New dog won't settle

DeadMoney

Hi, my mother has gotten in to breeding dogs and decided to buy another bitch a few weeks back. She already has 3 other bitches and a 1 male so there is 4 dogs now in total. They are all looked after very well but do not stay inside the house and sleep in a kennel outside.

The new dog however was 3 years old already when it was bought and previously was kept inside as a house dog. I advised against buying a dog that wasn't a pup as it would be too settled and not fair to remove it from its environment but my mother unfortunately went ahead and bought the dog. The dog will not settle with our other dogs and will not go near people. She does not go near the other dogs either who are all very playful with each other and my mother cannot even bring it for a walk.

The dog just paces up and down the garden all day on its own and it is actually quite sad. We are going to try and bring the dog in to the house to let it sleep there and perhaps it may settle more but I dont think this will help too much. Obviously the dog cannot be bread in this state as it would be cruel but I think it is also kind of cruel keeping her in this environment also if she won't settle. I think it may be a better idea to find a new home for the dog as a family pet and a house dog rather than have it outdoors with other dogs.

Can anyone offer any advice on this situation?
Thanks

Whispered

I may have picked you up wrong but it sounds as if the dog came from a home (did the owners know she was going to a breeder?) where she was indoors, a pet, and has been just put outside with an already established family of dogs and expected to settle herself.

I know it's not your fault, but if thats the case then it's ridiculous. If your mother is not prepared to put the time into the helping the dog settle or knowledgeable enough to be prepared for this problem, maybe she should hold off breeding until she knows a bit more about dogs in general. Or maybe at all, the country is full of puppies.

If she is not prepared to put the work into the dog, it should be rehomed imo. I would suggest through a rescue so she doesn't end up with another breeder. I assume she's a PB of some sort so it's a possibility. You obviously care or you wouldn't bother looking for opinions. She is obviously used to being a pet, let her be a pet.

DeadMoney

helena.ryan wrote: »

I may have picked you up wrong but it sounds as if the dog came from a home (did the owners know she was going to a breeder?) where she was indoors, a pet, and has been just put outside with an already established family of dogs and expected to settle herself.

I know it's not your fault, but if thats the case then it's ridiculous. If your mother is not prepared to put the time into the helping the dog settle or knowledgeable enough to be prepared for this problem, maybe she should hold off breeding until she knows a bit more about dogs in general. Or maybe at all, the country is full of puppies.

If she is not prepared to put the work into the dog, it should be rehomed imo. I would suggest through a rescue so she doesn't end up with another breeder. I assume she's a PB of some sort so it's a possibility. You obviously care or you wouldn't bother looking for opinions. She is obviously used to being a pet, let her be a pet.

Thanks for the feedback. I am not sure if the previous owner knew if my mother was a breeder or whether she asked. I assume however that she thought the dog would be going indoors. It also has occurred to me that the previous owner may have tried to off load the dog as it had problems already but I am not sure. The dogs are pure-breds and my mother had bred them in the past so she has a bit of experience with them.

They are really meant as an indoors family pet and the most common buyers are usually families with young kids. I know they are treated well but I really don't like the idea of breeding them as I think they belong in a house with young families. They do get a good bit of attention here though but as everybody has grown up in this house it is mostly just my mother who looks after them as I don't even live at home any more. Anyway she is going to try and bring the dog indoors and see of it will settle as a house dog and if not I will be stressing that we find the dog a new home. How would you go about this rescue thing you mentioned?

Whispered

Maybe she will settle indoors, in saying that, many dogs live happily outside if it's done correctly. It might work better for your mother to put time into getting to know the dog and encouraging her to interact with the others. Then she might not have to have a dog indoors if she doesn't want to.

You could be right that the old owner just wanted to offload the dog due to behavioural issues. Unfortunately the reality might not be that understandable. The problem with people who breed "family" dogs is that their pups tend to go to homes where they are a pet for a child. What happens when the child looses interest? When the pup is no longer cute? In some cases it's rehomed. (in some other cases it can be dumped/handed into the pound or simply left out the back to rot, I rehomed a cav a while back who was a family pet until he got "snappy". The poor thing was snappy because he was left out the back and grew into his puppy collar, he was in agony! He had a big raw patch around his neck and needed a lot of vet care)

With regards to rescues, you can contact one of the well known ones. Give them the dogs details. They will then look out for a home for her. They will ensure she is going to a suitable home and will insist on neutering her to avoid her being used for breeding in the future. You will probably have to hold onto the dog until such a time a good home is found as fosters are always full and kept for dogs who are in dire straits. But if she is a breed such as a cav, yorkie etc that wont be for long at all. You might consider giving a donation with the dog as it costs to do all of the relevant health checks and neutering that the rescues do before rehoming.

EDIT: There are a few rescue reps on the forum, one might contact you. (I think it would be out of order to name them as they may only wish to deal with strays) If not, you can google for dog rescues in Ireland and you will get a few.