Thinking of "adopting" this dog - we're crazy right?

[verity]

Do what your good, kind heart tells you to do ---

 

[gritsar]

Belly bands occured to me. Glad to know that they work. I will order some from Jeffers pet. Thanks y'all.

 

[TerriLaChicks]

Quote:
Exactly what I would have said. I've worked with rescues and older dogs & it can be done- it takes time and patience and consistency, but it can be done. With mine, I "graduated" them from a crate to the front foyer of our house -- we could block it off with a piece of 4x8 lattice using c-clamps to fasten it to the walls - so they had an 8x10 space to learn to live in (& see if they could be trusted) before they got free range of the downstairs part of the house.

And if you're going to have her give him to you, get it in writing. No use in letting him into your lives and heart & then she takes him back.

 

[ChickenFanaticAB]

Not sure how much value this has to you, but if you do decide to keep him you might want to hold off neutering him right away. I was watching an episode of dog whisperer (this is the part that you can either take or leave depending on what you think of the show) and there was an un-neutered male dog that had begun to show signs of aggression. Cesar said that while the dog got plenty of exercise, when he got to mating age and he didn't have the ability to mate with a female, he was instead getting rid of this type of energy through aggression. Anyway, not the same as this situation, but bare with me. He said that they should get the dog fixed, as they were not planning to breed him, but should not do so until he has learned to control himself. How I am relating this to your situation, is that you may want to house train him fully (or as close as you can get) before you neuter him. He needs to learn that marking is bad behavior, and learn to control his desire to do so before you neuter him, or the behavior might continue even after he is fixed. Just something to consider, and something I hadn't really thought about before I saw that episode. I think it can definitely be done, but I would suggest blocking off half of the crate so that he doesn't have much room in there, and train him just as you would a puppy-Out every few hours, and never unattended in the house. Otherwise, sounds like you like the little guy, and if he's going to be living with you anyway, you may as well see if she will let you have him.

 

[turney31]

Grit, I think you know how I feel about Chihuahuas. Wouldn't take a million $ for ours. We have a doggie door and it works well for us.

Micah

 

[Epona142]

Quote:
I ordered mine from an ebay seller. Way cheaper, much more comfy for the puppies. Let me know if you're interested in the seller. PM me cause I'll forget about this thread lol

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

If he's pooping all over the place, get the female pads for when they are in heat. Works wonders.

 

[teach1rusl]

That's kind of you to consider taking that dog in. I'm not a little dog person, and an untrained stubborn adult LITTLE dog is a huge undertaking. I know you're an experienced dog person, but you had some good dogs to work with, intelligent and wanted to please you. This little stinker (partly not his fault, I'm sure) doesn't sound like he gives a hoot who he pleases.
I agree with getting a little tiny crate for him...he won't want to walk around in his own mess (hopefully), and he can avoid doing that if the crate is roomy. I had never heard of a belly band. The thought of using a "heat" pad for pooping issues cracked me up...very slick! Good luck if you decide to take him on!!

 

[Crazyland]

"Cesar said that while the dog got plenty of exercise, when he got to mating age and he didn't have the ability to mate with a female, he was instead getting rid of this type of energy through aggression."
So not true.

We will leave it at that.

Belly bands are awesome!
Getting him snipped ASAP may or may not work with the marking since you already know even snipped dogs can mark.

I do know how tempting it is to take on somebody elses responsibility. Neighbors have a litter of terrier mutts, they nearly drowned them the other day by sticking them in the shower and forgetting about them. Now that they are 4.5 weeks, I did talk them into keeping them for 8, they are shoving them outside where they don't have to take care of them.

 

[duckluck]

Quote:
I was going to say fuhgeddaboudit, but I like the way RiverOtter thinks! You just might have a game plan here!