To rehome my dog

[Crazypetlady]

Not really an AIBU as such I need the traffic and blunt honesty.Sorry for length.

My dog is a husky /collie chow/collie nobody is really sure. We rescued him before I had my ds. .He is ok with a select few dogs.He is a very nervous dog. When we rescued him the owner lied and said his behaviour was better than it is we were told he lived with five other dogs and no cats. We have since found an old re homing add about our dog which has completely different information to this.

He shows signs of being abused flinches away bolts when I move the newspaper or the mop and is wary of strangers. He will bark and growl when they enter the house this got worse when ds was born.Once they come inside he is fine.

He has been around friends babies since we had him and has had no problems he is relaxed and shows no fear.He acts the same around ds 23 weeks.He has also been around toddlers in prams and has sat being stroked quite happily.The toddlers he met outside.

I have a six year old cousin who visited she came in and sat down with us and he growled and ran away and hid behind me, we went for a walk and he settled but when he met her again a few months later he did the same.
He seemed to be scared of her but she hadn't jumped by him or stroked him and she wasn't loud.He seems wary of her.

He has never been in close contact with another child because of this and I am to wary to do it again. He doesn't seem to mind children the same age on his walk.

I love him but my sons safety is first he has never shown any negativity towards my son and has only met one older child in the house but I am Has anybody got any experience of this?I think re homing is the best option but am worried nobody would have him.I don't know if it is just my cousin he is nervous of or other children but that is difficult to tell .

I just need advice really and a bit of a shake I think.

aw he's gorgeous I'm sure with all the fab advice and expert help he will be turned around

I'm sorry but there is no way I would have my children near any dog that I wasn't sure of. Even if I was sure, I still would not leave them unsupervised and would prefer the dog to be locked away.

Dogs are animals and are governed by instinct, however well trained they are.

Aw he's adorable! I can't see any husky in him, collie/chow is a good guess. A halti is a great idea, or any anti-pull harness. He needs a lot more exercise and stimulation, a behaviourist will advise but it would definitely be worth taking him to some classes if he can manage it, or teaching him tricks and behaviours at home if not, and a good walk both morning and night. A tired dog is a good/happy dog!

Your dog is fine with your DS and, if he is unhappy with a stranger, gives clear signals that he is unhappy but doesn't do anything more than growl. He hasn't shown any signs of aggression towards your DS. We have had very nervy breeds of dog who had a tendency to want to protect their family from outsiders. It helped to be effusively welcoming to visitors, hugging them and introducing them to the dogs as 'friends'.

I've not read all the replies but I'd like to add my two penneth worth if I may...

A good many animal "Charities" are somewhat economical with the truth about the pets they have on offer. In a word they are out for the money.

My friend "adopted" a spaniel for her retired parents; it was a psycho dog; mad as hell and dangerous,.

She did some investigations and found the previous owners. They had stated that the dog must not be homed with any other pets and most importantly not be in contact with children.

The "rescue" centre had hidden these facts and the dog was subsequently put to sleep.

Thank you I tried a head collar before but it kept falling off so never got another I will try it again and look for a crate .
Wong We stopped taking him in the day as we were told by a dog group it was bad to take a reactive dog in a day maybe we are going wrong there then.

I can only take him to one on one classes. He will run fine off the lead with another dog or sniff another dog sometimes but he will snap, he has never injured another dog but he has bit one when he felt threatened as they were dominating him. He stopped as soon as I told him but it isn't worth risk to anyone elses dog. He has spent many days with an elderly great dane in the house no problems though.

If I can get him walking along side the pram or gentle enough to have ds in his carrier then with a good muzzle he will be a lot happier. I used to take him for three hour walks and he was a bit more chilled as he had more space. With the training though I hopefully can over come the space issue and get him walking in public in the day whether it is busy or not.

you could get one of those "yellow dog" coats that say to give the dog space

I think it's great that you are so open to everyone's suggestions. You and he will be just fine. Everyone's on a learning curve

Something like this will help with walks: harness

Try him walking next to the pram, it's worth a go, it might provide him with a focus/distraction. Just cross the road/change direction when you see another dog for now. Try to do that before he sees them or at a distance he is happy with. You can also try giving him a treat every time you do see a dog at a distance (before he reacts to it). This takes his focus away from the dog, and makes a positive association with seeing a dog.

If you and pp mean a sling by carrier I would really advise not to use that when out with dog and baby. If a fight broke out you can do nothing with a baby strapped to you. And your dog doesn't have to be the aggressor- if another dog shows him aggression he may go for the fight even if he's been 'good' with other (less dominant) dogs previously. I'd get him used to walking with the pram by going when dh is around and you controlling both (lead around your hand, not attached to pram ever!) so he gets used to it and you get used to it but dh is there to step in if anything actually happens.
You say you have a lot of space in your house, I'd invest in some good tall baby gates and see how he goes with ds, you can create him a safe space in the kitchen for example if it's big enough and not open plan where he can have a nice bed etc and his food/ water. Good for when ds is on the floor kicking/ rolling / crawling and you need to separate them. Getting professional help is obviously important as well.
Your dog is gorgeous by the way!

...and yes to the yellow ribbon too. I think you can even get a free one here: yellow ribbon

Hi OP. This may sound a bit left-field, but are you totally sure he is a Husky mix? I only ask as he looks very similar to a Eurasier, which was originally created from a combination of Chow, Samoyed and Keeshond. They often have black faces, but can be light coloured too.
They are lovely dogs, but are noted for being aloof with strangers, and can be nervous if not handled well from the outset.
IF he is a Eurasier, (which is a registered pedigree breed), the Breed Society might be able to help with re-homing, if you felt that was the best option.
If he's just a lovely cross-breed ignore me!!

Please don't take this dog to a group class with a dog trainer.
He needs assessment and a plan from an accredited Behaviourist.
There are bucketfulls of really good trainers but it is not a protected title, any old Tom, Dick or Harry can offer their services. Many of the dogs that have come to me were there specifically due to the 'I've had dogs since the dawn of time' trainers who have little knowledge of or utterly dismiss up to date techniques, not knowing what you're doing but doing it anyway is the quickest way to make a reactive dog a dangerous dog. Approaching this dog with anything resembling pack theory, dominance based techniques or punitive training methods will cause the problems you wish to avoid. He has a mostly unknown history, you can't pinpoint his triggers or tell why he is or isn't ok in any given situation - he's not a candidate for trying a bit of clicker training with when you are not proficient in it. Which is no slight towards you.
It is likely that someone offering classes would not take you on or would offer one on one sessions instead - someone letting you pay to put a reactive and poorly understood dog in a room full of other dogs is not the person for you. They may offer you training sessions (there's a knack to good timing) and do single sessions with you and your dog but we should all be aware of our limitations and when to refer up. Home assessments are also necessary for behaviour work and an up to date health check to rule out illness, disease or injury.

Training is really important obviously, obedience and positive reward based training is used really effectively as a corollary to more in depth behavioural work but getting his KC gold a,ward is not solely what you need or what will help him. It is better you use that money for an initial consultation with a behaviourist.
Sorry if I've misunderstood the last bit of your post about classes and you just meant finding a person. The APBC site will list people in your area who have the expertise to advise you.

Thank you for all of these suggestions they are very useful.I think first step is muzzle train him as when we are out it is a town with many dogs if we turn away there is often another dog coming the way we are trying to leave by and then we get stuck.At least with a muzzle I will have more peace of mind.

He could be anything Suited His old owner lied to us and we never saw his parents or his home.

I will get him a yellow ribbon straight away, I have trained him to have recall by treat training and sometimes to look at me but he was getting fat.
I will take him out in the day with dp when he has a muzzle and with the pram.

Bernard Thank you for that post it is really informative

I am taking him to a behaviourist , somebody mentioned classes and I was saying I can't take him to the obedience ones due to other dogs.Although I feel agility would do him the world of good just on his own!

We got our boy through ( very wrongly) preloved. Was told he was as good as gold with kids and there had never been issues.

From the moment I came home he growled and snared at our kids ( 5&7 then) I could not let kids downstairs without me there. I ( through vet referral) got a behavourist to our house. I have never looked back since and it was the best £150 I ever spent.

He was petrified ( turned out his tail was broken by a girl same age as my dd) and still has its flaws ( newspaper, being cornered by kids and he wont tolerate many people lifting him) however he is the most loyal sloppy loving dog. We were very lucky to have him but as a few friends have mentioned he was lucky to have found us too as PTS would have been the easy option.

OP he's gorgeous! Doesn't look much like a Husky though. Not read the whole thread, but Bernard gives good advice.

Please, please, for his sake, make rehoming an absolute last resort. It would be such an upheaval for him. I'm not convinced you'd easily find a good new home for him - hence why the previous owner lied about him..

It's terrible that the previous owners lied - but that is what people do to get rid of unruly/improperly trained dogs - because there are very few would-be owners willing to take on troubled dogs.

Oh before I forget, he has a preference for boys ( they possibly throw crazier balls?) Which I think stems from the girl breaking his tail. However this is guesswork....

I'm glad it worked out for you vino , he seems to prefer women but he will happily be around men.
Thanks Under A lot of people say he doesn't look husky he could be anything really I have considered he was a fighting dog as he had cuts on his neck when we got him but that could also have been the choke chain he came with.

I am not convinced I would find a good home either I am feeling more positive now I think I have good options and information to move forward with.

I hope it goes well with the behaviourist.

I'd just add that despite it being common advice to ignore a dog showing fear, I found that only allowed my girl's fear to escalate until she eventually took matters into her own hands and bit. My girl needed reassurance and attention when she was worried, not just distraction but positive feedback and signs that I was addressing the issue that worried her (hi viz jackets).

One of the things that helped my confidence was learning to read her. Now I can see signs of discomfort, a slow low tail wag, turning her head away, a wee bit of white showing in her eye, a quick look to me to see if I'm going to intervene etc and knowing her stress signs ensure that I can prevent an incident occurring. It's tough when they've done something to shake your confidence but if you really concentrate on learning how your dog expresses himself with these small signs, it's amazing how consistently they do give off signals long before any negative or aggressive act. And just when I thought I really was the dog whisperer, my other dog decided that her stress signals would be completely different.

He's beautiful by the way

Glad you're feeling more positive OP

You don't say how long you've you've had him exactly, but I gather it was brfore you had your ds who is 23wks?

We rehomed a lovely Labrador (may he RIP ) who had had a chequered past including being a stray and having unsavvy owners who had to give him back to the rescue centre because they couldn't cope with him. He was a lovely dog, but very unpredictable with other dogs at first- I used to be really scared at first when he was on the lead and we walked past another dog, because he would be aggressive, and was also strong enough to pull me over.

He gradually improved, the more settled and secure he became with us, the more he improved. We did consult a behaviourist too. It took a good few months, a year even, but gradually, he became so docile that I didn't bat an eyelid when we came across other dogs. Dogs act like that when they are insecure and nervous - give him the security of a good routine and lots of love and attention (- and at this stage, a good behaviourist.)

Good luck!

We have had him about 14 months now , He was getting better but the change of routine and place sent him back to the start, he was still funny with other dogs and the door but because I could leave space he was more secure.

I am sorry about your lab Under I am glad their life with you was lovely I am getting a muzzle and head collar tomorrow and we are taking him out with the pram

Thanks Crazy - he had a good few happy years with us

Hope the walking goes well.

Can't do links but take a look at the careforreactivedogs.com website- it's about counter conditioning your dog so he sees other dogs as a positive thing, not a negative. A good behaviourist will guide you. Good luck.