-line usage?
3 - nerves; I don't know if it's me, the whippety side of him, or the influence of Dog1, but Dog2 seems to be quite nervey. If I've called him in from the garden and he's not returned, so I've stepped out of the house toward him, he rolls over onto his back.
More serious and worrying, tonight he was lying on my dad's sofa and when Dad went to sit down, moving the dog's leg, he growled. Dad continued moving the dog and he moved his head to bite. Clearly he was guarding his spot, and when his growl was ignored he felt he had to act. Dad can be fairly gruff, so I think dog sees him as more threatening than I am, as he's not acted like that to me. I suggested using food to encourage the dog off the sofa and to reward him for moving on command, which Dad did, and it worked well, ending up with the dog curled up on the sofa next to him without growling. We'll keep that up and I'll be working on the 'off' command at home so we don't put the dog in that position again.
Even more worrying, I think he's afraid of children. He's not been around young children much in his life. When he has been around children he seems really anxious and skittish. Recently some family children visited and he followed one from room to room, keeping his distance and occasionally barking at her. I removed him from the situation, and we've not had young visitors since. Likewise, if out walking I ensure he's on lead if there are young children about. I don't worry about him with my son as it's so far been older, mobile children he's reacted to. I don't leave the two alone together and don't intend to until my child is much, much older (10? 16? I'll work that one out eventually!) and knows how to behave around dogs.
I'm avoiding family events which I would usually take my dogs to, because I don't want to risk him being scared until work out how to deal with his anxiety. He has never shown any aggression toward children, but I know fear can escalate, and wouldn't want to create a situation which could go wrong.
Dog2 is lovely, aside from the above issues. He's sweet and affectionate and funny and gets on so well with my other dog.
I'm a bit of a tired, hormonal mess at the moment, but I have 3 more months of mat leave, plus local family (with dogs) who can lend a hand/hold the baby so I can give the dog my full attention. I know he needs time and effort, but it all seems a lot to deal with at once, I'm not sure how/where to start. Any advice?
Sorry this was so ridiculously long! Many thanks to anyone who made it this far.
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6 replies
BlueKarou · 14/05/2016 00:58
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Lalaladida ·
21/05/2016 12:41
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