A dog for someone who doesn't want a dog?!?

Hi

This might seem stupid but I’m looking for help in getting a dog that I can live with despite the fact that I don’t want a dog! My son and his mother are desperate to get another dog following the death of our King Charles last year but, while I did think a lot of the little guy, that was the first time I’ve had a dog in my home and I did find him to be a real pain in the backside. I don’t expect miracles but I’m wondering if the right dog with the right training and things could reasonably be expected to not too annoying.

These are the things he did that I’d like to avoid if we were to get another dog:

• Running away as soon as there was any gap in a door he could bolt through and sometimes disappearing on walks
• Peeing on certain things if they were left on the floor (generally shoes & bags and almost always my ones!) and on the carpet if he got upstairs
• Lying in front of doors (refusing to move as your trying to get through them) or in middle of the floor (especially in the kitchen while you’re cooking)
• Begging for food whenever you were cooking / eating
• Eating anything vaguely edible that is within reach / licking dirty dishes while you’re loading the dishwasher
• Blowing snot out of his nose all over the floor/our legs
• Stinky farts
• Generally smelly, regardless of bathing / having his glands done / etc
• Dragging his butt over the floor, regardless of having his glands done
• Chewing things (sunglasses, headphones, etc – never his toys) when he was teething
• Climbing onto car seats / sofas whenever he thought he might get away with it

There were also some great things about him which would be essential in any future dog:

• Amazing with the kid (less important now as the kid is 8 rather than a baby/toddler)
• Never barked and only ever growled when he had a bone
• Wasn’t ever aggressive towards the cats (actually, he could have done with defending himself a bit more with one of them!)
• Wasn’t ever aggressive towards another dog
• Didn’t damage things other than chewing when teething

Right, that’s quite a list – does anyone have any advice? Any breeds that seem more favourable? Any training techniques or care we could provide that are likely to improve things? Any chance of getting an ideal grown/trained dog from a rescue center?

TIA

Nearly all those things both good and bad can be easily obtained with training and a decent diet, so don't blame the dog blame the owners. Best mind your wife and the kid don't look to replace you.

Please tell me more about what can be fixed with what training.

With regards to diet, we got advice from the vet on that and tried a bunch of stuff - can you tell me any more about what the "right" diet would be?

Vets knowledge of diet is pretty non existent.
Everything on your two lists can be sorted with training with maybe the aggression towards other dogs as that would depend on what causes the aggression.
I feed a raw diet and my dogs do extremely well on it but it's not mandatory.
Any quality diet that suits both you and your dog will do and will eliminate the stinky farts.
If you don't want your sunglasses chewed or your shoes peed on then put them away, so I guess you have to train yourself as well as the dog.
Honestly licking the plates while loading the dishwasher is a doddle to rectify teach him the command no or leave it and make sure he understands it.

All of the things on your list are training and diet issues.

Training should begin as a pup who should be guided as to expected behaviour with kindness.

A good grain free diet should suffice. Should problems occur, look for allergens, but most dogs do fine with grain free.

It sounds like you don't like dogs in general so the biggest question to ask is whether you think it fair to bring in a dog that will likely never be able to achieve what you want from it, ie a cat that looks like a dog.

Thanks both - it's great that training can solve so many of my concerns but how can we learn how to train a dog effectively?

We did take our boy to training classes but never felt like we got very far - just sit, wait, come, etc. It didn't really translate to "stop lying against a door that we go through 50 times a day". Maybe the classes weren't that good (I didn't see any dogs doing much better than ours) and the fact that he was deaf made things hard but I never felt like we understood what we were doing, just copying the exercises of the trainer.

It's not that I don't like dogs at all, it's just that I found the problems of ownership (which I'm quite prepared to accept were mostly/fully down to our failings as owners) far outweighed the pleasure for me. If, with proper training or whatever, another dog could be somewhat less problematic then I'd be happy to get one purely for the benefit of the family - they LOVE dogs, are so sad not to have one any more and really miss their walks. If training etc was really effective (and I'm still not expecting perfection) then it would make ownership very much worthwhile for me personally too.

find yourself a puppy training class and a good training book,something that makes training fun, if your having a laugh you're more likely to stick with it.
It's perfectly possible to have dog because the family really want one and your just so so about it. I think that's pretty normal tbh.

This has got to be a wind up! Most of these training issues would have not happened if the humans had altered their own behaviour.
Cavaliers are the nearest thing to little humans in furry jackets. If a breed as gentle and subservient as a Cavalier managed to offend your sensitivities, I really can't see there being another breed which would suit you any better.

Why not buy your family a dog of their choice and then pack a bag and leave. This would alleviate your problems.
Or buy a pot dog!