I want to get rid of our dog

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PSA to everyone: This is why you adopt adult dogs whose personalities are already established- and then do a foster-to-adopt to make sure they fit with your lifestyle/family.

OPs story is all too familiar and what happens when you go for that adorable puppy and then can't handle it when they grow up with issues (probably issues they got from how they were raised/socialized).

OP - just give the dog back to the rescue and they will do their homework to match it with a family that is able to handle it. It sounds like a bad situation for your home. Please don't get another pet.

100%

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I feel the same way - lots of kids, they wanted a dog and got the first one they saw even though I said to do lots of research first. The one thing I said was that I didn't want a barker - well, the dog barks incessantly every time he is put into his crate. No amount of (expensive) training has cured her of that. I say give the dog away and replace her with an easier dog. Your child will eventually forget the hard dog and love the easier dog. Make the child who cares the most for the other dog help you choose the easier one. I'm nearly there too.

that's so sad, it's not a doll PP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel the same way - lots of kids, they wanted a dog and got the first one they saw even though I said to do lots of research first. The one thing I said was that I didn't want a barker - well, the dog barks incessantly every time he is put into his crate. No amount of (expensive) training has cured her of that. I say give the dog away and replace her with an easier dog. Your child will eventually forget the hard dog and love the easier dog. Make the child who cares the most for the other dog help you choose the easier one. I'm nearly there too.

This is disgusting. Truly repulsive.

Anyone who gets rid of a dog, barring aggression or some other unsolvable problem (this does not sound like one) should not get another dog.

Lol. A dog is not a person. Having a pet is supposed to be an enhancement and enjoyment for the family. If it’s not working out get rid of the dog and get another, or don’t. You dog worshippers are truly bizarre.

Op if it’s not working out, get rid of it! It’s just an animal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I’m not offended by the replies. I knew I was asking for it posting on a public forum about a dog. Haha I actually thought it would be worse.

I appreciate all the ideas. I have to add that we had a dog for 13 years before this. None of my kids have known life without a dog outside of the small break we took. They all had a dog from birth. They sat by our dying dog in our house. So I don’t feel I did or didn’t do anything to make them love or hate the dog. Not everyone is going to be a dog person. I am not yet I grew up with dogs and we also fostered puppies. But having a lot of kids and a lot of family life just made my dog tolerance lower over the years. We happen to get an annoying high needs dog.

I don’t see myself really getting rid of her. I just needed to vent. It’s little things. Our house backs to a street so even if she’s in our fenced backyard, she barks at people walking by. One night I got shamed by a neighbor when she barked and so now I’m stressed about even letting her out in the morning or at night in my own yard and she start barking and I can’t get back in fast enough.

OP, please don’t take this the wrong way. Have you considered anxiety meds for yourself?

She has 6 kids and an annoying dog! She doesn’t need medication, she needs to lighten the load.

OF COURSE she’s irritated, anxious and annoyed! This is a shitty situation.

[Anonymous]

Get a bark collar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, my anxious, high needs cat is now on Prozac and that has transformed her into a nice kitty, so maybe talk to your vet about that?

(I know this cements my status as a crazy cat lady, but it really has stopped the scratching, howling, and inappropriate peeing).

That's a great idea! I posted before to rehome your dog, but then read your post about your child how loves her participating in her care. For this child's sake, maybe try anti-anxiety meds?

Also, have you tried doggy diapers? I have an incontinent dog, and diapers have been a lifesaver. I bought washable ones and they work well.

OMG! No! This is ridiculous. This lady has been changing diapers (on humans) for a decade. She does not need another decade of changing nasty dog diapers. Enough is enough! OP stand up for yourself. Time to set boundaries and be a grown up. Contact the rescue and regime the dog.

I can’t believe this has to be said: You don’t need to martyr yourself over a dog. Seriously.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You tuff it out. You adopted that dog. You choose to have six kids and cannot handle it all. Grow up and figure it out.

Yes! Please do the mature, adult thing and rehome the dog.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I’m not offended by the replies. I knew I was asking for it posting on a public forum about a dog. Haha I actually thought it would be worse.

I appreciate all the ideas. I have to add that we had a dog for 13 years before this. None of my kids have known life without a dog outside of the small break we took. They all had a dog from birth. They sat by our dying dog in our house. So I don’t feel I did or didn’t do anything to make them love or hate the dog. Not everyone is going to be a dog person. I am not yet I grew up with dogs and we also fostered puppies. But having a lot of kids and a lot of family life just made my dog tolerance lower over the years. We happen to get an annoying high needs dog.

I don’t see myself really getting rid of her. I just needed to vent. It’s little things. Our house backs to a street so even if she’s in our fenced backyard, she barks at people walking by. One night I got shamed by a neighbor when she barked and so now I’m stressed about even letting her out in the morning or at night in my own yard and she start barking and I can’t get back in fast enough.

OP, sorry if this was already addressed. I didn't have time to read all the replies. Have you spoken to your vet about prozac or melatonin? Both are often suggested for high anxiety dogs and seem to help some.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I doubt the contract is legally enforceable. This fog is making your life very difficult and we are still on SAH. I would find a way to rehome the dog. You don’t know what might be happening with your 5 other kids while all your attention goes to a dog. BTW our dog loves her crate and sleeps in it every night. Not real sanitary having a dog in your bed.

She’s been sleeping on their floor.

The contract makes it sound like if they find out you did anything against it then you could face fines or whatever. So I didn’t think we could give her away randomly or drop her at the shelter. Haha

What a cruel, callous approach and a condescending response. To the poor dog, you are the dog's entire life. You could afford to adopt and you are aggravated by a dog that you have already abandoned in place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I’m not offended by the replies. I knew I was asking for it posting on a public forum about a dog. Haha I actually thought it would be worse.

I appreciate all the ideas. I have to add that we had a dog for 13 years before this. None of my kids have known life without a dog outside of the small break we took. They all had a dog from birth. They sat by our dying dog in our house. So I don’t feel I did or didn’t do anything to make them love or hate the dog. Not everyone is going to be a dog person. I am not yet I grew up with dogs and we also fostered puppies. But having a lot of kids and a lot of family life just made my dog tolerance lower over the years. We happen to get an annoying high needs dog.

I don’t see myself really getting rid of her. I just needed to vent. It’s little things. Our house backs to a street so even if she’s in our fenced backyard, she barks at people walking by. One night I got shamed by a neighbor when she barked and so now I’m stressed about even letting her out in the morning or at night in my own yard and she start barking and I can’t get back in fast enough.

OP, please don’t take this the wrong way. Have you considered anxiety meds for yourself?

She has 6 kids and an annoying dog! She doesn’t need medication, she needs to lighten the load.

OF COURSE she’s irritated, anxious and annoyed! This is a shitty situation.

OP here- this is hilarious! I don’t know, who isn’t stressed right now? And I was probably PMSing when I wrote this.

Not sure if the responses got more helpful or critical but I appreciate the responses.

The bottom line is we made this choice and we will live with it. It’s definitely not true that she’s neglected or unloved. The (non teen) kids love her a lot and considering the things I do I wouldn’t call her neglected. I agree that maybe we did something wrong to cause annoying behaviors but at the same time I have high need kids and sometimes there isn’t much you can do to change their personality. I would say that overall there isn’t a lot that many dog owners deal with. I think that my tolerance is lower than most and my anxiety a bit higher right now.

As we settle into the school year at home, the kids will work on walking breaks and I will direct my most interested kid to the Cesar videos. We will also discuss meds when we head to vet next time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I’m not offended by the replies. I knew I was asking for it posting on a public forum about a dog. Haha I actually thought it would be worse.

I appreciate all the ideas. I have to add that we had a dog for 13 years before this. None of my kids have known life without a dog outside of the small break we took. They all had a dog from birth. They sat by our dying dog in our house. So I don’t feel I did or didn’t do anything to make them love or hate the dog. Not everyone is going to be a dog person. I am not yet I grew up with dogs and we also fostered puppies. But having a lot of kids and a lot of family life just made my dog tolerance lower over the years. We happen to get an annoying high needs dog.

I don’t see myself really getting rid of her. I just needed to vent. It’s little things. Our house backs to a street so even if she’s in our fenced backyard, she barks at people walking by. One night I got shamed by a neighbor when she barked and so now I’m stressed about even letting her out in the morning or at night in my own yard and she start barking and I can’t get back in fast enough.

OP, please don’t take this the wrong way. Have you considered anxiety meds for yourself?

She has 6 kids and an annoying dog! She doesn’t need medication, she needs to lighten the load.

OF COURSE she’s irritated, anxious and annoyed! This is a shitty situation.

OP here- this is hilarious! I don’t know, who isn’t stressed right now? And I was probably PMSing when I wrote this.

Not sure if the responses got more helpful or critical but I appreciate the responses.

The bottom line is we made this choice and we will live with it. It’s definitely not true that she’s neglected or unloved. The (non teen) kids love her a lot and considering the things I do I wouldn’t call her neglected. I agree that maybe we did something wrong to cause annoying behaviors but at the same time I have high need kids and sometimes there isn’t much you can do to change their personality. I would say that overall there isn’t a lot that many dog owners deal with. I think that my tolerance is lower than most and my anxiety a bit higher right now.

As we settle into the school year at home, the kids will work on walking breaks and I will direct my most interested kid to the Cesar videos. We will also discuss meds when we head to vet next time.

PLEASE do not use Cesar Millan as a training guide. His training methods are based on disproven research (pack/alpha dog theory). Here are some links about the controversy surrounding him and the “research” his methods are based on (even the man who conducted the research has said it was faulty). Using these methods are NOT going to improve behavior in an already anxious dog. Please look into positive reinforcement training.

https://medium.com/@vandanni.hadai/cesar-millan-the-problem-with-his-approach-and-the-future-of-dog-training-49dd8cddb391

https://drsophiayin.com/philosophy/dominance/

https://www.livescience.com/5846-critics-challenge-dog-whisperer-methods.html

[Anonymous]

OP, if you keep the dog can you give yourself a break by sending it to doggy daycare for a day or two each week? Also, your kids and husband need to step up.

[Anonymous]

This is the past few days after several weeks of no issues.

She woke me up a few nights ago to go outside. I walk out to make sure she goes. I go back to bed and she lays down on the couch downstairs (allowed and cooler for her). Then she follows me back up but I discover in the morning that she had peed on carpet first.

Yesterday we leave for 1.5 hours. I had her out for 20 minutes first. She’s laying down when we leave. Come home and she had pooped on the floor.

Gone this morning for an hour for church. She usually sleeps the whole time we are gone and she is always outside beforehand. Come home and she had peed and pooped.

Seriously. This is why I’m done. I like to keep a clean house. I hate cleaning massive amounts of pee out of our carpet. I’m just done. I don’t like living like this. I don’t have enough love or tolerance to feel OK about it. I also don’t have thousands of dollars and hours of time to spend on special behavior training. Crates are not going to work again and also require hours of training I don’t have.

[Anonymous]

The only way this works is crate training. It may suck for a while but give her a kong filled with her kibble and she’ll go in. She cannot be given free reign of the House until she’s potty trained. Hard stop.

[Anonymous]

Rehome the dog now while she's only 3.5. Older dogs are harder to rehome. Someone could adopt the dog and have several good years with her.