Post by MrsP on Mar 17, 2016 13:10:24 GMT -5
Hi all, looking for some expertise/shared experience to help with our girl... sorry for the essay...
When we moved into our own home, my husband and I started thinking of getting our own dog (we've both grown up with them) but we work full time and are out of the house 8 hours a day, 5 times a week. However my Mum lives around the corner with her Lurcher, a chilled out boy called Rocky, and her little dacsie Arnie, and she offered to come round and walk our prospective pooch alongside hers each day (and she walks for hours), so if we had a dog, it would be alone for no longer than 4 hours. We decided a Grey or Lurcher because from experience I found that after a walk, they love nothing more than a comfy sofa, so we would definitely suit each other (plus they are just beautiful). So while perusing the net I came across a charity that advertises on Pets4Homes and applied to them for a Greyhound I had seen, and then inadvertently saw an ad for a lurcher 'free to good home', here in Stoke.
The family advertising her were 'fostering' her for their neighbour, who had had a premature baby (who was OK!) and had decided they couldn't have her back. We were told she was good with other dogs, children, fine to be left alone in the day, was between 2-3 years old, had had a litter, wasn't spayed, microchipped or up to date with vaccinations, and was free to good home, pending a donation to the dog's home. If she was not adopted within a few weeks they said they would have to take her to the dreaded dog's home anyway.
So we went to see her, and my heart ruled my head; the house was not nice at all, she was filthy, she did not have her own collar, food bowl or lead, they admitted they didn't know what she was like on walks as they never took her (they'd had her 3 months!) and fed her whatever was 'going off'. She lived there with the family jack russell and 3 children, so it was a very noisy, busy environment. Despite warning bells, we took her home. The next day we took her to the vets for a full dog MOT; we discovered she was microchipped, and long story short, we were her FOURTH owners. I was devastated for our poor girl, four homes (that we knew about) within 2-3 years... shocking.
The micro-chip was not the only mis-information given... unsurprisingly, I feel we were told what we wanted to hear, and not the truth. Sasha has terrible (but understandable) separation anxiety; she has gnawed door handles, dug up carpet, lino, pulled skirting board off, and chewed the bottom half of a door clean off (I don't even know how she managed it). Materialistically, it is not an issue, we are renovating our house, however to discover she gets that anxious and upset in our absence, is absolutely heartbreaking. Our attention is not all she craves, she does indeed love other dogs, to the extent that on a walk, she will do anything in her power to get to them; she has pulled me over, in front of a car, unintentionally bit my arm trying to chew through her lead, she jumps on her hind legs, howling and barking as though you are torturing her. She is not motivated by food at all, on walks she is in another zone; you do not exist. This has made training outdoors very difficult.
We have taken her to training classes, had a dog trainer visit us twice (who I found a bit harsh), we tried to start clicker training but again this is difficult if your dog is not particularly motivated by toys or food, we've bought calming sprays, a radio, tried de-sensitising her bit by bit, a halti, crate training... I just don't know what else to do. My Mum is still walking her, however she now has to walk her separate to Rocky and Arnie, as her behaviour has started to affect them (so my Mum has 3 dogs all going crazy at one time now if another dog passes by). This is not sustainable for my lovely Mum.
Has anyone had a dog with similar problems? What training/treatment is needed? Does anyone know a good reputable dog trainer?We have had her nearly 5 months, are we expecting miracles too soon? Getting another dog is not an option, but I fear she is needing the company. I do not want to re-home her she has been through enough, I just really need some help.
Thanks, and again sorry for the long read!
When we moved into our own home, my husband and I started thinking of getting our own dog (we've both grown up with them) but we work full time and are out of the house 8 hours a day, 5 times a week. However my Mum lives around the corner with her Lurcher, a chilled out boy called Rocky, and her little dacsie Arnie, and she offered to come round and walk our prospective pooch alongside hers each day (and she walks for hours), so if we had a dog, it would be alone for no longer than 4 hours. We decided a Grey or Lurcher because from experience I found that after a walk, they love nothing more than a comfy sofa, so we would definitely suit each other (plus they are just beautiful). So while perusing the net I came across a charity that advertises on Pets4Homes and applied to them for a Greyhound I had seen, and then inadvertently saw an ad for a lurcher 'free to good home', here in Stoke.
The family advertising her were 'fostering' her for their neighbour, who had had a premature baby (who was OK!) and had decided they couldn't have her back. We were told she was good with other dogs, children, fine to be left alone in the day, was between 2-3 years old, had had a litter, wasn't spayed, microchipped or up to date with vaccinations, and was free to good home, pending a donation to the dog's home. If she was not adopted within a few weeks they said they would have to take her to the dreaded dog's home anyway.
So we went to see her, and my heart ruled my head; the house was not nice at all, she was filthy, she did not have her own collar, food bowl or lead, they admitted they didn't know what she was like on walks as they never took her (they'd had her 3 months!) and fed her whatever was 'going off'. She lived there with the family jack russell and 3 children, so it was a very noisy, busy environment. Despite warning bells, we took her home. The next day we took her to the vets for a full dog MOT; we discovered she was microchipped, and long story short, we were her FOURTH owners. I was devastated for our poor girl, four homes (that we knew about) within 2-3 years... shocking.
The micro-chip was not the only mis-information given... unsurprisingly, I feel we were told what we wanted to hear, and not the truth. Sasha has terrible (but understandable) separation anxiety; she has gnawed door handles, dug up carpet, lino, pulled skirting board off, and chewed the bottom half of a door clean off (I don't even know how she managed it). Materialistically, it is not an issue, we are renovating our house, however to discover she gets that anxious and upset in our absence, is absolutely heartbreaking. Our attention is not all she craves, she does indeed love other dogs, to the extent that on a walk, she will do anything in her power to get to them; she has pulled me over, in front of a car, unintentionally bit my arm trying to chew through her lead, she jumps on her hind legs, howling and barking as though you are torturing her. She is not motivated by food at all, on walks she is in another zone; you do not exist. This has made training outdoors very difficult.
We have taken her to training classes, had a dog trainer visit us twice (who I found a bit harsh), we tried to start clicker training but again this is difficult if your dog is not particularly motivated by toys or food, we've bought calming sprays, a radio, tried de-sensitising her bit by bit, a halti, crate training... I just don't know what else to do. My Mum is still walking her, however she now has to walk her separate to Rocky and Arnie, as her behaviour has started to affect them (so my Mum has 3 dogs all going crazy at one time now if another dog passes by). This is not sustainable for my lovely Mum.
Has anyone had a dog with similar problems? What training/treatment is needed? Does anyone know a good reputable dog trainer?We have had her nearly 5 months, are we expecting miracles too soon? Getting another dog is not an option, but I fear she is needing the company. I do not want to re-home her she has been through enough, I just really need some help.
Thanks, and again sorry for the long read!
