Today I have to look after a (soon to be rehomed) Golden Retriever puppy. Any advice?

[earlgrey]

Apart from one of us ending up in A&E, or our or it ending up at the vet's emergency surgery, or watching a Sylvanian being excreted from its bottom, what's the worst thing that I should anticipate?

lol...I expect you are prepared for worst. Lots of 'puddles' which is pet owners cutesy way of saying piss on your floor and poops (apply same cutesty to reality translation) Good luck.

Agree with Jill60.
Also might depend on how old it is and why it needs rehoming.

Thanks! Just as I thought.

It's my sister's, 13 weeks old. It has to be rehomed because, despite having a dog behaviourist in on Monday, it's still displaying v. agressive tendencies.

If the dog is truely aggressive then keep it away from any children full stop. You need to be very firm and confident when you do deal with it too or it will start to get the better of you. Aggression in a puppy of this age is very worrying and needs to be dealt with promptly and well if this dog is ever going to have a chance of a life anywhere. Rehoming such a puppy if behaviour training fails is also not a good idea as if things are honestly that bad the dog may pose a risk to others. Sad though it is to consider then euthanasia may be the only option in this case.

On the other hand play aggression - growling when pulling on toys, biting at hands as a play gesture etc - is a very different thing. This sort of behaviour is a natural thing and needs channelling into acceptable behaviour with the help of the behaviourist. It is not going to stop as a result of one consultation alone. Like kids dogs need to learn the rules and be channelled to do things that please us. If your sister can not cope with doing this then the puppy should be rehomed asap to a home that is familiar with looking after dogs

A good behaviourist should be able to tell you the difference between a true agression and a play type aggression (with a degree of dominance issues present within this probably)

BG and MP, they've tried so hard. I really feel for them, especially as my niece came here to drop him off this morning, and all of them had red eyes.

My sister said she feels she can't trust him. BIL went to A&E last night for a tetanus jab.

I just feel he could be right, but not in a family setting. Sis wants to give him to the Blue Cross, I think that's not where he wants to go. Either the breeder, or GR rehoming scheme.

All this with Josie off to university today and little nephew moving up to big school from London to Oxford (bless him, he's managed really well. And my sister still has to work there 3 days a week.

Anyhow, the upshot was that my sister stayed behind and let dn go to Manchester with her 11yo brother, or we had the puppy.

And there's nothing I wouldn't do for them - but - we have a scoundrel let loose - and Sylvanians is what he wants!!!!

Surely they have only had this puppy for four weeks no? SOunds like it's just being a puppy and they are unable to distinguish this from aggressive behaviour. Sad they're giving up on such a young one. I cant imaging how a 12 week old puppy could display truely aggressive behaviour unless it had been poorly treated or not socialised properly.

This is normal puppy behavior I would seriously doubr the qualifications of a dog behaviourist if they cannot sort out a puppy of this age.