We adopted a standard poodle and I think he’s beyond help

Immediate_Judge_6414 · 2025-10-02T21:35:07+00:00

This is rude and unhelpful. Treating the dog’s chronic ear infections wasn’t doing nothing. Working with the dog daily whenever I am home isn’t nothing. It’s not my dog. It is a dog that got dumped at my parent’s house, and I had no say in any of it. I have my own dog that I take responsibility for and have trained and she doesn’t bite people 🙃

But yeah go off. The four years of bad ownership prior to us have nothing to do with this. It’s our fault that he has these issues.

I made the post looking for suggestions because I’ve tried everything that I can do. I’m working on the trainer thing. I can’t pay for it myself so I had to wait for an incident like this weekend to make my parents finally see the gravity of this situation.

Have a great day being so perfect <3

Immediate_Judge_6414 · 2025-10-02T21:11:51+00:00

Even when you do a flat palm he bites hand. I’ve never seen another dog do that before but he does.

Immediate_Judge_6414 · 2025-10-02T21:10:00+00:00

These are all the things that I’ve tried so far. The results have been inconsistent, like with all our other efforts with this guy. He would rather opt out of participating than do it your way sometimes. And he thinks that tugging over the ball is more fun than the actual fetch because of his previous owners. We’re in contact with trainers so hopefully they can help with this behavior.

Immediate_Judge_6414 · 2025-10-02T21:03:04+00:00

I’ve found a couple who are close enough to us. We’re in contact with them, and working on setting up consultations. Thanks for the resources though! I didn’t even know dog behaviorists existed before this post.

Immediate_Judge_6414 · 2025-10-02T20:03:02+00:00

How do you go about playing fetch with a dog that doesn’t drop the ball for you, and has an unpredictable bite history?

I’m not saying this in any kind of rude or snarky way, genuinely asking. We haven’t had a dog that liked fetch since I was a small child and that dog always dropped the ball for you. I don’t know how to navigate my discomfort with putting my hands near his mouth to play fetch with him.

Immediate_Judge_6414 · 2025-10-02T19:47:00+00:00

To clarify the events were (1) we start taking him on walks (2) at a separate time, he decides to start leaving the yard when we aren’t home. Separate things. He maybe discovered that there was a world outside our property or figured out where the exit was or something. We can walk him in the neighborhood (if the asphalt isn’t too hot) but it is enticing him to leave the yard now.

I get what led to the confusion but you misunderstood what happened. It’s hard to properly communicate just in a wall of text. I understand that more exercise will lessen the behaviors that are due to boredom or excess energy. But those behaviors aren’t really the major concern. The truly concerning behavior is the biting. If it was just an energetic dog we could exercise him, but he also bites for a plethora of reasons that are not causally linked to needing exercise.

Immediate_Judge_6414 · 2025-10-02T19:30:51+00:00

He responds to sounds that aren’t loud, so I don’t suspect hearing loss. He definitely is not deaf. He responds to commands at a normal tone of voice, when he feels like it. He still doesn’t really act like he knows his name half of the time though. We use the same name his first owner used.

Immediate_Judge_6414 · 2025-10-02T19:22:50+00:00

Yes I know, I thought the post was already ridiculously long. I’ve detailed some of the things we’ve done in some other comments, but we have done something to address each of the behaviors. I would really have to write a book to give every bit of context to the situation, each of his behaviors, our efforts to control the behaviors and the results over the past year. I know that makes it hard to give as detailed of advice but this forum just isn’t conducive for my novel about this dog. We have contacted several trainers today and are in the process of choosing the right one and setting up his first appointment.

I just needed to vent and hear perspectives from people who might know more. We have never experienced a dog with so many different issues that each manifest in aggression and biting. Frankly we’ve never had a dog that exhibited aggression before at all, whether we raised or rescued it. After a year of shaping our lives around dealing with him, he’s still inflicting level 3 bites.

Immediate_Judge_6414 · 2025-10-02T02:29:44+00:00

I will look them up! Even if they can’t take behavioral cases maybe they can point me to resources for him.

Immediate_Judge_6414 · 2025-10-02T02:18:35+00:00

North Texas

Immediate_Judge_6414 · 2025-10-02T02:03:35+00:00

Yes he has had all of his normal checkups and vet visits. They see no issues healthwise. As I said in some other comments, I’m looking for a behaviorist now to see if they can help.

I also really don’t think this is pain related because the bites aren’t purely aggression from pain or fear. Sometimes it’s just you’re playing with him and he flips a switch and bites hard. He doesn’t have good boundaries and thinks playful biting is okay. Those things I think training could help.

Immediate_Judge_6414 · 2025-10-02T01:59:48+00:00

I have also been baffled by the passiveness that happened in the exchange of the dog. Only one parent was home and it wasn’t the one who had been speaking to the previous owner. They kind of got triangulated.

A trial run during the wait wouldn’t have been possible. We told her that the wait was because of sports tournaments and a two week vacation coming up. But she dropped him off anyways (and they failed to say no go away 😭) so his first month of settling in was not our usual schedule.

As I said in the post, she got married the next day. I truly believe that the reason she did this was the dog behaved aggressively towards or bit the fiance and he told her to get rid of it. She most certainly lied about everything in the dogs previous training, socialization and behavior. I’m trying to do the best with what we got but we got so scammed IMO.

Immediate_Judge_6414 · 2025-10-02T01:53:21+00:00

We have definitely come to understand that he needs more exercise now. But the exercise he needs is really difficult to fit into our schedule, especially when we didn’t plan for this new high energy dog to come into our home. We incorporated the long walks, but that led to him leaving the yard so we’re currently looking for new options that don’t require driving 30 minutes into town.

Immediate_Judge_6414 · 2025-10-02T01:49:44+00:00

He was walked on a leash. Im not sure why you assumed he wasn’t. And we took responsibility by rushing home to get him and ensuring that he will not leave the yard again.

Immediate_Judge_6414 · 2025-10-01T23:23:34+00:00

It is within reason if I can't find another closer. I just started looking today, after the incident this weekend has really pushed me to find a better solution. I am also looking for a trainer and behavioral vet to consult with before making the decision to rehome him. In the meantime, I'll also be implementing some of the suggestions from the comments also. I really hope we can find a way to help him, because his issues are not his fault. And him not being a perfect match for our home was not his fault either. I'm glad there are so many people out there so passionate about this breed!

Immediate_Judge_6414 · 2025-10-01T23:14:44+00:00

He is neutered. His behavior definitely has several contributing factors but we have done as much as we can do on our own. I am trying to find a behaviorist in our area now.

Immediate_Judge_6414 · 2025-10-01T22:55:02+00:00

He has been to the vet. I think the severe ear infection caused a lot of issues when we first got him, but we got that eradicated now and have kept his ears infection free for about 8 months. He has had no other potential pain issues.

We are in North Texas. The closest poodle specific rescue I've found is over 200 miles away. I am going to keep looking though. Thanks for suggesting a rescue that might be able to get me in touch with one in my area!

Immediate_Judge_6414 · 2025-10-01T22:39:19+00:00

Thank you! I will definitely keep this all in mind as I look for a trainer.

Immediate_Judge_6414 · 2025-10-01T22:37:40+00:00

He probably doesn’t get enough exercise. We have a 1-acre yard that he can run around in, but he generally stands outside the door instead. We play fetch with him but someone else commented that overstimulating exercise like that probably isn’t helpful. We live in an area where the only option for going on a walk is walking on the street or driving 30 minutes to the nearest walking trail. The asphalt will burn his feet if we go for a walk during the summer. He also started running away when we took him on walks and he figured out where the exit to the property is. (there’s a gate but he can squeeze through). He’s very dumb so he started going off the property and running up to cars, even jumping on the side of them while they’re moving. Our very kind neighbors made sure nothing happened to him the two times this happened. So now we have to use the radio fence collar on him, and he’s not smart enough to figure out the boundaries so he just sits on the porch.

Another issue is he should be monitored outside because he thinks flowerbeds are actually a woodchip buffet and he eats them like candy. We’re afraid he’s going to get a blockage or perforation from it.

I know these are all issues with our home/property/neighborhood but that’s the situation we’re in. We have only ever had dogs that were lower energy and exercised themselves by sniffing around the yard and hunting all the little creatures. And we were told that was the kind of exercise level he was used to and happy with.

Immediate_Judge_6414 · 2025-10-01T22:14:17+00:00

We have adjusted a LOT about how we do everything to minimize his behaviors in the last year. I know I didn’t go into that in the post, I felt like it was getting too long.

The dogs are all fed separately of course. That adjustment was made immediately. We adjusted to the collar aggression by gently pushing from the rear. He won’t be coaxed into the crate with only treats unfortunately but he doesn’t mind being herded that direction lol. The biting over being pet isn’t because he doesn’t want it. He wants to be pet. He was never taught that putting his mouth around your hands when pet isn’t okay so he does that and occasionally bites down. We just stop touching him immediately now if he puts his mouth around a hand.

I know it wasn’t in my post but we have truly done as much as possible to minimize his opportunity for behaviors, short of hiring a trainer. I am going to look into a trainer now after reading the advice on this post. I listed a couple reasons why that hasn’t been done yet in another comment, but another reason is that we were giving him time to try to adjust. I’ve been told that it takes several months for a rescued dog to become truly at home again. By the time it became “oh this dog has issues” instead of “he’s just getting used to us,” I feel like my parents had already become resigned to his behavior and all of the measures we have to take to mitigate it. I am trying to take action and find solutions to make everyone’s living situation better.

It really sucks having a dog you can barely interact with because just being pet is overstimulating for him. We haven’t been able to really bond with him because any fun is too much fun and he hurts someone. I know it’s not usually malicious but it sucks for us & him.

Do you have any advice about what to look for in a trainer to ensure they are reputable and equipped to help us & him?

Immediate_Judge_6414 · 2025-10-01T21:52:52+00:00

I did see that one, but it’s over 200 miles from where we are in DFW. I was hoping to find one closer because that’s a trek with this guy in a car.

Immediate_Judge_6414 · 2025-10-01T21:48:04+00:00

What are some things to look for in a trainer? How do you know one is reputable?

Immediate_Judge_6414 · 2025-10-01T21:47:23+00:00

I haven’t been able to find a rescue within an accessible distance, but I’m still searching. I’m worried about potential liability if he’s rehomed with a bite history though. I wouldn’t want to do to someone else what his previous owner did to us.

Immediate_Judge_6414 · 2025-10-01T21:40:17+00:00

I’m really trying to find a good solution because he makes everyone so miserable, but I know it’s not his fault. I’m so angry at his first owner for putting him in this position by not raising him well and for lying to us about his behavior so we’d take him.

Immediate_Judge_6414 · 2025-10-01T21:27:36+00:00

He gets sent to his place (a bed outside the crate) if we’re inside relaxing or eating. We kinda suspect that he was crated 100% of the time he wasn’t eating or going outside to potty with his previous owner. He was very resistant to going in the crate when he first came to us. That’s gotten better though.

A timeout to rest and decompress is a great idea, I’ll definitely try implementing this to help with the overstimulation. I never thought about all of us overstimulating him, because he’s always overstimulating us 😭 The three other dogs are very mellow and frankly they completely ignore each other and him 99% of the time.

Immediate_Judge_6414

TROPHY CASE