I'm still having trouble with Bauer being too exciteable, anytime someone comes to the house he freaks out and barks and barks until they come over to him. Then when he gets pet he starts going crazy and rubs against them and paws and runs in circles... I find it extremely aggravating because he is a big dog, probably weighs 40-50lbs and that's too much to be acting like that. On top of that, since he's male and jet black, when he gets excited like that his little red winky comes out and I find it embarassing.
He has a bark collar to solve the barking problem, we live in a community where the homes are fairly close together and since he doesn't STOP barking once he starts, he needs to wear the collar when he's outside. I'm still at a loss for finding a way to kill some of his energy, I walked him for 1/2 hr every day for two weeks and he still had insatiable energy. Every couple of weeks we go out to my parents' farm and he plays for hours with his brother Jackson, and at the end of the day he STILL has energy to burn. He will be 2 in December and I'm hoping with age he will settle down but I have been hoping that for a while now and trying to ignore the problems.
My husband can't stand him, they never really bonded. It's to a point now where I have lost my connection with him too, I really just find him annoying and I know it's totally unfair to him. My husband is urging me to find him a new home, but I'm torn because I keep hoping Bauer will just settle down with age. Bauer gets in trouble all the time now because he doesn't listen, when we tell him to come inside he refuses and we have to drag him in the house. Because of his pawing and excitedness he is not allowed to leave the mat at the door when he's inside, if my 2 year old daughter goes anywhere near him he gets excited and knocks her down. He's even scratched her face pawing her several times, and I have to put my daughter's safety first. He would never intentionally hurt her but he has accidentally hurt her way too many times. I just don't trust him anymore, so he doesn't get run of the house and he spends most of his time outside in the dog run or in his crate.
I'm afraid to take him to obedience classes because he bit a smaller dog at the groomer's once... he fights with his brother for a few minutes every time we go to my parents' farm, and once they establish dominance they are fine. I don't bring him around any other dogs because I'm afraid he might hurt them.
He has bad teeth, which we don't have $400+ to have him put under and have cleaned so we have been giving him tartar control treats and biscuits. We've also given him rawhides to help with that but he gets the rawhide all over his front legs and his breath stinks something fierce. This is another reason I have a hard time bonding with him, he can't be pet without getting excited and breathing all over me and being pregnant at the moment, the smell of his breath makes me gag...
I always had dogs growing up and always really bonded with them. Our last family dog Zoe recently passed away, she was a Giant Schnauzer and she was such a great dog... We had originally wanted that breed, but the breeder Zoe came from only breeds mini schnauzers and poodles now. She convinced us that poodles are way better dogs than Schnauzers but I almost wish I'd just stuck with my original breed. Poodles in general are nice dogs, very smart and nice looking but we weren't looking for such a high energy breed... And the worst is that my parents' dog who is Bauer's litter mate, is very calm. It's hard not to compare them but I really just like my parents' dog's personality a lot better... he would fit better with our family and our home.
I really like having a dog but I don't think I really care for Bauer all that much, and I know that's a terrible thing to say but it's the truth. I really loved him at first but I am getting tired of waiting for him to calm down... he was a lot smaller as a pup so the excited behaviour was far less annoying and dangerous. I really don't feel that it's good practice to send Bauer to a new home and find another dog who suits our family better... That seems to be what my husband wants but I think that is totally irresponsible. Who's to say we'll like the next dog any more than we do Bauer?
I'm just so stuck, I don't know where to go from here. I feel like I'm being selfish and unfair to Bauer by keeping him in a home where his owners don't really care for him. At the same time I also feel like I am being selfish for thinking about giving him away instead of keeping him and working on his problems. I have a new baby on the way in April and a two year old as well, and I am going to have less and less time for him.
What would you do?? Is/was your dog like this?
He has a bark collar to solve the barking problem, we live in a community where the homes are fairly close together and since he doesn't STOP barking once he starts, he needs to wear the collar when he's outside. I'm still at a loss for finding a way to kill some of his energy, I walked him for 1/2 hr every day for two weeks and he still had insatiable energy. Every couple of weeks we go out to my parents' farm and he plays for hours with his brother Jackson, and at the end of the day he STILL has energy to burn. He will be 2 in December and I'm hoping with age he will settle down but I have been hoping that for a while now and trying to ignore the problems.
My husband can't stand him, they never really bonded. It's to a point now where I have lost my connection with him too, I really just find him annoying and I know it's totally unfair to him. My husband is urging me to find him a new home, but I'm torn because I keep hoping Bauer will just settle down with age. Bauer gets in trouble all the time now because he doesn't listen, when we tell him to come inside he refuses and we have to drag him in the house. Because of his pawing and excitedness he is not allowed to leave the mat at the door when he's inside, if my 2 year old daughter goes anywhere near him he gets excited and knocks her down. He's even scratched her face pawing her several times, and I have to put my daughter's safety first. He would never intentionally hurt her but he has accidentally hurt her way too many times. I just don't trust him anymore, so he doesn't get run of the house and he spends most of his time outside in the dog run or in his crate.
I'm afraid to take him to obedience classes because he bit a smaller dog at the groomer's once... he fights with his brother for a few minutes every time we go to my parents' farm, and once they establish dominance they are fine. I don't bring him around any other dogs because I'm afraid he might hurt them.
He has bad teeth, which we don't have $400+ to have him put under and have cleaned so we have been giving him tartar control treats and biscuits. We've also given him rawhides to help with that but he gets the rawhide all over his front legs and his breath stinks something fierce. This is another reason I have a hard time bonding with him, he can't be pet without getting excited and breathing all over me and being pregnant at the moment, the smell of his breath makes me gag...
I always had dogs growing up and always really bonded with them. Our last family dog Zoe recently passed away, she was a Giant Schnauzer and she was such a great dog... We had originally wanted that breed, but the breeder Zoe came from only breeds mini schnauzers and poodles now. She convinced us that poodles are way better dogs than Schnauzers but I almost wish I'd just stuck with my original breed. Poodles in general are nice dogs, very smart and nice looking but we weren't looking for such a high energy breed... And the worst is that my parents' dog who is Bauer's litter mate, is very calm. It's hard not to compare them but I really just like my parents' dog's personality a lot better... he would fit better with our family and our home.
I really like having a dog but I don't think I really care for Bauer all that much, and I know that's a terrible thing to say but it's the truth. I really loved him at first but I am getting tired of waiting for him to calm down... he was a lot smaller as a pup so the excited behaviour was far less annoying and dangerous. I really don't feel that it's good practice to send Bauer to a new home and find another dog who suits our family better... That seems to be what my husband wants but I think that is totally irresponsible. Who's to say we'll like the next dog any more than we do Bauer?
I'm just so stuck, I don't know where to go from here. I feel like I'm being selfish and unfair to Bauer by keeping him in a home where his owners don't really care for him. At the same time I also feel like I am being selfish for thinking about giving him away instead of keeping him and working on his problems. I have a new baby on the way in April and a two year old as well, and I am going to have less and less time for him.
What would you do?? Is/was your dog like this?