How many times does this poor dog have to be rehomed? If you didn't have him the whole 2 years, he's had at least one other home? He is very confused. He has a good chance of getting put down because he doesn't know what's expected of him.

If he gets rehomed, please don't get another dog, at least until you're kids are grown and do some research. I still believe with the right trainer in your home, you could make some changes and have success. The dog walker is a good idea to burn off energy. Have a schedule. Crate works well for toilet training, but may be difficult if he's not used to it.

The pup is a young, purebred cocker with typical young dog issues (i.e. very adoptable). Please rehome him now before he is old or develops bad behaviors from lack of training. He has a good chance of finding a good home through a cocker rescue.

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

No it doesn't.

You are a crazy person.

Babies and children before dogs. Duh

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

When the baby poses a threat of mauling the dog, then we can talk about this. In the meantime, the member of the household that threatens violence to others, human or animal, has the least right to be there.

Anonymous wrote:We're trying our hardest to be responsible owners, but we're not sure what that means. I appreciate all of your candid and helpful responses.

What's more important: being a responsible pet owner or a responsible parent?

Anonymous wrote:Quit with dominance theory already. It's been debunked many times.

+1,000

And this is not a dog trying to be an alpha or dominate. This is a stressed out, anxious nincompoop of a dog who doesn't know what the hell he's doing and is desperately trying out strategies to make his world right because he has no training or guidance, consistent rules or boundaries. He's been through a move. He's very very young. He needs a lot of training and a lot of rules and consistency, and a schedule that's stuck to with tons of walks.

OP, get a dog walker if you can, to come in and walk him for an hour a couple of times a day. Tire him out. Have a schedule for him. He goes for a walk at X time; he gets fed at X time; he spends an hour in his crate; he gets played with; etc. He is essentially a toddler.

Quit with dominance theory already. It's been debunked many times.

23:34 again.
Saw your last post, you didn't have him for 2 years. Still, regression shows that he needs more discipline.

Here's why re-training is exhausting and why I don't think you're cut out for this:

The first thing to do when you seek to correct a dog's behavior is to increase exercise. That way, they're less anxious and high-strung, and just physically tired, therefore calmer and better-behaved. Most dog behavior problems come from lack of exercise. Long, vigorous runs or intense walks several times a day for some breeds.

The second thing is constant vigilance for the pee. This means keeping a watch all day for the dog peeing in the house, and showing your displeasure AT ONCE. Not after 5 minutes, or 5 hours later when you discover the pee. You have to catch him in the act, use your angry voice and put him outside to pee. Every, single, time. Consistency and watchfulness, worse than potty-training a toddler!

The third thing you do about the nipping and barking, which are both alpha-dog pretensions, is to show the dog that he ranks the lowest in the household.
The dog is not allowed on any elevated surface (couch, chair, bed).
He gets told off if he barks or jumps or licks possessively.
He gets growled at and punished if he nips anyone (grab him with your fingers on his neck/upper back and squeeze hard while growling angrily - that's how the pack leader punishes a follower). If you see him start to growl at the kids, step between the children and the dog and use your angry voice. This shows him you are protecting them and placing then higher in the hierarchy.
He watches you eat, and only afterward does he get his food, served by the children, who first tell him to sit and wait while they dole out the right portion. The children are clearly placed above him in that scenario too.

One last thing about the walk. Stop as soon as he begins pulling on the leash or getting ahead of you. He should be at your side, because you (or the kids) are his leader. Learning to walk a dog correctly takes practice. Using the same concept of follow-the-leader, the dog should never cross the threshold (in or out) before you.

Honestly, OP, the problem sounds like it's you (and your spouse). As the adults in the household, it's up to you two to train the dog, lay down the law and show him that he's the inferior, AFTER ALL THE CHILDREN.

So I advise you to get rid of him, because in the two years you've had him, you couldn't get your act together. It doesn't look likely that you will in the short amount of time you have, particularly as you've left it so long that the dog will have a really hard time getting used to a different lifestyle.

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

You're a fucking idiot.

Do you give him stuff to chew on, like chicken flavored Busy Heartyhide (formerly Cheweez). My dog loves this and we order in bulk from Amazon

The separation anxiety and the accidents in the house - what do you think brought that on? Were you leaving the dog alone for long stretches w/o letting the outside?

Training involves time and consistency. With a new baby due soon do you think that you will be able to train a dog too?

To clarify a few things: We have done general obedience training in a group setting before and the dog responded well. We have not tried an in-home trainer for the behavioral issues thinking that we could handle the problems ourselves. The dog hasn't been in our home for a full two years and was seemingly house-trained only to have regressed recently, so it's not as if we've been ignoring the problem. Same is true for the nipping - it seemed like we effectively corrected the behavior but he's started doing it again.

We're trying our hardest to be responsible owners, but we're not sure what that means. I appreciate all of your candid and helpful responses.

Even if the trainer gets the behaviors under control, what's to say that the stress of a newborn in the house won't bring them back? Then you have two kids, a newborn, and a dog who pees on the floor and nips people.

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I agree.

OP, if this dog is two years old it seems like you didn't do much on the training front. Getting dogs neutered early helps with not marking. If your dog is nipping at a 6 and 8 year old, I don't have much faith that they won't attack your baby/toddler. I hate to say this, but I think your dog needs to go.