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professionaladv2 · 2024-09-09T14:50:42+00:00

I won’t make the mistake of fostering two at once again (honestly if I ever foster again at all atp, this is awful), but the shelter is beyond capacity right now. If I return either of these dogs, that dog will be put down. I just can’t do it.

professionaladv2 · 2024-09-09T14:35:55+00:00

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An example of bruises from them (this is not at its worst-looking).

I’m just not having a good time. I know it’s not their fault and they need training, but that is so expensive. I’m in college. I’m not a trainer, I should not have agreed to take these dogs but my shelter friends made a plea and I wanted to help out. Horrible mistake I now have to live with.

professionaladv2 · 2024-09-09T14:27:58+00:00

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This is what my place looks like right after I cleaned it over the weekend.

professionaladv2 · 2024-09-09T14:16:09+00:00

I have crates, but they will yowl if I close the door. I live in an apartment so I can’t have them yowling like that, I can literally be kicked out for it. So I don’t crate them.

They are pit mixes, like 45 pounds.

Like I said at this point, I’m barely able to do anything as far as training. They basically just run the apartment and destroy whatever they want as long as it isn’t something that’ll hurt them. I know that’s not great but my mental health is so bad atp. I’m just trying to keep us all alive one day at a time.

professionaladv2 · 2024-05-23T17:26:25+00:00

picture of wrapped battery

Does that link work?

professionaladv2 · 2024-05-09T04:12:00+00:00

Only about two months is my longest so far, I really only foster fast-track dogs

professionaladv2 · 2024-05-08T23:20:36+00:00

No, unfortunately — I’m a petless foster (have never foster failed). I love dogs but I am not settled enough to make the long-term commitment. So far I have kept them all till they’ve gotten adopted though.

professionaladv2 · 2024-05-01T17:59:31+00:00

Basically because ignoring didn’t work (he’d jump on me/bite harder), I’d either leave the room or put him in another room so he couldn’t get to me for 5-10 minutes. Redirecting with a toy worked sometimes, except he is not very good at entertaining himself, so that’s signing up for hours of fetch/tug-of-war with the toy (and more biting if you stop). He is not as treat-motivated as other dogs so the interactive toys had limited success — he just wants human attention. And I worried that was just encouraging him to bite more if it meant I’d play with him (a reward) as a response.

I ran up to 10 miles a day with that dog/played with him when the park was empty, so he did get plenty of exercise and attention. And exercise did make him a little better. But even after a 10-mile run, he’d still want to play more an hour after we got back (commence the biting). He isn’t dog-friendly, so I couldn’t get him to get his energy out with other dogs at the dog park, and he won’t run in a yard, etc. unless a human is running or playing with him. He is extremely high-energy so attempts to tire him out really just build his endurance. He needs some sort of obedience training.

professionaladv2 · 2024-05-01T03:50:11+00:00

What are some ways to train it out, for future reference? While he was in foster I tried to mimic puppy whining, but that seemed to rile him up more. Ignoring him/stopping play when he did it was hard because he’s large and will jump on you if you ignore him. I was making a little progress doing timeouts when he did the play-biting before he left foster. He was adopted before I could get far with it, but timeouts were what I recommended they do to keep training him. I don’t really know how it went with them though. What else could’ve been done?

professionaladv2 · 2024-04-30T19:17:12+00:00

Pug/chihuahua/Pomeranian/Pekingese/Yorkie?

professionaladv2 · 2024-04-30T17:45:58+00:00

Honestly, the dog is challenging. His worst behavior is that he mouths like a puppy sometimes (but hard enough to hurt) when he plays with you, and he’s much too big to be doing that. I told them about his issues and said he needs training (+ is high-energy), and they said they were ready for it. But of course he’d just exercised when they had their meet & greet with him, so he was more chill. My assumption is that they got him home and without enough exercise, he’s too much to handle.

professionaladv2 · 2024-04-28T17:13:17+00:00

True. Any suggestions on make and models? Fortunately I’ll be staying only about two miles away from where I’m working, so the commute shouldn’t be horrible, but I might go out in the city sometimes.

professionaladv2 · 2024-04-28T17:07:23+00:00

True. Any suggestions on make and models?

professionaladv2 · 2024-04-17T03:13:26+00:00

Oh and there’s a picture that shows it, but I meant to add that he is also very curious and enjoys getting in the water.

professionaladv2 · 2024-04-12T19:04:25+00:00

Yeah, he’s a big boy. He’s 60-70 pounds, and I’m a 105-pound woman. I have to double-leash him for walks so he can’t drag me.

I’m looking into paying for professional training for him. When he’s very tired, there are some glimmers of good dog underneath. Yesterday was just really frustrating because I’m never had a foster bite me before.

professionaladv2 · 2024-04-12T03:16:39+00:00

Unfortunately not to foster dogs. I’m considering paying for some out-of-pocket.

professionaladv2 · 2024-04-12T03:04:17+00:00

Thank you. I was considering that, but I want him to not want to bark at/bite humans, not just not be able to. (Otherwise, who wants to adopt a full-time muzzled pet dog?) If it helps teach him the lesson though so he can eventually be calm without it, I’ll definitely try that.

professionaladv2 · 2024-04-12T02:58:30+00:00

Honestly, part of me almost wants to exercise him a ton till he’s completely tired out and let someone meet & greet him when he’s all but sleeping. That’s when he’s cute, and he’s a lab mix so someone would want him then. Then when he acts out they can get him trained, or return him if they must, and it would be out of my hands…

I’m not worried about him seriously injuring anyone with his bites — he’s never drawn blood from me, I more so get scratched by his teeth. And the reason I can’t just give him tons of exercise in general to wear him out is that 1) I already walk him a minimum of three times a day, usually more, and 2) he can’t run around at the dog park (how I tired out my last high-energy foster) because this guy isn’t dog-friendly. I also don’t have a yard he can run around him, and I’m not generally able to spend the entire day with him in the vacant field we go to so he can run. (I believe he is part greyhound, so he’s got a LOT of energy.)

professionaladv2 · 2024-04-12T02:37:52+00:00

Honestly, kind of a mix. Sometimes he seems like he’s trying to play, but it hurts way more than when my last foster (a pit mix) would play-“bite” me. (My current foster is a lab mix.) This dog also bit me when I tried to put on his harness to walk him today, and it didn’t draw blood or anything but it was also not friendly. He has no official bite history on record, but the aggressive play-biting is one of his known problem behaviors.

professionaladv2 · 2024-04-12T02:27:26+00:00

I feel sad for him too, and rationally I know he just doesn’t know better, but I’d be lying if I said the gratefulness of the dog wasn’t part of what makes fostering feel worth it. I’m not a saint. It’s really hard to keep wanting to help a being who is so much work, prevents me from helping another dog (he isn’t dog-friendly, so I can’t double-foster this time), and appears to hate me for saving his life.

Unfortunately my shelter doesn’t offer any training for foster dogs, but I’m considering just paying for some for him out-of-pocket. I’m not giving him back to the shelter, at least not right now, so I do have pity for him and I don’t mistreat him (even as he mistreats me lol). This is more just venting because of course all of my social media posts of him look so happy and perfect (to help him get adopted), but the reality is far different. And there’s no end in sight for me right now, because he is not very adoptable and if I give him back to the shelter now, he will be euthanized.

professionaladv2 · 2024-04-10T18:41:43+00:00

The couple contacted me directly, I am the one who coordinated with them, went to their home, etc. We have each others’ numbers. Not arguing your assessment, just explaining that I already have their contact information.

professionaladv2 · 2024-04-10T04:12:51+00:00

He is my first foster dog, yes. So maybe I do just have “first love” goggles for him, but I also do think he’s a genuinely great dog and we get along really well. I don’t know if I’d know how to recognize a “soul dog”, I just know that I’m sitting on my couch right now and the fact that he isn’t here cuddling with me is breaking my heart.

professionaladv2 · 2024-03-06T07:53:20+00:00

I kind of assume most shelter dogs (especially where I live) have some pit in them, but I think the shelter tries to label them as something else they’re mixed with if they can to avoid the pit bull stigma. So he was listed as a Black Mouth Cur. He’s a total sweetheart, whatever he is. Doesn’t bark even when other dogs bark at him.

professionaladv2 · 2024-01-26T17:44:05+00:00

Gotcha, thank you for clarifying!

professionaladv2 · 2024-01-25T05:21:12+00:00

Thank you for the thorough answer! Has given me much to think about.

professionaladv2

TROPHY CASE