Magpie6963
Novitiate
Good Morning All,
I was hoping to reach out and inquire whether anyone else has experienced the same issues that we are having with our adopted 2 year old male Dobie. And the story begins...
My partner and I were itching for another family member to join our team! We had a 7 year old Bloodhound X Female and 10 year Tabby Female before we adopted our Dobie at the age of 1yr. He was left at a doggie daycare and from what we were told was kept in a crate when he was at home. We met him and instantly fell in love with him. We went up a week later and brought him home. We were 10 minutes down the road (3 hour drive ahead) when it all began......... He was terrible! But I knew that he would need some time to adjust and with hard work(training) and determination he would excel. That has not been the case. Over the past year and a half we have spent thousands of dollars on trainers, equipment, etc. My partner has told me that he has "given" up on our boy as he constantly is bad. CONSTANTLY. This has caused so much tension in our relationship, which then reflects back onto our boy. He is my dog- he is obsessed with me and only cares about me. He has bit my partner several times ( this is when he is being told to drop whatever he has and of course doesn't listen to him... he will show his teeth and try to nip ( we know that this is possession thing) we have dealt with it the correct way, my partner not grabbing whatever is in his mouth etc- but it doesn't matter..he will just automatically become aggressive towards him. I have always corrected him if he tries to be possessive of me towards my partner, our other dog or cat.
I've decided to list some details instead of explaining each scenario. For example, the following is a list of things that occur on a daily basis:
* Constantly looking to get my attention- getting into the garbage, jumping up to grab things off the counter, shoving his face in my face if I am not paying attention to him, if he is outside and I am not- he will bark and bark until I pay attention to him. If we are in the house and I am not paying attention to him and he has tried everything( damaging anything in sight) he will just whine and whine and whine.
* He will bully our Bloodhound x ( at the beginning we were letting them work it out, but he does not take no for an answer - so we are constantly intervening). Our bloodhound x spends her time in the bedroom with the cat when we are home because she doesn't want to be around the Dobie( He is crated trained).
* Taunts the cat ( just barks at her and nips at her) - we have spent several hours trying to correct this- all that is happening is our cat getting more stressed out. She has to live in our bedroom because of this.
* Does not listen to my partner at all. We have spent a lot of time just him working with the trainers with our Dobie and in the end our Dobie doesn't care about anything but me.
I feel helpless. When it is just me and my Dobie is he a golden boy. I put him in Agility and he loves it. When we travel in the truck together alone he is an angel. We go on a walk/run (without the Bloodhound x) he is amazing- so obedient and attentive.
I had also noticed when we first brought him home he would scratch like crazy ( I know that Dobie's have sensitive skin) so we changed his diet(raw diet), his bed is washed with scent free detergent etc ( everything we could do we have). Over a year and a half later he still does it- we think it's like a nervous tick. And he excessively licks when he is asked to lay down and stay in one place(sign of stress).
I am sorry if I am all over the place with this post, but I am feeling so hopeless. My partner has told me that he dreads coming home because of the boy. He has said that we need to find him another home where someone can devote all of their time to him.
I love my Dobie so much- even though he causes all of this- I don't know if I am just "dealing" with it all because I love him so much but I can't have the stress of him, my partner being stressed all of the time and our two other babies. It breaks my heart and makes me so sad to think of my life without him.
If anyone has any input/suggestions etc, it would be so greatly appreciated.
Thank you for your time.
- Stressed Out Dobie Mama
I was hoping to reach out and inquire whether anyone else has experienced the same issues that we are having with our adopted 2 year old male Dobie. And the story begins...
My partner and I were itching for another family member to join our team! We had a 7 year old Bloodhound X Female and 10 year Tabby Female before we adopted our Dobie at the age of 1yr. He was left at a doggie daycare and from what we were told was kept in a crate when he was at home. We met him and instantly fell in love with him. We went up a week later and brought him home. We were 10 minutes down the road (3 hour drive ahead) when it all began......... He was terrible! But I knew that he would need some time to adjust and with hard work(training) and determination he would excel. That has not been the case. Over the past year and a half we have spent thousands of dollars on trainers, equipment, etc. My partner has told me that he has "given" up on our boy as he constantly is bad. CONSTANTLY. This has caused so much tension in our relationship, which then reflects back onto our boy. He is my dog- he is obsessed with me and only cares about me. He has bit my partner several times ( this is when he is being told to drop whatever he has and of course doesn't listen to him... he will show his teeth and try to nip ( we know that this is possession thing) we have dealt with it the correct way, my partner not grabbing whatever is in his mouth etc- but it doesn't matter..he will just automatically become aggressive towards him. I have always corrected him if he tries to be possessive of me towards my partner, our other dog or cat.
I've decided to list some details instead of explaining each scenario. For example, the following is a list of things that occur on a daily basis:
* Constantly looking to get my attention- getting into the garbage, jumping up to grab things off the counter, shoving his face in my face if I am not paying attention to him, if he is outside and I am not- he will bark and bark until I pay attention to him. If we are in the house and I am not paying attention to him and he has tried everything( damaging anything in sight) he will just whine and whine and whine.
* He will bully our Bloodhound x ( at the beginning we were letting them work it out, but he does not take no for an answer - so we are constantly intervening). Our bloodhound x spends her time in the bedroom with the cat when we are home because she doesn't want to be around the Dobie( He is crated trained).
* Taunts the cat ( just barks at her and nips at her) - we have spent several hours trying to correct this- all that is happening is our cat getting more stressed out. She has to live in our bedroom because of this.
* Does not listen to my partner at all. We have spent a lot of time just him working with the trainers with our Dobie and in the end our Dobie doesn't care about anything but me.
I feel helpless. When it is just me and my Dobie is he a golden boy. I put him in Agility and he loves it. When we travel in the truck together alone he is an angel. We go on a walk/run (without the Bloodhound x) he is amazing- so obedient and attentive.
I had also noticed when we first brought him home he would scratch like crazy ( I know that Dobie's have sensitive skin) so we changed his diet(raw diet), his bed is washed with scent free detergent etc ( everything we could do we have). Over a year and a half later he still does it- we think it's like a nervous tick. And he excessively licks when he is asked to lay down and stay in one place(sign of stress).
I am sorry if I am all over the place with this post, but I am feeling so hopeless. My partner has told me that he dreads coming home because of the boy. He has said that we need to find him another home where someone can devote all of their time to him.
I love my Dobie so much- even though he causes all of this- I don't know if I am just "dealing" with it all because I love him so much but I can't have the stress of him, my partner being stressed all of the time and our two other babies. It breaks my heart and makes me so sad to think of my life without him.
If anyone has any input/suggestions etc, it would be so greatly appreciated.
Thank you for your time.
- Stressed Out Dobie Mama