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I'll try to make this brief. 2 weeks ago, my fiance brought his 100+ pound German Sheperd/Husky to stay with us while his mom is having surgery. The hope was that he'd eventually come back and stay permanently but for right now get to know my home and 2 cats that I live with. He's aggressive towards cats so we keep mine in the bedroom separated by a baby gate. I live in a one-bedroom, 500 sq ft. apartment.
Well, though its only been 2 weeks, I'm pretty disgusted with the animal and haven't felt very comfortable in my home and asked if his mom could continue keeping the dog until we get a bigger place though we have no idea when that we'll be. He agreed, though he is sad about it.
I've never had a dog before, only cats and I've found the maintenance to be too much and really inconvenient. He needs to be walked every 4 hours, he's afraid of the dark and needs a light kept on for him, he's afraid of thunder and cries all night when there is a storm, he slobs water all over the kitchen floor, drools everywhere and sheds hair as if he were 20 cats. We have to vacuum every other day to keep the hair at bay. He also gets jealous if he sees or hears me with the cats and either cries or barks. Meanwhile, my cats are scared of him and won't go near him, he barks at them and really, I hate my kitties being confined to one room when they used to have the whole place. The dog stomps around making noise (I have hardwood floors and can hear him every time he walks and is so needy, he jumps up every time I do anything to follow me. We're in a tight space and I find the constant large body following me a huge annoyance. He also eats garbage out of our covered can at night (had diarrhea for days) and he's so big he knocks over things and move furniture. To make things worse, my fiance isn't that good about cleaning up after him and trimming his long claws, which drag on the floor and he's already brought 2 ticks in the house! I'd never even seen one before.
I also don't like that I have to walk him at times and help with the upkeep. I feel that I should not as my SO doesn't have to do anything for my 2 cats. They are completely provided for by me.
So how to deal with this in the future? Obviously, my fiance adores the dog and he's here to stay. But I doubt his mom will be able to properly care for him and we could be a good year before we get a bigger place.
At this point, I don't wanna live with a large dog if its going to interrupt my homelife this much. Can anyone relate? Ever been here? Thoughts?
I adopted an abandoned, broken-legged huge G.Shep when I worked at an emergency clinic. THE HAIR!!!!!!!!!!!! We had to keep him confined due to the surgery I had for his shattered leg. OMG!!! He was impossible, chewed through the carrier then had bloody diarrhea everywhere. We would let him lie on the screened in porch and it looked like snow. Every day. When a storm was 50 miles away he would start pacing, slobbering, panicking. I had to keep him on tranquilizers, but he could sense storms that weren't even near us but on the way. One day there must have been a storm 2 states over and he ended up jumping through a screen door and was hanging half and half out, destroyed the surgery and it was no longer healing. I have a feeling that is why he got a shattered leg and was dumped on us to begin with. He was a total neurotic dog, but sooooo beautiful and sweet when the air was calm. After 7 months of hell and numerous surgeries, my vet said it was time to put him to sleep. I'm glad I gave it a try, but wow was that hard. My condolences to you. I hope your fiance can help find a solution (or a house!) for you.
why a year before you can move? Planning to buy? If so, forget it... go find a bigger rental. I definitely prefer pets over most people, but this is damned unfair to YOU. Tell fiance to get another job to step up the move to a larger rental.
this situation is intolerable. The dog has anxiety issues (fear of storms), the place is WAY too small, and the poor cats are suffering. Nope, no way would I tolerate that. Get a larger rental now!
I adopted an abandoned, broken-legged huge G.Shep when I worked at an emergency clinic. THE HAIR!!!!!!!!!!!! We had to keep him confined due to the surgery I had for his shattered leg. OMG!!! He was impossible, chewed through the carrier then had bloody diarrhea everywhere. We would let him lie on the screened in porch and it looked like snow. Every day. When a storm was 50 miles away he would start pacing, slobbering, panicking. I had to keep him on tranquilizers, but he could sense storms that weren't even near us but on the way. One day there must have been a storm 2 states over and he ended up jumping through a screen door and was hanging half and half out, destroyed the surgery and it was no longer healing. I have a feeling that is why he got a shattered leg and was dumped on us to begin with. He was a total neurotic dog, but sooooo beautiful and sweet when the air was calm. After 7 months of hell and numerous surgeries, my vet said it was time to put him to sleep. I'm glad I gave it a try, but wow was that hard. My condolences to you. I hope your fiance can help find a solution (or a house!) for you.
Wow! What an ordeal. Thanks for sharing that. If anything it makes me feel a lil less of a crybaby. At least you tried.
why a year before you can move? Planning to buy? If so, forget it... go find a bigger rental. I definitely prefer pets over most people, but this is damned unfair to YOU. Tell fiance to get another job to step up the move to a larger rental.
this situation is intolerable. The dog has anxiety issues (fear of storms), the place is WAY too small, and the poor cats are suffering. Nope, no way would I tolerate that. Get a larger rental now!
Thanks for the empathy. The reason why I said a year is because I'm currently unemployed and he's not making much part-time. Plus, my lease already renewed and it would be $1300 to break which is a lot considering I'm living off unemployment and savings right now.
Worse, is barely 5% of places takes his size and breed of dog and the ones that do, charge plenty for them. I think the ideal would be to rent a house, with 2 levels for each animal but the rents and deposits are much higher. Most deposits are $1000+ and rents are $1200+. No idea when we'll be able to afford that.
I'd say a larger rental and a dog trainer. I feel sorry for the dog.
He's obviously never been properly trained. He can't help the fact that he sheds or slobbers, but you can help by at least brushing him daily. Or should I say your SO should brush him daily. That pulls all those dead hairs out and you can dispose of them. Put a placemat under the water dish to at least pick up the water there. Dogs slobber, it's just how most of them are.
A dog trainer will help him deal with his fears as well as how him how to properly behave with the cats. If nothing is done this will escalate and the dog will suffer and that's not fair. Your SO made a commitment to him that he needs to honor. If he can't honor a commitment to a dog I'd have serious doubts as to how he'll honor them to you if things get tough.
And if things don't work out and you drop him in a shelter he'll probably be euthanized. With the economy the way it is people aren't adopting, especially large dogs. Finding him a good home with reponsible owners on your own is very hard. I've got 26 dogs at home right now - most are foster dogs - and all are perfectly trained and a joy to have in the house. You don't notice them most of the time. Some are smaller, some are larger. And I've not found but 1 home for one last month. And it sounds like SO's mom is not the place for him either.
You posted when I did I guess. Missed the job deal.
I still say you need a trainer and your SO needs to step up and take better care of the dog. Short of the dog being euth'd I think it's the only hope.
I'm going to speak with him today about the maintenance. His claws alone are absolutely disgusting. I don't know much about dog maintenance but I feel like he needs more than what is being done.
I'm going to speak with him today about the maintenance. His claws alone are absolutely disgusting. I don't know much about dog maintenance but I feel like he needs more than what is being done.
It sounds like you are correct. I trim nails on Saturdays. With 18 adult dogs - 8 are week old puppies - it takes me literally over an hour to grind them all down. And then there is the tooth brushing, bathing, brushing, medicating............. The list goes on and on.
Dog ownership isn't like cat ownership. Cats are quite self sufficient. You can even go on vacation a couple days and leave plenty food and water for them and only need someone to stop in once a day to make sure they are fine.
Dogs - especially the larger breeds - need lots of work. They aren't for lazy people. Aside from everything else, they need training, something that it sounds like your SO has been sorely lacking with his K9 friend.
I'll try to make this brief. 2 weeks ago, my fiance brought his 100+ pound German Sheperd/Husky to stay with us while his mom is having surgery. The hope was that he'd eventually come back and stay permanently but for right now get to know my home and 2 cats that I live with. He's aggressive towards cats so we keep mine in the bedroom separated by a baby gate. I live in a one-bedroom, 500 sq ft. apartment.
Well, though its only been 2 weeks, I'm pretty disgusted with the animal and haven't felt very comfortable in my home and asked if his mom could continue keeping the dog until we get a bigger place though we have no idea when that we'll be. He agreed, though he is sad about it.
I've never had a dog before, only cats and I've found the maintenance to be too much and really inconvenient. He needs to be walked every 4 hours, he's afraid of the dark and needs a light kept on for him, he's afraid of thunder and cries all night when there is a storm, he slobs water all over the kitchen floor, drools everywhere and sheds hair as if he were 20 cats. We have to vacuum every other day to keep the hair at bay. He also gets jealous if he sees or hears me with the cats and either cries or barks. Meanwhile, my cats are scared of him and won't go near him, he barks at them and really, I hate my kitties being confined to one room when they used to have the whole place. The dog stomps around making noise (I have hardwood floors and can hear him every time he walks and is so needy, he jumps up every time I do anything to follow me. We're in a tight space and I find the constant large body following me a huge annoyance. He also eats garbage out of our covered can at night (had diarrhea for days) and he's so big he knocks over things and move furniture. To make things worse, my fiance isn't that good about cleaning up after him and trimming his long claws, which drag on the floor and he's already brought 2 ticks in the house! I'd never even seen one before.
I also don't like that I have to walk him at times and help with the upkeep. I feel that I should not as my SO doesn't have to do anything for my 2 cats. They are completely provided for by me.
So how to deal with this in the future? Obviously, my fiance adores the dog and he's here to stay. But I doubt his mom will be able to properly care for him and we could be a good year before we get a bigger place.
At this point, I don't wanna live with a large dog if its going to interrupt my homelife this much. Can anyone relate? Ever been here? Thoughts?
Honestly I think you are being extremely selfish! How would feel if you could not have your cats but hubby had dog!
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We had to keep him confined due to the surgery I had for his shattered leg. OMG!!!
He was impossible, chewed through the carrier then had bloody diarrhea everywhere. We would let him lie on the screened in porch and it looked like snow. Every day. When a storm was 50 miles away he would start pacing, slobbering, panicking. I had to keep him on tranquilizers, but he could sense storms that weren't even near us but on the way. One day there must have been a storm 2 states over and he ended up jumping through a screen door and was hanging half and half out, destroyed the surgery and it was no longer healing. I have a feeling that is why he got a shattered leg and was dumped on us to begin with. He was a total neurotic dog, but sooooo beautiful and sweet when the air was calm. After 7 months of hell and numerous surgeries, my vet said it was time to put him to sleep. I'm glad I gave it a try, but wow was that hard. My condolences to you. I hope your fiance can help find a solution (or a house!) for you. 
At least you tried.
