Thats it, I am done, if DH wants to keep the dogs he can sort them out. (WARNING - ranty and swearing)

[DustyTv]

The bloody dogs, again have messed all over the bathroom and kitchen (old house, bathroom downstairs). I am sick of it. I have done all I can to sort it but it is not working. MIL took the dogs for a week over Xmas for us and I have to say it was bloody lovely. When she asked if I had missed them I told her the truth which was no.

DH missed them, he wants to keep them, but he wont do any of the work to keep them. Yes he will clean up when they mess, but that is beside the point. He will feed them, but it is down to me to walk them as he wont.

I have had them at the vets to see if they have anything medically wrong and they don't. I have been to training with them again, dog behaviorist, but they were no help.

I told DH that he is going to have to help me sort them out and get back to basics with house training, but he just said no, and that we should expect it when we leave them on their own.

No we bloody well should not expect it, they are left at most for 4 hours occasionally, but for about and hour most days, while I am out with DD. They go all through the night without messing, why not in the day.

I have decided that when he gets home tonight I am telling him, that if he wants to keep the dogs then he is going to have to sort them or I will find them new homes.

He wants to keep them, I do not.
It is not hygienic to have them mess in the house. We have a nearly 14mo DD and I am pg with lo number 2, I do not want this mess. I have enough on my plate.

Sorry for the rant, but feel better getting it out.

Marie, It is horrible isn't it. I know I sound like a heartless bitch going on about how I don't want them here anymore, but yesterday I had had enough.

I do love them, but I cannot have them messing in the house like that, especially when they have ample opportunity to go outside. It really gets on my wick.

I think DH has got the message now, he has cheered up anyway

i know they go outside and when they come back in they do it omg its getting me angry just typing about it. what i do is take my dogs water up at 7.00 let her out for a wee before i go to bed and keep my fingers crossed, i love my dog its just hard to like them when they piss and shit everywhere. ive talked to my partner about getting rid of her and he doesnt want to either and its MY dog so i also told him he can do it but it never lasts. i also have 2 cats( indoor) and they are as good as gold.

lol Marie, your DH and mine sound the same, although true to his word he has come home from work and is out walking them now.

I walked them earlier and he walked them this morning. It has been lovely. They have not messed in the house at all today.

The oddest thing is they will go all night without messing or even waking us up to let them out, so I know they can do it.

TWO WORDS DAP diffuser - they sound like they are anxious for some reason - picking it up from you i think (sorry). Dont have time to type now - busy, but get one of these from the vets it might just work

oh good. no mine only sits on his arse most of the day but thats another thread my fingers are crossed for you. theirs no hope for mine lol

and i mean the man not the dog

Already use a DAP diffuser for Molly she is so much worse (skitish wise) without it)

OggsDog, why sit on your hands?

Molly is the dobey/collie? She is going to be skittish really with that mix of breed. Highly intelligent, high energy collie mixed with highly strung, nervy doberman - yep, i can imagine she is skittish. She needs stimulating - do they have toys? Have you tried rotating the toys, that way you fool the dogs into thinking they hvae new toys - toys that make the dogs think - those cubes that you put the biscuits in are good.

Not sure i could cope with your two tbh, but you do have a certain amount of responsibility to them.

When the dogs are walked, what does this consist of? Are they getting any off lead time? Any retreiving work? Something to challenge them? You can buy great ball throwing things, you can throw tennis balls for miles with no effort.

There is some sort of anxiety issue going on i think, you have two high energy dogs anyway, although the staff x should be laid back, not quiet but easy come easy go.

I do think your DH needs to involve himself more - but talking as someone who is a bit shit about walking her own dogs, i do understand the not feeling like doing it after work. I think you are amazing to take them out three times a day that you do - hats off to you for that.

Can you keep the dogs just in the kitchen or conservatory - this wont be such a bad idea for when the new baby comes along as the dogs need to know where they belong in the pack - that would be right at the bottom.

What do you do when the dogs have accidents? Do you shout and scream at them? Do they have access to outside at all times, or do they have to ask - mine has to ask.

Thing is Dusty, its very easy to say, right, they have to go but its not so easy to do it. Ask yourself truthfully, do you care if they are separated? Highly unlikely that someone will want to take on two dogs with problems. How likely will you be to be able to find good homes for them wihtout them having to spend quite some time in kennels - there are hundreds of dogs needing homes, most people don't want to take on problem dogs. Im not judging, im just asking you to think honestly how this scenario makes you feel - I nearly had to get rid of my rotweiller when DD was about 1, the thought of him going back to kennels and possibly not being rehomed made me feel sick. You might have got to the stage where you think, actually, i don't care - i just want these dogs out of my house or you will most likely be quite uncomfortable about it. You must like them, you are walking them three times a day. I actually think you could get away with two walks a day so long as there are toys, space etc at home. Why do they need three walks? I do wonder if you are making the dogs harder work than they need to be.

How are you for money? Could you pay a dog walker? Just a thought.

You were probably just saying this but PLEASE do not rehome those dogs while your DH is at work - you might just find yourself a single parent!

It is ok to be angry with your dogs, i started a thread last week saying i wanted to murder mine.

It sounds like you could have made some headway with the mess problem though, so fingers crossed eh.

It will be really hard to rehome dogs of that age. It may also mean separating them.
When children come things do change but thats part of the responsibility of being a dog owner. Though it must be really hard with two little ones
Could you afford a dog walker to give you a break.

Try a kennel. Our mutt sleeps outside at night and when we're at work. It's not been winter since we've had him (we're in Oz) but anticipate hot water bottles and dog coat.

Before you ask - it does get cold in winter here, and LOTS of Aussies kennel their dogs all year round.

The dog is otherwise in the house whenever we are. No poos and pees.

Your DH is quite another matter - as my DH would say, he needs a toe up the hole. : o

THat should have been

you need to find someone like me in your area - I take dogs like yours for the day/afternoon/2 hour sessions in groups so they can bomb around an enclosed 7 acre paddock

it's mentally challenging and stimulating because of all the communication going on with the other dogs, not to mention tracking pheasants and deer and rabbits who leave tantalising scent all over the field, plus we work on recall and play games and so on - it's also (obviously) physically demanding, it really just gives them a chance to be dogs

have a google for dog daycare in your area - an hour's walk here and there will obviously be a bonus but you might be able to get them out from under your feet for much longer without it costing the earth

Yeah Molly always has been very skittish, Chyna on the other had is laid back and very easy come easy go.

They do have toys, but do not last long enough for me to rotate them lol. Molly chews them all up and leaves the bits all over. I once got her one of those indestructable balls and she would go no where near it cos she couldn't chew it.
They both have a Kong which I stuff with lots of tasty nibbles and it keeps them amused for ages.

When I am in the house the back door is open 80% of the time so yes thay have a lot of accses to outside, when the door is closed Chyna asks to go out but I usually pop them both out periodically anyway.

Molly I think is the biggest problem, she starts it and Chyna must think well I might as well now lol.

Gawd I can laugh about it now but I was fuming earlier on this week. I can't help but shout and scream when I end up falling in the mess. Most of the time though I just put them out and get on with cleaning up any mess. I do occasionally scream like a banshee at them, I know I shouldn't but I just get so god damn frustrated and angry at them.

I don't really want to get rid of them, it was all said in the heat of the moment, I was pissed off at the dogs and pissed off at DH for not taking any responsibility for them yet expecting me to do all walks, feeding and the majority of the cleaning up.

You are right about Molly though, she is very high energy and very intelligent and so so bloody skittish, I have never known a dog like her. She is so good with people and with DD she just satys out of the way (not that they get much time in the same room TBH) She is awful with other dogs other than Chyna, Molly pines for Chyna if they have to be separated for vets appointments ect.
Chyna is more laid back she is a staffy X JR cross and is so bloody placid, she is the sort of dog that would be happy to stay in all the time and would be happy to be out all the time, she just goes with the flow.

They have the bathroom (downstairs at the end of the kitchen), the kitchen and the dining room. The dining room and front living room are connected with an arch and we have an extra high room divider (has to be extra high as Molly jumps it, for Chyna it would be too much like hard work). When I go out they get the kitchen and bathroom.

MysteryMoniker, that sounds excellent, Molly would love that, Chyna would also but it sound slike a lot of work for her, she would rather find a sunny corner and sun bathe lol.