I've been struggling with something lately. And to tell you the truth, I'm not sure how to talk about it. So here's the deal.
I go out on various dog forums and usually concentrate on posting responses to people having dog troubles. I'm not a trainer, but I stick to stuff I know something about, and looking back, I give pretty good advice.
But here's the problem. After just a short time of doing this, I've realized the answer each time is the same. And it's not pretty. The answer most of these people need to hear is this:
You got a dog because they are cute and loving. You got a shelter dog because you want to do the right thing. Good for you. Where you went wrong is that you thought owning a dog, especially a shelter dog, would not take much work on your part.
No. Don't stop listening, you need to hear this. You were just plain wrong. The issues you have mentioned when you asked for help tell me quite clearly that your dog has some moderately serious to very serious issues. What you have told me you do about this is actually making the problems worse.
Here's the good news. You can fix the problems, you can have the dog of your dreams. But you need to learn. You need to learn about training, and most likely that means going to a class with your dog. No, don't give me excuses. You need to go to a class because you need to have someone show you in person how to do this. You need this because you will not believe it will work until you have someone else help you and actually show you how it works with your dog.
The alternative is that you continue to make your dog's life hell while you flounder. You will make the dog's problems worse. Then you will take the dog to the shelter where she will either be killed, or only potentially be adopted again probably by someone who knows as little about training as you do. Or you will keep the dog but chain them up or otherwise neglect them because you don't know how to deal with these problems.
Basically, unless you take the bull by the horns and figure this out, that dog's life is going to be miserable. And it will be your fault. No passing the buck. No excuses.
But, like I said, you can fix this. You have to learn, and when you do, you will be able to create a great life for you and this dog. This dog will mean more to you than you can ever imagine. You will feel bad about this time, but at the same time you will feel good because you will see that through learning, you really did save this dog's life. You will be a good person.
So what's it gonna be?
Here's the thing that really gets to me. I love these dogs. I don't even know them, I haven't seen a picture, but I love them. I know they are good dogs. And it hurts me to hear about them being in a bad place. But I know it can be better, I know if they try, these people can change. So I hope these people will help their dogs, because they deserve a good life, the people, and the dogs.