Need to get rid of dog !

[user68753367]

We bought a dog 8 months ago where we have tried to train him.... he doesn't listen he still nips and snaps and it's now getting to the point where he is jumping up and going for my toddler and you can hear his jaw snap ! It's scaring me as I can't leave them in the room together he does it to me and my bf he tries to bite his ankles and he's the master so it's in heard of isn't it ? He knows not to go on the couch yet still runs in covered in mud and going on there he's not allowed up stairs but as soon as back is turned he's up there.... we've always told him no and made sure he knows and he does get praised when he's good (which is never ) he chews everything up in site and will just take food of the side and out of my boys hand, I'm currently pregnant and it's getting me so anxious ! He goes on walks everyday so he's excersised a lot. He doesn't listen to me whatso ever and when I play with him he gets aggressive to the point it scares me. Any advice would be helpful ? No nastiness please I'm at by whits end

[teaforbreakfast]

If you're asking my opinion, I think she is right to be concerned but at the risk of repeating myself - she bought a breed bred for fighting, a breed specifically bred to have a strong bite - into her house with a toddler.

I think she now needs to have the responsibility to manage that situation.

[nooka]

This thread shows why so many rescue centres will not home to families with young children. The OP clearly didn't have the time or knowledge to bring up a puppy. It's hard and requires dedication, and if you get it wrong it can have nasty consequences. Training a puppy and a toddler at the same time isn't a task for the inexperienced.

I suspect that this dog is very confused. He seems to have been praised for playing with the toddler in the past, but now he is a wild teenager his play is just much too rough. We found it hard when our dog went through a similar stage and our children were frightened and hurt from time to time. But they were 8 and 9 and able to join in with training him out of it. For us it involved stopping ds playing with the dog on the floor completely for a few months as it was much much too exciting, and sticking a tough chew in the pups mouth every time he got that made gleam in his eye and opened up. Plus lots of time spent reinforcing all the things he did that we liked with lots of little treats, also involving both children.

OP get help from a behaviouralist (a good one that uses positive reinforcement only) if your dog is just an unruly teenager then it may well be that some relatively simple techniques and a lot of reinforcement will make things much much better. If there is a deeper problem then the behaviouralist can probably help with the rehoming too.

[Begadsandbyjingo]

I feel for you and frankly some responses to this thread would put most people off asking for help. I have had rescue dogs for years who between them have had a number of challenges and it is super difficult when you feel you aren't coping. I have also spent a fortune on training and therapy over the years. My advice would be to approach a staff specific rescue and ask for their advice - my experience is that people working in rescues are often very knowledgeable and will spare the time to talk to you. They are likely to know of good trainers local to you and could link you in with other owners for support. I also think it's nice to give a donation for any advice they give. I hope things work out for you and if you decide you can't keep him then please please please don't go through gumtree etc - again ask a rescue if they can help. Good luck!

[Mungobungo]

Puppies are bloody hard work!
I got my oldest dog when he was a year old and even then he was a total and utter nightmare. Taking him to puppy training was really the best thing we ever did. He's now a very sweet, plodding 11 year old and the love of my life, but it took a lot of work (and money) to help him become a socially acceptable creature and even now he has his monster moments. I had many moments where I say and cried and wondered why we'd done this to ourselves but the work was worth it eventually.

OP, I can see where others have been frustrated as there are so many stories about poorly bred and poorly trained dogs out there. My two dogs have had really quite shitty backgrounds which is heartbreaking as they're really lovely dogs once the behavioural issues were dealt with.

BUT you're not the first person to have been manipulated into taking a dog from a horrible place. The people who sold you this dog played right into your hands, making sure that you were emotionally invested by seeing what a shithole the dog was in. That's why awareness of dodgy breeders and puppy farms should be spread everywhere.

I think perhaps you may have been a little naïeve in your choice of dog and especially in the timing, given that your little one was so young however, we all do make mistakes and we only ever realise its a mistake when it's too late. They do say that hindsight is 20:20 - it just doesn't help us at the time.

You've obviously hit crisis poin today and this really is where you're balancing on a knife edge. Some tough decisions need to be made.

Firstly, you really do need to clam yourself a bit and consider carefully whether you're keeping this dog or not. Make that decision based on the best thing for all of you (dog included) and be brutally honest with yourself about whether you can cope with this dog or not.

And please do make that decision with the proviso that if you do keep him, you both will put in 100% time, effort and money into this dog. If you decide to rehome, do so with a reputable no-kill rescue centre.

From there, if you decide to keep him then find a decent trainer or behaviourist who comes with recommendations and work your arse off to train this boy.
You've tried to train him yourselves but as a team (you, dp and dog) you've not got it right yet. There is time to get it right, but you will need help.

If you decide to rehome, centres may not be able to take him immediately and you may have to wait for a space to become available in a foster home or kennels for him. In this situation, it's important for you to separate dc and dog as much as possible.

It sounds like the dog is doing normal mouthing puppy behaviour but unfortunately for your dc, it's just at his face height and that's not good at all. Saying No and eyeballing the dog isn't going to be enough to break this behaviour and you'll need expert help with this.

While waiting for rehoming you'll still need to meet the dogs needs, so lots of exercise, stimulation and a good diet. Neither training nor rehoming will be simple, easy or quick so do think carefully about your next steps but whatever you decide, do it for the best interests of the dog and your dc. If you can't commit to outside help and time and money in training (and ongoing frustrations of owning a pup) then maybe it is time to admit defeat and give the dog up for rehoming.

Dogs are a major commitment and if you, despite your best intentions, can't give that full commitment, then the dog isn't for you. Please think carefully about your next steps and do get some advice from local and national rescues such as dogs trust if you can. You sound like you need help but you're going to have to seek it out (and probably pay for it)

[Blackfellpony]

I feel for you, it's really hard but your going to have to step up and put the work in otherwise you'll be stuck with this forever.

I was in a similar situation. I was pregnant, had a huge dog and human aggressive German shepherd plus another dog and couldn't cope at all. I had been training but nothing worked. The dog was destructive, didn't listen, knocked people flying and scared people in the street every time I took him out.

Best thing I ever did was get a proper registered behaviourist. I was actually doing most things wrong and now they are corrected things are really improving.

It does sound more like an overexcited puppy than an aggressive dog but first things first you need to seperate him from the children. Teach him manners and get him house trained, it sounds like all of your attempts have confused him and to be honest they aren't the brightest of breeds to work with so it needs to be correct and consistent
Don't let him off lead until he comes back, if he was to get in trouble his breed will go against him then too as they always get blamed regardless.
Crates are not prisions. He should love it in there. He sounds bored and distressed and I think you need to crate train again from the beginning.
It's not so much about walks but exercising the brain, get him thinking and that will tire him out more than any running around!

I hope you can get something sorted but you sound like you need professional help before something worse happens.

[MrsPeelyWaly]

I'm absolutely disgusted at the way some of you are ripping apart this pregnant woman. No worse than playground bullies

Op, I'd call a behaviourist tomorrow for advice

I'd keep my money to spend on something else because all any behaviourist could advise is for the OP to ignore the bullies on the thread and hope they see a behaviourist soon.

[teaforbreakfast]

I think OP hid the thread.

That being said, I would bet my house that this dog will not see a behaviourist, a vet or a puppy training class.

It'll be on gumtree before the week is out.

[user68753367]

I haven't hidden the thread I've. Wen asleep ! And your very wrong to think the gumtree part !

[teaforbreakfast]

Good.

I'm very genuinely glad to hear both those things.

[user68753367]

I'm going to eat the full training with him and work with him so thanks for all the kind words my main priority is sorting this and my child to be able to enjoy our pet who is going to be around for years to come !

[teaforbreakfast]

That's great :)

Don't eat the training, though

Although many dogs would!

[user68753367]

Lol stupid phone

[user68753367]

Yeah my dog sure would give it a go haha

[UnbornMortificado]

User you sound a lot more positive this morning, I'm really pleased

[user68753367]

I have a lot to be positive for I'm working on our dog and my child makes me proud everyday so we are keeping it this way I'm not a giver uper and it's swimming day haha

[Wolfiefan]

Oh user that's a great update. It really is. We have just done a 6 week training course (still need work!! LOTS!) but I've seen a real difference.
And unborn!
She's 20 weeks today and 33.7kg so 74lbs!!!!

[insan1tyscartching]

You won't be the first to get frustrated with an adolescent dog, I remember looking at Eric and thinking I must have been mad to ever think I needed a dog in my life as he was a bolshy, disobedient nightmare for a while. But it got better and quicker than it takes for human teens to become bearable again anyway and now he's three he is mostly lovely most days. Of course he has his moments because he's a dog but nothing awful anymore.

[SparklingRaspberry]

Wow.

Poor, poor dog

[user68753367]

Yeah sparkling read the comments first hey !!!!!

[SparklingRaspberry]

User - I did thanks

[user68753367]

Well then when he's jumping in my child's face and snapping I'm bound to be angry when it's happened a few times once leaving a mark on his arm !

[SparklingRaspberry]

And I agree that isn't good at all.

But if you had trained him properly he would know that's not an okay thing to do.

You get back what you give

If you want a well behaved dog then you put in the time and effort to 'create' a well behaved dog.

If you don't, then you get a dog who doesn't understand it's boundaries and does what it wants.

[applesareredandgreen]

Hi OP I am also novice owner of an adolescent dog. I have an 8 month old JRT and sympathise they are hard work. I was expecting the first few weeks to be difficult ie with toilet training and biting but I hadn't realised that just when you think you've cracked it that they then go through their teenage years.

So, some things I've found useful regarding mental stimulation which stops a dog exhibiting poor behaviours due to boredom: maze-style feeding bowls take longer and use some brain power; puzzle games whereby you hide treats for the dog to find eg buster activity mat has different pocket-type things you can buy to add to the starter set to vary the game; a snuffle mat to scatter kibble or treats over and the dog has to sniff them out; treat ball which the dog has to roll to get his kibble or hard treats out of and of course the ubiquitous kongs - and these also come in different shapes, there is a bone shape one you can fill the end and a ball shape one.

Also practice 'stay' or 'leave it' throughout the day during games and feeding as you can see the dog really concentrating for when his game will begin again.

For calming your dog down you could try adaptil plug in or a thunder jacket or other kalm coat.

For when you want the dog to busy himself and be quiet, stuffed frozen kongs, filled bones or antler chew keep mine occupied, he particularly loves the antler.

All that said, there is no way I personally would be able to cope with a lively dog, two toddlers and a baby. The lively dog with a teenager is hard enough - and this is a teenager who does all the dog walks on the days I'm working! There is a lot said about a dog being for life, but if he is too much to cope with in your family (be honest) then re homing sooner rather than later would be best for all (IMO)

[misshappy88]

Thankyou apples for that post just what she needs to hear.... friendly helpful advice :) the others scared her when she needed them the most x

[sotiredbutworthit]

I'm sorry some people have been so horrible to you OP. You really don't deserve it and it's not helpful. I think you sound like a lovely caring person. I really hope some of the advice on here works for you. If you were in South Wales I would say we could meet for for a dog walk!! Xxxx