Dog driving me mad, bot sure whether I'm being U want him rehired

[ginplease83]

I am very bloody cross. I gave my 22 month old a mini milk this afternoon and sat her on the sofa in our open plan kitchen watching tv whilst I did some food prep. She's in the same room and easily accessible. Our dog was in his bed the other side of the room.

I turned to put something in the fridge and she started screaming. I turned around and our labrador who is obsessed with food, has half jumped on the sofa and is taking her ice cream. I jump on the dog and remove him and reassure her. He knows that this was wrong as soon as he saw me noticing, he sprung up.

I don't think he can be trusted around our kids anymore and want him gone. My DH thinks Im over reacting and that i don't give the dog enough attention. He's walked very regularly but i don't have time to sit there and stroke him. Theres nowhere else for him to go in the house apart from a large kitchen and family room area. If I put him in the garden he rams himself into the fence to try and get to a neighbour's dog or he makes every attempt he can to get into our bins.

[Botanicbaby]

agree with everything you say pans

OP your DH is right, you don't give the dog enough attention. That's part of the problem right there and the fact you can so easily talk of rehoming the dog when he's done nothing wrong speaks volumes.

[needastrongone]

Or, instead of using aversive methods, such as Unicorn suggests, you teach the dog the behaviour you do want by positive reinforcement rather than stressing them with a money box. With due respect there, that would scare ddog2, a scared dog would be far more likely to react than a relaxed dog.

For the table, scatter treats on the ground, praise 'all four paws on the ground'. Reinforce this many many times. Google for a better explanation

In essence, the dog has no fucking idea what is a good or a bad behaviour, but if they get a big lump of cheese every time they sit quietly, or don't jump up, or recall immediately, they soon figure it out. If a dcary tin is rattled, or they get a smack or whatever, why would they display that behaviour again?

[AcrossthePond55]

Dog being a dog. We had a lab and they are 'chow hounds'. But it can be trained out of them. It just takes persistence and time. Labs are incredibly smart and easy to train.

I'd suggest crate training first. Our lab was crate trained and was told 'go crate' when she was a pup when we sat down to dinner or were eating in the living room. When she was older and better on her 'sit, stay' or 'down, stay' and 'release' she would sit quietly until 'released'. Work on those commands rather than 'no, no don't take food'.

Our lab was incredibly patient and obedient. But regardless, I would never have left her alone or taken my attention off of her with a small child in the room.

[StillSmallVoiceOfCalm]

It's not real. It simply can't be real.

[MissBeaHaving]

Labrador retrievers are highly intelligent,they need mental stimulation as well as physical.

Does he have toys ? stuff he can chew ?
Things like antlers,bull horns & frozen kongs are great for when you want the dog to have quiet time.

You say you have a walker,how long are the walks & does he go of leash ?

[Didiplanthis]

Not rtft - sorry - I know this is bad form. We have half a lindam playpen with a gate in round our Labradors bed which she goes in when my kids have food. Having got it initially to go round sofa while i sat on the sofa bf Dd1 and half around Moses basket while she got used to the baby being around. Having said that she is still rarely left unattended with the children despite never showing any aggression ever even though they are 4 and 6 and brought up around all sorts of animals. I have baby gates on several downstairs doorways so they can be kept apart especially if food around.

[MissBeaHaving]

And YES To gates !
We have one in every doorway downstairs.

[Houseconfusion]

I have a dog and a 9 month old very active and mobile and greedy DS.

Your dog is restricted to one room of the house?
You do not have time to sit and stroke your dog?
You are considering rehoming the dog because it went for some ice cream? Please do. Let him go.

My DH and I work full time. Our DS is a handful. After his bedtime we are done and dusted and flat. Even so, every evening after dinner, DH or I, or sometimes us both, sit on the sofa with our lovely gorgeous dog and cuddle her, talk to her, throw her ball for her, let her chew her toy beside us.

Every weekend we do lots with DS - swimming, library what not. And each activity is planned so that we also do lovely forest walks, picnics in parks, and make sure each weekend day involves a family day out with the fourth member of our family.

We do not do this because of a carefully strategised plan of let's keep the bitch sane and feeling loved, so she doesn't get cranky and dangerous.

We do this because we genuinely truly love her. She enriches our and our sons lives enormously.

Your Labrador needs to go. I am not sure really why you have a dog.

[SharonfromEON]

I have only read 3 pages of this thread...

I am not a dog person however I wouldn't have one in my home because of this..

It sounds like this dog is just a problem that you really don't want to put the work in to solve. Paying for dog walkers and a behaviourist.

I think for dog lovers rehoming is unthinkable...For me it sounds like the solution for everyone...Dog gets love attention and training sounds like it needs. You get your house back.. only one not going to be happy by the sound of it is DH.

[Costacoffeeplease]

For dog lovers, sometimes re-homing is the only thing

I have never re-homed any of my dogs - and I've had lots, my whole life (my parents had dogs before us), all rescues, many with behaviour issues - but I have NEVER given up on any of them

BUT some people just don't deserve to have dogs, and in these cases, the dog should be re-homed

[ghostspirit]

op i must agree with some who say you dont seem to like the dog. how can you not have time to stroke it now and then. i guess you play with your child? you could play with the dog to.

do you ever feed the dog little bits when your eating?

my dog took a bit of food out of my 15 months old hand the other day first time hes ever done it. i just firmly told him no. and that was the end of it. did not make him pack his doggy suit case.

[Houseconfusion]

How the fuck do you not have time to stroke the dog?

God. We hold full time jobs, have a demanding son who wakes nights after which we drive massive distances to work and we still scoop her up in our arms and actually relax watching silly telly while she falls asleep on us. We see a toy in the shop we buy it for her.she gets the best of what we can give her and she makes our family a wonderful place, for our son me and my husband.

FFS. Let the dog go. or you leave the house

[MissBeaHaving]

After reading the more recent posts I am not sure,did you ever like the dog?

A dog for most people is so much more than just a pet,they are family,closer than family in a lot of cases.

I also want to say that if you are hoping to train the dog then you have to be heavily involved in the training as you seem to be the one at home with him.

Also please don't get a crate just to get the poor boy out of the way,labs are such a sociable breed & to shut him up rather than occupy him because it's easier for you is just cruel.

[kali110]

Lol ghost

[UnicornPee]

1- I didn't use the money box method

2- it's not to scare it its to distract it from fucking stealing food

[DollyBarton]

I think you don't love this dog and now with you dc, your priorities have changed. I can understand that as I've experienced it myself. How much does your DH love the dog? Would he be very upset to rehome? In time these problems will disappear and you will be better able to cope with dog doing these normal dog things (being exhausted with young children makes it even harder to tolerate a dog you don't fundamentally love even if you previously had no problem looking after it). But I think you can't deal with ddogs presence and needs anymore so rehoming might be a good idea. Are you sure you wouldn't regret it when things get a bit less intense again (with young children getting older)?

To those that are likening rehoming a dog to rehoming a kid, do I really need to point out its not the same.

[Houseconfusion]

Labs are so so sociable. You restrict him to a room and don't have the fucking time to stroke him?

FFS I am off to bed.

And here are two pics with me and DH AFTER we had our baby to show you how much cuddling she gets despite us havjng a baby.

[needastrongone]

I didn't say you did try it, I did assume that, as you suggested it in writing, you might be prepared to use the money box to scare the dog as a method? If that's not the case, I apologise.

I am simply suggesting that, for some dogs, that would provoke fear, and it is in no-ones interest, particularly with DC around to have a fearful dog. Better to teach them the behaviour you want in the first place, using reward and trust than scare them.

Ddog1 would be fine with it, though we would never use such a method, ddog2, would worry. And dribble a bit of wee in worry. Which wouldn't be great, with DC around.

[orangebird69]

I manage to walk two dogs (lurchers) with a 9mo and an 8yo. WTF can't you walk your dog?

[DollyBarton]

Orangebird, that's great. But what has your life got to do with the OP?

[orangebird69]

Dollybarton the op said she pays someone to walk the dog in the day and she hasn't got time to do anything with the dog in the day because she's looking after her 22mo dd. . So I was wondering if I can walk 2 dogs with two children, why does she not have the time to walk her doG or pay it any attention with one child? Does that clear things up for you?

[DollyBarton]

Still two different people, different babies, different households, possibly different support systems, different lives and different priorities. She gets her dog walked so no need for the 'wtf' about it.

[orangebird69]

In your opinion. Which of course you're entitled to. Imo she's making excuses because she doesn't like the dog and just CBA. It's the lack of attention that creates bad habits for the dog. That, and the fact that it's a Lab. Not sure what else she should've expected really. Walking dustbins.

I call sock puppet anyway.

[lazyarse123]

In one of your earlier posts did you mean dog has to stay in his bed while you watch tv, does he not sit with you as part of the family. We don't have dogs because my husband is scared of them, but I had them when I lived with my parents and they were always involved in everything we did. You need to get him re-homed so he can be with a family who actually give a shit. I feel so sorry for him.

[orangebird69]

What lazyarse said.