I can’t cope with my dog anymore

[ItWasntMeantToBe]

I’ve namechanged as I expect that people will be unkind, but here goes.

We have a dachshund who will just not stop loudly barking unless we stay with him.
I feel like a prisoner to him. I struggle with even cleaning the house without him barking and disturbing the neighbours, because he doesn’t like the sound of the hoover, but also doesn’t like being alone. He also is not completely house trained so he pees on things. If he has spent time in the garden it gets worse because he then thinks he can pee where he likes when he comes back in. He has a strong prey drive and if he sees a cat or bird through the window he barks and then pees underneath the window to mark his territory. We have tried all of the training, but he’s a very stubborn dog. He’s 3, so I don’t think this is going to get any better.

Ive realised too late in the game that we are just not dog people. We grew up with pet dogs (not dachshunds), so thought we knew what we were doing and letting ourselves in for.
I don’t know what to do. My DC would be heartbroken to have him rehomed. We love him too, but it’s no life for any of us. He has even barked and snapped at us at times when we have needed to leave the room he is in.

I think in an ideal situation our dog needs someone who is retired without any young DC at home. He needs that level of time spent with him, without the chaos of children around him.

I know all of this makes us bad people, so I don’t need a pile-on. I’m very aware we have failed him. I just would like to know what would you do in our position?

We have a springer exactly like this. Scared of random people, ok with dogs, can't leave him home alone, barks at every noise.

We've made a lot of progress after identifying his stomach issues and changing his diet (he can't have rice, potato, chicken and lots more).

We also stopped putting him in stressful situations. For example we came home from holiday 4 days early because he was so stressed sleeping in a strange place.

He's 2 and neutered and he gets training every day. My dh is hopeless with being consistent so that's our biggest problem.

Dog isn't allowed toys indoors as he gets too hyper. He's not allowed bedding as he eats it. Shoes, socks etc are kept out of his reach. Half the garden is fenced off to stop him eating my plants.

Yes He's hard work. Especially when my family visit. But we have a house lead, a crate, and the more we do something the better he gets. We started locking him in his crate while we ate. After a couple of weeks he started going into his crate as soon as we got the cutlery out.

I hope you can take heart and start teaching your dog what is desired behaviour. You can teach them not to bark. But it needs to be a quiet shhh command or distraction. Shouting NO is just joining in. If you can anticipate the bark even better because then you can distract before he starts. Your aim is to stop him starting, not to stop him once he's going ( not going to be 100% because their hearing is better than ours) but even 10% reduction is a win.

I've lost count of how many times I've wanted rid of ours, still do at times, but with patience and consistency you can get there.

Ask your vet about a pain trial too, in case he's in pain and it's making him barky. Barking is one of the 5 ways dogs reduce stress ( barking, humping, chewing, licking and biting).

Do you use a house lead at all? I find those incredibly useful when teaching manners inside the house.

I would neuter him, males are pent up if not neutered - let’s face it, in all species.

The first thing a rescue will do is neuter him, they’re not going to be rehoming a dog who could breed.

I would give it a go.

@HappiestSleeping I’ve occasionally used his extendable outside lead (not extended!) in the house which inevitably makes him think we are going for a walk. I feel stupid saying it, but I didn’t know you could get ‘indoor leads’. I will get one.

@Penguins3 Thats a very good point that they would neuter him anyway. So it’s definitely worth a try if that’s the path he would go on anyway.

@SuddenlyOld Thank you for sharing about your Springer and things you’ve done to help him. It’s reassuring that some of it might be reversible.
It’s looking like neutering is going to be a good starting point.

I would second the indoor lead idea. I can't remember why we started this but we noticed our poodle was much quieter with a lead on indoors or in the garden, as in not barking at birds, aeroplanes flying past etc. Just one of his short light puppy leads. I think he knows he's not in charge of looking after us if he has his lead on so he's not on guard to warn off bird etc or other invaders to his territory 🙄. It definitely makes a difference although he's not a dachshund but another small breed.

I sent my boy for a week of residential training (he had several issues including frenzied barking, never settling down, resource guarding and general lack of manners despite formal training courses and daily training at home!) and he was becoming very difficult to enjoy having around. He has been utterly transformed by the residential training and he is MUCH happier, and I look forward to going home to him now!

If you can afford it and are willing to do the ongoing homework afterwards, I would 1000% recommend it.

You've not failed him. I have a daschund and recognise some of the traits you describe. My girl is now 5 and has calmed down somewhat but some days are very barky! She's also worse when my kids are here and she feels she has to protect them. Strange things make her bark - people who move slowly and not in a regular motion, people with big hats...pulling trolleys etc 🙄 it's a daschund thing!

I'd also recommend a behaviourist to visit your house - I'm sure they will be able to work out the triggers and put in place some positive ways of addressing his behaviour.

It isn't so much a specific indoor lead, but a lead without a handle on the end so it can be dragged around without catching on anything. Search for "dog drag lead". I have biothane leads which are easy to clean and can be used inside and outside.

They are handy as you can stand on them and / or grab them quickly to ensure you have your dog under control at all times. He needs to learn that listening to you is not negotiable, and the drag lead can help massively.

He’s snapping and you have children so he needs to go. I feel for your neighbours too!

I wouldn’t neuter him until you’ve seen someone about him, if it is anxiety neutering can make it worse.

The vet will only put him to sleep if you ask them to, they won’t just do it.

You have more than one second to reward. If he understands you marking the correct behaviour with a 'good' or 'yes' then you have a few seconds.

No. A dog snapping is giving a warning that they are not happy. Snapping does not equal going on to bite. Snapping actually shows that the dog has pretty good bite inhibition and just wants whatever they are snapping at to go away.
Snapping should be taken seriously because it means the dog is really unhappy.

Why is it seemed ok to not let dogs say no? We control every aspect of their lives but they are not robots! They need to be respected and be given some choice.

If a dog is snapping at you odds are you have missed a good few other signs your dog is giving you that they are stressed.

Yes, I know. I wasn't going to try and explain marking on here though. With utmost respect to the OP, I doubt he knows about it, so better to keep it simple.

Ah, OK. . Makes sense.

We have a lab who barked. We did training it didn't help.

We got a qualified, registered behaviourist and it was fantastic. Not cheap about £300.

She had us adapt stuff in the house. Change food . Change how we treat, command. It was worth every penny.

Hey,didn’t want to read and run. We have two dachshunds boy and girl . Both neutered once they reached two years ( and second season) . This helps considerably. However, they are both gobby adorable shites . One barks a lot of they hear a sound at home , the other when she’s out for a walk. What is helping at present is a plastic bottle of tiny stones . As soon as there’s an inappropriate bark ie at people on a walk,I rattle the bottle and say stop. It’s a distraction and I then make a lots of fuss on the small quiet time. Repeat. So far there’s a vast improvement but still a long way to go . Good luck 🐾