Should I get a new dog after rehoming

[FizzyFranticMe]

Well and truly prepared to get flamed for this. A month ago we had to regime our 4 year old JRT as she started snapping and lunging. She started only doing this when being put into her crate at night, however, she soon started doing this at any chance she got sometimes without reason. We have a young dc so thought this was best.
However, we all miss having a dog in the house and are starting to think about getting a puppy that we can train around dc from the get go.
Is this too soon to get another dog?

2 issues.

Firstly, it‘S not unreasonable to rehome a dog if it becomes aggressive. better you rehome it than it end up biting your child.

However, once you rehome an animal you should never get another one. Dogs aren’t replaceable, you don’t just keep them until they don’t do what you want and then get rid of them and get a new one. If you had to get rid of a dog then dogs aren’t for you.

hours

I do not believe you tried hard enough unless you had multiple behaviourists, spent £1000s of pounds and had vets rule out pain/other issues.

Please confirm you did so?

You are not a suitable person to have another dog ever unless you did the above ^^

In fact I go further - if you did not do the above you should be actually prevented from getting another dog

Vet checks were done, bloods were done and £3000 was doesn’t on behaviourists. I don’t really know what else to tell you. We spent a year trying everything we could.

@FizzyFranticMe

The issue with the crate at night was we wouldn’t physically get it her in there but by going up the stairs and telling her she had to go into her crate would cause her to snap. And to be quite clear I do not think dogs are toys I spent hours on training to no avail. This was not an easy decision to make

Well that isn’t what you said in your first post, you wrote about “putting” her in the crate.

No, I think you should wait until your children are older.

honestly I've worked in shelters and the turnover of JRT is appalling. People get them thinking they're little and will be easy to train and won't need much exercise. they are incredibly high energy dogs and can get very aggressive. most of them got rehomed quickly but a few came back again for aggression reasons.

If you're going to get another dog then please please do your research on breeds etc that will be suitable for a family - JRTs are not!

How old are your DC as well? maybe wait til they are little bit older?

I wouldn't get a JRT. I'd wait, and do some research on what type of dog suits the family best. And train it. There are a lot of dog breed suitability questionnaires on the Internet, try a few and see what they suggest. But for now, wait quite a few months before starting the process again.

Jrt are a bad breed choice with children. But no. I wouldn't get another dog in your situation. Wait till your child is older. I'm waiting till mine are 6 or 7 so they understand about giving puppies space and they can help train etc.

I’m happy to see you clarified about getting behaviourists in! I still think it’s far too soon, it’s only been a month. It will be much easier if you wait until your children are older and match the breed a little bit better to your lifestyle. You need to get a dog that’s lower energy, they will all be little terrors when they’re younger but at least when they’re an adult you can keep up with them!

Similar to what others have said, we got a puppy thinking we could mold it into the perfect dog. Despite lots and lots of socialising and training, our dog is aggressive towards other dogs. Training a dog is alot harder than I thought.
Consider a rescue dog over a puppy, they won't let you have a dog that isn't suitable for your home.

I think I’d wait a while- at least another year.

We have a lovely lab but she has had to be supervised with put younger children the whole time- as a puppy she ‘nipped’ (a lot), mouthed and scratched as a tiny pup for several months. Then got big and strong and could easily knock over the smaller DC.

This would be v stressful after having a snappy dog.

Personally I don't think it's out of the question to get another dog. But research the breed that is best for you. Tbh terriers are risky with kids, people wrongly think small dogs are easy, they are not. Not all terriers are snappy with kids, but it's a risk, I grew up with terriers love them to bits, but would not get one now with young children. They take a lot of training and the nature of terriers is that they are stubborn, they are meant to be. Look for an easier breed, one that's easier to train and is known to be good around kids. The immediate one that springs to my mind is a lab, There's a reason they are the most popular breed! Once you have though of a breed then look for a breeder you trust and will help get the right puppy for you, the one the the best temperament for a family pet. By the time you have done all of this your 4 yr old May we'll be at school and assuming you have time during the week you can do lots of training with the puppy while no kids are around.

I grew up with dogs and adored all our dogs, but choose with care!

Don’t get another dog, especially a puppy. Don’t be that person

No you shouldn't.

I'm not going to flame you for re-homing - personally I think it's far better for people to admit they're struggling than to keep a dog in a home/environment where it's stressed and unwanted.

But JRT's are feisty little dogs and they need lots of training and careful handling. They might be small, but they're one of the toughest of all the terrier breeds and need a lot of input, stimulation and exercise. I really don't believe that they're family dogs, especially if there are young children involved. They're working dogs with a high prey drive and unfortunately they to tend towards aggression. Whether it's the breed or because so many are in unsuitable homes, I don't know.

I don't think you should never get another dog, but I do think you need to wait longer than a month, and think over what breed is the most suitable for your situation. Think about how much time you have, how much time you spend at home, how much exercise, stimulation and grooming they need.

In other words, get the breed to fit your circumstances - don't do what so many do which is get a dog they like the sound/look of, and try and make it fit their circumstances.

You're dammed either way on this site. Our dog was reactive and snappy, we have 1 dc who is 11 and I was flamed for keeping the dog and working with a behaviourist so take the criticisms on here with a massive pinch of salt. You'd have been flamed either way.

I'd definitely wait until your DC is 8 years plus. Best of luck.

AlternativePerspective

However, once you rehome an animal you should never get another one. Dogs aren’t replaceable, you don’t just keep them until they don’t do what you want and then get rid of them and get a new one. If you had to get rid of a dog then dogs aren’t for you

So a person has to rehome their dog because it's become aggressive towards children but according to you they can never have another pet? Ever? When the DC are adults and no longer live at home anymore? Still can't have one? I've heard it all now!!

It's the one month that bothers me OP.

If I knew you I would be asking you if it is guilt? Are you wanting a puppy to prove that you are good owners to yourself?

If not guilt then I would be asking why would you want to bring a bitey puppy who will then grow up into a stroppy teenager into a house that was recovering from a dog that had to be rehomed due to the behaviours you described.

If you had said you had waited a year or two and had realised that things were different in that your DC were older and any 'issues' could be managed then I think you would have got very different replies.

Get a goldfish. Maybe you'll keep one of those. 🙄

Taking what you say in that to the best of your ability you tried to make it work with your JRT but ultimately had to rehome for the safety of your young children...YANBU.

However as others have pointed out, with a puppy you are almost guaranteed to get nipping, snapping, chewing, jumping up etc while you train them and then likely a regression when they go through their teenage years. If this happened again what would you do differently that you didn't already try with your JRT? I'm not saying that I think you should never have a dog again, but personally I think if you were to get a puppy now when you still have the same set up (ie Young dc and a high likelihood of seeing biting behaviour) and you never got to the bottom of what was causing it with your last dog (there will have been a trigger every time even if not obvious) then I'd say YABVU and likely to end up in a similar position all over again. If you are that desperate to do it right then wait a year and reassess. I say that as someone who waited nearly 6 years to get a dog so I could ensure the set up was right for both us and a dog.

I wouldn’t get another dog at this stage. JRT and all other terriers are really hard to train as they were basically bred to hunter and kill other animals.
I’ve always had labs and have two old ones but I wouldn’t want a puppy with two little children, not fair on any of them.
I’ve also always had cats and a cat is much easier to look after if you’ve got a good sized garden, quiet roads and space for it to sleep etc in peace. Other pets I would consider with small children are chickens and guinea pigs. Both require a good deal of care but are easier to manage than a dog.
I currently have chickens and sheep both are easier than a dog

No way. You've already got rid of one dog, what happens if the next dog has issues?

@LaurieFairyCake

hours

I do not believe you tried hard enough unless you had multiple behaviourists, spent £1000s of pounds and had vets rule out pain/other issues.

Please confirm you did so?

You are not a suitable person to have another dog ever unless you did the above ^^

In fact I go further - if you did not do the above you should be actually prevented from getting another dog

This made me

I don't think OP needs to confirm anything with you.

OP - do you really want to take that chance again? Next dog might also be aggressive.

The majority of the time dogs snapping is the owners fault (not saying you mistreated it or anything) so you need to figure out what you did wrong before getting a new dog.
What if the same thing happens with the next dog? That would be 2 dogs rehomed with aggression issues.
I’d give it a couple of years so your circumstances change and then get one. In the meantime you could ask a rescue centre to walk their dogs as that’s a good way to find out about different dog breed and training strategies.

@toocold54

The majority of the time dogs snapping is the owners fault (not saying you mistreated it or anything) so you need to figure out what you did wrong before getting a new dog. What if the same thing happens with the next dog? That would be 2 dogs rehomed with aggression issues. I’d give it a couple of years so your circumstances change and then get one. In the meantime you could ask a rescue centre to walk their dogs as that’s a good way to find out about different dog breed and training strategies.

Not totally fair. If you have rehomed a dog your dog may well snap at triggers you don't fully know about as you don't know the dogs history. It won't be the owners fault.