To keep a ‘bad’ dog?

[2ndaryInfertilityage30]

I’m sure I will be slated, but hear me out.

My dog is 2 - she was not a lock down dog. I bought her as a Cockerpoo with her dad being a toy poodle. She looks exactly like a large cocker spaniel and nothing like a cockerpoo. She is so so strong that my kids can’t walk her. She has pulled my mother in law over and she spent 5 days in hospital. (This lady is pretty strong)

I work just 8 hours a week, so I have time to walk her. She needs an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening otherwise she will destroy our house. I was prepared to walk a dog every day - come rain or sun, but her needs are excessive.

If I leave her for so much as an hour she will poop on the house in protest. When let off the lead we have the exhaust her with a game of fetch otherwise she will not come back (we have invested a lot of time and money in training) we offer her roast chicken as a treat - she will only come back when she feels like it.

She scratches all our doors and destroys the kids toys if anything is left out.

She is not the dog I thought I was getting (relatively small) she is medium to large and just so unruly. She is aggressive with other dogs (never us and she is very sweet with the children)

The kids love her, we always thought we were against the idea of re homing but this is getting out of hand.

I guess - AIBU to consider rehoming options - for her happiness and ours.

Dressing gowns were in my house too.

Mine used to find their spot where they wanted to be and stuck to it mostly.

The only time it caused a ‘problem’ was when there were visitors and they sat in the chosen spot.

No rammies but they used to stare at me with their ‘they’re in my SPOT’ face until the visitor left

All seats are empty now

She pulls? Because you haven’t trained her not to.
Two hours a day for an active breed really isn’t excessive.
Messing in the house? Much more likely to be from distress than a “protest”. Dogs don’t think that they will poo all over the house to show their owners just how much they resent being left. That’s you attributing human reasoning to an animal. You need to treat it as separation anxiety.
Recall? Use a longline and a harness. Keep training. We train daily.
Don’t leave her where stuff is out that she can destroy.
Not the dog you thought you were getting? You didn’t get a breed. You got a cross. So unpredictable.
Aggressive to other dogs? Why? Use a behaviourist to deal with that.
You need to do better.

This will probably get lost in the comments but what are you feeding her on?

If my dog has cheap food or certain things, he’s hyperactive and has solid accidents in the house. I settled on raw feeding, worked well with a bit of trial and error but it’s not for everyone.

This website is useful for reading about the ingredients in your dog’s food: www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk/dog-food-ingredient-glossary

She may also benefit from learning something like agility or flyball. It focuses the brain as well as the body, which it sounds like she needs.

Although there has been a few highly negative comments designed to shame, there has also been some wonderfully encouraging and insightful advice.

I intend to change our current strategy based on some excellent advice and messages I’ve had from this thread today (thank you, you wonderful lot!!!) some really caring and good advice, it’s been great!

For the record those telling me ‘do better’ and ‘try harder’ I spend an awful lot of time and effort with this dog every single day with out fail, I’m
Not concerned about my ‘effort’ I’m concerned that we are all making each other miserable.

To the ultra perfect keyboard warriors out there enjoy your 4 hour daily dog walks 🤥 www.pdsa.org.uk/taking-care-of-your-pet/looking-after-your-pet/puppies-dogs/how-much-exercise-does-your-dog-need

Good luck! I’ve found the thread really useful too. My dog has patchy recall, and the gun dog training sounds really good and something I want to give a go

@2ndaryInfertilityage30 I have a large dog and last time I attempted to take him for a 4 hour walk he lay down half way through and refused to go any further 🤣

I would definitely re-home be very honest with the new owner.
My cousin runs a rescue centre they only have puppies or bull dog breeds left there is a huge demand for dogs.

ashmts
What I've said makes total sense for my dog who was found wandering as a 14 week old puppy with a stomach full of worms.
We rehomed him from a shelter and we've put a huge amount of time and effort into ensuring that he never goes back to a shelter.
He suffers from spaniel rage and having him on the sofa is just not possible as he's used it as a platform to launch attacks from in the past. Many months of training and work established that he should not be on our sofa and it's up to you if you want to keep your dog on your sofa.

I haven't read all the comments but as a Spaniel owner, you have to exercise their mind, its so so important. My dog will never get tired of running, exercising their legs only increases stamina, and you get a dog that doesn't know how to settle no matter how far you walk him. half an hour of scent games and some obedience training, and mine sleeps all day.
Scatter food in the grass and send him to find it. Find other things to hide. Name his toys and ask him to find those. Let him sniff. Do some impulse training. Maybe some agility. Try some whistle training & games.
They are such clever dogs and that brain needs challenging and directing. If you don't, they will challenge it in their own way and direct it on your child's toys!

2 hours a day walking, especially lead walking wouldn’t really tire my dog out at all. But walk once a day and a few short games and trick training sessions keeps her pretty happy. Also I know people don’t really agreed with ‘crate training’ on here but my dog is a border collie and can get really excited and overstimulated by the kids playing. Once she gets crazy some time in her bed area (small porch with baby gate across the door) with a filled kong usually settles her down again. If we didn’t have that option she would spend a lot of time running around after the kids barking and I would be completely insane!

To the ultra perfect keyboard warriors out there enjoy your 4 hour daily dog walks

I don't think anyone has suggested you walk her for four hours a day, have they?

But two hour-long walks is pretty standard for an adult dog, especially one that's a cross of two working breeds like yours - if you're struggling with that level of exercise, have you considered hiring a dog walker to take her out at lunchtime?

She might settle down yet, she's still only 2. My Havanese was really difficult with her emotions until she was 3. Protest soiling was a big thing.. and yes I know it's anxiety but it's still pretty annoying. Now she's 4 she's much more robust and is much easier to teach and control.

At least she's good with your children - that's the only reason I would rehome, like if the dog was dominant or aggressive to people.

Don't blame yourself on your choice - I know a couple of people with lovely CPs. My girl is 100% Havanese and she's not really Havanesie - she has a really strong prey drive, will run for miles, bullies my friend's Huskie and not typical at all. Even her older sister (friend's dog) from a previous litter/ same parents is so much more placid and gentle. You never know exactly what you'll get when get a puppy even if you know the breed and the family line.

Your problems have come from lack of training, which I am sorry is entirely your fault. If you had adopted at a later stage then no it's not your issue but when you've had a dog from a puppy and it has so many of these 'issues' - it comes down to no training. Cocker spaniels AND cockerpoos need plenty of exercise and mental stimulation, 2hrs a day is not excessive.

@Sarahlou252

I haven't read all the comments but as a Spaniel owner, you have to exercise their mind, its so so important. My dog will never get tired of running, exercising their legs only increases stamina, and you get a dog that doesn't know how to settle no matter how far you walk him. half an hour of scent games and some obedience training, and mine sleeps all day. Scatter food in the grass and send him to find it. Find other things to hide. Name his toys and ask him to find those. Let him sniff. Do some impulse training. Maybe some agility. Try some whistle training & games. They are such clever dogs and that brain needs challenging and directing. If you don't, they will challenge it in their own way and direct it on your child's toys!

Another spaniel owner here and this poster is bang on.

What do you feed her (apart from roast chicken!) and how often?

I sm a ver nurse and ive not met a cockerpoo that isn't like an unruly teenager. Hopefully this fashion for designer breeds will pass.

@sarahlou252 is spot on. Exercise her mind.

Nope, you're not. I don't care if I get flamed for this, but dogs are purchased in order
to enhance family experiences, not make people exasperated, anxious and miserable even when they're past the puppy stage. I wouldn't hesitate to find the dog somewhere where her needs will be met and that will in turn meet your needs not to be injured by and have your home wrecked by the dog. Win win.

I have a "naughty dog". I had a Lhasa already which is true to the breed in every way, so when it came to getting another it had to be another Lhasa...who turned out to be a polar opposite to the breed. We don't have the issues in the house like you are, but outside the front door he turns into a pitbull. He wants to kill everything in sight, not humans, but anything else. He foams at the mouth, pulls on the lead and can never ever be let off. We went to puppy socialising class, recall training, seen a behaviourist etc, nothing changed. He's just so aggressive when it comes to other animals. It did cross our minds to rehome him until I watched a programme on channel 5 about naughty dogs and I've learnt more from that than anything I've paid for. It made me realise what mistakes I was making, such as winding the lead in and holding him tightly when a dog was approaching. I've learnt how to quickly pull on his lead and give a firm "no" when he goes to lunge. I can't remember what it's called, but that programme helped massively.

Whilst I won't ever trust him off the lead, we are able to enjoy walks now as the situation is more manageable. He does bark and puff his chest out, but quickly shuts up. I don't know how I would manage if he was tearing the house up, and I really feel for you. But please remember she's still also a pup, quite firmly in the toddler phase and is sadly possibly bored.

@FuckingFabulous I don't disagree with you in theory but unfortunately there aren't enough experienced homes out there to cope with more difficult dogs which is why rescues are filled to the brim.

We've become a nation of dog keepers. There are just too many being bred and it's the dogs paying the price

[quote PhannyPharts]@FuckingFabulous I don't disagree with you in theory but unfortunately there aren't enough experienced homes out there to cope with more difficult dogs which is why rescues are filled to the brim.

We've become a nation of dog keepers. There are just too many being bred and it's the dogs paying the price [/quote]
This is true, which is why I think the OP ought to try to find a home for the dog instead of surrendering it to rescue, but having experienced a nightmare dog which destroyed my home and sanity myself (dumped on me by a "friend"), I know what it's like and I won't condemn OP for having reached the pinnacle of what she can cope with. Mine came when I rushed outside to call an ambulance for a neighbour having a heart attack in the street and supported them for approximately fifteen minutes while the ambulance came. I walked back into the house to find my new sofa ripped to shreds and covered in piss and my bed with shit all over it. That was it for me. No way. After eight months of working hard every day to settle the dog, I was done.

Dogs are ‘naughty’ due to lack of training, or not tackling problems. Yes dogs can still develop issues despite lots of training but by the sounds of things you haven’t mentioned a lot of training. Cockapoo’s can look like spaniels, as they are a cross breed they can take the looks of one breed or the other, or a mix of 2. I have a cockapoo, he’s not perfect but he’s a huge part of my family and it would be over my dead body I’d ever consider rehoming him. We work on his issues. Some cockapoo’s are very clingy and they should be left gradually from a young age as they can have separation anxiety. If you want to rehome him then the least you can do is ensure he goes to a safe permanent home where the new owners will work on his issues. The exercise needs are unlikely to change, spaniels and poodles are both working dogs and need a lot of exercise

@cupsofcoffee

To the ultra perfect keyboard warriors out there enjoy your 4 hour daily dog walks

I don't think anyone has suggested you walk her for four hours a day, have they?

But two hour-long walks is pretty standard for an adult dog, especially one that's a cross of two working breeds like yours - if you're struggling with that level of exercise, have you considered hiring a dog walker to take her out at lunchtime?

I said we walked our dog for four hours so I assume it's aimed at me. But we do and it suits us and him so whatever 🤷‍♀️.

Haven't read the full thread but I just wanted to pop on quickly to reccomend STD (Southend Dog Training). Online membership is about £10 per month for access to a ton of training videos and advice from trainers experienced in dealing with behavioral problems. I've learned loads since joining and really been able to make big improvements in out rescue dogs reactivity. Hope you get the help you need

If she is rather large, the chances are that her mother was a Cocker Spaniel, and her Father was a Standard Poodle which would explain her size. The poodle can also be quite headstrong and difficult to train, and his dominant genes could be part of the problem here, it sounds like she has inherited more Poodle traits than Cocker!

If you do decide that rehoming is the only way forward for you and your family, then please do this via a recognised rehoming centre charity, where all new owners will undergo a full home check and suitability screening before being accepted to Adopt a Dog from them.

Too many dogs that end up being offered for rehoming through small ads or online Facebook type pages, end up in the hands of abusers out for their own gain. I have been a volunteer at a rescue centre in the past and some of these poor dogs who came into us were pitiful heartbreaking creatures indeed.