Pets
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Re: Want a Dachshund?
1) I certainly don't know a lot about reputable breeders because I've never looked into them, but I can't imagine a reputable breeder would sell you a puppy so ill it immediately racked up 3k in vet bills. Or if they did, I would think they would take some responsibility. Please someone correct me if I'm wrong.
2) It's THREE months. Cut cable/coffee/your internet/something for 3 months and pay a retired neighbor to walk your dog at lunch time. Jeez.
Even if I was in a position of taking a paycut/needing to rearrange my budget, getting rid of my dog would not be an option. I would never even get to the "if" consideration you are talking about. My dog is my responsibility, and I have to find a way to make my life work around him. If paying your bills is the issue, go post on Money Matters and have them suggest what you can cut out of your budget. Some simple suggestions are getting rid of cable, cutting your spending on eating out/getting coffee, etc. If you or your husband buy lunch or coffee daily, and you make your own instead, you automatically have the $15 or so that it will cost per day to hire a dog walker. Getting rid of a dog is not a way to cut your bills. Your pet is a member of your family. As a side note, if bill paying is really an issue then school should not be an option for you right now. Put it off for now and then not only will you have some time to earn some money with a part-time job, but your pup will be more mature and more capable of handling time alone/holding it.
If you are uncomfortable with the idea of crating your dog all day, continue to train him so that eventually you can give him more freedom. Our 8 month old mini schnauzer has the run of our kitchen and living room from 7:30 am until 6 pm every week day. He has a 15 minute visit from our dog walker mid-day to go potty and get some play time in. He spends the rest of the day playing with his toys and sleeping on his blanket in a large but puppy-proofed space. He earned this freedom over time, and we tested him with more freedom for short intervals (going out to dinner or the gym, running errands on a weekend) to work him up to this. He obviously did not learn overnight, and we did not expect him to. We had to teach him.
If your dog is still messing his crate at night, I suggest bringing the crate next to your bed so you can listen for him. You can even set yoru alarn for every hour or so at night so you can get up and take him out. Slowly space out these scheduled potty breaks so he doesn't get used to getting up as regularly at night and so he will learn to hold it longer. When he is awake, observe the signs he shows for having to go potty (circling, starting to squat, etc.) and grab him when he does.If you catch him int he act you can also make a noice to distract/stop him and then run him outside. Follow up with lots of praise and a treat.
OP is not going to be swayed by anything we say. She doesn't 100% want this dog, even if she decides to keep him for now, as soon as she gets pregnant or gets a fulltime job etc, that dog is a goner. We aren't going to change the character of her or her husband....I hate to say it but I think maybe this dog is better off with a second chance at life somewhere else. We are not going to teach her responsibility by flaming her. It sucks that she's not checking back, because I do live in CO and have some friends in the rescue community and could at least check around for her to help with some good options. Although I do see that some people have given her some good resources already. I'm also a petsitter, if she lived close enough I'd be willing to help her out while she's in school. sigh.
Jeez, anyone else feel like they're watching an episode of "It's Always Sunny in Philidelphia"????? "Charlie and Dee get a dog..."
Aw I know! He's my foster
You're right. Flaming me wasn't the way to go. Telling me I should never have kids and I'm disgusting. And I'd be a horrible mother. That was really wonderful of everyone to say. I'm glad you can all sleep at night. My husband and I love our dog. We will be finding a way to keep him. It was an option. Yes, but that would be our choice. No one else. I'm sorry you all have such high opinions of yourself. I'm clearly a terrible person for wanting to give my puppy a better life. Don't worry though I'm home for now so I'll just carry on giving him an awful one.. since everyone thinks I'm so incapable of love and affection and giving him what he deserves. Must be true since you all have such a large insight to my life.
Nothing like diverting off the topic instead of taking simple steps to keep your pet. That makes you a bad pet owner. You never addressed the fact that people on here have human kids, dogs, cats, schooling, full-time jobs, money problems YET STILL keep their pets. Yet you have a few issues and give up. Now you just make these ridiculous 'poor me' generalizations instead of actually spending the time to find a dog walker and house-train your dog. If you put half as much energy into these 'poor me' posts than to actually working one on one with your dog than you would have solved your problems already.
And you don't get it...if you can't even handle a small dog for a few months while you are in school, then you have no business having children. You do realize human children will be more of an inconvenience than a dog, right??? Apparently not.
I really pity your dog. I am sure you will get rid of him and he will be re-homed numerous times (as is usually the case with people like you).
You will forever be my best friend. I can almost feel our hugs. I will ensure everyone will know (now and in the future) what a genuine, kind, loving person you were...I already miss your laughter and our daily conversations. I love you, Samantha. May 20, 1983- February 20, 2012
Here's the thing re: the bolded. No matter how much you think he would want a "better life" with another family, he probably doesn't.
I just had a baby. My 7-year-old Aussie is STRESSED (though she has gotten better since the baby was born). She will occasionally not eat. She doesn't get as much attention as she used to, nor as much exercise.
But I am POSITIVE that she prefers staying here, with the crying baby, less attention and less exercise, over going to live with some strange new family.
I just wanted to encourage you to reach out to the resources that were provided, whether you decide to keep your dog or decide to rehome. Those in the rescue community have dealt with so many doxies that they have encountered just about every training and behavioral issue that could exist. I understand that the training issues may not be the reason you were considering rehoming, but if you do decide to keep your dog I think they might be able to offer suggestions that could help.
Yes wonderful for the people who do all of the extra things and still keep their pets. I posted on another thread that I am keeping him and that it was an option we considered. That was our choice and no one else.
I'm not saying poor me I'm just explaining. Never did I say omg.. I have it so awful so STFU seriously.
And BTW I do get it you F'ing ***. I never said he was an inconvenience.
People like me care for their pets. Aren't complete A-holes and have the ability to admit when maybe they should put the dog in another home. My friend is a vet tech and has her own pets already so if she did in fact say she would take dexter and we decided to go that route. She won't be getting rid of him.
We take excellent care of our puppy. It's sad you classify me like that "people like you" who are you to judge. what are you? f'ing mother Theresa? god? i think not...***.
The nasty remarks I make are in no way directed at you. Your posts have been helpful and respectful and for that I thank you. I will use the resources given. We are going to try our hardest to make things work out.
Well, let's see...I don't go on a strange message board I have never visited to see what individual will take my dog...then giving ridiculously absurd excuses as to why I can't keep said dog. Now you backtrack. And you know, someone like you calling me names REALLY impacts my psyche. Thank you for your astute observations and the fact you can articulate your thoughts in such an impressive manner. After all, it is much easier to call me names than to find a dog walker
You will forever be my best friend. I can almost feel our hugs. I will ensure everyone will know (now and in the future) what a genuine, kind, loving person you were...I already miss your laughter and our daily conversations. I love you, Samantha. May 20, 1983- February 20, 2012
So you can be a ***, but no one can act like that back to you. I understand. I've actually been really sick the last week so no (I'm sure it makes me a bad person) but I haven't been very on top of training my dog this week. I can barely speak loud enough to tell him to go potty. I'm not really worried if my articulation on the matter suits you or not.
Katie Talks About...
I'm glad you guys are keeping him and I think there are a lot of ways you can work this out. I understand being overwhelmed by your pets sometimes. I definitely feel that way some days. But in my experience, living up to the responsibility no matter how inconvenient for me, has been insanely rewarding. They love us unconditionally, its a social contract and sometimes requires a little work from us, but what we get in return is so so worth it.
Good luck to you guys. I have been a regular on this Board for five years and agree that the nastiness is uncalled for and completely counterproductive. When we automatically assume the worst of everyone who posts here and jump down their throats we lose opportunities to educate and help people who genuinely want to become better owners. It's hypocritical to do rescue but act high and mighty to owners and lose opportunities to help them happily keep a pet in their homes.
I normally avoid the drama posts but Kellbell has inspired me to post.
OP, it sounds like you have a long going on in your life and I can appreciate how stressful that is. Among some of the harshness, there is some great advice. Focus on the big picture - can you get through a short crazy period and still give your pet a great life over all throughout the years? If so, make it work and we can help you with more suggestions if needed. If you can't, then you now have a great rescue contact.
I wish you the best of luck in this.
I finally got into my account - I am the bartonhounds that was referenced earlier for help with your doxie.
One of the top three reasons doxies are surrendered is because they are hard to housetrain. In the few short years I've been doing doxie rescue, I've fostered over fifty doxies and I would say less than 5% are truly housetrained, with maybe 10% getting the concept the majority of the time.
As you know, having a small dog at home for more than 8+ hours/day without a break is counterintuitive to housetraining because they just can't hold it that long and it sets them up for failure.
You are seeking out scheduling and dogwalker options for your short stint in school, so that is a plus. I also recommend lurking on MM to see what cost saving options you can do to counterbalance the dog costs.
I understand your stress. I have had dogs during school (including two theses and the last one I was also working fulltime), so I know it's hard to juggle a schedule that is kind to your dog. Even now, with my 6mo puppy, I lost my dog walker for a few weeks, so I am sucking up the cost and sending her to daycare daily so I don't screw up her housetraining schedule as badly as if I had her crated for 8+h/day
I don't know if it was ever said (and there are too many posts to go search through), but is he just urinating, or is he defecating in the crate as well?
If he is still having accidents outside of the crate, I highly recommend teethering him to you so that he can't sneak off. It is still going to be a challenge because they are so darn low to the ground! I also recommend trying to get him on a bathroom schedule. Give yourself plenty of time and take him out on a lead if you have a fenced in yard so he doesn't get distracted. Verbally praise in a high, happy voice EVERY.TIME he even does something outside of the house (even if it is right outside of the door and not in the best spot). If you need to stop an accident immediately, pick up the pup and do a verbal correction (a loud, deep EH! words instead of BAD DOG) and don't do any physical corrections aside from picking up. I also recommend VERY high value treats for doing the business outside - boiled chicken, liver treats, something stinky and delicious that he only gets for going to the bathroom outside.
Crate if you can't supervise to discourage accidents in the house, but also be aware that he could go in the crate if he hasn't had a chance to properly eliminate outside.
If he has trouble getting on a schedule after some time (which he very well could if he is defecating in his crate), you can match him to get him to go before crating.
In his crate, are there linens, beds, etc? I would remove those. I know it is harsh, but it could help with him realizing that he is in his own waste and he won't want to sit in it. However, he could already develop the habit and not care (common for the puppymill doxies I have housetrained).
Also, I can't remember if this was asked, but is he ok with his crate? Does he go in to get treats or to eat his food in there, or is he just there when you leave? I also recommend making it a happy, fun place. If he eats there, he is less likely to release waste there since they want a clean environment (if it isn't already a habit or they don't know differently).
If he whines or gets upset in his crate, he could have crate anxiety, which is a different ball game all together.
Sorry for the novel, but I'm trying to think of all the things I've tried with the fosters (and my own hounds).
Doxies are notoriously hard to housetrain.
Training on a basic level can also help with anxiety and understanding basic commands, as well as helping to have a well-trained hound
Take a deep breath, realize that school is a very short timeframe on the larger scale of your life and the life of the dog, and evaluate finances to see what you can trade in for the short term.
I was beyond p!ssed when I read your first post because it was an overreaction and it did not properly evaluate your situation. I took it personally because I hear your initial excuses all.the.time when I pick up a dog and bring it into my home as a rescue. I couldn't respond initially, which gave me time to cool down and not call you a beebee bride that needs to grow up.*
*You've come back and have taken the well thought out responses to heart and realize that this can be (and should be) worked out as a short-term issue for your family. There are great resources available to you, and I encourage you to use them. Doxies are NOT the easiest dogs to have, despite popular opinion on the breed being a great small dog (hounds are a challenge - stubbornness, barking, housetraining, funk/medical, etc). The pup might never be housetrained, but you should see out resources to manage his situation.
Feel free to email me, if you need doxie advice or a rescue source for the dog if it comes to that. bartonhounds AT gmail DOT com