Two and half years ago, my then boyfriend (now husband) talked my parents into getting 2 dogs. I was away for school at that time, tried my best to talk them out of it, but they got them anyway. One is a German shepherd, the other one is a smaller breed dog. They have always been living with my parents, my husband and I just visit since we live 30-45mins away. We want to take care of the dogs ourselves, but we both work, live in a rental house that do not allow dogs, and it is just not feasible at the moment.
The problem is with our GS, she is the sweetest dog at home, but she is unpredictable outside the house. She is very strong, get anxious even on little thing (I was told it is in her genetic), so it is hard to control her sometimes. We had difficulty walking her, she used to lunge at other dogs, but there was never any direct contact since we were always careful not letting her near other dogs. It is our fault that we didn't train or socialize her when she was younger, but we finally did. We started her on private training 2 months ago, as we wanted to take her to the park, and get her to socialize more. The training went well, we took her to crowded place and people came to pet her, compliment how good she was. Unfortunately, good time doesn't last long. We took her to a park, and she bit someone. The place was not even crowded, we couldn't believe it happened, she is usually good with human. I think she was very stress out since there were squirrels and birds near by.
What ever happened, happened. We felt so bad for that person and take responsible for the accident. Now we need to decide what is best for our dog since we are running out of options. Our trainer recommended (before this incident happened) to have her do boot camp, but there is no guarantee at all. The problem is my parents are old and cannot be a good pack leader for her. Even with all the training, she may still go back to her own self afterward. I am the main person training her for the last 2 months, but I only see her for an hour a day. I am thinking of re-homing her, as there may be better dog owner out there for her.
So what should I do? Here are a few options. 1) let her be a back yard dog 2) put her in boot camp, but we need to move in with our parents to have more time with her 3) re-homing her, but is there any guarantee the new family will be better?
Thank you for any advice!
The problem is with our GS, she is the sweetest dog at home, but she is unpredictable outside the house. She is very strong, get anxious even on little thing (I was told it is in her genetic), so it is hard to control her sometimes. We had difficulty walking her, she used to lunge at other dogs, but there was never any direct contact since we were always careful not letting her near other dogs. It is our fault that we didn't train or socialize her when she was younger, but we finally did. We started her on private training 2 months ago, as we wanted to take her to the park, and get her to socialize more. The training went well, we took her to crowded place and people came to pet her, compliment how good she was. Unfortunately, good time doesn't last long. We took her to a park, and she bit someone. The place was not even crowded, we couldn't believe it happened, she is usually good with human. I think she was very stress out since there were squirrels and birds near by.
What ever happened, happened. We felt so bad for that person and take responsible for the accident. Now we need to decide what is best for our dog since we are running out of options. Our trainer recommended (before this incident happened) to have her do boot camp, but there is no guarantee at all. The problem is my parents are old and cannot be a good pack leader for her. Even with all the training, she may still go back to her own self afterward. I am the main person training her for the last 2 months, but I only see her for an hour a day. I am thinking of re-homing her, as there may be better dog owner out there for her.
So what should I do? Here are a few options. 1) let her be a back yard dog 2) put her in boot camp, but we need to move in with our parents to have more time with her 3) re-homing her, but is there any guarantee the new family will be better?
Thank you for any advice!
