Help! Rescue dog tormenting our original dog.

[Allthegoodonesareg0ne]

We have had our incredibly tolerant lab since a puppy.
He loves having a friend to play with so in December we adopted an 8 month (estimated) old frug. The adoption team deemed the frug suitable to live with other dogs and observed a play session with our lab where they declared them as having similar play styles.
Well we are nearly 6 months in now and the frug is relentless.
He's super reactive to other dogs on walks, we can't walk him with our lab. He's super reactive to passing dogs.
We cannot leave the two unsupervised at all, the frug chases,nips and humps at our lab constantly.
We've had a number of 121 training sessions and constantly redirect the frug but it becoming totally unsustainable and really stressing our lab
I'm feeling that we might have to return the frug at this point - which breaks my heart.
Anything else we can try?

Should add frug came to us castrated. Our lab is 3.5 and is chemically castrated (we plan to castrate him but can't do that currently as he'd have no peace to recover)

I wouldn’t keep a dog that behaved like that towards my existing dog. No way in hell. I’m sorry but it’s not fair on your lab to have to live like this.

You need to return the rescue. It's really unfair on your dog

Well this is what I'm thinking too. We have given him time and training. I'm starting to think it's something neurological and I can't train it away. We keep them separate mostly, for the labs sake, but it's impractical to keep having to have them separate all the time .

It breaks my heart to say it, but after six months , you’ve given it time and tried to sort it, but it’s unfair on your dog, I’d sadly with a heavy heart make the decision to return it ❤️

The frug is a delight with people, so I'm also thinking he might be happier in a home where he is the singular dog.

He needs to go back to the rescue. Both Frenchies and Pugs can be difficult to train so I can only imagine what a mixture of the two must be like 😫

It's a full time job!

You re-home. Should have done it months ago - six months is far too long to give a dog that's attacking and harassing your resident dog tbh.

Take him back to the rescue centre and make it clear how unhappy you are that they lied to you - because they damn well knew what they were doing. This happens time and time again with rescues (particularly large, non-breed specific ones), they lie about a dogs personality to get them re-homed.

Your poor lab.

Thanks everyone. Your comments have really helped us frame our decision. We haven't wanted to give up on him but we know we can't keep subjecting our big softie to this.

Bearing in mind what you said about the Lab, I am surprised that an 8 month old "anything" would have been deemed a suitable rehome. Basically you have an unruly teenager still testing the world, and when it comes to "top dog" size doesn't always matter! In terms of what you are describing the original situation, I would have said you go younger (i.e. a puppy who will adapt to the circumstances - yes will still have a teenage stage, but will have grown up understanding their place in the family) or same age/older (as in one whose personality is well developed, so you can match personalites).

We trusted the advice of the rehoming Centre. We considered another puppy but felt we could offer something to a dog in need of rehoming and they were confident our home was a great match all round.
He's come a long way - he is now house trained and obedient to a point with us. He's very loving an affectionate with people but a total nightmare with other dogs - including ours.

I'm sorry the rescue has put you in this situation. They should have known he was reactive to other dogs at the very least.
You have tried to make it work and stuck it out for a lot longer than some people would have done. But realistically, you could have another ten years of living like this and that's no fun for any of you.
So as sad as it is, because I am sure your frug is lovely on his own, I would give him back to the rescue.

I would rehome.

Dogs are supposed to enrich your life not make it miserable!

Our pug has been an absolute breeze to train - he is so food orientated, he would literally do anything for food and is super easy to teach. Also, he's super calm at home and would rather snooze on the sofa than bother anyone (he's the same at our dog walkers' houses). I think it's the Frenchie in this mix that's causing difficulties.

Appalling rescue to rehome on the basis of one play date or even suggest a temporary home stay.

i would return the dog. I had to google what a frug is and it’s a poor mix of both breeds. Poor creature. It needs to be in a home with no other dogs by the sounds of it.

Yep, we feel really let down. The biggest issue is that according to all the training advice we have had he really needs a very slow and steady build up to socialising with other dogs. We practice rewarding him when he comes away from the lab and distracting him but I don't think it's even possible to build up his exposure to other dogs when he lives with one. Every step forward is two back. We are calling the rescue today to discuss and trying to prepare the kids but we are all heartbroken.

How did you get on with phoning the rescue centre ?

Is he friendly to other dogs he bothers?
I had a rescue with terrible fear aggression to other dogs outside. He was the perfect dog at home, but he would melt into the pavement in fear, then strike at a dog's throat. I could only walk him on country lanes where I had clear sight.

I had strained my pelvis, so found a dog walker who happened to have been a services dog handler. I explained his problem which didn't bother her.

In one afternoon he was cured. She had done this "flooding method" often used when a dog obsesses over something, such as a tennis ball. They give the dog dozens of balls, he gets totally confused, then disinterested. She did it with dogs.

She took my dog into a large group with other dog walker's dogs too, where he didn't know which one to attack, so didn't. He also saw that they, wouldn't attack him.

In your shoes, I'd send frug to playschool at least for one day, get some feedback on his behaviour there and see if you notice any difference when he comes home. He might find your Lab isn't so interesting after all and gives him some space.

I'm so glad that worked for yours. Our frug really couldn't mix with other dogs.

The only support they could offer was behavioural support over the phone - which we declined as we've had so much f2f support from trainers.
After running through the details they suggested we return him.
It'll be impossible to build up his tolerance to other dogs while he lives with one.
So he went there on Saturday. We are all heartbroken, except out lab who is clearly much happier

I think you did the right thing OP

Thank you. I think so too, he's just left a big gap. Hoping he goes to someone who can give him the home he needs and deserves

Ah sorry to hear that, but I think you’ve absolutely made the right decision.
i adore animals but sometimes it’s just not the right fit and hopefully he will go to a place that does suit him.
I want to say well done for taking on a rescue dog and clearly trying everything you could