Need help with dog =(

[Salodin]

I need help! First, a little back story.

Spoiler: show

My girlfriend recently moved back into her moms house (in FL), with her large dog (pit bull/bull dog mix). When she lived in NC, he came to her as a stray. She can't leave well enough enough and took him in, etc. He could never be successfully house trained (We tried oh so many times...), so she set him up in the yard. He had a dog house and a runner cord for him to pretty much be free in; no fence but he pretty much had half an acre to run in because the cord was tied between two trees on either end of the yard. We had very few problems, almost no escapes. Life was good.

Fast forward to now, the yard is a lot smaller. We tried the runner cord thing here but it just isn't working out. There are no giant trees to tie a cord between, only one giant tree in the corner of the property. Even with the longest cord we can safely put him on (electrical equipment, water pump, driveway, etc), he doesn't get a lot of room to run; at most he gets maybe 10-15ft from the tree. He has his dog house, but quality of life is definitely down; it's hardly great conditions for the guy.

There was an old kennel that was used for the small dogs once upon a time, but after a few years of neglect it was pretty overgrown. It's perfect for him though, very large area to run around in and a gigantic shed which we could cut a hole in to make into a giant dog house. Over the last few days they've been clearing it out and putting down a taller and deeper fence in it; taller to keep him from jumping out cause he is quite the talented jumper, and deeper because he learned years ago when visiting the house down here he could dig under the fence like the smaller dogs used to do all the time. Just last night they tried it for the first time, and an hour later her grandma comes in saying Buddy is on the porch. Lo and behold he dug under the door to the kennel. They checked the kennel and he tried in other spots with no success, but the door is obviously the weakest link here. They tried putting wood and rocks around and below the door, but he escaped that as well. Fast forward to the txt I just get, and now with metal under the door barring escape, he is trying hard but it's still barely holding; however it looks like its only a matter of time before he breaks out of this too. In tears, she tells me she doesn't want him to be tied up to a tree with no where and no way to run around like he used to, and if he can't stay in the kennel she doesn't know what she can do.

Her last resort, which has now just become an option, is to take him to the humane society down the street. They're a no-kill shelter (unless they're vicious beasts but I think every no-kill shelter is like that iirc). He's sweet as any dog could ever be, would never hurt a fly, but just because of his breed and age (vet says he's around 8-9 years old), we know he'd have a hard time being adopted let alone finding a good home. It's not safe to just let him run around with out a fence or cord keeping him contained, both for his safety and obviously legal liabilities.

TL;DR: Dogs only chance at being able to stay with the family, and only shot at still having a decent quality of life, is to stay in the kennel when he is put there. He doesn't get this, and is putting the GF between a rock and a hard place.

We both love him to death and don't want to have to give him up, but he can't run around the neighborhood being a liability, and he is just miserable in his corner tree =(. We don't neglect him, but I'm hardly ever over there, let alone long enough to spend time with him; the gf spends more time with him but not nearly enough to make up for his new accommodations.

Any one have tips on how to keep a dog in a kennel? Or how to make an impregnable fortress out of a kennel to keep a dog in? I feel like he's too stupid (but sweet) to learn new tricks (like don't dig!), either because he's too old, has ADD, or is just too plain stupid.

[TacoTaru]

I don't know how reasonable this is, but if you can, you could dig down about an inch and place a small piece of sheet metal around the perimeter of his kennel so if he digs, he'll just hit that metal and have nowhere to dig to. Other than that, I have nothing to offer, sorry

[Cream Soda]

Shock collar. He'll learn rather quickly.

[Salodin]

Back in NC, I once went to play a little rough with him, and got him on his back. My gf called me and I get up to walk to the house. As I walk to the house, he gets up and tries to jump on me. Unfortunately for him, he was at the end of the cord, got flipped in the air, and lands on his back. Fast forward the next day, he falls for the same shit again.

He's not a very intelligent dog...just a persistent one.

[Cyn]

Damn, we need a BG Pet Advice thread icon.

[Salodin]

I coulda sworn there was one, but didn't see it when I made this =(

[Odon]

Shock collar, seriously. Those things are not like getting dropped from running out of rope. That shit hurts.

[liggy 0]

treadmill might work. he gets his excercise, you save some time that you already don't have to spend with him, he burns off any excess energy to be a problem dog. dig, pacing, or other fixations are usually due to high energy levels with no way of channeling them. like kids without their play time, can't teach them, can't reason with them, they destroy things etc.

my cousin use to use a treadmill when he worked in the city and had no time for his dog till he moved out to the valley.

[Kerberoz]

treadmill might work

Thank you for giving me a hilarious mental image of rope + treadmill at the same time. I should stop reading these threads when tired...

[Barada]

Op, where in Florida did you move to? There are quite a few laws that pertain to the tethering of animals. Most county policy's do not allow it and its basically just a matter of time before a neighbor who doesn't understand the situation peeks over your fence and sees something they don't like, then they call me over at animal control to remove the animal for "neglect". As far as a shock collar is concerned, typically bully breeds have one of the highest thresholds for pain. He probably won't even respond to it. Your best bet is to train him using positive reinforcement and alot of treats. Now on to the humane society..... I have been working for a county animal control for a few years. One thing I have learned about so called "no kill" shelters is that if they have an animal they can't treat or place via adoption, they simply transfer the animal to a shelter that does euthanize so that they won't have to do it. That way they can still be considered "no kill". Your dog is 8-9 years old. Here's the speech I give to owners turning over their older aged animals in to me or the shelter.... people don't go into a shelter to adopt a 9 y/o pit, they come in to adopt puppies and small breed dogs. If we are lucky we may get a person to consider adopting a 4-5 y/o animal. Pit bulls don't tend to have very long life spans, 10-14 years usually. If you can't take care of him anymore and find yourself at a shelter, do the dog a favor and request euthanasia. Otherwise, if you turn him in, he will sit on a concrete floor and catch kennel cough or some other illness and after a few days (3-7) the shelter will put him down anyways. If you want the dog to live, youre gonna have to find a way to get him trained. Sorry for the wall-o-text.

[Salodin]

It's in Palm City. That's close to Port St. Lucie if it gives you any idea. I'm not familiar with any tethering laws. He obviously isn't neglected if you saw his accommodations though.

I know if he went to a shelter he would probably never get adopted just cause of his age. He looks almost exactly like a white version of your avatar, with a little droopier ears lol (which doesn't help him get adopted one bit). I don't know how feasible the treadmill thing is, but I'll tell her to try it and see how it works.

[Koul]

He probably just needs to be walked a ton. I think digging is a sign of boredom. Is he neutered? If anything I would stop over at a petsmart or something and ask a pet trainer what they think.

[Lucavi]

I'd troll, as I really dislike most stupid dogs, but I know what its like to find a stray pet that you come to love. I'd say get the shock collar; if you can't train a pet through logic and reasoning, train a pet through decisive action and consequence. The collars work.

[Lyn]

Shock collar. It sounds mean at first, but most shock collars start beeping when you get too close, and dogs will learn from that. Once they start hearing the beep they'll go back and they won't even have to get shocked anymore.

[greenhills]

As far as a shock collar is concerned, typically bully breeds have one of the highest thresholds for pain. He probably won't even respond to it.

^

[Ksandra]

treadmill might work. he gets his excercise, you save some time that you already don't have to spend with him, he burns off any excess energy to be a problem dog. dig, pacing, or other fixations are usually due to high energy levels with no way of channeling them. like kids without their play time, can't teach them, can't reason with them, they destroy things etc.

my cousin use to use a treadmill when he worked in the city and had no time for his dog till he moved out to the valley.

I'd try this before using a shock collar. Then I'd use a shock collar on yourself (arm or w/e) before deciding if you're willing to put that on your dog. I have to say I've severely against it, bit I think I tend to be in the minority.

Another thing is check and see if there are any dog parks around, and try to make an effort to take him there as often as possible so he can let off some steam.

It really does seem he's bored and is not getting the type of exercise he needs. Which is another reason I'd say the shock collar isn't the way to go. Yes it means he'll stop digging, but it still means he's stuck on a short leash, bored, not getting the exercise he needs, and would still be stuck in a semi unhealthy and unhappy lifestyle (I don't mean to sound like you keep him/treat him in an unhealthy way, just that lack of exercise for that type of dog is unhealthy mentally and physically).

Sad to say, that breed tends to be biters. If you keep him all tied up the chances of him lashing out at someone sooner or later will greatly increase just out of essentially cabin fever. They really really need stimuli and exercise so keep that in mind in whatever choice you make.


Oh, another idea, is to see if there are any of those obstacle course training centers. Some places just have a route setup and you can go and train them yourself. The point isn't so much to make him go to competitions or anything, but dogs fucking love it and gives them a fuckton of exercise and stimuli. It's like a MacDonald's jungle gym to them lol. It's also a great way for you to spend time with him. They fucking love to be trained and given treats and getting attention from you.

Obvious downside is finding the time to do it.

[Salodin]

I don't quite think it's boredom/pent up energy, because every time he's escaped he's just walked right on up to the porch and sat by the door waiting for some one to let him in. I think it's more loneliness then any thing, but that isn't something that's easily remedied. There are outdoor cats at the house he can harass (at least the two kittens will play with him), and there's a Jack Russell but she doesn't get along with him. Everyone spends as much time with him as possible, but with out him being house trained we can't leave him in the house even supervised for very long before he tries to do something he shouldn't do.

[Byrd]

Have you thought about placing a small concrete slab under the kennel door? It doesn't have to be very thick or particularly strong, because it's not supporting weight, it's just there to keep the dog from digging out. Home Depot or Lowe's should be able to get you what you need easily (and probably fairly cheaply; an 80 lb bag of concrete mix shouldn't run you more than $6-$7 or so), and they can probably give you some advice as far as how-to. The main problem I see is that if you're renting, the landlord may not like that, but if you left it down an inch or three, you could just cover it with dirt and grass seed if you move out.

[Amelya]

Is he neutered? Does he get walked? It does sound like pent up energy to me amongst other things. When you tried to housebreak him, how long did you try and what did you do? They do make belly bands for dogs if he marks, not exactly ideal but it works. If all else fails, try the shock collar. I don't like to suggest it but it's better than ending up euthanized.

[Koul]

If you don't think it's his high energy or boredom he probably might be doing it for attention or something. as a stray that's found a home, he's probably addicted to you guys now and needs more love than a baby shih tzu.

honestly, your best bet could be to try and make him an inside dog somehow but that could require more effort lol. Even if you find a solution to the digging thing he could just start barking insanely or something else, I dono.

I'd definitely take him to a trainer and see what they think. They'd be able to troubleshoot the problem better since they'll be around the dog.