My New Dog...Has to Go? :(
@LilyoftheThorns (12918)
United States
November 16, 2007 10:11am CST
Okay, this is a really complicated situation. I'll try to tell the whole story as fats as I can.
For the last Mothers Day I finally talked my dad into getting my mom a new dog for a gift. (We had lost 3 recently). The first one we brought home was a beautiful Great Pyrenese mix. We brought her home, but she couldn't stay :( She chased our cats and was WAY to rough for them. So we had to bring her back to the shelter :( We had her for 2 days...
When we brought her back to the shelter we saw another dog. It looked like one of the dogs we recently lost. So we adopted it. She was about 8 months. We've had her since Last Mothers Day. And know we might have to give her up. She is chewing holes in the wall, and has chewin her SECOND hole in our couch. *We hid the first cushion that had the hole in it so my dad wouldn't know.* Well, she chewed the 2nd hole in a new cushion. And we don't know what to do.
My mom says we might have to get rid of her. It will be awful if that happens. She is a good dog, just a little...trouble. With the right home she would be great. I think we have the right home for her, but we just aren't trainers who can get her to stop. And my mom just spent A LOT of money on this dog at a training thing, and it doesn't appear to have done much...
If we have to bring this dog back to the shelter, I'm going to want to look at more dogs. Our whole point in getting that FIRST dog, was to save a dog! And if we are sending another back, we better be taking another out! But I don't know if my parents will give it another try.
But I have a plan...I didn't get a choice in the dog that we got those last 2 times, I had wanted another dog but everyone else wanted the Great Pyrenese Mix. So, if we do have to bring this one back, I am going to make sure my dad understands that I should pick this dog. All the dogs evreybody else picked out aren't going os well (neither dog was a bad dog, but we couldn't have them.) So I think I should get a chance to pick our right dog. ESPECALLY since the WHOLE dog idea was mine.
Sorryy...venting. What you think?
2 people like this
6 responses
@Feona1962 (7526)
• United States
16 Nov 07
Hi Lily, this is a tough situation for sure..I agree with the above poster about a crate and all..I know at our humane society they are very strict about letting anyone adopt a dog for someone else..Even in the same family..They try to make sure to the best that they can that the dog is compatible with cats..I know sometimes they aren't even if they say they are..Another thing is that here they let you take the pet home for a trial period...They just want to make sure everyone is going to be happy...
I really do think the crate idea is great..when I found my boxer, she chewed on everything so I put her in a crate when we went away, and let her out when we got home...she didn't chew while we were there...It took a few months of the crate and now she roams free when we leave...Please give it a try before you take her back...
She may not like it at first but she will get used to it...Please don't give up on her...She needs you....
2 people like this
@LilyoftheThorns (12918)
• United States
18 Nov 07
She does sleep in a crate at night, but during the day when no one is with her she has to stay outside.
We had a problem with the dog we got before her. They didn't know how she acted around cats, and we have 7 of them. Turns out, she was not good with cats. She was way to rough with them and chased them. She scared 2 of our cats so bad that they now HATE our newest dog and it took them forever to even come near her.
1 person likes this
@blueunicorn (2401)
• United States
16 Nov 07
I'm sorry if this sounds harsh, but please don't bring any other dogs home if your family is not willing to do what it takes to make them a part of your lifestyle. Short of MAJOR issues such as aggression, when a family adopts a dog they should be making a committment to it. I'm sorry, I just feel very strongly about this. Dogs are not disposable just because they don't fit in to your lifesyle.
With that being said, I agree with the last poster that says your dog may be looking for more attention. The first thing I would do is get a crate for the dog. If you cannot be watching the dog for any reason it should go in the crate. When you are watching it, if it goes for anything to chew on give it something that it SHOULD be chewing on. Over time as he learns this behavior you can let him out of the crate because he will be trustworthy. Make sure he gets PLENTY of exercising and attention, as the last poster said. I would recommend reading some of the books by "The Dog Whisperer", Ceaser Milan.
Good luck!
1 person likes this
@LilyoftheThorns (12918)
• United States
18 Nov 07
I know this discussion may say otherwise, but my family is very dedicated to our animals. We have tried a lot to make this work for us. My mom spent A LOT of money to try and get this dog trained and to keep it happy. She spent so much that we aren't allowed to tell my dad how much! (lol). And this dog can get a little aggressive sometimes. She has gotten very rough with me a couple of times. She is very hard to calm down.
And she does get a good amount of attention. I can't see that as being the problem. She has a lot of toys to chew, and she does, but she still tears up blankets, pillows and our couch. She has a crate, but she only sleeps in that at night. Now she isn't allowed in the house when no one is in the room with her.
1 person likes this
@blueunicorn (2401)
• United States
18 Nov 07
It sounds like you have all the tools you need, but your family just isn't implementing them the way that would be most effective for a dog. By using the crate only at night and putting the dog outside during the day, it is confusing the dog. It doesn't know why you have put it out away from you. Wrestling around with the dog without it first having worked for affection through good behavior is confusing it, too. I urge you to read about pack behavior to understand the dog. I realize that your family has put a lot of money into the dog, but in my opinion just walking away from it isn't the answer. It's just going to be more confused for the next person who wants to adopt it.
@LilyoftheThorns (12918)
• United States
18 Nov 07
I think it would be worse for the dog to be kept in a small crate as opposed to having room to run outside. She's a pretty big dog so it is only big enough to keep her comfortable while sleeping. There wouldn't be room for water or anything in the crate for her, so it would be bad to keep her in it for long periods of time.
When I said wrestle around I just meant that I play with her and give her the needed attention. I just brought it up because you said she might be asking for attention, but she does get a good amount of attention.
I heard my mom talking to someone on the phone and she said "if we give Maggie back to the shelter she'll be put to sleep right away." I don't know why that it, but I do know now that we won't be giving her back to the shelter. My mom would never do that.
@StrawberryKisses (2833)
• Canada
17 Nov 07
Before giving the dog back you should try something called Shoo I use it to keep the cats and dogs around here out of my garbage and it keeps my animals out of my bedroom. They don't like the smell of it and if you spray it around the spot you don't want the dog to go he won't go there. Its an aerosol spray and you can get it in almost any grocery store. There is another one that I can't remember the name of and it does the same thing but it comes in a green and white spray bottle.
Just spray the stuff once every 2 days or whenever you notice teh dogs behaviour getting bad again and it will quit. This stuff is specific for training cats and dogs. I used it when I litter trained my cats as well. I just sprayed whatever area they went to the bathroom on and they never went there again it took about 3 or 4 days and they were litter trained. My cats don't scratch my couches anymore either because of the stuff that only took 3 days as well. So give it a shot first.
Good Luck and Hugs
1 person likes this
@StrawberryKisses (2833)
• Canada
18 Nov 07
Yea its something simple and not a lot of people would think of it.
@LilyoftheThorns (12918)
• United States
18 Nov 07
I think we used this product, or a product like it, to keep my cats from using the wall as a personal toilet! lol. I never thought to use it to keep her from chewing! Thanks!
1 person likes this
@Rozie37 (15499)
• Turkmenistan
17 Nov 07
My personal opinion is that you need to give up on the dogs and be happy with the cats, at least for a little while. You idea of a dog has caused your parents a significant amount of money and stress. The next dog could be better or worse, but I would wait a while.
@LilyoftheThorns (12918)
• United States
18 Nov 07
Oh, we've owned dogs my whole life. My family is very capable of owning dogs. It's just the last two we've tried to adopt have some problems. I can't help but feel if my dad had listened to me, and adopted the dog I had in mind, we would never have had this problem.
Believe me, it would be weird for us not to have a dog! :) hehe
1 person likes this
@grecychunny26 (9483)
• Philippines
17 Nov 07
I got sad when i read your post. I am a dog lover too and your situation is difficult. Can you just make the dog stay? Make a dog house and tied the dog there. If you have time you play with the dog but if you are not at home the dog must stay on its house. the biting thing is a dog's nature and we people can avoid it if we just tied the dog on the dog house.
@LilyoftheThorns (12918)
• United States
18 Nov 07
She does stay outside when no one is home with her. But she has to stay in our gated side yard. She isn't allowed to stay in our backyard because she digs up the grass. But we don't chain her up anywhere.
1 person likes this
@Peaches11283 (1)
• United States
17 Nov 07
There is no gaurantee that any dog is going to be a good dog, but there are breeds that make better house dogs and some that are better outside dogs. If dogs have alot of pent up energy, they tend to behave badly. Research and find a breed that suits your situation. This won't guarantee that the dog will be a well behaved dog, but it gives you a better chance of getting the kind of dog that you want.
1 person likes this
@LilyoftheThorns (12918)
• United States
18 Nov 07
Actually, while I was talking my dad into getting my mom a new dog, I did research some breeds. And I talked to my dad about them. The two we talked about were Akita's and Great Pyrennees'. And my dad liked both breeds and knew my mom would be happy with either.
But when the time acutally came to go get a dog, my brother talked my dad out of getting the one I wanted. We adopted the dog that my brother liked, which, of course upset me. The whole idea of getting my mom a dog had been mine, and then I didn't get a say in it at all. But that's how it always is in my family.
1 person likes this
