SeaNemesis

We adopted a male doberman,red about 2 years ago. He was 13 months old and lived his entire life at that point in a kennel. He had never even been in a house or climbed stairs. We had experiences like with with a greyhound we adopted many years ago before there were any rescue groups for them. It was a challenge and she did a lot of destruction at first,but we prevailed and she grew into a great family member,but we lost her after a long fight with osteosarcoma and a leg amputation. Her death was so hard that it took us 6 years before we got another dog,although I did take in rescue dogs that needed a little extra help with training I have been working with dogs since a little girl and have always had a way with them and also I have attended 2 different schools for this. We got mako,a red female as a puppy and she has been with us for 6 years.She is wonderful and is trained VERY well......
Almost 2 years ago we heard about Panzer and purchased him. It was very difficult at first because of his many issues,but with a great deal of time,love and training he has come a long way,BUT............... Where do I start,we do love him and he has such personality and he is very animated,he is loving and proudly displays all of his MANY "tricks" with a great deal of pride. I use voice and finger/hand commands. I use a guttural "ehhhhhhhhhh" for no because it does not sound like any other word in english language and my dogs and kids too respond quickly to that.... ACCCCK, here it comes..... He is naughty,when I say naughty,I mean very very much so. He needs supervision 24/7,if you walk away even briefly he will get into any kind of nono activity there is.We allow no pets on the furniture,except my bed at first and that was not often and they always had to ask permission,but that had to stop a while back.
OK I am letting it all out hold on............
Panzer will get onto any couch or recliner in any of the living rooms as soon as you leave the room. We must ALWAYS keep items on them,heavy or he will pull them off.We have purchased many dog beds,but he eats them and rips them apart,even Mako's beds. If there is any food items he can get he will even open containers and boxes. He even knows now how to open cabinets. He does this ONLY when you leave. We keep food items now out of reach,but I also have kids,so sometimes they may walk away briefly and he will snatch it. On the counter too.When we put him in the yard he will dig and bark like mad non-stop (I will discuss my measures and discipline in a bit). In the house he will dig in the carpet,he has ruined our den's wall to wall from digging.If we try to kennel him or put him in the laundry room which is big, he goes nuts and barks,whines non-stop and urinates.He will still occassionaly urinate in the house even in front of you,even after he has been out,although uncommon it still is frustrating.If we go away and bring him with us,he is so miserable that he will whine constantly even if he is with us.If he sees a trash can,even if it has no food in it, he will get into it and tear it apart. Bedrooms,bathrooms and even shopping bags. He will search any room in the house for food and steals it if no one is around. I feed my dogs raw and high quality kibble. Twice he broke into food containers and ate until his belly swelled up,once here and once at my in-laws. His belly swelled up so that he looked preggo and it is not cheap going to the vet on Christmas day.
He knows right from wrong and when he does things he will slink. I have been so desperate that I even used the spray training collar and even (cringe) the electrical one and used it when we caught him. However, he does NONE of this now if we are around.It is getting much worse. I can't let him out for long by himself or he barks,digs (VERY badly at that,under house,stairs,fence, etc) In the house he digs in the carpet or will find something to get into to. We have purchased many toys and even bones for him. We cannot take him anywhere and this is such a hardship now.We cannot kennel or contain him.
If he is caught doing something wrong he is yelled at and gets the "EHHHH" which he hates and we all ignore him for a bit. Our female has none of this. I have taken in many rescues that have needed extra help with behavior and I done VERY well. I have NEVER seen anything like this. I love him and so do my kids and especially my husband because this is "his" dog. The first few weeks I interacted with him just for training so he bonded with my husband who also feeds them because I am the one who trains them and we do this a few times a week. He walks very well on a leash and responds immediately to commands where ever he is at,even many feet away, he will respond there to commands. It is just when someone leaves the room or house.My husband is at the point because of how much he has cost us in damages, he even ate the porch and ruined a couch, that he says he wants to get rid of him,although I know he does not want to. WE NEED to be able to get out. I know though, that if we got rid of him, no one would be able to keep him. My neighbor who owns a grooming biz and is very active with shows even commented that if we could not keep him no one would and that if I could not train him,then who else could. I have even worked with fractious dogs!!! I have successfully trained many dogs,but I am soooooooo lost here. We can't give up on him,he is a precious life!!! He is FAMILY!!! I am in tears here........

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