[rmarie9509]

Hi so my name is Becky and I've been on JM for a while but I havent really strayed from the ttc and now my ddc.

Anyway we have two dogs and we have a huge problem. Our youngest dog has had a lot of behavior problems since we got him and we have worked through a lot of them. He was a rescue and I think most of his problems are due to bad breeding. It took us until he was almost a year to fully potty train him, he had separation anxiety for almost a year, he is very fearful in general and especially when people come over to the house, he is very dominant and doesnt respond to commands well, and he steals food. But we've worked on this and most of it has been taken care of, and much of the time now, he is a big lover. Except sometimes. Sometimes he is aggressive. Sometimes it is dominance and he will steal something then growl if we try to take it back but we deal with that we can distract him and talk him down, but every once in a while he will get set off by something (never the same thing) and he will attack our other dog. They dont fight hard enough to hurt each other and we always separate them right away and we were just working on it and hoping he would grow out of it like so many other things. The problem is that now we are pregnant. and I am so afraid of something happening to the baby.

Im afraid that even if we think he is better it only takes one second and he could seriously harm or kill a baby. But I hate the idea of getting rid of the dog. The thing that makes it hard is that sometimes he is soo good and soo sweet. I also dont want to give him to someone else who wont take care of him.

We are going to try to get a behaviorist to come, but I dont even know where to look for one.

Sorry this was really long and rambling.

Has anyone been through something like this and have tips? Do you know how to find a behaviorist? Do you think we will ever be able to trust our dog around our baby?

And please I dont want any mean comments I dont find that helpful to anyone, we are really trying here and we have come a long way with him I just dont know if this is something we can get past I want to do whats best for my whole family which includes the pets. Thanks

[Mommie2One]

I would recommend you contact a reputable rescue in your area, maybe a few breed specific rescues and ask what behaviorist they use. I got the name of the one I used for my German Shepherd through the Boxer rescue that I foster for as they had used him on a few difficult cases and highly recommended him and I was EXTREMELY happy with his methods, him, as well as the results. So my first answer would be to contact 3-4 local rescues and ask who they use. You could also call around to 3-4 different veterinary offices in your area and see if they recommend anyone. Just make sure whoever you use is a behaviorist and NOT a trainer, they are 2 VERY different things but man times folks confuse them. I believe that most dogs can be rehabed if the owners are willing, sometimes that may mean working within their limitations (i.e. crating when you cannot watch them, or when meal times are happening, etc), so kudos to you guys for sticking with him and giving it a shot.

Good luck!