delsinrowe

Can i just ask why you think my home is a really bad fit? Other than the fact i don't have a farm, i am home 24/7 unless i need to go to the shops, he has plenty of exercise, attention, and love. He does not seem miserable at all - he is just misbehaving and i need advice on how to help him. Does everyone on this forum have their bc as a working dog, and not a family pet? If so i need to seek guidance from people who have bcs as indoor dogs and not working dogs. Sorry if this comes across as blunt, i just don't know why you think my home is a bad fit. Poo: I have spoken to the vet a few times and they didn't seem concerned, they just told me to change his food. He is improving, but if he still has any runny poop in the next few weeks then we need to start testing. No, they just prescribed antibiotics as a precaution. He's only free when i'm there with him, when he is on his own he is in one room or his crate. I feel like if i crated him when we weren't doing those things he would be in there a lot, and i've read a puppy shouldn't be crated for more than 3-4 hours a day? He's got about 4-5 toys with him, and they're a mix of cuddly toy, rope, and chew toys (inc. kong wobblers for his food - this is the only way i give it to him now so he has to work for it, i read this online). I'll take a look at the NILIF, thank you. I'd say we've had clear boundaries set so far, we introduced him room by room, but he can't go anywhere on his own except the kitchen. He's not allowed upstairs. He is only allowed in the living room in the evenings when we sit down to watch a film, by this point i put him down for his sleep. I'm not sure what other boundaries to set? I've done everything i read online about where to let them when they're a pup, and to let them follow you around when you are doing stuff around the house (which i do except for the living room).

Yes, we've been crate training since we had him. He sleeps in his crate and goes in there when we are not home. He is free in the house when i can be with him to watch him, or if i am upstairs working i leave him loose in the kitchen as i don't want to confine him so that he can't play or go outside. I agree, he needs more training, but he has such a little attention span and gets frustrated very easily, so quite often training sessions are literally a few minutes long, as he starts to get really annoyed that he can't get the treat that he knows i have somewhere. I would say he has consistency, he knows he goes in the crate when we go out or when it's bed time, he knows he has a morning and evening walk, i try to take him out at the same times, and we have play time at the same times. I'm not sure what to do with the training as i've mentioned he gets really frustrated, but i can't simplify the things that i am teaching with him. For example, i tried training him 'up' (stand from a sitting position), he maybe did it about 3-4 times before he got annoyed that he wasn't getting treats quick enough so he started getting aggravated and biting/barking. Re. your last comment - I agree, but i saw someone put that on a forum about a week or so ago. I don't take him out or play with him for too long as he doesn't know when he is getting tired, and i don't want to wear him out.

Hi all. I'm new here. I'm at the end of my tether with my BC. I'll try to keep it as short as possible. I'm also sorry if i have put this topic in the wrong place, I've not used forums before. We have a 6mo male BC, he came from 2 working parents (I know, that should have been enough to put us off as he is a house dog with us not a working dog). I really struggled with him the first few months, I was miserable (and still am). He was doing all the puppy things but it seemed to be much worse than what I would read about online, and other people (including the kennels while we were away) were telling us how much energy he has, so I think we pulled the short straw and have a mega energetic BC. Anyway. I struggled through that and he stopped nipping us all the time, he is good on his own (when crated if we are out or confined to the kitchen if we are elsewhere in the house), and he's toilet trained (he picked this up really quickly, he's never pooped inside). So everything seemed to be getting better, and I thought I could cope..until he turned in to this demonic thing that we cannot control. It's the last month or so he's been getting worse (before you say 'he's being a puppy', I'm doing everything I can and have read so much, and apparently this is now destructive behaviour). I researched BCs before we got him, and they seemed a good breed providing you could provide frequent exercise and mental stimulation. I then read about a month ago you will never tire out a BC. Great. He's becoming more and more destructive, naughty, and is not listening to anything at all (not only is this frustrating to us, but this is dangerous). I'll cover the frustrating bit first. He will listen to leave, sit, down, paw etc., but only when it suits him. If he leaves, he will go straight back to it. He also hates being told no/leave/off as he can't get his own way, so he bites me. He jumps up on the sofa all the time (when we are and aren't sitting on it), he listens to off, but then he jumps right back on it. Is this because I'm not paying him attention and he's trying to get it? No. This happens randomly, when we are and aren't in the room, and playing/ not playing with him. In the kitchen so far he has chewed 2 door frames, the door, the kitchen units, the floor, and would pull anything he could off the counter. So I have had to rearrange my whole kitchen. You know why? Because a few days ago he decided he was going to scratch my toaster and try to pull it off the counter. So now, I only have my kettle and tea canisters. Boredom you say? Yes it probably is. I work from home full time, so he is never on his own. Every 50 minutes I go downstairs and play with him for 10 minutes (before you say it is because he is confined, I have tried him in my office with me and the rest of the house but he destroys everything). I leave the back door open so he always has access to the garden. He has loads of toys and chews (yes, I rotate these every few days so he doesn't get bored). He gets walked 2-3 times a day, depending on how long the walks are (at least 1.5-2 hours a day, we don't want to take him more as we don't want to exercise him too much so that he has to be walked more when he is an adult). When the weather is not raining, I take him to my grandparents (they have a massive garden) and he runs around and plays ball for 1.5-2 hours (on top of his morning walk). If i let him anywhere else in the house, he chews everything. EVERY. THING. He won't listen, distracting him with toys doesn't work, telling him no doesn't work, treats don't work, he wants his own way (I have never let him have his own way, so this is not caused by me). He knows what he can and can't chew, and i swear to god he does it on purpose (again, for attention, but he will even do this while we are in the middle of playing). Oh yeah and if he can't get my attention, he bites me. All over. Until i pay attention (I don't - I don't shout, or say anything, I continue to ignore him as any attention is attention). Nothing works. I'm only covering some things. The dangerous part - he's scared of the car, doesn't like going home after a walk, is nervous of people, and loves running across the road. I've tried training him out of all these things. When these things happen, he pulls out of his harness and collar (I even have the double hook thing attached to both for extra security). His recall is awful, despite me trying everything to train him. Anyway, he pulled out yesterday (luckily in my grandparents garden) but he wouldn't come back. I tried recall, nothing. He runs thinking it is a game. I have never used come as a game, and I don't chase him. I stand and call in a nice voice, sometimes with a treat. It doesn't work. My OH took him for a walk a while back and he pulled out just before he got home, so we managed to get him back in the house but if this was by the road he would have run off. I'm nervous every time i take him out in fear he will pull out and won't come back (harness and collar are properly adjusted, but he pulls so much he squirms out of them, and the more i move towards him to try and hold him the more he pulls). So yeah. He's a nightmare at the moment and i really don't know what to do. We have been talking about getting rid of him, but i don't want to be one of those people who 'can't cope'. My OH absolutely adores him, and he got really upset when we were talking about it. My family thinks we took too much on, as we bought our house 1y ago and are trying to do this up too. But i don't know what to do. I'm depressed, I can't stop crying, and i can't cope with him. I know it's not his fault, but i have tried everything, he went to puppy training classes, has been properly socialised, gets plenty of exercise and attention, but nothing is enough. I'm losing my mind. I don't see my OH anymore, as we work different shift patterns, so one of us is walking him, and i now have to do all the chores when he is home and can watch the dog, so we don't see each other any more (i have so much ironing i can't even explain, but i can't do it with the pup as he will go for the washing, ironing board, iron, cable etc), and i don't want to confine him because chances are he's already been on his own for portions of the day (I say on his own, I mean in another room when i am working/ showering etc). He hasn't been neutered yet, we had him booked in and when he went for the checks there was blood on the thermometer (i have never seen blood in his poo and i'm pretty sure she just stabbed him too hard). That coupled with the fact he has had diarrhea since we had him at 8w, was enough for the vet to decide for him not to have an op (and be put on 20 quid antibiotics for a week which did nothing). It's random. His poo changes from day to day, poo to poo, even within a poo. It can start solid, but at the end is runny. It can be solid, his next one will be runny. This is another issue we are having. We have changed his food and it seems to be improving (more solids) but he still has runnies. If this doesn't improve in the next few weeks, we've been told we need to start testing (which can be about 400 quid for a test). But my pups health comes first. I'm pretty sure i have missed stuff out. Please help me. I love him and i don't want to get rid of him, but if things don't improve i can't cope. I'm miserable 24/7 and i'm taking it out on everyone around me. I've tried reading so much online but nothing is working. I've thought about having a 1 on 1 trainer in the house, but when we have guests he doesn't behave this way (unless they have been here a few hours and then he gets bored). Please don't tell me we shouldn't have got a BC, or a dog at all, because it has already happened and i can't deal with more people telling me it was a mistake. Or that 'it will get better in time' because i can't cope with this any longer, i need solutions now, i can't wait years for him to grow out of these habits, or on the other hand, become worse as he's not trained out of them :(. Sorry it's so long, any help is appreciated. I'm really sorry if i seem blunt but these last few days have really taken it out of me.