Need some serious help.

[H2-One]

My husband and I are at our witts end, and need some serious help regarding our cocker spaniel.
Beau is now a year old. We adopted him from our local SPCA. They said he was given up due to a divorce when he was 5 mths. We have had him since. Here is the list of problems we have had with him...ones that I can remember off hand.

Going to the bathroom in the house.
Not going in one specific area of the yard.
Eating ALL the vegatables in the garden. (The fence kept getting taller, but he presisted in climbing it.) You could be outside with him, and in second he would be found in the garden. When attempting to get him out or to correct him in any manner..he will growl and snap at you.
He barks in his crate non-stop.
He is constintly nipping at my lab, who is to much of a **** to fend for himself.
When attempting to correct him, he gives you that look of "and who do you think you are?" He might as well be telling me to blow it out my..***. When he is doing something inappropriate, he has no problems as to try and bite you. He has bit me three times now.
He smacks you in the face ..by face, legs and arms look like a own a cat..and I don't!
He comes up to you, nose to nose (literally) and stares you in the eyes.
He knows the word NO, but he has selective hearing.
He only does as he is told, when there is food involved.

Beau has NO FEAR!!

We have been to obedience classes..which were a waste of money, because he already knew the basic commands.
We have had a delux little dog trainer.
We have seen a dog therapist..and everything they suggested did not work!
We have toys to keep him occupied.
He is never left alone except at night, but he has my lab as a companion.
He is fixed.
He is on a feeding routine.

My husband and I are considering placing him back with the spca. Which is sad to me. But, Like I said I am at my wits end, and my chequing account is draining quickly with training staff, training gadgets etc.

Last night was the final straw you could say.
I am in the health care field, so my shifts are everywhere, but my husband is pretty scheduled. Last night we both had to work nights. We had decided not even a week ago, to attempt possibly to trust him and allow him in the hall area, where he could sleep with our lab. We thought he would stop barking and whining if he wasn't in his crate. (Five months of barking and whining for hours on end..can do your head in!)
Anyways... We have gates located at each stair way..in order to not give access to rooms with carpet. Last night he somehow managed to sneak through a 2 inch gap ..slide underneath the gate..and proceeded to pee on our spare bed, and **** on the floor. (He was outside for half hour before I left for work, and water was not given two hours before that) Bathroom issues is not from speration anxiety, cause he does it right in front of you without warning.!! He ate my chapsticks, chocolate bars that were located on a tall dresser. Yes that right..he jumped off of my bed and unto the dresser.

We can't take anymore..and running out of patients quickly.
When is it that you finally say..enough is enough!
I have had many dogs in my life, my parents were dog breeders..training any animal has never been a problem for me. But Beau is taking the cake..and I sadly enough willing to admit defeat.

H2

[erdog3]

I think Beu needs a place to run, hunt, play, to get rid of his boundless energy. I would guess that is half his problem and...BOREDOM, bored dogs get up to trouble.
I would also guess that given his previous home, he is a very nervous dog, hence his howling and peeing. He quite simply just does not know if he is Arthur Or Martha.
In this case, you may need to rehome. He needs freedom to run, but also lots and lots of understanding, retraning, and patience.
Not saying you have not tried this, I understand your desperation with him, but someone like myself, say, who has 10 acres, a dam and home all day and night, could possibly bring this dog around.

[H2-One]

We have a huge backyard for both the lab and cocker to play in. We bought him the treat ball to keep him occupied instead of eating my plants. (since he is a food dog).
He is not nervous or timid in any way. If anything he is over confident..hence the term NO FEAR.
It's not that he gets into trouble..he does not chew things that do not belong to him. He does not do the normal day to day things that could be a cause for disipline. However, the peeing and pooping in the house...after every dog training book, gadget, websites...everything to help in the add of house training has failed.
He barks only when he is not getting his way..like a child who is throwing a temper tauntrum.
I can deal with a lot of things...I work with the mentally and physically disabled..lack of patients is not my problem. But, the snapping, nipping..scratching, and the I will do what I want when I want attitude is getting a bit difficult to deal with.

We tried all cocker spaniel techniques that I have read in books.
Do not yell at a cocker...they don't take to aggressive behaviour well.
Ignore him when he behaves badly..as to not give him any attention... thats all fine and dandy..until he comes up to you and cuffs you with his paw.

Beau is only home by himself..and not really by himself because my lab is right there with him...most often..tops..three hours occassionally out of the day. He is never for the most part left unsupervised unless it is bed time.

[erdog3]

So really he is just like a difficult teenager. lol. I have one of those myself.
The peeing and pooping, can you keep him out of those rooms or will he just go elsewhere if you do?
Have you tried any field trials with him, they are a very intelligent breed and love to learn.
So you have the time and energy, just run out of ideas.
The only way I know how to deal with dominant dogs is to be dominant.
Don't look him in the eye for starters, that is an outright challenge to him.
There are many on the forum who have used shock training collars, while I don't condone the use of these, in your case you may find one very helpful to retrain at least.

[erdog3]

The biting is serious stuff, and yes he is being serious about it, next time he goes to bite, grab him very firmly by his muzzle, and give him a good shake with it, not to snap his neck but enough to let him know you mean business. Or grab him by his scruff, even when he swipes at you, and give him a great shake by that. Yell at him, no, bad dog, and place him in a crate or sin bin.

[H2-One]

We had a shock collar..thus the little deluxe dog trainer. But,..example..my garden..as the book instructed, it said..make sure they can not see you..set them up..when they go in..give them the warning tone..if they do not comply..give them some shock therapy. I did that..however...he went in there anyways. He got out quickly enough..but if the time he spent in my garden was enough for one nibble of a cucumber..a shock to him was well worth it. We took the collar back.
We try not to look him in the eye... but ellieret... he goes nose to nose with you.. I mean..he purposely jumps up on the couch..and puts his nose directly on yours and stares at you. I was told not to look away because that shows him he is more dominant then yourself. Man can he stare an awfull long time..LOL You could be sitting quietly watching tv...he would be nibbling on his bone..and in seconds you have a dog on your lap and in your face. I have never in my life seen a dog do that.
I thought the gate at the top of the stairs would of been enough to keep him out of the rooms... but he is like hodinee..(sp) I can not grasp has his body fit in the space it was given to move...I think he was a cat in his later life...LOL
You are right, I am running out of ideas. I like the idea of field trails..do they have them in the winter months?

[erdog3]

Well I don't know about those where you live cause I am in Oz. You could try pming either Weimlover, or GretaJack, they have more experience than I in this area, field trial and training I mean, plus they are in America.
Sambucca/Whiskey has had a heap of experience in dominant/agressive dogs, you may like to pm her too for help on what she did.

My advise thought straight up, is don't let him on your lap ever, ever again, a good shove off so he lands flat on his face and then chuck him in the sin bin for 10 mins will soon get the message through. Put a short lead on him, then hook it under a table leg or something he can't pull, so he can get close enough for a pet, but can't jump up on you.
Get rid of the bones for now, they tend to bring out agression in dogs who tend towards agressiveness. Or save them for crate time, but not punishment time, that has to be a place all alone, nothing but water, nothing to see, for 10 mins at a time.
If he stares you in the eyes nose to nose, no don't look away, but grab that big nose of his with your palm and push him away, off you and your couch.
If he goes to snap, be prepared with a glove on your hand, then grab the snout, push him away, grab him by the scruff (back of neck) give it a shake, and chuck him in the sin bin (that quiet little spot). You must be consistant and firm, showing displeasure verbally as well.

[H2-One]

We had tied him up to the foot of the couch...believe it or not..but Perrie (my Lab) chewed him free..LMAO
We started training him to sit on his pillow..which was located right next to perrie's. All he did was whine..the loud high pitched ear breaking whine.
Would you suggest then, seeing as we are no longer going to use the crate do to the barking whilst he is in there..that we place the crate in a seperate area of the house..and when he starts whining while on his pillow..we put him in the crate...making the crate the sin bin? I know you are not to punish a dog in a crate..but the crate to him is not his den..he absolutely hates it in there.

He does not appear to go to the bathroom any where that would be easy to clean. So the small section of the house he has seems to work fine..as long as he doesn't play hodinee again. I have made the gate more secure so there is no longer a two inch gap for him to slide through.

[erdog3]

Ahhh, labs to the rescue. lol.

Well it is never a good idea to use the crate as punishment just incase for that one off time you may need to use it for something else, say he has an op and you need to confine him, if he hates the crate now, that will make it worse and you won't be able to use it when you may need it most.

You can make your laundry the sin bin. I would even attach a chain lead to the wall low down somewhere so he can't get into too much trouble and pull him in there, this needs to be gruffly so he realizes you are not happy, and chain him there, remember this only needs to be for 10 mins, even 5 is enough with some dogs.
You have to be consistant, maybe he will have to visit the sin bin up to 15 times in a day, not to matter, if that is what it takes so be it.
Try to deal with one problem at a time, so lets say the biting and jumping up is the worst, deal with that one first. As soon as he looks like he is gonna bite/jump, that's it, you dive in first, yelling NO, and physically drag or plonk him in the sin bin, shut the door and ignore his whining etc, for the designated time, when you let him out, if he sits nicely then reward him for it.
As well as using a glove if he is that bad and grabbing his snout.
You really need to address that issue asap, for yours and everyones safety.

[Luvit73]

I had a dog like that once . Titan did most of the things you are describing -he thought he was the dominant dog in the house ! The way we finally solved the problem , was somthing our vet taught us - to hold the dog on your lap , lay him sideways against you , and hold his head against you - until you hear him emit a soft sound that sounds just like a *sigh* . Do it once a day , and after awhile he will not even struggle at all . It teaches him you are dominant . I have used this method with every dog I've had since , and it has been the only thing I've ever had to do , to be "the boss" . Fair warning : if you decide to try this , just know up front , that when first beginning this training , he will struggle like a wild thing , trying to pick his head up - but don't let him do it ! Even if he gets it loose for a second , get ahold of it again , until he gives up ! (sighs)