Adopted dog should i return him

We had our eyes set on a 6 month old mix and almost finalized our decision. The girl who was helping us asked if we wanted to take one more look before making our decision and we agreed. We can deal with a shy dog, no problem.

Fast forward a day after we adopted him- and he attacked our current fur baby keep in mind, our current dog is 25lbs and the dog we adopted is 55lbs my boyfriend and I were unloading groceries and had our eyes off the two dogs for maybe a minute when I heard my little one screaming.

There was no food, toys, etc that could have caused a scuffle. I gave our new dog the benefit of the doubt and made sure to keep a very close eye on the two of them. After constant watch, I realized how the new dog was attempting to dominate our little one who was clearly terrified after the first incident.

Of course I was doing my best not to show my stress or worry because I know that this can add fuel to the fire. I did my best to start rewarding him with treats when he did what I asked, attempting to train him how to sit, being calm and assertive when approaching him, etc 3 days after adoption- my little one is sitting in my lap, minding her own business when the new dog comes to sniff her butt.

I let it happen because I know this is normal dog behavior. I noticed the new dogs lips start to quiver and he lunged at her trying to aggressively bite. That was it for me- my current dog had been in a miserable state after the first incident and I refuse to risk anything further from happening. I trusted in this animal shelter when they told me that this dog was great with others- but is clearly going after my little one for no reason at all and keeping her in constant fear.

I can deal with a dog who is not potty trained, rambunctious, chews,etc- but I will not risk my little ones life because I was misinformed on the dog I was adopting. Amy, get off your high horse. Even if they were able to consult a trainer and put the aggression at bay, would you really rather have the dog living in such an environment where he was clearly uncomfortable?

If you hated loud noises and commotion, you could learn to deal with it and not express your frustration, but would you still be happy living in the middle of a city? It sounds like these people made the decision to let the dog find a family who could give him the kind of life he would thrive in rather than try and train him to just deal with his surroundings. He feels poorly enough. Yes, you can learn coping skills, as can your dog… Based on the level of reactivity, it can be a tremendous amount of work!

Like one of the people in a couple needs to take a part time job to replace their full time job, tremendous amount of responsibility. I only know bc i have a reactive dog myself, though I am fortunate to have had the part time job already.

I have to be constantly vigilant, scanning the horizon for other dogs. After two years of training on our own, soon we MAY be able to take part in a group class.

There are no easy fixes for reactivity. I work in dog rescue. We try very hard to pair the right dogs with the right households. Your choice, you made a commitment, it would be nice to see people turn to professional dog trainers to help them with these problems rather than just return these poor animals. Should I feel guilty for wanting to retur a dog who has growled and nearly snapped at my 5 pug puppy on day one when he was merely trying to approach her and smell her?

In a way it was like she was guarding my mom from him she was sitting by her. Idk of training would do anything but I do not want to risk a pug puppy I had to dish out quite a bit of usd for my puppy they even charged extra to meet at a mutual location for us to pick him up.

So what did she give us? Your dog is a mix of two breeds that usually both have high prey drives. Sometimes rotties are friendly with other animals. Did you not make a commitment when you took this dog? Did you give this any thought at all? Did you ask anyone if this dog had ever lived with cats before? Did you ask whether the dog had exhibited any predatory behavior with other animals at the shelter? Did you ask about his personality, and whether he had had a temperament test while at the shelter?

I would think that shelter staff would have been able to help you answer those questions. Bottom line — this is a shelter dog. He deserves better than someone who just gives up. I assume others removed from my experience do not see the importance of distinguishing personality compatibility. As I said, and I stand very firm on this: my dog has the capacity to get along swimmingly with Cat 1. The fact that he can get along with Cat 1 says nothing about his capacity to get along with Cat 2.

Cat 1 and Cat 2 are drastically different creatures from each other, and they elicit drastically different responses from my dog. His curiosity in Cat 1 is one that can absolutely, without a doubt, be trained out by exposure, boredom, and a quick angry swipe of the kitty paw. But his curiosity in Cat 2 far surpasses the threshold of appropriate, and given her age and exceptionally small size think 6 month old kitten , she would NOT survive any altercation with him, playful or otherwise.

Both Cat 1 and Cat 2 have plenty of experience with dogs. Cat 2 has never before acted in a way that makes me fear for her safety. I am all for trying until your bones break, but some things warrant a logical decision. But I adopt from rescues for a reason, and they can perceive me in any way they want. Your dog seems like an absolute goof. I googled the combination breed and they look like huge, adorable monsters. Should a similar reaction occur, then we have to trust our own instincts in the matter.

A qualified dog trainer will give you the tools to be able to calm your dog in meeting situations. We decided a year ago to add a dog to our fourth cat managerie. He loves people, he loves dogs, he loves cats, and he loves the local squirrels, Chipmunks, foxes and wild turkeys. He wants to run to greet the dogs,and the other wildlife, but the turkeys turn and spread their wings ad tail feathers. Zeus only wants to make friends, but with his size and his speed, and his power, he can be intimidating.

It has taken time for the behavior expectations to get across, but he is much better over the year of training we have given him.

Dogs can learn what you expect of them because the thing the want most to is to please there humans. Keep that in mind, and keep up the training. He loves you and trusts you. Give him the chance to prove it to you. I understand, but growling at a baby in the hallway harms nothing more than the expectations you have of a dog you want.

The dog I have now is incredible, but he came from a rescue who did not know the first thing about him. They oversold a neurological condition and undersold his finest qualities, which ultimately resulted in him not getting adopted for several months. Unfortunately, his high prey drive did not show itself until a few days after the home visit.

I have a particularly small, fast, senior cat who usually gets along well with dogs. Despite being otherwise perfect, we cannot in good faith keep him in the same home as something so readily killed, and we cannot keep her sequestered until she dies.

My other cat is huge, mean, and aggressively defensive. I trust her to acquaint herself just fine, and I trust him to forego his instincts and get bored with her. But the smaller one? Absolutely not. I do think this article addresses an aggression that can be trained out with time. I also believe that, had my littler cat been heavier than 5 pounds and less eager to run from danger, we could have successfully introduced them with minimal damage.

As it stands, the personalities of both animals can lead to a fatal mistake. I would be at fault for any injury that came to my best friend, and my dog would be branded legally dangerous, which would dramatically hinder all future prospects for adoption.

My sister adopted a reactive dog about 12 years ago. He is a small dog and reacted quite badly to dogs larger than himself — lunging, snarling. He lives in a house with multiple cats and another dog who is much smaller than him and they get along well. A whole other story. I should say that my sister is a rescuer, though cats are her specialty. BTW she is always glad to take a cat back for whatever reason.

A trainer can most surely help the dog work through the aggression. Dont give up there help for this issue!!!!! CeeJae I am not worried her kennel cough. She seems like she wants to fight. Honestly it scares me. Or simply keep the dog home in a fenced-in yard and do not permit other dogs around — at the very least until he is trained not to be aggressive around other animals, if ever. Dogs catch coughs just like people do, and they sound terrible! PS: A month-old dog is a puppy, a. Do you send your baby into the world without first teaching some basics?

Otherwise, get yourself a goldfish! If so, does this story about returning a rescue dog sound familiar to you? Through an extremely dark cloud of poor mental health, and even worse decision-making, I had convinced myself that adopting a dog would make me feel better somehow. He was truly adorable, kind, and understanding. I struggled on a daily basis to care for him well with my complete lack of preparation.

That guilt sat in the pit of my stomach for years. Though this is relatively rare, returning a rescue dog does happen and it can make you feel terrible and wracked with guilt. What do you do if your rescue dog is not working out? Is there a way of avoiding returning your rescue dog to the shelter? The primary driver here needs to be around the welfare of the dog though. Getting to the stage where you are looking to return your rescue dog can be completely avoided at the selection stage.

Both you and the shelter need to be honest and thorough in the adoption process, so that you are matched with the dog that best suits your lifestyle and personality.

A lot of this will come down to you knowing what to look for when choosing a rescue dog — here are my tips to help you do that. That German Shepherd with a violent, traumatic past should not be matched with a first-time owner. An elderly Cockapoo with a distaste for young, poking children should not be matched with an expecting couple.

Before getting the shelter dog I had a pound pup that we had for 16 years. When my pound pup passed I decided to get another pound pup or a shelter dog. I adopted a year old female border collie. The dog I adopted had been severely abused and the first time I brought her into my house it took her hours before she started exploring her new home.

This dog was scared of every noise in the house. The first time I went to take her for a walk on a leash she ran and hid when she saw the leash. It took several attempts to teach her to accept the leash. This dog kept jumping over my fence when she was outside because she missed being with the other dogs that were at the rescue group.

She went from being with a pack of dogs to being the only dog. So she went to visit the other dogs several doors down the road from me. She caused my son to be arrested on false charges of breaking in one of my neighbor's house when he carried her home from one of the many times she escaped my yard.

She would run from us when we called her to come. I believe she ran from us because she had been beat by a previous owner and she was scared that she was in trouble. The thing that made me return her was when she started chewing power cords in my house while I was away.

I did not want to see the dog electrocute herself by chewing on live cords. I was thankful the 2 cords she chewed were not plugged in. This dog had more behavioral issues than I could handle because of the abuse she received from a previous owner. The people at the rescue group told me they could see she was coming out of her shell for the short period of time that I kept her. When I gave her back to the shelter I told them this dog needed to be an outside dog and that she needed the companionship of other dogs.

This letter was comforting so thank you for being open and honest with your struggle. I adopted a 2 month old puppy only 3 days ago. Typical puppy things like nips and pee pee accidents. Yet, I feel nothing. I had a 5 month old dog that I was obsessed with.

Unfortunately he turned out to be ill and died after only a month of a debilitating disease. I waiting a month to get this little guy. I have never dealt with biting though. Researched, prepped, all of it I swear. Ask a lot of questions, visit the dog a few times, ask if you can foster the dog or do an overnight visit, or even see if you can do a trial adoption.

Shelter staff and volunteers usually have a good idea which are the easier vs more challenging dogs, and local trainers often offer dog selection assistance services. Use the knowledge of these people to help pick the right dog for you. But if jumping never works, and everyone always ignores him, then he will try a different behavior instead.

This is your oppoortunity to teach him that a Sit gets him all the love and attention 4 , and jumping makes you go away. Every interaction is like this, and if you are always cognizant of what you are teaching your dog, your dog will understand and comply with what you want more quickly.

This means less stress and frustration for everybody. It helps to attend at least one training class, either to polish behavior or try a new game or sport or teach your dog a job. Here are some types of training classes your dog may benefit from:. This will allow you time to figure out what you want to work on and to start developing your relationship so you will have some control over your dog in class.

We cannot stress enough the importance of choosing a trainer who shares your training philosophy. The most important thing is that your interactions — every interaction — works to build up and strengthen your bond with your dog. If someone tells you to do something with your dog you are not comfortable with, speak up. Ask for a different solution or sit out that particular activity. The best trainers are great problem solvers and should have multiple techniques to achieve the same results.

Take advantage of any training packages or scholarship money that came with your dog and remember that there are people ready to help. DOL dogs come with a take-home plan, a free in-home visit within the first 60 days of adoption, a free training class and a lifetime of support.

Maybe you are getting frustrated or worried, and you are not sure what to do. First, take a deep breath and relax. Problems were bound to come up and you are not expected to have all the answers. Take a mental and even physical step back and decide how to proceed. Use the resources available to you remember that training scholarship and all those people at the shelter who loved that dog?

Without a plan, you are just fumbling around in the dark getting more and more frustrated. Many adoption packets have some basic problem solving handouts included. Check out a few of the DIY training resources mentioned above. Think about what is going wrong. Breaking the situation down as Paul Owens suggests can help alleviate frustation. Try to decide what is causing the problem: Is the dog hungry, thirsty, stressed, sick, bored? Does he simply not know what to do?

Then, think about what the picture would look like if the dog was doing what you want him to do sit instead of jumping, lay quietly instead of barking at the mailman, go outside instead of going on the carpet. The best way to solve a problem is first to think of what your ideal picture of the situation would look like. Then break down training the behavior into smaller steps to achieve your goal.

Maybe you need to redirect your dog to an appropriate activity chew this bone instead of my shoe , maybe you need to pay closer attention to the time and let your dog out sooner, maybe you need to hire a trainer to help you with your reactive dog. Every problem has a solution; how quickly you get there depends on how quickly you identify the cause of the problem, eliminate the reward that comes with doing the problem behavior, and ensure that the dog only finds reward in doing the behavior you want.