[Cassidy's Mom]

:thumbup: to everything Castlemaid said. Oh, and I would buy a crate for this dog. If you want to keep him in your bedroom at night, confine him in a crate. He should not be laying in the doorway "protecting" you from other household members.

 

[Cassidy's Mom]

Boy, some of your minds just kill me.

People's minds weren't just going in weird directions, the replies were based on how you worded the incident. It's good that you clarified some things, now we have more information to go on. But you did get some good suggestions that you should consider implementing immediately.

I see some problems right here:

We then put him out in his kennel in the garage which is where he stays during the day while we are at work. He barked all night long. He is a very hyperactive dog. When we are home, he has the run of our land and is out chasing shadows most of the time. We made the mistake of starting him out on a lazer when he was little, now he looks for it every night and we have to use it to get him settle down at night.

He's in the garage when you're gone at work, and when you're home he spends most of his time running around outside. How much time does he get to spend indoors with the family? How much time do you (or anyone else in your family) spend training him, playing with him, interacting with him in any fun or productive way? He might be hyperactive because he's bored.

And using a laser pointer to tire him out is not a good idea at all, it can create OCD behavior - as you said "chasing shadows". Imagine how frustrating it would be to try and try and try to catch something that's not there, so you can never succeed. How about taking him outside and throwing a ball for him instead? Something he can chase after, and GET, and then bring back to you for more fun? You say you "have to" use it to get him to settle down at night - have you ever taught him to just hang out and chill, maybe on a special rug or mat that's his special "place" to go to? Do you ever reinforce him for just calmly laying on the floor chewing a bone? Have you ever taught him what kind of behavior you DO want from him?

From your description of the incidents I'd have to agree that he's resource guarding you. A healthy dose of Nothing in Life is Free would be a good place to start. Effective immediately everything good, everything he values should come only after he's done something you've asked him to do - sit, down, etc. Yelling at him is pointless, you need to TRAIN him, you need to reinforce the behavior you like, stop reinforcing the bad behavior and not let it work for him anymore. You need a trainer. This is not meant to be a slam against you, but you don't seem to know much about dog training, so if you love this dog and are committed to keeping him, please get some help before he hurts someone badly enough that you won't get to make that choice. Good luck.

 

[Cassidy's Mom]

Ok, here we go again people reading stuff into what Im writing making me and my family look like bad people and we are not.

Nobody said you're bad people. Now YOU'RE reading stuff into what we're saying.

He is not let out to run free all night when we get home from work. He is in the house most of the time, he scratches the door when he wants let out and scratches when he wants back in. The family is in here and plays quite frequently with him.

That's great! But what you said previously was this:

When we are home, he has the run of our land and is out chasing shadows most of the time.

I'm glad he actually spends "most of his time" in the house rather than outside like you said in your previous post. If you had said that in the first place that would have been better. We can only react to the information you give us, if that information is inaccurate or incomplete you're going to get responses that you may not like or that you don't feel really apply to your situation. I asked how much time the family spent playing with him because you never mentioned anything about that. In the absence of such information we can either guess or we can ask. I asked. I'm sorry if you were offended by that, but really, we're trying to help you. None of us are there to see what's happening, we can only go by what you tell us.

It may be best to try and rehome him, but you do have other options. As Jakoda pointed out, another board member has offered to meet with you and evaluate him. What do you have to lose by taking her up on this generous offer?