My dog is causing more anxiety than my newborn!

[Imemimsmum]

I have a lab x collie (and think part German Shepard!- he a right mut! Bless him) he has been my baby for the past 6 years but he is incredibly hard work, very bonkers and jumpers up people, barks and snarls at strangers (we have to work really hard with him every time we have people round! Using positive reinforcement and proximity training), barks at what feels like fresh air when outside (i.e when we are entertaining guests) or barks at car doors, people walking past the house, postman etcwe have previously had him with children and he has been OK following "introduction"and keeping him behind a stair gate, we now have a newborn of our own and worked hard the last few months to train him to be more acceptable of people (again positive reinforcement and proximity training)- but we don't seem to be getting anywhere fast, seen some improvement but it's not consistent which makes me unpredictable!, we have given him baby scents etc now our little girl is home and he barks at her when she cries, I find it a lot of anxiety to be home alone with my newborn in case he jumps up at me when I have her and I worry in case he runs into the room while she is on her play mat (he only has one speed and it's fast!) - my husband has suggested rehoming him and this absolutely breaks my heart (I've always said a dog is family not just temporary) but now I'm finding it a possible solution to get me through my maternity leave with less anxiety!! - has any one got any advice or been in similar situations? Many thanks,

he can't be walked off lead due to the fact he is aggressive

He needs regular off-lead walks.

Until such time, he'll keep misbehaving.

Imemimsmum, what's your dog's name?

We don't take him off the lead due to his aggression and iv been told that the new laws could cause trouble for us as people could prosecute if they feel intimidated by a dog off the lead (whether there is a bite or contact or not!), I love my dog to bits and he does have a good life with us, ok we maybe don't get to exercise him as much as he maybe needs but there is lots of garden play and we have toys and hidden treats for him throughout the day! !i couldn't walk him with the baby in a sling as he pulls too much and I wouldn't feel like my baby would be safe if he suddenly jolts me!

A behaviouralist sounds like a good potential option particularly if people are finding success.

I don't want him stick behind a stair gate but the risk of him having free run of the house with a newborn and what could happen is not worth thinking about

We don't take him off the lead due to his aggression

This is a chicken and egg argument.

An experienced dog walker could put the dog in the car and take him for proper exercise.

A tired dog is a good dog.

To confuse things more my vet behaviourist actually told me not to walk my nervous aggressive dog at the start of our training plan as it was making him worse and stopping the training working as he was too anxious.

The theory is that he was very anxious and reactive and needed to be fully relaxed in order to learn. We literally did nothing to stress him for weeks other than some basic training and games at home.
Once he relaxed (and he didn't go insane!) we started to take him out and concentrated on positive experiences. Look up trigger stacking OP, for every 'scary' thing that your dog sees it winds him up a little more until eventually he looses it a bit like your dog does. Mine can cope with the odd dog here and there but too much sends him nuts.

For what it's worth my dog is fear aggressive, I could (and do!) walk him for miles, run, do agility whatever and he will still go absolutely nuts if someone tries to come into his space tired or not. It's a fear response and these dogs aren't being naughty and tiredness won't fix this. I'm not some sort of fluffy cuddly dog owner either- I have big strong dogs but the positive reinforcement training really does work. It could in theory work to help the dog around the baby too but it's not something I would mess about with without having the opinion of someone fully trained.

It makes a dog walker harder as you need someone who will follow your training, not mess it up which is very easily done and also will make sure everyone is safe. Mine wouldn't go with a walker as he is terrified of strangers and also because I wouldn't want the walker to do something that will set him back (overload him or push him too far and scare him mainly)

If I was you OP I wouldn't let him off either, it takes one chase or bark and he can be PTS for it and if he did bite someone you would feel terrible. There are secure fields and long lines for this purpose.

Obviously I'm not condoning never walking a dog but sometimes one shoe does not fit all.

Collies and German Shepherds need to run off lead. If your dog is boisterous and showing signs of aggression its because he is not exercised or stimulated enough. Why do you need to keep him on lead? Did you not train him the basics when he was a puppy?