Should he stay or go ....

[Antw23uk]

no hate here, hope the charity can get you sorted out soon with the right home for him.

Thank you, we will work with the charity with him still living with us. It makes sense to keep his routine and training in place rather tha move him to a foster home.

CorvusCorax - thank you, thats something I certainly didnt think of or appreciate enough and im sure most people dont. Doesnt make it any easier but thanks for sharing.

 

[pippixox]

your first dog comes first.
do not feel guilty, it sounds like you have done everything right and given everything time.
my friends had a cookerpoo bitch and a few years later they got a cookerpoo boy puppy. they tried for 6 months and there bitch got more and more withdrawn and grumpy. so they found a friend who wanted the puppy. he now has a great home and she is much happier. you just don't know with some dogs.

this is not a personal criticism to you- you are clearly a sensible dog owner who wanted to help a rescue. but it really worries me how many charities are shipping in foreign dogs. as previous poster said- lots are street dogs, not pet dogs. many have hidden problems at first. so seem great and quickly get re-homed, only to be returned in a few months. but I have heard of some dogs who's original small charity that takes dogs from abroad is no longer running so they have no support or back up so go to a pound or try and find another charity

 

[Slightlyconfused]

He is still a puppy, if you had bought an 8week puppy from a breeder you could well have the same problems.

If you really are not up to this send him back but dont get another, it seems to me you are looking for a carbon copy of your resident dog.

You allowed your heart to rule your head when you first got him and now the reality has kicked in you realise what a lot of work youve taken on which you dont want

There are lots of ways to deal with this dog as regards when you are doing the horses as Cally suggested pop him in the stable or pop a muzzle on him but you want your old life back so send him back to the rescue and I hope they rehome him to someone who is actually committed.

Yep.

I know you are in the mk area, Google MyPetGets dog training, Jeni who runs it is fab

 

[Blanche]

Just read one of your most recent posts. If your dog was born in a shelter from Romanian street dog heritage there will only be one thing in your dog's DNA. Survival. Eat on the run, fight or flight. It's additionally hard to condition a dog like this which may come from generations of semi or fully feral dogs, to fit into the average family home.

IMO it is a fallacy to think that a puppy is a blank canvas. Certain traits echo through generations. A bitch carries a puppy for nine weeks and raises it for the same amount of time.

We pick certain types of horses for dressage, showjumping, pulling a cart. Collies herd, bloodhounds trail, terriers like going down holes. We go to types and breeds because of genetics.
To think that dogs only inherit some qualities but not others doesn't make sense. So you have an added challenge in that this dog is not inherently bred to fit into a normal busy northern European household. So well done for getting this far.

I listened to a podcast or TED talk(can't remember which) by a man called Mark Wolynn where he talked about inherited family trauma. He talked at length about the experiments that he had done with mice. Fascinating subject.

Antw23uk- Hugs for you all at this time. Not an easy decision , well done being brave enough to make it.

 

[AmyMay]

no hate here, hope the charity can get you sorted out soon with the right home for him.

Absolutely. And remember, you've given him a great start x

 

[Emma_H]

I feel for you, I really do.

In the same position as you, still at the "what the heck have I done stage" and it's been nearly 2 months with a 9 month old.
Taking every day as it comes and persevering but it isn't easy in the slightest. We have our ups and downs but getting there slowly, very very very slowly