Wanting to send the rescue back

[AshlieChloie]

I just need to vent and no, I don't expect any sympathy, I knew what I was getting into. I'm just so over it. 8 month old terrier mix dog and he's actually really awful even if completely adorable. He pees where and whenever. Take him out every 15 mins and high praise and reward when he goes, all good but if he fancies going in between the 15 mins, he won't go to the door, nothing, just leg up and peeing wherever, some of it is marking, some is way too much pee to be.

Crying and barking non stop if I even remotely leave his side, need to pee myself? Better hurry up or he's going to bark and bark and bark. At night, it's the same, constant barking. The only saving grace is having a crate on the bed with me and he sleeps in there from midnight till about 5am.

Mouthing, biting, ripping my clothes off me. I'm literally sitting naked the whole time and then it's just constant biting of my hands until he gets bored.

I was told how he's young and clever and training won't be too hard but he's been here 4 weeks now and nothing is better

4 weeks is a very small amount of time. My sympathies - it must feel non-stop. Can you access any help or guidance?

Have you somewhere you can confine him
i gave my puppy half the kitchen the part with back door to garden
I used a baby Dan gate across half the kitchen .
pup went in there with bed food and toys and puppy pads ..I bought lots of different toys and plenty of things to chew on that taste good
if I was free to play gate was left open pup had run of kitchen..if I was busy or asleep ,gate shut .
pup had a nice lot of space and access to garden
she never weed anywhere in house knew to go outside,we also put a pet flap in back door ,so she could get in to garden at all hours .
no dogs allowed upstairs in our house
we also adopted a rescue at 18 months old ,and I followed the same for him ..much as I love my dogs ,I need time alone and no way would cope being bitten or having them in bed.
worked for us ..

That sounds really helpful, I wasn't sure if I was cruel to confine him now he's 8 months as I'm sure I see that being like a 10 week old puppy thing, but then that doesn't consider if you get your pup later!!

The rescue has been nice but they're small and independent and definitely overrun and full to the max and can just keep telling me to go with it and telling me how great he is...

Did the rescue make you aware he wasn’t house trained, has separation anxiety and bites? If not I’d be really annoyed and tempted to give him back tbh, sounds awful and not something you should be expected to anticipate

We've had quite a few rescues where we've felt like we've bitten off more than we could chew! Getting a dog who's probably gone through shitty stuff and is likely traumatised is always difficult; think 'rehabilitation' rather than 'rescue'. Ask around for a good trainer and get more input maybe, before you put him back in a place where he'll struggle even more. We've managed to persevere each time (although we definitely had several times we thought we'd be taking the little sh*t back!) and every time we've (finally) ended up with a super, loyal, well-behaved friend who we can feel proud of giving that chance to.

Consistency and firm rules/lines were the key for us, as every one had issues because they'd had no firm boundaries. Also being prepared to do things such as strip out our dining room/hall area so he could be safe and not destroy anything / definitely baby gates, pads down etc / plenty of stuff they could destroy that was only theirs (old blankets etc) / forget about your carpet and plan for a new one / and plenty of 'play' time. There are lots of videos out there that might be able to give you more ideas.

Good luck, I know it's hard but it can be so rewarding!

Seems like his previous owners might have had similar problems?

Our patterdale x was about 5 months old when we got him , he was completely untrained , house or otherwise , I’m not sure he had ever been in a house . We treated him like an 8 week old puppy , if you look at it like that it’s really not odd that your dog is still having accidents after 4 weeks .

He just sounds like an untrained puppy in an adolescent dogs' body.

If you're going to keep him, I think you need to completely readjust your expectations and treat him exactly like you would if he was eight weeks old.

we have a rescue and I was tempted to rehome her for probably a month or so. I took her to a one on one trainer and have never looked back!

He hadn't had previous owners to be fair. He was found wandering around on a puppy farm raid and never got a foster home due to there being none. They actually said considering this, he was a good dog and would just need some basic training. They said his toilet training is almost there and he's past his biting period. Neither being accurate. I think I might have to go back to real 8 week old puppy basics and sit with him in one room of the house continuously to focus on him in a smaller area. I can easily do it as we also have a room that leads nicely to outside! I suppose I felt mean giving him a small space and I think I assumed I wouldn't need to always watch him but think I really need to be looking at this like an 8 week old. He's suspected to be mainly patterdale!

I found being firm has really heloed

@AshlieChloie , with mine what eventually made him get toilet training was picking him up mid wee and running to the garden saying outdoors fairly loudly . Do persevere patterdales are so rewarding .

They said his toilet training is almost there and he's past his biting period. Neither being accurate.

It could well be accurate - it's incredibly common for dogs (especially young dogs) to regress when they're moved into new homes.

From the sounds of it, he's had an incredibly rough start - he's had no appropriate socialisation (the main window for this closes at 16 weeks), he's never lived in a home and has been moved from puppy farm to kennels to your house - all within a very short space of time. His head must be all over the place and he must be incredibly confused.

I've fostered dozens and dozens of dogs, of all ages and behaviours! Also had quite a few permanent dogs.

Three of those dogs (fosters) were much better off in a different environment and not with me - I knew within 24 hours.

What's your gut saying? It's a huge commitment taking on a rescue and it sounds like you're doing everything you can, I have nothing but sympathy!

If you want to persevere, there's great advice here. But if you feel you're out your depth, or not the right home, there's no shame whatsoever in saying so.

He's far too assertive, and you're unintentionally encouraging it.

Don't permit any biting of hand and clothes. Put your hand over his muzzle pushing down, firm but insistent, and say "NO" in a clear voice. Then disengage from him.. Don't reward that behaviour with your attention .

I have never let any of our dogs sleep on our bed , it sends a wrong message,
equal status. You are top dog and as junior pack member he's not allowed on your bed. Put his crate on the floor.

Dog training is  all about establishing a suitable routine for everything,  sticking to it,  endless patient repetition of  commands and  reinforcement of actions until he gets it.

If I put the crate on the floor, he will bark for HOURS

Don't permit any biting of hand and clothes. Put your hand over his muzzle pushing down, firm but insistent

Please do not do this OP. It's not the right way to deal with mouthing at all and if anything, will make it even more likely that you'll get a bite.

Is he properly crate trained or do you just use the crate because it prevents accidents?

It can take weeks to get a dog properly acclimatised to being happy in a crate.

I'm unsure how to go about the biting because I try to replace with a toy but then I'm literally just rewarding him, aren't I? He gets to play with me when he bites me...

I always used a toy to stop biting. Then, when he bit/mouthed the toy, I praised him and told him good boy. Any mouthing of skin was ignored and I just shoved a toy in his mouth.

Eventually he learnt that to get my attention, he needed to go and get his toy.

Start as if he were a new puppy, Steve Mann’s books are good. Have a read up on puppy blues too, you might be experiencing a bit of that?
They say it can take 3 months or so for a rescue to settle, it’s a huge change. For the biting we literally wore coats, wellies and gloves in the house at times to stop our rescue hurting us, when he nipped and got no reaction he did start to get bored and stop. Good luck op and hang on in there, try to remember all the reasons you fell in love with him in the first place.

OP you have a patterdale - you are a brave person

4 weeks is not long but if you are seeing no improvement it would be worth changing a few things.

Yes to keeping in a smaller area
I would have door gates so over time you can have him in his area but you can be the other side of the gate.

I would NOT use toys if he is biting you. He will already be over aroused and to add in adrenalin with a game will at this age make things go crazy.

Just step away the minute he does bite. If you are sitting stand up and ignore or remove yourself from him. When he pauses you can return to him.

Put treats on the floor and ask him to "go sniff" - if he starts to go a bit crazy and over threshold. You are not rewarding him for his behaviour just distracting him initially. Soon you will be able to say go sniff he will put nose to the floor and you can then put treats for him to find. The sniffing will chill him out and the crazy behaviour will pass quickly.

If he has been roaming around on the puppy farm he will have no idea at all of weeing and pooing. He would have been in a dirty area where there is wee and poo everywhere so even his natural instincts to keep his "own area" clean will have been disrupted.

So do take him out regularly. Calmly praise him when he wees in the right place. If he has gone out and not weed then take him back out again in just a few minutes. If he likes being outside do not bring him back in the minute he wees as to him that will mean I wee and I have to go back in. If he likes being outside wee and play with him outside.

If he hates being outside bring him in the minute he wees!

Do ask for help - some dogs can be really hard work and even experienced owners need advice.

I hope you see some progress soon

@2bazookas that’s awful advice. Pack theory and dominance have been debunked.
Make sure he has lots of stuff he can chew. Keep redirecting him to that. Maybe a longline in the house so you can hustle him out if he looks like he’s going to pee.

It sounds like you've got a classic neurotic Pitbull.

They also have a tendency to become aggressive at the 'magic' age of two.

With regards to not being allowed to be alone, are you actually being resource guarded?

Giving him a toy to bite instead of your hands is called re-direction.

It's not rewarding biting you! It's teaching him what is okay to bite and what is not.

Have you tried directing him to antlers or hooves?

Chewing literally calms a dog down, like magic.

You have to teach him, he's just a baby.