Aggressive puppy

[twddarylstruelove]

Please can I ask for kindness and empathy, I am really upset. the following will be long so as to give the full story.

5 months ago I was on a camping holiday. There was a man with a Staffy, and I happened to stop and say that they reminded me of my old dog. He then said that he had some puppy’s in the back of his van. He continued saying he had recently been made homeless and didn’t know his dog (bitch) was pregnant.

While I was talking to him his dog was barking and straining towards me. He said that he could let me hold one. I declined.

To shorten the story, he did bring a puppy to me whilst I was with my husband and said we could have her for £xx price.

We already have a dog so said no.

On the last day the man saw me and said he thought we looked like kind people and that we could just have her. After we decided to do this, the man gave some basic information- she was 5 weeks old and had been on adult dog food from 5 weeks. We knew we had to help her.

I spoke to my husband and we decided to take her with the intention of taking her to a rescue centre, we did not think our other dog would accept her
.
Well, our other dog was amazing. She took her on and we decided to keep the puppy.

She was absolutely fine, we carried her with us on other dog walks, she met family and friends at our home, I’ve taken her on puppy walks.

As the weeks have gone on she has become more and more aggressive towards people coming into our home. She barks and growls.

I have been working really hard with her on walks and she will walk past people and dogs with treat based rewards, which has worked so well!
I have spoken to dog trainers and the dogs trust to ask for help.

Today we were walking back from a field we use for her and my other dog to be off lead. A couple were on the narrow path and moved to the side.

As I was coming up to them I said that she might bark (I was using treats to keep her focus as I have been doing with great success). She did did stop and look at them. The man then put his hand out to stroke her and I couldn’t get the words out quick enough to say don’t touch her.

She didn’t cower or growl or bark, she immediately jumped up and bit his thumb. She didn’t cower draw blood.

I can’t have a dog that is that aggressive.
please tell me if there are any options other than euthanasia.

Thank you if you read it all. I know some details will be missing and will answer anything if I can

I am lucky that we have a big field nearby that I can use to let both dogs have a free run 3/4 x a week and I go at 6am so genuinely never see anyone.
On this occasion it was a Saturday afternoon and I didn’t realise how busy it would be, so another fault on my part.
I will be keeping her from situations that upset her, and hopefully along with the muzzle and coat etc this won’t happen again.
I’m really hoping the behaviorist will give me light at the end of a very long tunnel.

Just to add, I walk them every day, the others are lead walks.

Well for a start you should keep her leashed. Muzzle train her until you can address her behaviour

Second of all id immediately book her a class with experts. She was too young to leave mum and now either you or your dog is mum and shes scared shes going to be dragged off again.

I wouldnt consider euthanasia just yet

I was you in this situation a few years back. A puppy taken from its mum far too young with serious fear aggression. Presumably there was a huge genetic component with mine too (also a ‘status’ breed)

I would advise a muzzle, behaviourist and not allowing anyone to touch or approach her. If she’s too scared it won’t add anything positive. I know this has all been mentioned but offering some solidarity, your not the first or the last in this position sadly.

Thank you for replying. Yes she was definitely taken from her mum far too early the poor thing, I honestly did not set out to get another dog, and I still would do the same again, it was heartbreaking knowing she was just in the back of a transit with some guy playing music all day (presumably to drown out the noise).
I have got all the kit now, and have the behaviourist booked for Saturday evening. I will be taking his advice no matter what. He works for the rescue so will (sadly) have seen this before and know pretty soon if she can be helped.
May I ask how your dog is now?

Ah I didn’t want to bring too much gloom to your situation but mine was sadly put to sleep.

We tried years of medication, behavioural treatment etc but she only got worse to the point she couldn’t leave the house. We even took her to a vet behaviourist at a referral hospital but nothing worked. She too was nice at home, but I couldn’t keep a large guarding breed in the 2 bed semi I lived in at the time without exercising her and she wasn’t a candidate for rehoming. She was so bad we couldn’t cross the doorway in the last few months as she would try and strangle herself to attack any human or dog she saw (and she wasn’t small- 40kgs or so!) One day after previously being fine she started to growl at my son for no reason so a decision was made.

People can be judgey but it’s such a hard thing fighting genetics and early experiences, in my experience it did override anything else. I hardly ever speak about it because of comments but I think it’s important to let others in this situation know it’s not your fault! You can only do your best!

You should definitely not feel bad for your decision- I know it will be a decision I will make if she gets worse. I also have younger children and wouldn’t trust her to just turn if it turns out it’s genetic.
it’s weird though because she absolutely loves my children’s friend if they come round, and even one we met at the park.
like you, I will give her the best chance, and hopefully it will work out. If not, I know I will have tried.
I did speak to the vets about her, and they weee quite dismissive, I was surprised, they just said no one should try and touch her unless she instigated it.
thank you for sharing your story though, as I’ve said previously it is very lonely with a reactive dog, and while it’s horrible it’s also a comfort to know it’s not just me.

I can't speak for anyone else, but the only judgement you're getting from me @Hedgestoohigh is that you went above and beyond for your poor dog and made the only sensible decision you could in the end. x

I would book a behaviourist for one to one sessions so they can assess her behavior.

It would be highly unusual for a puppy to be aggressive. It's far more likely to be fear or play coupled with a lack of bite inhibition. The last few weeks with littermates are essential to socialisation and learning bite inhibition. The fear issue can be easily resolved but the bite inhibition/lack of early socialisation will be much harder to overcome.

I wouldn't necessarily pts but unless you're willing to make this pup into your full-time job for the next 6 or so months, I would start looking for an experienced rescue to take her

Regarding the yellow leads, one of mine has one and a lot of people ignore it or believe they are somehow special and that my dog will instantly love them. You have to be very clear. Don't apologise, don't tell people she might bite, firmly tell them to give you space or the dog will bite. Mine doesn't bite, he is just nervous of strangers but I still tell people he absolutely will bite if they get too close. It's the only way to keep people away.

Thankyou both of you. I don’t want to make this thread about me but I know how rough is it OP. Especially as puppies are meant to be fun! I remember taking mine to a puppy training class just after vaccines and she hid under the chair growling and snapping the whole time.

I also remember people saying things like ‘you’ve had her since she was 5 weeks. How is she aggressive. Did you not train her’ or even worse ‘it’s the owner’

Ive since got another dog but that one taught me so much about dogs and what bad breeding can do! I have since learnt that a stressed bitch can cause stressed puppies in utero that can cause aggression within the lines. Also puppies bred from a bitch that shows aggression can pick up her behaviours from as little as weeks old so it can be learnt from way before they are rehomed.

We ended up changing our lives for the dog. No holidays or friends round etc etc but it’s not a life I would want again. I hope yours is way less affected!

I really appreciate you sharing your story @hedgestoohighand seriously welcome your story and the reality of what might be- I do have optimism but also am realistic. That is very interesting about the puppy’s, as her mum was definitely very stressed and not a happy or friendly dog at all! But then she had had her puppies removed from her way too early..
I can no longer take her to puppy walks as she was becoming so stressed and looking like she wanted to attack everything.
@Frequencythank you for your reply, this is what I am hoping. I am completely ready for the fact it will take a long time to help her, but if it means another 10+ years with a happy dog then it’ll be worth it.
Funnily enough she has never tried to bite our feet or anything like our other dog, but she has had her to almost mother her- she has definitely been told off for going near her food or near her when she is sleeping. They do a lot of play fighting, and seem so happy together.
I will let you know what is said on Saturday. Thank you all again.

And to add if it’s relevant in any way when they play the puppy always rolls onto her back when my older dog gets too rough, for want of a better word, not that she hurts her, although I have heard a yelp at times and I think that is to teach her not to be so rough herself?! I might be wrongly assuming this is what her mum should’ve taught her? Sorry if that’s a drip feed but I didn’t think it was relevant in that they have a great relationship (2 year old lurcher).

Just thought I’d update after going to see the behaviourists today.
They do think her nervousness is genetic. When we arrived she barked as expected, and pulled towards one of them. After about 2 mins stood by me and was growling a bit.
One of the trainers took her lead and she didn’t try to bite or even bark, just tried to get back to us with her tail between her legs.
He held her for around 5 mins and then gave her back tome, and said to let go of her lead.
She never went towards them, just stayed next to me.

We all sat down and talked.
They definitely believe it is genetic nervousness and should be treatable.
They gave some good advice, and also said they do have space if they think it’s too much for me to do.
They said that she was definitely not as bad as they thought she would be and think with some training she could be trained to be neutral fairly quickly.
She will always wear a muzzle when out now- for her rather than anything else- and I will be using the crate when people come round ( and when they aren’t) to give her a safe space.
They also do a bull breed class that helps with giving them an outlet for their natural urges that sounds great, so I am hoping to go at least once a month (they are an hour away).
I feel a lot better about the future at least.
I have a call booked with Woodgreen on Monday as well, I really hope we can get the best life sorted for her.
Thank you all so much for your advice and kind words.