I'm sick of dogs.

I'm currently stuck in a situation where I have to deal with five big dogs that do nothing but bark. Car goes by? BARK. Say someone's name? BARK. Get up to use the bathroom? BARK. It's getting old. I haven't had a decent night's rest in months since every time any human in the house dares to move about they have to bark for five minutes like it's some kind of emergency.

It's gotten to the point where I just stay outside when I know someone's coming home because it's driving me up the wall. The yowling and howling and carrying on. Every day. Every single time. I thought they were supposed to be smart. Who knew they have the memory of a goldfish and think the hand that feeds them is the same hand that would harm them? I've come to the conclusion that they are just plain retarded.

The most well-behaved dog I ever had was a mutt. These guys are all purebred (read: inbred) and just outrageously loud and obnoxious.

I deal with PTSD, so every ten minutes I get to be treated to a white-hot shot of adrenaline because they can't keep their s# together to not bark at someone walking through the room. I've been stared and growled and barked at for just freaking standing up and putting my shoes on.

I've suggested finding them a more suitable home; somewhere they can run and frolic and are free to act as ridiculous as they want. But no. I'm supposed to adapt to them; I'm the bad guy in this. You feed and shelter these angry little beings and you get repaid with so much noise and aggressiveness that you'd think we beat them or something.

I'm sure the dog lovers will be all over me but I want to offer this point of view: just like some people can be a-holes (myself included), so can animals.

a reply to: AM10101

Get new homes for them. You deserve a peaceful home. Doesn't mean they're bad dogs, or that you don't love them. They're just a bad fit. Someone who lives in the country or alone might appreciate a good watch dog...or 5.

I have an evil, blind blue heeler that I adore. But we couldn't keep her if we lived in town. She'd go berserk every time a car door slammed in the neighborhood. Environment must fit the dog.

a reply to: AM10101

I don't know your situation, is moving out an option you could take ?

a reply to: AM10101

Seems like the owners of said dogs don’t know how to teach discipline. My dog is HUGE and just one bark can wake my neighbors. But he knows better than to do so. He is only allowed to bark when I am outside with him or when something is array.

This may sound kinda messed up but hand signals work very well when training animals. Try to do that and just use one hand signal every time to indicate “shut up” to the dog.

I started with hand signals then started to train him with a word every time I did so. Now he knows when I would use the signal(spoken or otherwise) and does not act out of line.

a reply to: Timely

Without getting into the nitty gritty, unfortunately it's not at the moment. I've just had to suck it up and keep soldiering on. I have tried talking with them about it but to no avail. It always devolves into a 'well if you don't like it, beat your feet' type of discussion.

I try to avoid confrontations as much as possible, but these dogs seriously trigger my fight or flight response. I'm mild as milk-water one moment, then BARKBARKBARK, I'm ready for the apocalypse.

And yes, I am working on myself with professional help.

It's always risky with purebreds that what you are going to get has some mild mental deficiencies or other things. Like a not up to snuff physical frame. You aren't getting the top quality bred types, you are getting "pet" quality. Prepare to spend years doing research and contacting folks and prepare to dish out, as they reserve these for show winners and obsessives/breeders and don't like to just sell em as "pets" which is what I guess you got. They will always have some kind of undesirable trait which is only enough to piss off the owner but not enough to do anything about. Adopt a dog or see if you can rehouse yours..


Eta oh and if it's someone else's dogs? Oh. I'm sorry. Hope they don't leave em chained up all day. Yes for their sake but also yours..:/...

a reply to: Allaroundyou

It sort of works with two of the dogs. Hand signals that is. I started with a loud "HUSH" and a holding my hand out pointing down; and for those two it will work maybe half the time. Unfortunately they seem to feed off of each other's energy so when one starts they all get going and I'm just not louder than they are.

I really think it's a case of just too many cooks in the kitchen; they get one type of behavior from me and another from everyone else in the house who are just 'used to it.' I think you're right about discipline, and it's a hard subject to broach when they are not technically your dogs. I guess I just feel a bit jilted that it's me who has to adapt (not easy when you have that much anxiety and adrenline) rather than man's best friend. They sure don't seem friendly to me.

To clarify, these are not abused or neglected dogs. All raised from pup to pooch in this environment. I didn't want anyone to think I was harshing on an animal that had been through something traumatic. Hell, they eat better than I do some days.

I have 2 Pitbulls. They don't bark . Their ears perk, and they listen. They recognize people and silently greet them.

If there is a noise in the house, the male will sit up, at the foot of the bed and listen. He will jump off the bed and go investigate if there is something going on. But he doesn't bark. He can and does greet me with "Hello". Yes he can say a couple words.
Heres Bruno.

a reply to: AM10101

You know alot about them so I just assume they're in your house and not a neighbor's. ..

Dogs barking are annoying, but your ptsd will get better, the more you expose yourself to noise.

I don't even know what to tell you about the stupid inbred is purebread garbage.

This is the exact point of breeding, to weed out bad traits.

a reply to: visitedbythem

I guess the thread title can seem off-putting. I'm not writing off an entire species by any means.

Like I mentioned in the OP, my favorite buddy growing up was a mutt. Ugly and buck-toothed but he was always beside me and never acted the way these dogs do, doing everything short of biting the hand that feeds them.

I'm glad you have loyal and well-tempered companions. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad if I wasn't dealing with the anxiety and everything that goes with PTSD. Like, I could just get over it and move on with my day. It just happens so often and with such sudden clamor that my brain doesn't even have time to flush before it happens again.

Thank goodness for a Rant forum.

Didn't notice the ptsd as well (always reading too fast :/ > ). Yeah that could be part of it. Someone probably already mentioned this but you could talk to them. The owners. I can only imagine you should move, but if that's not an option..hmm. I'd still suggest it.

You could get away for a couple of minutes.

a reply to: Mandroid7

Lots of unscrupulous breeding practices. ..

a reply to: Mandroid7

Well, what I meant by that is many times desirable traits would be confined to one "branch" of the family tree. Dogs being dogs they are not so choosy who they mate with. So the breeder would select two dogs with desirable traits and breed them regardless of how they were related.

I mean, if you think about it, we humans have kind of borked their evolutionary path up. We have pugs that can't breathe properly and dalmatians that are so high strung they can't be allowed around children for fear they'll nip them. Not every single example of a breed behaves that way or expresses those traits, but we've done that to them. They would be so much better off health-wise if stopped interfering.

It's ok if you disagree; I've only met a couple people that are even willing to admit that yeah we have artificially engineered a species to have things WE like as opposed to what traits would naturally take hold in a larger gene pool.

a reply to: AM10101

I can understand your position.
I pick up dog poop from my yard and I don't own a dog.
That and when I walk into my back yard the neighbors dogs bark at me, not viscous just play with me barking but still annoying...

a reply to: visitedbythem

Pit bulls are relatively stable as a breed and seem to do alright as a pet, as long as their environment doesn't keep changing. I still don't like to see them being collared with those choke chains, being treated like fighter dogs etc. ..

Yours looks ok..

a reply to: Ohthewey778

No worries I do the same. I always skip words when writing as well. I say it in my head and then skip it when it comes to typing or writing.

I do get away some times, as often as I'm able. Long walks in the woods, etc. You can only stay away for so long though, you know? I gotta eat, and I gotta sleep (fitful as it may be).

I've actually considered sleeping outside a few times; I can only imagine the response that would get from the house though, hah!

Maybe you could pitch a tent and say you're an avid birdwatcher. ..

a reply to: AM10101

They are dogs. They don't get angry- they get (perceive) threatened. It's not your fault they were somewhere along the line conditioned to be on the alert all the time; but it's not their fault either and they are helpless. Be the bigger person. Since they are dogs and not people, that shouldn't be too hard.

Woof, woof,,woof woof woof woffffffff woffffffff. Woof, Woof!

Edit: Woooooffff!