New Dog Issues - any advice welcome.

[TooMuchJD]

Rehomed crossbreed pup from Dogs Trust at beginning of August. Was roughly 4-5 mths, size of a border collie & looks hound/GSD mix of some kind. Generally placid & lazy. Partner works full time & I work 2 days a week, term time only. Hav both had dogs before but not for some time. Initially all was good, me & DC x 3 off school so were able to build up time spent alone in house to around 4-5 hours over the first 4-5 wks, no chewing/destructive behaviour, no soiling in the house...great.
Went away 4 days, dog left at home with OH, this week he has destroyed the architrave around the kitchen door, leaping on the work tops, howling, throwing himself at the door, not every time he is left but most times, all recall training forgotten, getting bolshy with my youngest son (2), bullying and knocking him over, constantly harassing & pinning the cat. Pretty much ignores us when we're in the house but goes berserk if we leave.
Have no idea of his background, had only been in the kennels 3 days when we went to look. Wasn't well socialised with dogs& has no clue how to play with toys/us, will only puppy wrestle with us or chase & nip which means he can't be left to play with the DC as he gets to mouthy with them.
Any ideas????? Trying not to increase the anxiety levels by shouting at him, just being firm & consistent. Has Kong when he is left which he enjoys but still chews the shit out of any wood based item in the kitchen, is walked for a good two hours each day which had included running loose until the past 2 days when he has decided to leg it.

He is still incredibly young - and just going through the bolshy teenager phase. He's also (again, like a teenager) clumsy and knocking things over (including your DC) not because he is a bully but because he's growing quickly and is still developing his spatial awareness.

If he has both BC and GS in him, he is going to be smart as paint (in doggy terms, both these dogs are up in teh phd class) plus bags of stamina. Collies can also be surprisingly sensitive. I'd recommend you urgently seek out a local positive training class - look at the APDT website for a dog trainer near to you and start going along to classes. Classes will teach you how to communicate better with your dog, strengthen the bond between you immeasurably and help to channel all that lovely brain into some constructive paths. You'll probably find once he's a little bit older that he'd be brilliant at agility or flyball or RallyO - talk to your trainer about these once he's got a few classes under his belt.

The DC going back to school, plus your recent holiday will have upset his routine - again, it's important to remember that younger dogs do well with routines.

Till you've got your classes under your belt, go back to on lead walking with him and keep practising your recall at home in the garden. Keep treats on you at all times, and just call him at random times during the day. Every time he comes to you, keep making the biggest fuss imaginable.

Keep going with the Kong - lots of good things to chew will help him.

My friend runs a dog training school and we are hoping to start the puppy training classes in the next couple of weeks (childcare the issue as OH doesn't drive). I am quite firm with him but encourage him & praise him too. However, OH can be a bit "soft" with him which I feel is giving him mixed messages. Trying to make OH understands that as I spend the most time with him, its up to me to make the main decisions about what is and isn't acceptable (ie - not getting on the sofa, not jumping up all the time etc.) as I am the one having to deal with it.

As for knocking DS over, its not clumsiness he does it on purpose to be the dominant one, he pins him to the floor or in the corner and nips him if he tries to push him off. He will do this if we are in the room and I have had to physically pick the dog off him :( DS is very wary of him now but still like to feed him & be involved that way.

You are absolutely right about the need for all family members to be consistent. You and DH need to agree which things you will be consistent on - not fair on dog (or on you!) if your approach is being consistently undermined by other main adult in the house.

Pup is not trying to "dominate" your DS - ideas about pack status have now been completely discredited. This article explains.

I have read this article & agree that the whole pack thing is not necessarily the right way to approach the dog/owner/family relationship. However, our pup is treating my 2 yr old as another puppy and he tries to wrestle/nip/overwhelm (in lieu of dominate) and generally harass him all the time, he will chase him in the garden and grab hold of his sleeves or trousers, lie/sit on him if he's playing on the floor. He does the same with our more tolerant cat and he has tried it on with DD (4) by grabbing her by the wrist & hair. All episodes are dealt with calmly and consistently but it is gradually eroding the affection we initially had for the dog as family walks are a nightmare at times and they have to be separated in the garden which really upsets the pup as he wants to come and play but has to be kept on the lead if he does for the above reasons.........that's without the recent chewing issues (our house is rented so have to be careful about damage etc. even though it is social housing). I dread coming home if he has been left even if its just the 20 mins dropping DD at school. Have considered a crate but we have no where to put it as he is so large already any crate would have to be enormous & we simply do not have the space to accommodate it.

Trying really hard to remain positive about having a dog (resisted for the past 8 yrs but finally OH persuaded me that now would be the right time) but each new problem makes it harder & harder as it is me left literally holding the lead as OH can be working 10-12 hours a day during the week.

Do you literally have no where for a crate? We had to put ours on the upstairs landing and just squeeze past it but it was worth it (and only short term) because she really benefitted from a bit of time out, especially when she was being ridiculous with the dcs. Plus it obviously eliminated the chewing issue while we were out.

Personally I would start some basic clicker training, sit, leave it, wait etc as this was definitely the start of improvements for our (ridiculous) collie x puppy. Have you read the Gwen Bailey book? Lots of easy to implement and sensible ideas.

Agree that a crate would be an excellent idea.

Also, please remember (sorry if I am sounding like a stuck record) he is a very young dog, his behaviour is absolutely normal for a dog of this age, he is still teething (hence chewing) and he has only been with you a month. That is no time at all.

Clicker training is great (we do this with ours) but I'd still get yourself to a class - it really will help. If it's impossible, book a trainer to come to the house and work with you one to one. At this age, the sooner you start, the sooner you will see results and get into good habits, which is a hell of a lot easier to manage than undoing bad habits for the next fifteen years.

My friends classes start tonight, going to see if she has space (we work together so will ask her today).

A friend of the OH has offered to borrow us his crate as they no longer use it. Will see if we can't find somewhere for it but our house is really small (don't even hav a landing!) only have galley kitchen so space already an issue (cldn't get a high sided dog bed as wouldn't fit under the worktop in the kitchen).

I appreciate he is young & we've not had him long. Hoping the dogd trust behaviourist gets back to us today as the chewing when out is real anxiety related nit just normal puppy chewing. I had to pull splinters from his gums yesterday. Hoping we can persevere & correct the problem behaviour as its really distressing for the dog & have to think if ours is the right family environment for him as he is quite sensitive & needy & we are a hectic household as you can imagine with 2 DC under 5 & a stroppy teenager.

I am sure your family is the right place for him, most of all because you are trying to help him become a well adjusted, happy boy :) It always helped me to remember that just like with dcs it is just a phase and it will pass.

Hope the crate and the training works out, I think they'll both be a massive help :)

As scuttlebutt has said - BC and GS - both smart energetic working dogs. Can you think about channeling that mind power and energy into something like agility?

Also clicker training can be exhausting for them when they are young - just several slots a day of 5 - 10 min, people with collies have used this to train them to get a certian toy.

Also a stuffed kong, for while you are out, or one of those puzzle toys, where they have to work out how to get the treat out.

I think you need to try and give him a safe calm place to rest, but also offer him mental and physical stmulation so he is mentally and physically exhausted.