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Our older dog got cancer and had to be put down. So we decided to adopt another dog from the city pound. I wanted a German Shepard puppy but my family instead chose a 2 year old Golden Retriever. Anyways, he has been a complete nightmare. So far he has destroyed a mattress (shredded it to pieces); chewed up a leather sofa; takes all the shoes and hides them all over the yard; takes expensive laundry off the line and chews them to pieces; takes all the blankets out of his and other dogs kennels and tosses them all over the yard shredded to pieces; jumps on and harasses all our other dogs all day long; chases after our cats; breaks in to the dog food container whenever he's hungry; etc. I call him the Devil Dog because I would imagine that's how a dog possessed by the Devil would act to make our lives miserable.
Unfortunately, the pound does not accept returns so we are stuck with him. I feel like they sold us a defective dog as they later admitted that he's been returned several times already. Plus I have no doubt if we were to return him (no refund of course), those unethical bastards wouldn't hesitate to sell him to another unsuspecting family.
Our older dog got cancer and had to be put down. So we decided to adopt another dog from the city pound. I wanted a German Shepard puppy but my family instead chose a 2 year old Golden Retriever. Anyways, he has been a complete nightmare. So far he has destroyed a mattress (shredded it to pieces); chewed up a leather sofa; takes all the shoes and hides them all over the yard; takes expensive laundry off the line and chews them to pieces; takes all the blankets out of his and other dogs kennels and tosses them all over the yard shredded to pieces; jumps on and harasses all our other dogs all day long; chases after our cats; breaks in to the dog food container whenever he's hungry; etc. I call him the Devil Dog because I would imagine that's how a dog possessed by the Devil would act to make our lives miserable.
Unfortunately, the pound does not accept returns so we are stuck with him. I feel like they sold us a defective dog as they later admitted that he's been returned several times already. Plus I have no doubt if we were to return him (no refund of course), those unethical bastards wouldn't hesitate to sell him to another unsuspecting family.
I don't know what to do... any advice??????
Destruction is usually due to boredom or anxiety. But really, why does a new dog have access to all of the house and all of the other animals already? New dog, new gates. Fences make good neighbors, gates make good dogs, at least in the beginning.
Everything else, go to a good obedience class, do your "homework" aka practice what the trainer tells you and take that young dog for a long walk, one on one, everyday.
The pound does not accept returns but admitted that he's been returned several times already? Sounds like the previous owners were more forceful in their demands to return the dog.
Unfortunately, this is the reason I won't adopt an older dog from a shelter. You have no idea what has or hasn't been done to the dog and could end up with a nightmare like this.
Crate the dog to control it when it is not being supervised. You're going to have to spend lots of time with the dog training it and correcting this established behavior. You also need to burn off some of that energy in a controlled way with playing and training.
Our older dog got cancer and had to be put down. So we decided to adopt another dog from the city pound. I wanted a German Shepard puppy but my family instead chose a 2 year old Golden Retriever. Anyways, he has been a complete nightmare. So far he has destroyed a mattress (shredded it to pieces); chewed up a leather sofa; takes all the shoes and hides them all over the yard; takes expensive laundry off the line and chews them to pieces; takes all the blankets out of his and other dogs kennels and tosses them all over the yard shredded to pieces; jumps on and harasses all our other dogs all day long; chases after our cats; breaks in to the dog food container whenever he's hungry; etc. I call him the Devil Dog because I would imagine that's how a dog possessed by the Devil would act to make our lives miserable.
Unfortunately, the pound does not accept returns so we are stuck with him. I feel like they sold us a defective dog as they later admitted that he's been returned several times already. Plus I have no doubt if we were to return him (no refund of course), those unethical bastards wouldn't hesitate to sell him to another unsuspecting family.
I don't know what to do... any advice??????
There are no defective dogs; unfortunately there are defective humans who fail to provide their dog with the training and life-long home the dog desperately needs.
You need to start at the very beginning.
1) Crate train your dog. Here is a link on crate training. When you aren't actively watching your dog, walking, training, or playing with him he needs to be in a contained dog-safe area. A crate in a quiet corner of the main part of the house is perfect so that he can see what is going on but still be protected until you can spend time with him. Give him a stuffed Kong in the crate so that he has something to enjoy and keep him busy figuring out how to get treats out of it.
2) Exercise your dog- he needs at least two hours of mental and physical exercise that includes training, walks, and fun play. A tired dog is less likely to look for things to get into.
3) Get your dog into a basic obedience class, ideally with a CCPDT-KA or CCPDT-SA certified trainer- you need to learn how to set guidelines, reasonable expectations, and effectively train your dog with an eye toward building a solid relationship with him.
APDT- has a link to search for a certified trainer as well as some good basic information on training: https://apdt.com/pet-owners/
Last edited by twelvepaw; 01-28-2016 at 05:36 PM..
Destruction is usually due to boredom or anxiety. But really, why does a new dog have access to all of the house and all of the other animals already? New dog, new gates. Fences make good neighbors, gates make good dogs, at least in the beginning.
Everything else, go to a good obedience class, do your "homework" aka practice what the trainer tells you and take that young dog for a long walk, one on one, everyday.
Tired dog = good dog.
Well, he's technically not new since he's been with us for couple of months.
He does not have access to the house fortunately.
Forgot to mention that a delivery package was left in our yard and he tore up the box and ate all its contents. He has tried to do it to other packages when I caught him.
The pound does not accept returns but admitted that he's been returned several times already? Sounds like the previous owners were more forceful in their demands to return the dog.
Unfortunately, this is the reason I won't adopt an older dog from a shelter. You have no idea what has or hasn't been done to the dog and could end up with a nightmare like this.
Crate the dog to control it when it is not being supervised. You're going to have to spend lots of time with the dog training it and correcting this established behavior. You also need to burn off some of that energy in a controlled way with playing and training.
When I say they don't accept returns I meant they don't do refunds. Of course they will always do owner surrenders but like I said I am worried he will be adopted out again instead of being put down.
What I would do is crate him when I could not be on him like white on rice. If you get a new dog and cannot be there to guide and monitor it, why did you get one?
We just got a new rescue dog. We have never left him alone for more than an hour, and he has been good. Today, a medical emergency caused us to leave him alone for 7 hours and he peed and pooped in the house. It was not his fault. If we had confined him in a crate, he would have probably been OK, because he goes for about 10 hours at night without having to go out.
A dog needs careful and consistent training, and it doesn't happen overnight.
We've had about 20 dogs over the years and not one needed training. They were all well behaved and not crazy like this dog. This dog is on my last nerve. I am ready to take him to the mtns and leave him there.
My late MIL adopted a 7 year old golden from the pound many years ago and he had tremendous amounts of energy. She was in her 70's and spent a lot of time just taking him on many walks every day.
I only adopt seniors and if I were in your shoes, I would find a good doggie daycare for him to spend at least a half day, maybe every day, and then get a trainer. Sounds to me like he is bored. Yes, doggie daycare is expensive as is a trainer, but I would never return any pet back to the pound, nor would I abandon them in the mountains (even though I do not believe that you really mean that).
Maybe I have been lucky, but our local pounds always work with the dogs before they are available for adoption.
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