Adopting an older dog - any tips?

rainbowrisin

I think you and OH need to have a talk. It is devastating (I speak from experience) when pets die, but objectively, looking after a rabbit is not the same as looking after a dog (sorry, do not mean to denigrate the late rabbit). The behaviour you have described is not, IMHO, particularly abnormal for a dog. It does sound as if your dog is anxious, but he's nine and has led a hard life, so will almost inevitably be so. If he is not used to socialising then he will be a "pain" with other people.
If you and OH decide that you DO want to make a go of it with the dog, then I recommend that you see a pet psychologist (vet will recommend, or try yellow pages or google). I had good results with one when I had a dog who was a persistent and inappropriate guarder of things, and several friends of mine have had good results using one. That said, as what you're describing doesn't seem that unusual, and isn't aggressive or threatening, I'm not sure what changes could be made.
Sorry to be maybe bang out or order, but dogs are far more demanding than cats, birds, rabbits etc etc, and they do infringe on your lifestyle to some extent. Even if an animal psychologist can help, it will be weeks or months before the changes are apparant. I suggest you need to talk through with OH the implications of this. Good luck with whatever you decide.

Becles

It sounds like the dog has never been socialised, has had little training and thinks he's in charge of the place! What type of breed is he? The good news is with a lot of hard work, you might be able to cure his problems.

1. barks sponteneously and seemingly for no reason
This can be trained out of him. Do something he doesn't like, such as a squirt with a water pistol or make a loud noise. He'll learn that random barking makes you cross.
2. barks like crazy when we want to go out - jumps up and grabs door handles when we've gone out (our door handles now lift upwards to open!!!)
This sounds like seperation anxiety. You need to start leaving him for very short periods of time. At first, go out for about 2 minutes, then come back in and make a fuss of him. Gradually build up the time away, and he'll soon learn that you will come back and make a fuss of him.
3. goes crazy when guests come in (or when he's in family's houses) and when they leave
It could be a socialisation problem. He might not like other dogs and people really and doesn't know how to behave with them. How does he react when you meet people on neutral ground, such as on walks? Maybe you try meeting the guests a few minutes walk from your home and all coming into the house together. That worked when my brothers dog took an instant dislike to my dog, but they loved each other when they met on in a field and are best of friends now!
4. when he escapes out of the house, runs in front of cars and circles them so the driver cant move
This is common with dogs like collies. They like to round up things that move. You need to teach him to come back as soon as his name is called. Do this in an enclosed space like your garden. Everytime he comes when called, give him a titbit. Once he's mastered it in the garden, take him to a field or somewhere with no cars and work there. Eventually he should come anytime his name is called. At the same time, walk him alongside the road on a short lead to get him used to cars.
5. wakes us up every night wanting a wee, drink, general walk outside
Not had this problem. Where does he sleep? Mine are put outside for wee's before I go to bed, and have access to water during the night. I shut them out of my bedroom so they cannot wake me up in the night on a whim, although they do bark or come in if they are poorly or something.
6. relentlessly licks us
One of mine does that and I've never found a cure for it. If you do let me know! It is so irritating isn't it?!
7. barks whenever we drive him anywhere
That sounds like he doesn't like the car. You could try putting him the car with one of you driving and the other reassuring him. Just drive for a couple of minutes at first and give him a titbit if he is good. Gradually build up the time in the car until he can manage longer journeys. One of mine hated the car, but I did this with him, and now he hops in the boot as soon as you open it!

What it boils down to, is can you or your missus give the dog plenty of time to do all of this with him? He's had a tough life already and it would be a shame to put him back in the kennels again when your problems can be worked through with time and effort.

Contains_Mild_Peril

village_life wrote:

(our door handles now lift upwards to open!!!)

My dad did that with his doors too!
I don't have much to add to Becles' good advice, except that you might also want to find out if there are any dog training classes locally, where you can consult an expert if you're still having problems with him. Good luck.

angchris

i totally know where you are coming from as im going through it at the moment:rolleyes: i inherited my disabled father in laws rottweiller 2 years ago after he sadly died. my oh couldnt bear to have him put down as that is what would of happened to him as there was no way he could be rehomed and he felt he owed it to his dad to at least try! the dog was never socialised as f.i.l couldnt get out and about it also never had "the chop" so is very dominant. after 3 months of the dog being chained to the living room wall (because he would of killed me!) he finally was able to sit in the same room as me without biting me :eek: anyway to cut a long story short im at the end of my tether, i cant walk the dog because i cant control him he is far too strong even if i could walk him he wants to kill everything in sight so hence the only place he can be exercised is in my garden. i no longer have any friends coming to visit as they are all scared. my son can no longer have his friends in the house as im scared of what might happen if he were to get loose. my house is no longer my own and i really am pulling my hair out with the dog as no one else other than my partner or my son can get near the dog, so we can never go out for the day or go on holidays because we always have to be near home and xmas i am going to have to make a 40 mile round trip twice a day to make sure he is ok fed and watered etc as there is absolutely no chance of me taking him with me:eek: . dont get me wrong i absolutely love animals but this dog is really trying my patience, luckily he is about 9 years old so is getting on abit in doggy years ho hum the joys of having a pet :rolleyes: on a good note though my house is probably one of the safest in the uk at this present time, if a burgalar is daft enough to break into my house he`d be lucky to escape with his life let alone a swag bag:rotfl:

Dumyat

dont know if you watch Dog Borstal on BBC3. its a dog training program for problem dogs. you might pick up some hints. you need to find what makes him happy. food, toys etc and use it to reinforce good behaviour. lots of exercise is good too for hyper dogs. beccles has said it all really.

peeing at night? dogs often need to to drink a lot with the dry foods. is that the only food he can have? or change his meal time to earlier in the day.

why not look around for a dog training class.

roswell

A empty plastic coke bottle with some stones in will help you wonders with this barking, when he barks rattle the bottle and say " Quiet" this can be used as a training aid for most things it breaks there attention from what evers happenign to the noise of the bottle, I use this almost daily ...... if only my dog was clever enough to remember commands and not just the sound of the bottle.

Debt_Free_Chick

The training suggestions are good ones, but with a nine year old dog, they will take much, much longer to begin to work. You will both need plenty of time and patience as the dog will need almost constant training to correct his bad behaviour. You both must be certain that you can make this commitment if you are going to keep him.

If you have little experience in training dogs I would strongly suggest you find a trainer locally and arrange some one-on-one sessions with him/her. It's not just the dog that needs training - you both need to be trained in the best way to train the dog.

There will be no easy and quick fixes - the dog has learned this behaviour over the past x years (could be over the past nine years).

I would also suggest you speak to the rescue centre - did they experience this behaviour in the dog? Were they able to control it? If so, how?

In the meantime, you must be 100% consistent with the dog. If there is behaviour you don't want, then you must correct it each and every time it occurs. Otherwise, the dog will simply be confused as to what is and what is not required.

Please - find a trainer soon.

Lady_S

My nan has a dog which constantly barked. It took ages to cure, but when he barked at people entering or leaving the house then my mum used to turn him and make him face the wall, or away from the people. Once he had stopped she would turn him around to face the people again and repeat the process until he understood if he barked he would be turned away. He did stop it eventually. It took a while though.

I have been told the licking is a sign that he is trying to dominate, so its something you should stop as soon as you can. Just move him away from you.

sturgeon62

Some excellent advice here on training, really feel the issues can all be resolved given a little time and determination.
We installed a "dog flap" which means she can go in and out all night and even if we need to leave her.
Best Wishes hope you get sorted

Raksha

Lady_S wrote:

My nan has a dog which constantly barked. It took ages to cure, but when he barked at people entering or leaving the house then my mum used to turn him and make him face the wall, or away from the people. Once he had stopped she would turn him around to face the people again and repeat the process until he understood if he barked he would be turned away. He did stop it eventually. It took a while though.

I have been told the licking is a sign that he is trying to dominate, so its something you should stop as soon as you can. Just move him away from you.

First things first - there seem to be some difficulties between you and your wife. When communication breaks down, folk often look for other niggling things to 'blame' - and this is where the dog comes in. He won't be helpped by tensions between you and your wife. Get this sorted, and have a consisten approach between you, and you'll probably find things improve.

Licking is NOT a sign of dominance - it's the dominant dog who will be licked, not the other way around. It stems from puppy behaviour, where the pup will lick the face of a returning adult dog to get them to regergitate food.

Please do not use aversives like water pistols, penny bottles, stones in cans etc. Used 'willy nilly' without assesing the dog for the suitability of this kind of therapy can have devestating consequences. One of the biggest dog training associations in this country (APDT) is campaigning to get the BBC to stop producing Dog Borstal because of the problems of owners using this kind of training on their own dogs.

To manage your dogs behaviour when you have visitors, consider using a short lead (a 'houseline') to direct your dog. If he jumps up, ask people to turn their back, hold their hands crossed across their chest, and ask the dog to sit if he knows the command. You can reward him while he's sitting so he learns which behaviour is most rewarding.

Ignore the behaviour you don't want.

Distract/redirect from the stuff you can't ignore.

Praise/reward LOTS for the good stuff.

Give him lots of chances to repeat the good stuff (also called 'training' )

Dogs don't naturally come equipped to live in a human house, and given the chance, they will keep behaving like dogs, unless we take the chance to socialise and train from an early age. If this opportnity isn't taken, then it takes longer to unlearn the 'bad' stuff before they can start learning the good stuff.

Finally - get in touch with the rescue he came from - they may have a 'behaviourist' who can advise you as well.