Dog after pts previous for behaviour

[Mankymonkey]

Some weeks ago we had to pts our beautiful young dog for constant biting of family members including myself. I absolutely adored him nonetheless, believe it or not. I'm still grieving him. Although I knew it was the right thing to do. I still have a dog shaped hole in my life and would one day hope to have another dog.

Has anyone else experience of this? How did it go?

I think you would be best off to find a mature rescue dog with a proven history of good behaviour and ensure you are offering a good home to a dog who might otherwise not get one. This would be far less stressful for you than starting again with another puppy. There are plenty of this type of dog about, often victims of divorce or non dog friendly landlords.
If, sadly, it has to be a pedigree puppy for you I have never heard of anyone having any problems with a Border Terrier. As a dog owner of 30 years standing, on our 5th now, the two with the nicest temperaments have both been Staffies.

Bless you OP

It's clear you did everything you could. Some people may not believe dogs can be wired wrong but I do.

I worked in a rescue kennels and out of all the dogs we had come in, only two were not right.

One was pts after he tried to attack his new owner.

The other should have been but the rescue owner's husband wouldn't let her. Honestly the life he lived? PTS would have been a kindness

His name was Dougal and he was a bearded collie. He had been rehomed and brought back twice. He had terrible resource guarding. Would grab objects and refuse to let them go. Would try and bite if you tried to move him. He would stand in door ways and would let you pass.

When he came back to kennels, he would come out of the kennel happy as Larry but would refuse to go back in. If you made the mistake of going into his kennel to feed him, good luck getting back out. Wasn't possible

When I left, the husband had set up a pen behind the house and poor Dougal was supposed to be confined in there. We was told to do nothing with him. The husband would sort it. Poor dog. Being PTS wouldn't have been the worse thing

Avoid poodles where possible.

They tend to be one person dogs and can be snappy with others. Not all of them but some

Schnauzers are lovely. My boss had two and they were quite laid back

Bichons are ok but again a lot of maintenance with their coat

Terriers in general are balls of energy so be aware they can be high maintenance

Thank you. All food for thought.

I've known a couple of miniature schnauzers and a few bichon frise
The Bichons were babied so it is difficult to know what aspects of their (bad) behavior were down to that, but they also had health issues, especially with their eyes

My best friend has a miniature schnauzer, which due to my friend's illness, I've ended up looking after for prolonged periods since she was 16 weeks old.
I'm not a fan. She is possessive and has separation anxiety and is strong willed which hasn't made training easy. The separation anxiety has been difficult to manage, because when I've been walking her, she has tried to bolt in the direction of home a few times. I won't have her off the lead now, which stresses her out when walking with my dogs.

They are smart dogs, but will run rings around an inexperienced owner, or one looking for an easy life.

Is the 'cute' factor a big part of the decision for you?

If you want a lazy chilled back dog, who is happy to be walked but will sleep the rest of the day, I agree with the poster who said Staffie.

They are ultimate couch potatoes

OP without knowing tour your list of requirements are it's really hard to say if a dog would suit you. Are you looking for a lively dog to go jogging with? Or something to cuddle on the sofa with? Intelligent dogs are easy to train, but if you don't train them they teach themselves.

What's on your wish list?

Maybe going against the grain here, but I think some dogs are wired wrong. I have one, brought up and trained exactly the same as his brother, totally different way of thinking/reacting.

I echo the pp who said get an adult, at least it's a known quantity.

I mentioned these breeds because they came up on results for me on various dog selector quiz things but threw in fox terrier because my mum had one as a girl and she said was lovely so I was interested.

My two main criteria are size and friendliness to strangers. But also exercise quantity (at least an hour a day) and trainabilty. I believe training is a continuous process. Not bothered about cuteness. Not so keen on staffies as had friend who had one who was worryingly powerful.

All the border terrier i have known fit your bill.

The trouble with dogs that are naturally very friendly towards everybody is that they often can't cope being alone, so separation anxiety can be a problem.

I love pugs and dachshunds but sadly I don't think they'd fit your exercise requirements!

Border terrier. Interesting, I think they've been ruled out on my searches as a bit tiny. But maybe I should rethink.

There are a lot of these search quizzes that come up with slightly different results with slightly different questions. I've tried to amalgamate results.

Border terriers are sweet

Biddable, quick learners and happy little dogs

They are still a terrier though so that chasing instinct will be prime

The friendly towards everyone is probably down to me trying go the other way from my previous dog.

Something about a little terrier (loving walks) does appeal but I wondered if I'm not experienced enough to cope. My previous dog liked to chase birds etc. Never succeeded and had very good recall. But am I being naive about terriers?

Not naive. Terriers can be hard work

I had a jrt. And he was incredibly stubborn. But I loved him to bits. He was a real special case. An ex-rescue who never learned to toilet train. Was put to sleep 3 years ago with dementia and cancer and I miss him like crazy.

Had two chihuahuas afterwards and handbag dogs they ain't. They LOVE being walked and quite happily romped on the river bank for at least an hour. Very friendly, lap dogs, didn't chase anything as everything was bigger than them but they did have a bit of big dog syndrome where they barked at every dog they saw

I'm definitely still at the thinking stage so all this is very useful info. Thanks.
What I miss most about having a dog (as opposed to my dog, which is much more complex) is the day to day interaction.

The thing is, any breed can be aggressive in the wrong circumstances. You could get a lab puppy and end up in the same boat. Breed characteristics really are just a guide. I don't envy you starting your breed search from scratch!

Can you get to some fetes etc over the summer, the sort that have fun dog shows, and start mixing with lots of different dogs?

Yes I go along with all that Diamond. Many of my friends have dogs btw.

I think in your shoes I would look for an adult rescue who has been really well assessed, probably in foster. I wouldn't worry too much about breed. Plus if you get an adult dog you can exercise straight away, unlike a puppy where you'll have to build up to it.

Hi, I wouldn't go anywhere near a wire haired fox terrier as that was what we had the terrible experience with.
Although I know some other people who've had them more happily, there were a huge number of people we met when we got him who would ask in a certain kind of way "so, why did you get a fox terrier?", they are definitely a dog for an experienced and firm owner, mine broke my heart and I would absolutely hate for anyone to go through what we did.
Me personally, I've gone so far as to say I'll never have any kind of terrier, I think I'm just not authoritative enough.

Miniature poodles are fantastic..I have 3 .Lively,natural clowns,family orientated,easy to train........not snappy at all.......needaclevernn..not sure where you got your info from...!
And I have had poodles for 46 years !

Poodles of any size are, in my experience, super friendly and very clever dogs.
Whippets are smallish, and very nice too.
I'd recommend golden retrievers, but perhaps too big for you?
Staffs are fab too.
From what you've said about your last dog, I was assuming the Rage. Don't think it always manifests in occasional mad bursts of anger and an otherwise great dog - from what I understand, it also sometimes leads to general unhappiness and aggression problems. And there is no way, for a dog with this, going forwards. Thank God it is becoming less prevalent, as breeders and buyers become more aware.
You sound like you did the very best you could and thus have no reason to feel guilty at all.

Of course the best breed (in my opinion) is the working cocker. They are quite different from show cockers, and don't (afaik) have the Rage strain. They are gentle, optimistic and loyal, a bit like a retriever. The one caveat is the amount of walking needed - significant, to avoid ending up with an over weight, naughty ( though still essentially charming) dog, with a bunch of health probs.

Of course all dogs need walks to thrive, mentally and physically. But these need more than most, IMHO. Great dogs, though!

Another vote for border terrier here. We have them (have/had 5 now) and they are just brilliant dogs, very friendly, active, quite intelligent and usually biddable. Ours can be a bit yappy with other dogs but I would say that is the only downside. Some are pretty small but ours are not - they weigh 9/10kgs and have longer legs. Ddog1 used to go running with DH for an hour then come home and bring her lead for a walk! I would say from our experience though that the bitches are far easier to train and to live with than the dogs.
Good luck OP - you sound like a great dog owner.