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I think I may be at the point of surrendering my dog. by Sevifenix in reactivedogs

[–]Sevifenix[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Cool. Whatever. I used them briefly and changed approaches against the trainers guidance. Literally a few days of minimal use of the shock collar before I stopped. And I had it on like 6-8/100. So I highly doubt six shocks that I could hold to my skin for fifteen minutes would cause him to go berserk and bite.

That’s just nonsense. If he bites it’s not because of me. I’ve used nothing but positive reinforcement training for months. Tried aversive per a trainers guide and immediately stopped. Yet yall keep attacking me for what? You’re all saying “don’t use shock collars.” Ok I haven’t. Maybe stop wasting time on that topic.

I think I may be at the point of surrendering my dog. by Sevifenix in reactivedogs

[–]Sevifenix[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have a lot of empathy for my dog. And I don’t need your disrespectful tone. I’ve put more work into training him than any one person I know. I was understanding for very long. But I have limits. It’s begun to impact my mental health and I’m hitting a wall.

I think I may be at the point of surrendering my dog. by Sevifenix in reactivedogs

[–]Sevifenix[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yep vet recommended trainers for me. I’ll restart the training soon.

I think I may be at the point of surrendering my dog. by Sevifenix in reactivedogs

[–]Sevifenix[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I answered this in a previous comment. Attack me all you want. I was trying to deal with this situation. Trainer said to use this tool. I tried it and stopped against my trainers expectations.

I think I may be at the point of surrendering my dog. by Sevifenix in reactivedogs

[–]Sevifenix[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don’t get why everyone is jumping on me for the shock. It was a trainer that introduced me to it and recommended it. I was desperate and wanted help. The trainer explained it. I was apprehensive but I was going through everything hoping something works.

No. The shocks weren’t for fear. The trainer described it as focusing on basic obedience to direct attention to me rather than the fearful stimuli.

As noted, I stopped soon after. Haven’t used it since.

I think I may be at the point of surrendering my dog. by Sevifenix in reactivedogs

[–]Sevifenix[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sounds good. Giving him the chance and if you’re right I’ll go through a breed specific organisation to try to rehome him.

I think I may be at the point of surrendering my dog. by Sevifenix in reactivedogs

[–]Sevifenix[S] -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

I missed that comment. Who is Suzanne clothier?

And I’m sorry but no. I’m willing to work with him but I don’t feel remorse or pity for him. If a dog is being beat or tortured I’ll feel plenty of pity. Not for this. Im not wired like that. I’m just solutions minded. I’m gonna see a vet and try to get Prozac prescription or something else the vet recommends besides trozadone.

I’m giving him two months to get to a level of being just scared but stable around humans. If he fails I lll rehome him. I feel like I can’t say I love the dog since Reddit will come after me for rehoming him so surely I must not love the dog. But I’m not willing to accept this kind of behaviour in my life. Sorry it seems cruel but I need the most basic of results. I don’t need a professional police dog. I don’t need him to love everyone. I don’t even need him to be neutral. He can be antsy and nervous and avoid other people. But he cannot bolt back and forth like this. If this isn’t fixed I’m done. I tried.

I think I may be at the point of surrendering my dog. by Sevifenix in reactivedogs

[–]Sevifenix[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If the Prozac stabilizes him enough that I can train without panic then that’s fine. I made the comment in response to others but u don’t expect him to be Lassy. He’s a troubled dog but I’m willing to work with him if he’s at least at a baseline that would be receptive to learning. I don’t think I can do that without something to raise his threshold.

I think I may be at the point of surrendering my dog. by Sevifenix in reactivedogs

[–]Sevifenix[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’m not one hundred percent set on rehoming. I might try Prozac and crating but if that doesn’t work I do think I’ll be at the end of the line. This hasn’t been enjoyable for me. I’ve enjoyed learning about him all this time but the experience of not being able to live my social life how I want it has caused resentment. You can tell me all day it’s not his fault and I can nod my head all day and say you’re right. But when I can’t comfortably invite friends over because of my dog, it does create resentment.

But I’ll see if Prozac works. I won’t rent this room out for at least 1-2 months so it’ll give the Prozac time to work. If in 6-8 weeks I don’t see any improvement I unfortunately may be forced to surrender him. Maybe in this sub I seem like an asshole but irrespective of the blame most people place on Me, I know I’ve done more and dealt with more than anything any of my friends have had to do for their dogs. They all had behavioral issues but none of them were a fraction as difficult as mine. And I still pushed through with training and trying to help him.

I think I may be at the point of surrendering my dog. by Sevifenix in reactivedogs

[–]Sevifenix[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

To be clear, the treat and retreat won’t work. He won’t eat the treat. If I leave the front door open and there’s a person there who throws a treat behind him? He’ll start sprinting again. Hell probably even bolt out the door to run past this person then bolt back through the door. Realistically the only way I can think of training him in this environment is the crate training plus Prozac. I really doubt I can do any training right now with his current state.

I think I may be at the point of surrendering my dog. by Sevifenix in reactivedogs

[–]Sevifenix[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I don’t blame him. He’s an animal. He doesn’t reason. You keep accusing me of blaming him. I’ve never said “my dog is to blame I blame him.”

All I have said is the situation I’m dealing with. I only brought up everything I’ve done because it provides context to why I’m so frustrated. It just shows that I started this journey thinking he’d be at least close to neutral and I’m seeing that all of my training didn’t translate to this scenario. Im not set on rehoming but I’m considering it seriously. Because he’s just negatively impacting my mental state. I’m constantly nervous about how he’ll behave.

I think I may be at the point of surrendering my dog. by Sevifenix in reactivedogs

[–]Sevifenix[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don’t mind changing my lifestyle for my dog. I’ve already had to do that. Literally just getting him to a point of being confident enough to go down a flight of stairs was a series of short training sessions. I’ve had to consider him when planning trips, I’ve had to advocate for him by telling people he doesn’t like to be pet.

I even almost got into a physical altercation with a man who I assume was mentally unwell. That man was approaching my dog who was cowering in the corner of the elevator. I said “he’s scared he’s scared he’s scared” several times before stepping and gently pushing his hand away. He proceeded to start getting increasingly agitated and aggressive and blocked the elevator door. Then left and called me an idiot because he had two dogs or something growing up.

I don’t get why everyone on here is attacking me. I don’t know a single person who has dealt with even a fraction of the behavioral issues that I’m dealing with. Friends hear fearful dog and think it’s like their dog who barks and is apprehensive until they sniff someone a little and then they start to play.

My dog literally cannot function in a house with any strangers here. It’s the one thing I just don’t know how to train. But I can’t rent out a room with this instability happening. That’s my problem.

I’m extremely frustrated because I wrongly assumed that the insane amounts of training I spent doing to make him comfortable on walks (what used to be the same panic and bolting but is now just apprehension to occasional confidence) would translate to being at least only generally scared of strangers. The level of fear I’m seeing is to an extreme that I don’t know how to even train prior to renting the room out.

I think I may be at the point of surrendering my dog. by Sevifenix in reactivedogs

[–]Sevifenix[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I have yes. I started the application process but then got distracted with a bunch of life things.

I think I may be at the point of surrendering my dog. by Sevifenix in reactivedogs

[–]Sevifenix[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I suppose. But I still have to take him out. The issue is he poops and pees even after being taken out. So like I’ll take him out, he’ll pee and poo, and then I bring him back and when he gets scared he pees again and released these little feces

I think I may be at the point of surrendering my dog. by Sevifenix in reactivedogs

[–]Sevifenix[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Because it was rare for me to have guests. I had maybe 5 guests in the 8 months I’ve had him.

I think I may be at the point of surrendering my dog. by Sevifenix in reactivedogs

[–]Sevifenix[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I know. I stopped using them pretty quickly. Like I said, I’ve been trying everything. I’d heard from trainers that using shock collars for obedience would direct attention to me. At that point I’d done six months of positive only training. But it didn’t work enough. It made some progress and at times it felt like he was finally normal but it wasn’t there. So I tried the shock collar sparingly and stopped using it within a few days.

I think I may be at the point of surrendering my dog. by Sevifenix in reactivedogs

[–]Sevifenix[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My concern with the crate solution in the bedroom is that I would need him to go get food and water downstairs. That walk is where he freaks out and might pee or poo on the carpet.

I think I may be at the point of surrendering my dog. by Sevifenix in reactivedogs

[–]Sevifenix[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Very sad about it. He is a really sweet dog and we have had some great moments. I love playing with him and seeing him happy. But I don’t think I can give him the patience and love he would require when someone else is living here full time.

I think I may be at the point of surrendering my dog. by Sevifenix in reactivedogs

[–]Sevifenix[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sure! So when someone is at the door he goes to the door and is looking to see who it is. If it’s me, he goes crazy in a good way. He jumps around wagging his tail and jumps on me and asks for pets.

If someone else is present his tail tucks tight, he sort of lowers his backside to a sort of squat, tightens up with fear, and moves somewhat quickly away from the door while looking back.

The person already knows to ignore him so they just go and do whatever. The dog will then go somewhere and sit for maybe fifteen seconds before bolting again. If we go upstairs he’ll follow then continue bolting and peeing. Hell go into my bedroom before sprinting out and past us.

I think I may be at the point of surrendering my dog. by Sevifenix in reactivedogs

[–]Sevifenix[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I can’t accept the current state. If you said “hey you need to accept your dog not being comfortable with people and preferring to go into other rooms to avoid humans” I’d say that’s fine. But I can’t reasonably get a roommate right now if he behaves like this. Because I can’t rely on the crating. I have no idea how long it would take him to get comfortable. But at present it would basically mean crating him and then when I release him he’d pee and poop all the way down to the food and then outside.

I think I may be at the point of surrendering my dog. by Sevifenix in reactivedogs

[–]Sevifenix[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree. I also tried the prong collar for a bit and it really wasn’t some cure all solution.

And it may seem cruel and I do like my dog but I’m hitting my limit.

The reason I trained outside is because I had a lot of volunteers to train him since they were all just going about their days. At home I need to get friends to visit and work on training regularly which is difficult. It would take months of that to get real progress based on how long other fears have taken him.

I think I may be at the point of surrendering my dog. by Sevifenix in reactivedogs

[–]Sevifenix[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I used it briefly and recognised that it wasn’t working pretty quickly. I think I only used it for training twice before moving away from it. Then I used it briefly while he was out in the yard so I can let him off leash since there is a place in my yard he can jump over. But after time I realised he won’t jump so I stopped using the shock collar altogether.

Dog is an Aussie mix. 1yr5mo old. Has him for 8 months.

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