New Son

[berettabone]

[Armybrat]

Good lookin’ boy!

[kenemoore]

This all I see.

[Armybrat]

This all I see.

They’re gone for me again!
Weird.

[berettabone]

It's a sad day.............After having Micah for 19 days, much discussion, and talking to the shelter, we decided to return him to the shelter. Over the 19 days, he proved himself to be a very smart boy. We taught him and he understood sit, stay, down, out, lay down, and no, repeatedly, and he had a real sweet side. He always looked at your face for direction and had no food aggression or touching issues. Over time, he started biting and nipping. We tried everything we knew to stop the biting, but to no avail. Then he started picking on the wife. Jumping, biting, nipping, etc. Probably trying to find his place in the pack. He was good on walks, and I had him not trying to sniff anything, and just cruising down the road. Cars weren't bothering him. All of a sudden, he started jumping and biting the wife towards the end of walks. Flipping and jumping. He was also grabbing the leash. Most of the time, it's because they want attention, but the biting after walks became harder bites. He started fixating on cars and wanted to go after them. The wife was black and blue on her arms and legs. Work probably thought I was abusing the missus. He was also occasionally starting to chew furniture. Then yesterday, he started doing this behavior to me. I know that he was a higher energy dog, so we thought that he was frustrated and needed more exercise. Every day, the wife walked him 2 miles in the morning. I walked him 2 miles in the afternoon. We played with toys for a while, and we had been outside numerous times. One of us got up every night at 3:30 AM to take him out. It wasn't enough. The "experts" say that they need 5 minutes of exercise per month of age. He's 6 months old, so 30 minutes a day. With walks and playtimes, he had about 3 hrs. and it wasn't even close to enough. You don't want to exercise them too much as pups to let their bones develop properly. With these behavioral issues escalating still at 6 months and the energy level needed to keep him calm, we just couldn't supply his needs. We believe that he wanted to be alpha, along with whatever habits he picked up at shelters, and his life's journey so far, he needed more training and exercise and other help that we just don't have the energy for. He needs to be on a large property or farm, and or with a younger single male, no young kids................I hope that the shelter works with him and doesn't adopt him out right away. The intensity is too much for most people right now. I'll follow the shelter's website and see what happens. I told the wife that I feel guilty, and I gave up, but I couldn't have him injuring the wife or the house. I hope he finds a happy landing. I still think, under the right circumstances, he could be a great dog.

[Wlfman13]

Definitely don’t beat yourself up over it. You did the right thing for your family and as a result, Micah.

The shelter may find the perfect fit for him.

You can now find the perfect fit for you and your wife. I wish you the best of luck in your search for a replacement.

-Wlf

[BirdsThaWord]

Good on you brother! Have had my “rescue” since he was 1.5 yrs old. He’s getting old & grey now. Best thing I ever did was to make the 3 hour drive to meet him and bring him home.

[berettabone]

UPDATE:................Well, Micah is still at the shelter. Looks like he's doing ok. We've got a feeling he may be a resident for a while. He's going to need a special home with a special person who likes his type of dog. 24/7 hell on wheels.............We've been looking for a bit and found a dog at a different shelter. German Shepard mix. Went and spent a couple hours with her inside and out and in a closed situation. Seems like a real sweetheart. Liked her energy and her calmness. Needs some work but not at all like HOW. She has to be spayed and unless you get a dog privately, they all have rules about spay and neuter. It's kind of up in the air as far as if to spay and neuter and at what age. Dogs are prone to different health issues when they are fixed, and others if they're not. Crapshoot. I think they are doing dogs at too young of an age these days. It doesn't give them time for their hormones and bones to develop. She's a bit over a year old so the puppy days are not as strong. She's only going to be about 50-60# so a bit easier for the wife to handle. Beautiful markings on her head and a great face. Smart as a whip. She's got the basic commands and the people at the shelter were amazed after they gave me a few treats. I put a treat on my leg and just with my finger, I got her to leave it alone until I gave her permission to have it. They never taught her that so we could tell that she's a good listener. Takes things gently from your hand. She's alert but not overly so. Walked well on a leash. She'll have to spend 3 days at the shelter after spaying to make sure she's doing well. Worse than waiting for a gun to arrive. We can't wait to start a new dog adventure. Bad part is we wish we could take them all home. Lots of dogs get brought here because we don't kill them up here. Down in the southern states, they have mostly kill shelters. 6.5 million shelter dogs and only about 1.5 get adopted. Sad state of affairs. You can't fix stupid or irresponsible. So now we wait.............................

[dao]

Good luck with her bb. And good on you and your wife to rescue her!

[djd100]

Good luck with the new GSD mix!

I didn't see the image, what breed(s) was Micah?

I believe Micah needed more boundaries and limitations set at that early age, including restrictions on access on up to crate training if needed, but I'm guessing (you're correct in that Micah was looking to be Alpha)?

One typical issue with regards to fixing females at an early age is incontinence later in life, which can be controlled via Proen, though it's best to wait until after the first heat to fix them if possible, which of course hard to do for rescue organizations.

How about some GSD mix pics!