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

Apologies if it’s bad advice - I just said I’m about to try it! To be clear it’s not an electric shock collar or something horrible. It’s literally to give them a distraction by making a sound they look for instead. She said the dog non stop barks when she goes to the loo etc. I have no idea if they are any good and think it will depend on the dog whether they respond to it.

Even if they don't provide a shock, the collars you're describing are aversive and will likely cause more problems than they solve in the long run.

You’re giving the dog a negative experience to make it stop doing what it’s doing. He’s barking because he doesn’t want to be left alone - the answer is to take him with you until you can teach him it’s ok to be left, not to put a collar on him that will either play a loud noise at him or give him an unpleasant sensation if he barks.

if your dog barks at rabbits and foxes at night - restrict the access to the back door. Bring her up to bed with you. Just two things out of many you could try instead of resorting to that collar.

I’ve tried that @JasonOsCubanHeels ! Made ridiculous ’defences’ and barriers to try and stop her getting into the kitchen. Also completely covered the door so she can’t see, and we’ve tried putting 25kh weights behind the door. She is quite the Houdini!

She thinks her mission in life is to be a guard dog all night. Feel very guilty for all the neighbours as can’t be waking everyone else up every night and sometimes she goes completely nuts if she has seen a fox.

Going to give the collar a go to see if it works. Agree it might not be suitable for OP currently but she’s at the point of giving the dog back so just one thing a dog person recommended to me that I said I was trying! Sorry to hijack the thread.

Put a baby gate across the doorway. If it’s an open plan room get a room divider (you can get them in Argos). Or take her up to bed with you. I have actually experienced what your dog is doing, mine does it too. My dog barks at the back door at night time if we let him have the run of the house so we started shutting him in the bedroom with us at night and now he goes straight to sleep. In his case he’s anxious and any sound or movement in the garden starts him off.

at the end of the day it’s your dog and using the collar might stop her barking but she’s still going to be downstairs getting stressed and upset at whatever is in the garden whether she’s vocal about it or not

The issues you're having sound really similar to when I took on my rescue (at a similar age too). I tried everything with the house training, all the usual puppy stuff and what worked was what someone else said where I would pick him up mid wee/poo and run and chuck him outside 🤣 and lots of praise when he did go outside. With the crate training and mouthing I'd search around for a good trainer. Although they're common issues - the solution for both depends on why. Why is the dog barking in the crate, why does it mouth. For my dog the mouthing was triggered by excitement and frustration. The excitement was easier to deal with as if he started to become overly aroused I'd change to a more calming activity (an easy search for scattered treats is a good one - sniffing is really relaxing for them). The frustration was harder as he initially found any kind of training frustrating but I just really broke it down kept it highly rewarding and was careful to not push too far and slowly built it up. This won't necessarily be the same for your dog but an experienced trainer should be able to help. If you want any recommendations let me know the area you're in and if I know anyone who I'd recommend will let you know

Yes we are desperate for her to sleep in our bedroom but that’s the room she keeps escaping from! I think we basically need to get a lock on the door and lock us all in at night lol.

Thanks for your advice anyway!