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

@ThisOldThang the OP said the dog is patterdale not a pit bull . Patterdales are nothing like pit bulls .

@ThisOldThang you need to read the thread again 🙈

this lad sounds like mine was at that age apart from the peeing everywhere.

I know it might sound like pandering bit what i found helpful is when I wanted to do stuff like go for a wee or literally go anywhere in the house, I realised his body language JUST BEFORE he's be impatient and start silly barking or nipping/herding.
THEN I started telling him, 'yes in a minute' just before he started the silliness and kept chatting to him what i was doing while he remained quiet/nkt biting and then he learnt I kind of knew what he wamted and to wait abit.

This is hard at first as he won't give you more than a split second to do this, bit rest assued he will learn some patiemce and you will gradually communicate better as you get to know each other more.

If mine is being overtired and can't regulate himself, I time out behind stairgate where he can see me getting on with tgungs/being boring until he quietens down aor has a sleep if needed and then i let him out again. Repeat as needed.

The peeing is the same really, ruling out any infection/issue, then you just have to get in there first and make 'wee wees' a really exciting thing to go outside to do before you take him out. Use a REALLY enthusiastic voice just BEFORE he goes and race out the door together. He'll follow you, have a wee outside and thrn just go yeeesss good boy. Make your voice sound like outside wees are the best thing since sliced bread and your intelligent terrier mix will be very happy with himself.

You have my sympathies and support OP!

Rule of 3.

After only 4 weeks, he’s likely only just starting to get his head around the fact that this may be his forever home and you will start to see behavioural issues beginning to surface as he starts to find his place in the home.

I would always encourage people to persevere. Two of our dogs have been rescues, including one from Cyprus who we had to re-teach any commands to in English. He took quite some time to settle in, but with consistency, became an amazing dog. Sadly, we lost him just before he turned 3 after only 2.5 years. Despite the hard first 6 months, the questioning if we had made a huge mistake, the frustration, the tears etc, I wouldn’t change a thing (other than wishing we’d been blessed with having him in our lives for much, much longer).

Have you contacted the rescue to see if they can help with training etc? It is in their interest to ensure any adoptions are successful, so many will give free advice/assistance or at least point you in the direction of reliable trainers.

All that said, if you genuinely don’t think you will be able to stick with it, then it may be best to return him to the rescue so he will get the chance to find the home that is perfect for him.

OP have a look at your local dogs trust - they do training for teenage dogs, very affordable and excellent trainers. It’s in their interest to help owners with their dogs.

We have a similar age rescue and their training has helped so much.

Our rescue dog ruined my life and my house for years. Peed everywhere,ripped down curtains, bit people,escaped, had fear agression, separation anxiety, regularly emptied the fridge and freezer despite child locks, the works. We were told by the place that we rescued him from that he had been returned from a family and we were led ro believe it was their fault (utter bullshit). Petplan covered dog psychologist help at the time and we used many hours of this. We were in position to continue to keep him and eventually we had a dog we could happily live with albeit with some huge lasting issues. Our next dog was a puppy at 8 weeks old. We could absolutely not go through it again.
You have my sympathies OP

FFS

Keeping him in the crate could be giving him anxiety. He’s also been caged for a lot of his life and will be suffering effects of that now

Sorry Op this sounds exhausting and quite overwhelming!

Are you doing puppy lessons/dog training classes? I know he’s not a tiny puppy but think 8m can still go. I found them useful for having access to someone with lots of advice and group support. Puppy classes are totally fine if there are accidents on the floor.

I found for toilet training saying the words ‘wee wees’ when outside helped. It does take a while but suddenly they get it. The puppy school said to just ignore accidents in the house.

Definitely agree with the suggestion of lots of animal skin chews, pigs ears etc (they are so gross but honestly a life saver when it comes to settling them).

I’ve just brought a collar on Amazon that beeps/vibrates when they bark for our westie as she keeps getting up in the night to bark at foxes/cats. My friend suggested it, thinks it distracts them as they start looking for the beep.

Think with chewing you, you are supposed to try and redirect their attention/distract them. Maybe having tv on/background noise when you are away. Again I’m not an expert here so I would definitely try and find a dog trainer to help!

This. My 11 month old terrier who we’ve had from 9 weeks and has A LOT of input is a handful at the moment but she’s an adolescent and it will pass.

You need to treat him like a tiny puppy and lower your expectation. Terriers struggle with impulse control so games like ‘it’s your choice’ and similar REALLY help.

Terriers are sensitive and very intelligent dogs. They respond wonderfully to reward based training. I’d recommend you find a good trainer who understands how dogs learn and get yourself some help. Expect it to take 6 months at least to begin to get better. My last dog was a rescue terrier hound we adopted at the same age as yours. She became a wonderful dog but they do need input.

We looked for a dog like yours for over 2 years before buying. They are fantastically rewarding if you put the work in but if you don’t feel you can then return him before he begins to settle in. It’s ok to say you can’t do it.

The OP said "8 month old terrier mix dog".

Where are you getting "patterdale" from?

Given it's a rescue dog, I wouldn't trust what the shelter say with regards to the breed. A lot of shelters lie about the breed (e.g. Labrador mix for dogs that are clearly 80+ pitbull type breeds) because they know that nobody wants to adopt potentially dangerous dogs.

OP said mostly Patterdale about 2 hours before you made your initial comment.

She's says Patterdale here.

That’s absolutely what you need to do, treat him like a little puppy.

One of mine I got at 5 months (a couple of years ago) he’d been kennelled in a rescue since 6 weeks, housetraining was easy enough because he’d had space and been looked after so bar a couple of accidents he very quickly got that outside was for toileting.... in every other way though, he was like an 8 week old puppy in a 5 month old body.

My other has been with us about 9 weeks, he’s 14 months and was being kept outside with other dogs, no shelter, no clean space at all... he had literally no concept of even trying to toilet somewhere in particular, he was just used to it being everywhere. He’d had no training at all, for anything - so even though he’s fully an adult dog it again has been like having a tiny puppy.

The difference is that they do get things quicker once it clicks for them, the older one was real chewy but it took about a month rather than the 6 months it can take with a puppy to convince him that only certain things are for chewing and that’s us just now starting to be able to leave room doors open, but again loads quicker than with an actual puppy.

The OP said "8 month old terrier mix dog". Where are you getting "patterdale" from?

From OP's updates.

Where are you getting "pitbull" from?

The dog's behaviour, 'terrier mix' and 'rescue' all scream 'pitbull type' dog.

This top dog stuff has been proven to be bollocks - this is bad, outdated advice

They really don't

They really do, but I can't be bothered to argue about it.

Good luck to the OP.

Personally, I'd get the dog DNA tested to check for Pitbull genes and take the necessary actions based upon the results. The last thing I'd want in my home is a ticking time bomb.

I’ve just brought a collar on Amazon that beeps/vibrates when they bark for our westie as she keeps getting up in the night to bark at foxes/cats. My friend suggested it, thinks it distracts them as they start looking for the beep.

this is also bad advice you don’t want to use aversive methods on a dog like this. You need to build his confidence up and he needs to trust you. Don’t tell him off for doing things you don’t like, praise him for doing things you do. If he bites you shove a soft fluffy toy or a dressing gown cord in his mouth - ignoring him will build frustration causing him to escalate.

never tell him off for weeing in the house it doesn’t make them stop doing it it just means they’ll do it when you aren’t around.

a lot of this behaviour should go away as he settles in and grows up but finding ways to distract him, kongs, snuffle mats, scatter feeding will all help when he’s getting too much.

if you have Facebook have a look on the “dog training advice and support” Facebook page. I was on the verge of sending my very similar sounding dog back and they saved my sanity. They have a premium group for more specialised advice if you need it for £20 a month. It’s run by qualified behaviourists.

OP has said quite clearly that it's a Patterdale terrier mix, not a pitbull.

It's very odd if you to fixate on that when OP has given you absolutely zero indication of it being a pitbull

Ha ha. My last dog was a rescue terrier mix. She was about as far from ‘type’ as you could get 😂

It’s just ordinary puppy behaviour. If you can’t cope with a puppy then return him, but don’t get another puppy because that’s what they’re all like. Get an adult dog.

Tbf if you adopt from a rescue all these things should be anticipated.

With house training i would take him out maybe every hour or so and watch him like a hawk the rest of the time. Catch him when he wees and bring him outside immediately.

With the biting i always redirect to a toy. If that doesnt help my dog has to go (off the couch, to her bed or whatever. First thing i trained was a command to send her to her bed and stay there.

Chuckling, as I this image runs through my head. "OUTDOORS!" 😂