Please no judging but I'm seriously thinking of rehoming my dog as he's making life miserable

[Lovemusic33]

I have had my dog for 4 years, over the hat time I have posted on here quite a few times about his problems, been told to see behaviour specialists, been told to try different training techniques, been told to exercise him more, exercise him less, change his food etc...etc...

I have tried so hard, I have tried trying to solve one problem at a time but the problem just returns.

I can't have visitors to my house, he barks at everything, he jumps up at people, he knocks over children, he's hyperactive, no one wants to come to my house and I'm embarrassed when I have to invite people over. I have no control over him at all. He was trained as a pup and was well behaved until he hit 12 months old, I had him castrated which made no difference. If I try training with teats he just gets over excited, drawls everywhere, he's not interested in any other kind of reward (toys), anyone shows him the slightest bit of attention he goes hyper.

He whines all the time, wakes me up whining for breakfast, I have tried ignoring and holding back with his food but he will whine all day. If I stand up he jumps up, if I go to the kitchen he jumps up knocking things over on his way, if I brush my hair he whines (thinks he's going out), if I put my shoes on he goes crazy. The whining is driving me nuts.

He is a lab x collie and. Know he needs a lot of stimulation, he is walked twice a day, he runs with me when I go for a run, he has long walks off lead and sometimes we take a ball with us which he will retrieve 100 times, he has dog puzzles to keep his mind busy but again these send him hyper. I was told that he maybe over stimulated so for a time I cut his walks down but it made no difference, if anything he was worse.

He's fed a good quality dried dog food, we have tried various other diets but there was no change to his behaviour.

I am a single mum and it's effecting me and the kids, they can't have friends over because I can't risk him knocking them over and scratching them when he jumps up. He wakes us up in the night by barking at every little sound outside, no one wants to look after him when we go away and he's destroying the house by knocking things over when he's hyper.

He knows commands such as 'sit' and 'bed' but he does everything with such excitement, if I tell him to go to his bed the bed ends up flying across the room as he jumps onto it at such speed.

We have no dog classes near by and I am unable to take him anywhere by car. I can't afford any help from a behavioural specialist. I have followed advice from others, tried so many thing, it's taken up so much of my time and his behaviour is no better.

He's not my first dog, I have had 4 others and grew up with dogs, I have another dog who has he issues but nothing compared to him. I have never come across a dog like him, I'm not sure if it's nervous energy, he seems very on edge when I ask him to do anything but in a hyperactive way.

I know it sounds harsh but If someone offered him a nice home I would happily take them up on the offer and wouldn't feel sad to see him go at all . I don't know if anyone would want him, he requires a lot of work and I have tried so very hard with him, I feel he needs someone who knows what they are doing.

He is very loving and has never showed any aggression towards anyone or anything but he has scratched and bruised people by jumping up and being hyperactive.

[picklemepopcorn]

Veterini, OP has said she can't afford a behaviourist.

[Wolfiefan]

Sometimes proper advice for a trainer or behaviourist is part of the cost of having a dog. I would rather go without and get advice if it meant I could keep my dog.

[HuntingSquirrels]

I have a lively lab (chocolate) and had the same issues as you. She is older now and much better, but still prone to puppy madness. We switched from royal canin to orijen dog food which is working well for her. She also has a thunder vest when she is hyper stimulated and it really works.

[TheCrowFromBelow]

No advice on the hyper dog but Millie's Wolfheart solved my dog's awful wind problem.
Anything with wheat/hay sets him off.

[Lovemusic33]

Don't you think I would pay for proffetional help if I could afford it?

When I got him as a pup I was married and could afford vets bills and any extras, I payed for blood tests and extra vet visits. My husband then left me, I am a single parent to 2 disabled children, obviously if I have to make the choice between getting a behaviourist in and feeding my kids it's pretty obvious what I will chose.

Thank you everyone else for your kind advice, I have asked a few friends who have links to farming to ask around to see if there is a farm that would take him ( or course I will run a check first, I don't want him to just go anywhere ), in the meantime I will continue to try and train him to be calmer, I will continue exercising him and will try changing his diet again.

[Floralnomad]

I think if you really don't want to send him back to the original rescue you should find another rescue that will take him and get him rehomed . I don't think you should be trying to find him a home as he's obviously a dog with issues , and without being too rude , as you've had him from a puppy some of those issues must be down to his care / environment so you are probably not best placed to assess what he needs.

[Wolfiefan]

He sounds bored and frustrated but also untrained. If you really can't afford any help at all then I suppose he will have to be rehomed.
BUT there are loads of dogs in rescue without these issues. You may struggle to find a new home.
Can't ex help out with money?

[Lovemusic33]

Bored? He has a lot of walks, we do a lot of retrieving activities, he's not shut in for hours and gets a lot of attention, he has my other dog to play with and he has snacks which I hide and he has to find, he has a better life than most dogs .

I know there are a lot of dogs in rescues without his issues and that does worry me, I don't want him going back into a rescue because he would hate it, he follows me around everywhere and obviously I care about him.

I have contacted the rescue many times asking for help and advice and all I get told is 'he will calm down' and I get advised to feed him a raw diet (which I can't).

I know some of his behaviours are probably my fault but I have followed advice that I have been given, started training from the day I got him. He was very poorly after I got him and was unable to go out due to not knowing what was causing his problems, he had a seizure too as a pup and spent a lot of time at the vets for the first year of his life. I have tried very hard I really have.

Why would my ex want to pay me money to help? He pays what he can for the children which isn't a huge amount. The dogs not his problem.

[MsGameandWatch]

You sound at the end of your rope OP. My sister has a dog like you describe, so much so I would have thought it was her posting, right down to the illness in his early years. He too was trained and well behaved until that illness. He life is completely dominated by her dog, can never go away as no one will have him, visitors avoiding coming round, everyone wary of him. They've seen numerous behaviourists, nothing works, one of them said that he enjoys being the way he is, he feels rewarded by it and those are the hardest to train, often impossible. She will never give up on him BUT she is not a single parent and does not have two disabled children and there's plenty of money for his care. I see the veiled criticism has started on the thread but having seen my sisters dog in action over the years and how her life is totally dictated by him I think you owe it to yourself and to him to rehome. All of you will be happier with him elsewhere. You've done your best

[Lovemusic33]

Thank you Mrs if I had the money and time to dedicate to him I would, if I had a bigger house where I could put him somewhere when people wanted to visit it would solve a part of the problem, sadly I don't have these things.

He was poorly for the first 6 months of his life, mainly with stomach problems, I was unable to take him out as I could not risk him pooping everywhere (he had the runs all the time), he spent a few days at the vets as they suspected parvovirus to begin with then he was diagnosed with colitis and allergies, it took almost a year to find a dog food that wouldn't go straight through him, this kind of messed up those important first months where he should have been socialising and learning. Before he got really poorly we were doing clicker training and he picked up on it really fast but then he got more and more hyper and food became an issue (where he was so underweight from being poorly he was hungry all the time and food would send him crazy, still does). To be fair he is a lovely dog and has never shown aggression, he's good with other dogs but gets so excited when we see people out walking, he pulls me over, not to get to other dogs, he wants to get to people (wants to lick them to death). He's fine with my children but if anyone comes to the house he just goes crazy. I send him to his bed which he does as soon as I ask him but he won't stay there, so I'm constantly sending him back and he gets more and more wound up to the point he can't stay still or sit and he's whimpering and sometimes barking. He does calm down but it takes half an hour (sometimes more), it just makes it stressful having anyone over and people tend not to visit, this obviously makes him worse because on the rare occasion that someone does come over he is so pleased to see a new face that he can't control himself at all.

Food and feeding times have been a huge issue since him being ill. He is here now whining, and this started over an hour and a half ago, it's the same every day, he doesn't have his dinner until 5.30 or 6pm but he will start whining 2 hours before, I have followed advice to ignore him and not to give in to him, this has been going on for years and despite me not giving in he still sits here whining. In the past I have tried feeding him smaller meals more often but this resaulted in him whining even more (4 times a day instead of twice), I have tried waiting for him to stop whining but he didn't stop and then if I feed him too late he is sick.

I walk him quite far, he runs with me off lead, luckily I can run through fields and we rarely see anyone, he has a good recall and never goes more than a few metres from me (unless he spots someone but I can usually get him to come back before he reaches them). He has plenty of exercise and has access to a big garden.

I really don't know what I have done wrong with him and I do need help with him or I can't keep him. Some days he takes up so much of my time and energy that I just don't enjoy him being here. I want my children to be able to have friends over, I want my family to visit me with their children, I want to be able to have a BBQ without having to control the dog.

[mousymary]

I do sympathise. My dog was a complete handful when he was younger. He still has his bonkers moments.

Like other posters, I am usually when people want to give up on dogs, because it's usually that they just can't be bothered to put in the hard work, and think that a dog comes "ready trained". But in your case you really seem to have tried but you have been landed with a hyperactive dog. Is there a specific collie rehoming place? They would understand that collies are a ball of energy and hopefully would find an appropriate home. It definitely sounds as if he needs the farm life!

Good luck.

[picklemepopcorn]

I do prey model raw, which I know you don't want to do because of your DS. Have you seen the pre prepared raw nuggets, though? We get them when we go away sometimes, for convenience. They might suit you, as the dog eats them quite quickly in comparison to actual meat. It may help his hyperactivity.

That's just an option, not to pressure you. I do hope you find a suitable home, where you won't have to worry.

[applesareredandgreen]

Have you tried a thunder coat to help calm him when you have visitors? We have one and it just takes the edge off his excitement so he approaches people with licks and a waggy tail rather than barking and jumping up.

[Lovemusic33]

Thank you.

I haven't tried a thunder coat, it might be something that helps so I will look into it.

My vets sell the raw nugget food but I don't have a big freezer to store it in. Does it work out expensive? He has always been on dry food because anything else he eats too fast and is sick (vet said she had never seen a dog eat like him), I chuck his dry food outside to slow him down. My other dog eats wet food as she turns her nose up at dry, she costs me more to feed than he does and she's half his size.

[Veterinari]

I do sympathise OP but it wasn't clear from you OP what you had actually done, and what were just previous suggestions.

I think trying lots of random things is false economy. The money you might spend on thunder shirts, DAP collars or the multiple different types of food suggested on this thread would likely be better saved up and spent on a single behaviour consult or plan. Yes it is expensive - usually around £150 but if you have insurance then most decent plans will cover a behaviour consult, and if not then it probably the price of a thunder shirt and a couple of sacks of food.

As you can see from the variety of advice given here, you're unlikely to get a coherent plan and it sounds like you need professional behaviour support to rebuild your relationship with him as much as to sort out his behaviour.

[Eightlegstwotails]

OP this dog is clearly making you very unhappy, I'm very impressed with how much effort and time you've put into him but being unhappy with you dog is not what owning a dog is all about. As sad as it is I'm sure rehiring him is the best thing for you and your DC's which ultimately is the most important thing.
I pretty sure most sensible dog owners would agree.

[Eightlegstwotails]

Rehoming not rehiring!!!

[Sostenueto]

He would make a great obstacle course dog. He's half collie so he's intelligent and he should be a working dog. Find the nearest club to you that do training for it and flyball too. Think that will help a bit.

[Sostenueto]

I mean t agility course or obedience.

[BenjaminLinus]

He sounds similar to our collie cross (with springer, so not a calm dog!). When the kids are at school he pretty much sits at/on my feet during the day, waits on the bottom stair when I'm upstairs etc etc, and constantly has toys to carry. I think he'd be unmanageable as a house dog, but we're on a farm so he gets enough exercise/stimulation most days.
He has a mat in every room which is his safe place and gives him something to do if he's being a pest when people are here.

[Silverdream]

The try this and that is useless advice in this case. It's actually cruel to keep a dog just because you picked him when he's in the wrong environment. He is stressed and causing stress which is no good to anyone.
He needs a new home as soon as possible so he can enjoy his new life and be happier.

[mylaptopismylapdog]

Sounds like you have tried really hard with him, but he is not allowing you all to have the life you want for yourself and your children. You have
done your best so don't feel bad, and enjoy more social freedom for your family.

[SouthPole]

Can you advertise in your
Local Countrywide shop or equestrian/agricultural feed/stuff shop?

I always read the boards when I'm in one (lusting after ponies !!).

It sounds like you're a good owner but this is over. Now we must plan his exit. I feel for you and him.

[Veterinari]

I think you need to be realistic - there are not loads of wonderful 'farms' queuing up for untrained middle aged collies with behaviour problems. It's naive for pp to suggest that this is a likely rehoming option.

If you really need to move him on then contact border collie rescue who will offer advice/support until a home can be found.

[TheoriginalLEM]

im not sure this dog has "issues" just that he is not a suitable match for the Op. It actually sounds like he needs to be working. Whether he is trainable is another thing but i would hope there might be someobe who could offer this dog what he needs. I think the Blue Cross scheme sounds fantastic so definitely give that a go.