I need advice badly
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| Thu, 07-14-2011 - 9:46am |
My life is chaotic. I woke up today to find my laundry room infested with ants! Thousands for them! But that's neither here nor there . . .
As many of you know I have two dogs. My girl I got as a puppy and she is an awesome dog. She is well behaved and listens and is just perfect. The boy I adopted about a year and a half ago. The vet guesses he is about 5 now. I am his 4th home (no fault of his own . . . one owner was an elderly lady who didn't realize how big he would be, one moved and dropped him at the humane society and then the last family didn't anticipate how much work he would be).
He is smart and can be incredibly sweet and cuddly, is stubborn as heck (too smart for his own good) BUT he is becoming more and more agressive. I have spend thousands trying train this dog and its not working. He doesn't like children and lunges after them. When the neighbours son came to the door and I opened it, he lunged after him. He also went nuts when the neighbours kids were at the cottage.
He has bitten me twice (though not viciously) once when I went to pull him off the couch and once when I tried to keep him away from my other dogs food dish. Today he went after the neighbour dog.
Just writing this he sounds like a horrible dog, but he's not. Everyone who meets him loves him. I just don't know waht to do. My mom thinks that I should spend myself into the ground trying to train him or take him to the vet to see if something is wrong (she can think of every excuse in the book: raw food is making him do it, he doesn't have enough room to run, maybe he's too hot etc etc) but this has been going on since I got him.
I am really worried that he will go after a small child. For now it hasn't been an issue because I don't have kids and neither do my friends, but at some point it will be.
I don't know what to do. I don't want to spend anymore money on training. I mean it when I save i've spent thousands already!
What would you do?
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Oh Bex, I'm sorry to hear you're having a rough time. The ants you can deal with, with ant killer. Someone here will have done it and can likely recommend a good one.
As for the dog, I have to say that it sounds like he needs a different home. Some dogs just do not fit in our lives, as much as we love them and try to train them. They are animals and some animals just don't work in our homes. There are rescue organizations that will take them (usually breed-specific, my friend used one of these) and will know better how to handle them and get them to a home that is better suited to their personality and temperment.
Please don't beat yourself up about this, it doesn't make you a bad dog owner! You have to think about your other dog, and the people in your life (and yourself!) when you make this decision.
Not every dog has to like kids. So while that is a strike against him, it shouldn't be a deal breaker. When kids come around put him up some where, Food agression is something I've had problems with our younger dog. She was horrible around food, bit, growled, snarled. I finally got her mostly past that by giving her the bowl only after she sat and was completely calm. One wrong move from her and the bowl was picked back up. She finally (it took a while she isn't very smart) figured it out. She does fairly well now with that.
I would not spend any more money on the dog. It would be a waste of money. You can't make a dog do anything they don't want to do. The first time he ever bit a child though he would be gone. It isn't worth the risk. Law suits over dogs happen all the time.
Terro Ant Killer is the best. They have a web site but you can buy it at hardware stores. I had an ant problem in my kitchen a year ago in Feb. In Feb! I thought ants were more of a problem in the summer. I bought some of those ant hotel things from Raid & they basically did nothing. I sprayed but hated spraying in my kitchen around counter tops. Someone told me about the Terro stuff and it does really work. It's a bit higher than the Raid products, but I would have saved $ just buying it instead of messing with the other things.
I don't own a dog but I do like dogs. It does sound like maybe this dog isn't the right fit for your home. I know for me, it would be very difficult to give up a pet, but if you could find a better home for him, would that be an option? That might be less stressful in the long run than trying to train him for a lot longer. I have 2 cats and while one sometimes causes me some messes, they generally take care of themselves. Hope you get a resolution to these problems.
It was really hard on my SO, (the kennel is still up in the back yard), but we just simply didn't have the right kind of property or lifestyle.
Unfortunately, if he does bite a child he will probably be taken from you and well.....you know what happens.
There does come a point when the pocket book unfortunately does play a part in our decisions.
Good luck whatever you decide to do.
The dog is not going to change. I would not spend more money on it. You have to decide what you would like to do.
Hi Bex,
Norma
"Patience is the best remedy for every trouble"- Plautus