i have to get rid of my dog :(

[moschops]

i started the thread about getting my dog used to my kitten but tonight we have had to make the hard decision to re-home our dog.

i've done nothing but cry for about the last hour, i feel so guilty

my in-laws have said they are happy to take him in, they only live ten minutes away and he spends a lot of time there anyway.

sorry i just needed to get this off my chest. dp is absolutely gutted as he feeds/walks/plays with the dog most and we both feel like failures.
however after ten years we have to accept certain behaviour from our dog cannot be changed and with the baby arriving in sept we need to make an active decision now.

i can't type anymore, it's too upsetting

[darlingbud]

oh so sorry you have made that decision. a least youwill still see him at your in-laws.

[QueenEagle]

moschops - what a wrench it will be to rehome your dog. It's some consolation though that you will still be able to see him though. My dog had to be rehomed after she attempted to bite a couple of people and it was deemed too dangerous to keep her as I was fostering little babies at the time. She wasn't a nasty dog, just very nervous around certain people. She was rehomed by RATS and although we were promised a progress report and pictures of her, we have never seen her again.

[Chandra]

Moschops, I have seen your previous dog/kitten adjustment thread and I'm sad you have got to this position, the good point is that you still can see your dog and even you can retake him if you feel like trying in the future.

We have two dogs and one of them is a rescued dog, she came with lots of problems (the thing was the tasmanian devil when we got her), and she is very afraid of children to the point of shaking even when she could hear them on the street, and never allowed a child near to her without lots of growing and if we weren't careful a snap. Anyways, when we learn we were pregnant we decided to ring a trainer to see what we can do as I didn't want to get rid of her. I have posted her intructions in other thread and all worked beautifully to the point that DS's first word was her name, and she is lovely and very patient to him. It was a bit of work that needs to be started a couple of months before the arrival of he baby but is well worth it, specially if your dog has been with you for a long time. Don't be afraid for what has happened with the cat, dogs are instinctively driven by squeaky things and if he has never been near a cat before is only natural that he acts like that, and as I said in the other thread, they don't act the same towards babies provided you let them know the peking order of the house.

I will try to find the thread, bare with me a second..

[Chandra]

here

[jjash]

excuse me for butting in but Chandra - read that thread and wanted to ask how you get dog to tolerate a toddler ? Have just took on a rescue poodle who is very placid but wary of dd[2.8 months] who just thinks he is a teddy bear .Am teaching her to be gentle but what do i need to teach the dog!! Any ideas?

[Chandra]

he key to good behaviour is to keep a very clear pecking order, the dog never should see itself as better or more powerful that a human in the household according to the dog the bed is the throne so who gets the best bed or who sits in the higher place it's the one that gets the power. So if the problem is really bad never allow him upstairs. Always feed the dog after the family has finished eating and from time to time if your dog is sleeping in his bed move him out and sit on the bed yourself (ridiculous I know but it does work). If he asks for your attention ignore him but then stroke him lots when he is not asking for it, and don't allow him to pass through a door before you do. The idea is to teach the dog that you are more worthy dog (to avoid the female word) to be a leader, it's dogs language, but it works.

Once he knows his place he should start to behave. It will take some days but if you are consistent it won't be more than a week.

[Chandra]

oops, I got it all wrong... for the toddler towards the dog... Hmm, well, Ds is sent to the naughty step every time he is a bit rhough towards the dogs and then is asked to give the dog a hug and say sorry. It has become a bit difficult since DS hit the terrible twos but in general he is very soft with them. But definitively you need to keep an eye on them all the time. If I'm busy with other things I just send the dogs to the garden/kitchen until I can supervise the playing. I have a security gate fitted at the door of the kitchen to keep the dogs in it while I'm busy taking care of other things.

[jjash]

aah ok i see .Thanks for that , it makes perfect sense .This dog has suffered abuse and a really erratic past owner so its probably really vital i be consistent i would imagine .Am going to try and go to bed and hope he doesnt cry tonight .Thanks alot chandra.
one more thing [ excuse me while i shamelessly pick your brains] but any advice on how to react to dog if he growls at dd?

[Chandra]

Lay the law over him, I make a lot of fuss and send them to their corner as well . I never hit them but I can run after them with a shoe on my hand which is enough to scare them off even when I have never done anything with it. The trainer suggested to circle around her when telling her off until she laid down (more doggy language) though it is difficult to do that when you have a toddler monkeying behind you imitating what you are doing.

[Carla]

Chandra, I couldn't help but ask - you sound like the dog whisperer - what would you do with a rescue dog - and we've had him for 8 years - that digs up half the garden and brings it into the kitchen? We've set aside half the garden for the dogs, so no probs there, but half of it inside the blinkin house is too much, even after 8 years .....

[Carla]

Ooophs, sorry for butting in, btw

[Chandra]

[grin} at the dog whisperer . Too much time spent with dog trainers I believe. Well, I have not had the digging but I have had lots of barking so what the trainer suggested was the following: get a bag of balloons and fill them with water, once the ballons are full let the dog out and run upstairs to the window, as soon as he starts digging throw a ballon out (don't ever hit the dog). He needs to associate that everytime he digs, a piece of the heavens falls nearly over him so don't let him see you . Try for a couple of days and you will see an improvement, it worked wonders for my dog's barking.

[jjash]

Chandra - you are the dog whisperer of MN .Thanks for the advice