Dog help please.....before I lose my family :-(

Errata

I'm love dogs, and am currently sharing the sofa with one He's ok, but what you have is two large out of control dogs who haven't been trained and are mental, and Springers can go very mental if in the first place they're the result of bad breeding practice and secondly are badly trained.
In your shoes I'd be saying 'it's me or the dogs' and I'd really mean it.

margaretclare

I am so, so sorry for the situation you find yourself in. You are not to blame for any of this (except maybe, just maybe, not being assertive enough and saying 'no' loudly enough and for long enough before you had these dogs foisted on you, but that's by-the-by).

I know little of springer spaniels, but my DH knows about them. They are extremely energetic dogs, come into the 'working dogs' category at dog shows, and that should tell you something. They need huge amounts of exercise, not just 2 hours a day. Think 'Dog Squad' where they are ideal for the job as 'sniffer dogs' and they can be on the go all day long.

I think it may really have come to the point, with you and your OH, that it really is 'it's me or the dogs'. I am so sorry.

carefullycautious

What a recipe for disaster.

Springers are pretty manic and love to be busy busy busy. THey are bored out of their minds and have no respect for you at all

why dont you contact a springer spaniel rescue and talk with them about the best way of handling all this.

Your husband really should be taken to task about putting you into this situation.

poor dogs

thorsoak

www.springerrescue.org.uk

Why not talk to these people - they give help on training problems - and that's what you have - two dogs that just haven't been taught how to behave and have absolutely no manners - thanks to your OH. Just like children need to learn manners, so do dogs.

Your OH has not been fair to you - nor has he been fair to these dogs. You now find yourself in a situation where you have to clear up after the dogs, you are nervous around them - and consequently, they are nervous around you - its a viscious circle:(

You say that you gave your OH the ultimatum 18 months ago that it's me or the dogs - and he ignored it - what makes you think that he will listen now? Is that what you want - to leave the marriage? Can you tell him to take his two mutts and go - would he? Its going to be hard to rehome two badly behaved dogs, when with a great deal of effort they could become well-mannered family pets.

But he's not going to do that is he? Any training will have to be done by you - and you alone - and you've been given some brilliant advice already. If you do decide to try, don't let OH know what you are doing - do it when you're on your own, with just one at a time (start with the boy, they're generally more gullible ) .

Good luck, with whatever you do.

RedBern

huge sympathies for you OP.

I would agree dog training classes are the way forward. We've got a retriever who was king of the boss in this house, he chewed 3x brand new pairs of my shoes (he isn't MY dog) to announce his arrival, and then I was thrown out of retriever classes due to his trying to hump anything and everything.:o

Anyway, a sympathetic soul, seeing how I was useless with a pup that was turning into a nightmare, gave me the address of a training class where they dealt with yobs (although my OH was horrified that his retriever was categorised as a yob - but he was a real handful). Firstly, I insisted he was castrated (the dog, not my OH), which improved his behaviour slightly. Then I went to classes to learn how to deal with him. I remember the first one I went to, I walked into the hall and the dog dragged me towards an alsation and was barking and growling. The trainer took my dog off me, gave him a look and a tug, and made him walk around the hall, pulling his lead and repeating 'no' every time the dog pulled. Five minutes into the class, he had my dog eating out of his hand!! When I tried it, at first it didn't work, but then the guy said, 'look, he's a big dog, you're not going to hurt him, give him a good pull back and say no, let him know you're in charge'. It worked.

I wouldn't be without our dog, he's much better behaved for me than for OH (but he would never admit to that). If you want to keep the dogs, you're going to have to do the training. I take mine out every evening with a friend and her dog, we walk for 40 minutes around town and put the world to rights.

Good luck.

GracieP

margaretclare wrote: »

They need huge amounts of exercise, not just 2 hours a day.

I have springers and they manage fine on an hour of high intensity exercise a day. They would be a nightmare on anything less and they really do need plenty of intense exercise but they are also highly intelligent, highly social dogs. Along with exercise they need mental stimulation and company. I'm just saying this as there is no need to scare the OP about the amount of exercise they need.

Other than that I think Caroline_a has it absolutely spot on. The OP needs to work on her marriage first and if they decide they are to go forward as a married, dog owning family, she needs to take the dogs for training. One at a time. The only thing I will add to that is that if she does do this training her husband needs to be willing to fall in line with that training as it will do nobody any good if the dogs get mixed messages from their owners.

Errata

I can't see the OP having a great deal of success training the dogs, she hasn't yet managed to train her OH.
That aside, I wouldn't have uncontrollable dogs around children.

shegirl

cheeeky_monkey wrote: »

Keeping dogs locked up on their own without human contact for long spells isn't a good idea. Maybe they would be better off (and subsequently better behaved) if they went to live with someone who has more time to spend with them.

Especially with such a high energy breed as a springer spaniel.They need large amounts of exercise and need something to occupy them during that day when they're not being exercised! Lack of exercise and stimulation generally does cause destructive behaviour aswell as other undesired behaviours.

MrsAtobe

GracieP wrote: »

I have springers and they manage fine on an hour of high intensity exercise a day. They would be a nightmare on anything less and they really do need plenty of intense exercise but they are also highly intelligent, highly social dogs. Along with exercise they need mental stimulation and company. I'm just saying this as there is no need to scare the OP about the amount of exercise they need.

Other than that I think Caroline_a has it absolutely spot on. The OP needs to work on her marriage first and if they decide they are to go forward as a married, dog owning family, she needs to take the dogs for training. One at a time. The only thing I will add to that is that if she does do this training her husband needs to be willing to fall in line with that training as it will do nobody any good if the dogs get mixed messages from their owners.

I, too have a springer and completely agree with Gracie and Caroline_a. My girl is 8, and an ex working dog. She's trained, but only in some things:rotfl:. It's worth bearing in mind OP, that 10 mins of training can be worth an hours exercise for a springer.

I hope you can overcome your fear OP, I couldn't imagine living the way you are at the moment.

margaretclare

I'm just saying this as there is no need to scare the OP about the amount of exercise they need.

I'm not intending to scare anyone, and I have no personal experience of this breed - have heard my DH talk about them many's the time, though. It seems to me that what this breed needs is not just exercise as in 'walkies' but a job of work to do. Mental stimulation to avoid boredom.

I used to have dogs, could not cope with them now. But I've often thought that many breeds should not be put into the 'pet' category and expected to cope with living in a domestic situation.