Help Save My Dog! DH Wants Him Gone

[Anonymous]

My DH has some very legitimate complaints about our 2 year old cocker spaniel. He wants to give him to a rescue organization, but I'd really like to keep him (and keep my DH sane). The dog has three big issues. Welcome any advice for addressing these. Or if you think we should attempt to rehome him, I'd appreciate that insight too.

1) The dog isn't completely house-trained. He will go outside for a walk and then come inside and relieve himself. He has also started marking items in the house. He did this before but neutering seemed to help the problem. We recently moved into a new house, so that could be behind the recent regression.

2) The dog is very nervous and has pretty severe separation anxiety. He completely loses it when we leave the house. (I can hear him barking/crying/whining outside.) Even if one of us leaves and the other is inside with him, he will bark and whine constantly until the person returns. We also don't have people over because he barks incessantly at strangers and will pee uncontrollably if approached. If/when crated, he just continues to bark.

3) Most troubling of all, the dog nips at our kids (6 and 8). He doesn't break the skin and it doesn't seem like he's doing it out of aggression or fear. I think he just sees them as easy targets and lower in the pecking order. We're expecting a new baby in November and are very concerned how the dog will react to the baby.

[Anonymous]

Sorry, I gotta side with your DH.

[Anonymous]

I hope this is a troll post. This dog is not an animal you should have in your home. I am with your DH -- Issues #1 and #2 are annoying, but #3 is a DEALBREAKER. Give him to a rescue.

Don't get another dog until your kids are older and this time pick a breed that does well with kids.

[Anonymous]

I think you should hire a trainer to help you.

What are you using to clean up after the dog pees inside? Sometimes repeated marking of territory is because they smell their old pee and think "Oh yes, that's my spot to pee." Are you using Nature's Miracle? Vinegar? You need to kill the scent - more than you can smell it - so your dog can't smell it.

It sounds like either your dog is getting carried away in his play or herding when he nips your kids. Your kids need to be taught how to convey they are higher than the dog in the pecking order. Basically, your dog needs to learn his place. If your 8 yr old is walking the dog and they come through the front door from outside, your 8 yr old has to come in first. All your heads need to be higher up than the dog's head. So that means your kids can't lay on the floor with the dog laying on their chest/stomach. The kids should not play chasing games with the dog.

For the separation anxiety, you give the dog a complex treat as you're about to leave. Do you have a crate? Give a treat that's hard for the dog to get out of a toy as you're walking out.

I think all your issues can be fixed, and you just don't quite know how to fix them. That's why I recommend a trainer who will come to your house.

[Anonymous]

I agree with pp - hire a trainer with CPDT credentials. It's so sad people get puppies and then by 2 dump them in the rescues because they didn't put in the work.

[Anonymous]

You do realize that a dog like this -- really, any dog, but especially a dog like this -- cannot be left alone with a baby for even one second. Right? You are courting disaster. I'm a dog lover, we have two rescues, but you have got to get rid of your dog.

[Anonymous]

Hire a trainer! This is fixable. Do it now.

[Anonymous]

If my dog bit my kids, broken skin or not, it would be gone whether my spouse agreed or not.

What happens when the dog "nips" your newborn?

[Anonymous]

The dog has as much right as your baby to be there. Fix it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hire a trainer! This is fixable. Do it now.

This would potentially be "fixable" if the OP weren't about to introduce a baby into the dynamics. But the baby changes everything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The dog has as much right as your baby to be there. Fix it.

No. It's a dog.

[Anonymous]

So pretty much an even split between get rid of the dog and hire a trainer.

For those who think that we should get rid of the dog, are you not of the opinion that these behaviors can be trained out of the dog or that it would be possible if not for the new baby?

I'm more than willing to hire trainer and have already placed a few calls this afternoon. I think my biggest hang-up about getting rid of the dog is I don't feel like we've done all we can as responsible pet owners to fix the situation.

[Anonymous]

Not fixable. We loved our Dog too, but she nipped at the baby when he started crawling and I was 2 feet away. Fortunately the baby was fine. But the dog ended moving to my ILs on a lot of land.

[Anonymous]

For the peeing: Belly Bands http://www.bellybands.net

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So pretty much an even split between get rid of the dog and hire a trainer.

For those who think that we should get rid of the dog, are you not of the opinion that these behaviors can be trained out of the dog or that it would be possible if not for the new baby?

I'm more than willing to hire trainer and have already placed a few calls this afternoon. I think my biggest hang-up about getting rid of the dog is I don't feel like we've done all we can as responsible pet owners to fix the situation.

For two years you've let the dog soil in the house and risk your kids getting bitten and haven't yet hired a trainer? WTH is wrong with you? If I were your DH, I'd get rid of you