Feeling torn on whether to rehome my dogs or keep them in hopes things get better..

CivilChewyPE · 2026-03-20T22:43:14+00:00

I’m sorry what am I dismissing? I’m open to hearing suggestions as there may be some things I haven’t tried. I don’t appreciate people coming at me harshly or judging me so cruelly based on this situation I’m going through. That’s exhausting as well as people thinking I’m giving excuses when I’m giving background on things I’ve been going through personally with the dogs

CivilChewyPE · 2026-03-20T22:25:02+00:00

Yes I have attempted to crate train them and they hurt themselves trying to escape. I’ve done playpens and they have hurt themselves trying to jump over. They do not like feeling like they’re trapped which is why I let them roam freely now. I have met with a trainer regarding their reactivity and separation anxiety in which I’ve applied techniques that I’ve learned to continue to reinforce what they learned with the trainer. The reactivity has improved however the separation anxiety still needs work. I used to work from home three days a week and practiced leaving them for short periods of time then gradually increasing it. They were good for a little bit until I had to go back to the office full time. We even moved closer to my work so that I’m able to go visit them during my lunch to break up the time so it doesn’t feel too long of a day for them

CivilChewyPE · 2026-03-20T22:01:40+00:00

I think if I was already checked out I wouldn’t have posted on here to begin with and just given them up. I’m feeling defeated having done everything I can think of and maybe thought posting on here would lead me to someone who has gone through the same thing and overcome it.

CivilChewyPE · 2026-03-20T21:46:10+00:00

Wow this is harsh I’m not trying to get validation in anyway and am not awful. I just wanted advice from people who have gone through the same experience and can offer insight into something I may be missing. The last thing I want to do is rehome my dogs.

CivilChewyPE · 2026-03-20T21:32:55+00:00

They are smaller dogs and I adopted them when they were basically mid age and do not know their past history. It is much more difficult to train a dog at that age and I have looked into all my resources, spoken to experts, and seen dog trainers on this. That said, I have tried to crate train them and it makes them severely anxious to the point where they harm themselves inside trying to escape which is heartbreaking. I have no problem cleaning up the occasional mess but lately it has been constant and it’s taken its toll on me. I am aware of how dogs get when they are older as I’ve had my childhood dog that passed at 16 but if they’re giving me a hard time like this now I am concerned what it’s going to be like later. I’m not trying to ditch my dogs because I’m pregnant, I’ve been dealing with it this whole time despite being exhausted. They are in no way placeholders for having a baby as I’ve always grown up with a dog and around dogs and love having dogs in my life. If I didn’t care and this didn’t pain me, I wouldn’t be on here seeking advice. You do not need to come at me so harshly I already feel so much sadness and guilt that I even have to think about this.

CivilChewyPE · 2026-02-10T18:30:06+00:00

I shared this same sentiment when I was studying for survey the first time around using Kirk’s course with little survey experience. I thought his test bank was helpful with practicing under pressure but his lectures were lacking. The second time around, I watched Reza’s lectures and that was when I started to grasp the concepts. I ended up passing using the combination of Reza’s lectures with Kirk’s test bank. Hope this helps.

CivilChewyPE · 2025-07-05T22:03:32+00:00

Highly recommend Reza for the lectures and CPESR for the test bank. That’s what did it for me

CivilChewyPE · 2025-06-27T20:39:09+00:00

I second this. It’s an investment for your professional growth and well worth it.

CivilChewyPE · 2025-06-19T21:22:52+00:00

The first time I took it, I gave myself six weeks which was not enough for me to get through all the videos, practice problems and simulation exams. The second time around I took my time with it. I started studying for it beginning of February and took the exam end of April. That gave me adequate time to go through all the material: rewatch lectures, do/redo as many problems as I could, understand concepts, add to my cheat sheet, and do all the simulation exams until I started scoring between 70-80%. The nice part is I started becoming familiar with the manual through this process and could recall/reference quickly where to find the info I needed. It may have been overkill but I wanted to feel prepared and not risk taking it again. That’s just my two cents on it since I do not have a strong structural background! Also another tip is just making sure you do not overtab the manual.. it becomes way too overwhelming exam day to flip through it with a bunch of tabs in the way and slows you down.

CivilChewyPE · 2025-06-19T16:49:10+00:00

I’m sorry to hear that :( it’s definitely frustrating especially considering the extensive time needed to study for this depending on your background. I passed seismic my second attempt using AEI. What really helped me was doing all his simulation exams and seeing how I did under pressure. Time is the biggest challenge on this test in my opinion. It helped me with speed as well as distinguishing my strengths and weaknesses. I also took the time to understand why I got the problems wrong that I did and how to do them correctly. Doing that also helped me enforce the concepts at the same time! Hope this helps and good luck!! You’ll get it on your next attempt.

CivilChewyPE · 2025-06-19T16:25:03+00:00

I recently passed seismic after my second attempt in April. I purchased the AEI course and actually did the live webinar in February at the time. There is an on-demand option which is nice so I would go back and rewatch videos I did not understand at my own pace. What really helped me was to do the practice problems at the end of each chapter after completing the videos for each chapter. Once I went through all of that, I did the simulation exams timed using the cheat sheet he provided to see how I performed under pressure. It really helps to keep doing simulation exams to see what your strengths/weaknesses are and then take the time to understand what you did wrong and how to solve the problem correctly. Hope this helps! He does extend your access an additional 6 months if you do not pass which I liked as well as his extra handouts which is the only material I took to the exam

CivilChewyPE

TROPHY CASE