Dog Rescue Stories: Tell Me the Good, the Bad and the Ugly
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Anonymous
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Rescued a 2 year old Lab Chessie (+ hound, too?) mutt who had been neglected and likely abused. She was quick to trust us but she was afraid of other people, of buses, of fire hydrants, of things being in our hands (even dish towels).
We did two obediences courses with her, and an agility course. It helped a lot. She's good with 90% of other dogs. We brought her everywhere, had people over, and she eventually learned to relax. She still barks her head off when new people come over, but it doesn't take her long to calm down these days. She's a sweetheart, especially with kids. She's almost 11 now and we're so glad we found her. |
Anonymous
Yes. My sister's mellow golden retriever buries small stuffed animals in the yard. My dog buries her chew toys in the sofa cushions. Normal. |
Anonymous
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We loved our classes with this org. Super helpful.
http://yourdogsfriend.org |
Anonymous
| We have an American Eskimo mix, small (18 LBS) that was thrown from a moving car that a friend witnessed & dropped off @ a local rescue. They called him days later to pick her up & he did not want her. Long story short she came home with me to our family. she is a loving addition to our family. |
Anonymous
+1. My grandparents rescued a malnourished rottie they found abandoned on the side of the road. That dog ended up being a great companion for a couple of 80 year olds who spend most their time leisuring about the house. Giant dog, but total lap dog. She (the dog) passed away 2 years ago and my grandma STILL talks about how much she misses that dog all the time. |
Anonymous
This. There is so much pressure from the "rescue community" to disregard breed etc., but the fact is breed does effect behavior. Its fine for some who manage to adapt to unwanted breed specific behavior, but for others it can be a nightmare. I think it is wise for OP to do the DNA test to see what traits may be dominant and adjust her training to allow for them. |
Anonymous
| HA- no one is answering OP's question. Each time the dog starts to chew a forbidden object say NO firmly and give a chew toy instead. You will have to do this an insane number of times. Do not allow the dog to go outside to bury the toy. You will have to ignore an insane amount of whining--it is like CIO with a baby. You can do it. If he buries the toy in the couch, retrieve it and keep it in a place where he can't reach or see--so you can give it back when he starts to chew your sock again. Also, if the dog chews certain objects repeatedly, spray those objects with bitter apple spray that can be purchased at the pet supply store. |
Anonymous
| My parents got a dog from dog rescue that was epileptic and also whenever walked would chase people with the intent to bite them. Parents tried many discipline techniques/obedience classes/dog psychologists- worked with the dog for a year. After getting slammed into one two many cars while stopping dog from harming others, parents talked to vet who agreed the dog was a danger and concurred in decision to euthanize. |
Anonymous
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I had a friend who adopted an excellent medium-sized mixed breed dog, well-behaved, excellent with children, never chewed on anything or had potty accidents, playful and affectionate. They adopted a cocker spaniel and had to euthanize it for cocker rage, after it bit their nephew unprovoked.
Our rescue is a sweet dog, great with kids, well-mannered, already house broken, with hip problems, ear problems, and unexplained lumps and bald patches. A great dog, I hope the vet bills are not too astronomical as time goes on. |
Anonymous
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We rescued our dog sight unseen, based on our friend's (very educated and experienced) opinion. We had a couple of issues at first with trying to contain him, but we could not ask for a better dog. He doesn't bite, he has never had an accident in the house, he has never chewed on anything that isn't his, never got into the trashcan even though he's so tall that he could easily stick his face into the trash and eat the entire contents if he wanted. He's not a counter surfer. He doesn't even sleep on the furniture. He loves all people, but barks loud enough that he could scare off a stranger if needed. This dog is just a gentle giant, with tons of laid back personality. I mean, every time my friends complain about some crazy thing their dog did (ate their underwear, chewed up their couch), I'm reminded how very very lucky we got.
It's funny though because he's a 100 lb dog who is terrible on a leash; still leaves our property occasionally and when we're saying "hey, get back here, where do you think you're going?" just glances back at us like "later, dudes." When people come over, he never ever jumps on them, but he does shove his way through the door as they're walking into the house, in his lumbering way, practically knocking them over (no manners). He won't fetch a ball or a frisbee. He's torn into our trash out on the curb, dispersing it all over the yard once or twice. Yet I still consider us very lucky to not have to deal with a lot of other issues that come with getting a new dog. So I guess it's all in your attitude. |
Anonymous
This is great advice. Also, the shelter told you it was a lab mix because that's what people will adopt. I have seen absurd "lab mixes" at rescue events before. I'd be more worried about the Doberman than the Rottie. Rotties are wonderful, gentle giants, but at least in my opinion Dobermans have a bit more of a mean streak in them. I'd happily own a Rottweiler, but I don't know if I'd want to own a Doberman. Check your house/rental insurance before you do any DNA testing. You may have to get a rider if you have a breed mix that's officially classified as a dangerous breed. |
Anonymous
How long have you had your dog? I would not tolerate the behaviors you describe in your second paragraph for very long. Aside from not wanting to fetch, those sound like very serious behavior issues to me that need intervention, not some small thing. |
Anonymous
Our rescue dog, whom we love and adore because he is the best dog in the world!  came from a GA shelter, whom we adopted from a picture the shelter had posted. A friend periodically sends out emails about dogs in need, and this particular email had a list of dogs on the euth list, so unbeknownst to my DH, I went through the list dogs of with a shelter volunteer and finally decided on a large mixed hound. She promised this dog would make a great family dog and had a good temperment with other dogs and cats. He was young and I had heard wonderful things about hounds, so I paid his neuter and transport fees through Paypal, and then had tell my DH.
So, my DH picked him from transport of Route 50 and promptly called me to say that this dog wasn't the beagle I had told him we were getting. I sort of lied about his size. The second our sweet boy came home, we all fell madly in love - this was 4 years ago. But this sweet boy chewed 4 dining room rugs to shreds, ate furniture legs, dug under fences, chewed up an expensive pair of sunglasses and got on my furniture. For the chewing, we gave him chew bones and watched that he didn't go for the furniture. He was approximately a year old when we brought him home, and by 2. the endless chewing was gone. He and I go on a 4 mile walk nearly every day, so he's fairly relaxed the rest of the day. Walking is key to happy and content dog! All the puppy behavior is gone, and so is the digging. Seems the long daily walk really calmed him. He was filthy dirty when we adopted him and freaked the first couple of baths we gave him, so we had to take him to our vet to be bathed. He now jumps into the tub to be bathed. He's absolutely wonderful with children and with all the children my son has over to our house - even attends all the sleepovers and games in the yard. OP - you sound very dedicated to make this work, so I'm sure it will We were consistent with everything, including his baths. He's a dream dog, and though we didn't meet him before we brought him home, we couldn't have asked for a better dog for our family and children. He knows he's loved and he knows what we expect from him. The dog understands English, too. We can't imagine him not being with us.
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