Op - I have a dog about the same age as yours and there's no way I could hold down a full-time job, commute, care for kids/home, get some sleep and manage to walk a dog 3 hours a day.

Ours goes for an am and late afternoon walk with shorter potty breaks and some sniffing during the day and evening.

Anonymous wrote:All the folks acting like 3 hours of exercise per day is normal and reasonable for a pet is an absolutely bananas. OP is not crazy for not planning on sacrificing 3 hours daily on dog walking. The millions of Americans who have dogs are not spending 3 hr/day walking and exercising their dogs (if so, we wouldn’t have the obesity epidemic we do, but that’s for another thread). This is abnormal. Even if the dog was not a potentially aggressive pit mix, I would say OP needs to rehome this dog as its care needs are too great.

Seriously!! We have a golden mix from a breeder and she is a dream. Walk 2 miles in the morning to school (with kids) and back. Walk about 30-40 min in the evening. She sleeps the rest of the day.

Our lifestyle doesn’t have time for 3 hours/day min dog time.

I would not have a pit bull around kids that young. No way. Rehome.

All the folks acting like 3 hours of exercise per day is normal and reasonable for a pet is an absolutely bananas. OP is not crazy for not planning on sacrificing 3 hours daily on dog walking. The millions of Americans who have dogs are not spending 3 hr/day walking and exercising their dogs (if so, we wouldn’t have the obesity epidemic we do, but that’s for another thread). This is abnormal. Even if the dog was not a potentially aggressive pit mix, I would say OP needs to rehome this dog as its care needs are too great.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you not tried to train her??? She has to be on a leash or she will wreck a house?
WTF have you been doing??

This.

WHY do SO MANY people get dogs and not understand the big time and financial commitment? Oh, you want a furry thing to cuddle with? GET A STUFFED ANIMAL.

I do not understand how so many people get dogs and can be so monumentally stupid.

Because some of us have never had pets. I had no idea how much our dog would cost... and it's been a shock. I didn't want one at all. My spouse did but they do most of the work. I would never have gotten one for me. It controls our life and hates to be left alone. Its like having a permanent newborn.

What? So you never dog sat for someone? Volunteered with dogs? Spent any kind of responsible time with dogs? This is on you.

You're just digging your own hole in how irresponsible and stupid you are. Sorry, but it's true. You're not alone though--many dog owners make this incredibly stupid and naive decision. And we have an epidemic of awful, awful dog owners.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you not tried to train her??? She has to be on a leash or she will wreck a house?
WTF have you been doing??

This.

WHY do SO MANY people get dogs and not understand the big time and financial commitment? Oh, you want a furry thing to cuddle with? GET A STUFFED ANIMAL.

I do not understand how so many people get dogs and can be so monumentally stupid.

Because some of us have never had pets. I had no idea how much our dog would cost... and it's been a shock. I didn't want one at all. My spouse did but they do most of the work. I would never have gotten one for me. It controls our life and hates to be left alone. Its like having a permanent newborn.

Okay, this is on you, OP. Sorry, but it totally is.

1) You've had this dog since it was 8 weeks old, and it's not crate trained? Why does it need to be on a leash instead of in its crate? If you're not actively training/managing your puppy, it's in its crate. Period. It's not punishment; the crate is puppy's safe den, and your break. Begin crate training immediately. Your dog will likely whine because it's used to being up under you all day, but it will learn.

2) You're training it to be hyperactive. That's way too much high-energy exercise and no real mental lifting. It's the equivalent of going to the gym for 3 hours a day, but sitting on the recumbent bike reading a magazine and having a smoothie: a lot of work and very little in the way of results! Work smarter, not harder: Three, 20-minute walks, plus some leash/recall/trick training. You've conditioned the dog to be a runner, not a thinker. Most dogs don't need that much physical exercise, so much as they need stimulation. Stimulation is playing fetch, training tricks, hiding kibble in a rolled up, knotted towel, giving them a frozen broth "pupsicle" and letting them lick... You're conditioning your dog to have more energy than you want to maintain, and it's unnecessary (and detrimental).

3) It's not the breed. It's not. The anti-pit idiots on this board will tell you that if only you'd gotten a ________, life would be roses. If you get a _______, over-condition it, and fail to give it any brakes (crate training, recall), you'll have the exact same problem. Very few dogs are untrainable, and most dogs are trained poorly.

4) The dog park is dangerous, as is your approach to your dog. This is a recipe for disaster. Please avoid. I'm with the PP(s) who've said most everyone should avoid the dog park. Y'all don't train your dogs, and it really is a liability. If your dog looks pit at all, the liability increases dramatically.

5) The dog is a year old. It's a child. Its whole life, it has known you as its people. Yes, it would be cruel to rehome the dog. But honestly? If you're not going to raise it right, it's cruel to keep it and blame it for your unhappiness.

Out your trainer. They suck, and should be fired immediately!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you not tried to train her??? She has to be on a leash or she will wreck a house?
WTF have you been doing??

This.

WHY do SO MANY people get dogs and not understand the big time and financial commitment? Oh, you want a furry thing to cuddle with? GET A STUFFED ANIMAL.

I do not understand how so many people get dogs and can be so monumentally stupid.

+1, or a cat. The don't require any outdoor exercise at all, you never have to board them or train them (they train you, actually, you just give into the process), but they'll still cuddle with you and greet you at the door when you come home.

I love dogs but will probably never have one because they are too much work. Maybe when we're empty nesting I'll do it, but even then I worry it will limit travel. Dogs are just such a huge undertaking.

You can either return the dog or the husband.

Anonymous wrote:Op - also I completely realize I have a husband problem. He works all the time and I am responsible for the dog and the kids.

He is also the one who said we can’t rehome because she is our responsibility and it would be cruel to rehome her.

This^ is the reason I never agreed to getting a pet because I knew it would become my sole responsibility and he'll have the higher ground of giving sermons about how cruel and morally irresponsible it would be to rehome or return.

Anonymous wrote:Have you not tried to train her??? She has to be on a leash or she will wreck a house?
WTF have you been doing??

This.

WHY do SO MANY people get dogs and not understand the big time and financial commitment? Oh, you want a furry thing to cuddle with? GET A STUFFED ANIMAL.

I do not understand how so many people get dogs and can be so monumentally stupid.

You definitely have a dh issue OP. He needs to step up and do all dog exercising for a week and see how he feels about it.

Ok so rehome him? How can we help?

Anonymous wrote:If the kids are old enough to be in sports and activities they are old enough to help slightly.
They are old enough to put food in dog bowl and full water bowl.
Possibly old enough to throw a ball or stick in the back yard for a few minutes a day.
My lab mix ( a rescue) is 12 now and still hikes an hour a day most days with me.
I enjoy it because it forces me to exercise.
Having said that, if DH won’t help more with kids and/or dog and it’s all on you you are going to get resentful.

Kids are 3, 7 and 9. Oldest still weights a lots less than the dog. She could help with food but not playing or walking because dog is much stronger and even playing gets rough and jumps around.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a year old mixed breed rescue who is very high energy. We have 3 young kids who can’t help so I am stuck with all dog related things. I take her on 2-3 walks a day plus running and an hour at a dog park.

She js fine as long as I do all of those things. But if I can’t do that then she is a terror and ruins everything. We are on vacation right now with her and she has to be on a leash non stop so she doesn’t ruin the house. And she doesn’t recall at all so she is never allowed off leash outside.

Do we just try and push through or try and rehome her? The rescue said she was a mid size lab mix. She isn’t at all. She is a 75 pound boxer/pit mix who is very strong and muscular.

op do you not love this dog at all? How long have you had him/her? Is dh the only one who wants the dog?

Op - we have had the dog since she was 8 weeks old. She is now 1 years old.

I sometimes enjoy her but mostly it is another responsibility for me.