Help, I can't go on.

[Sadnlow]

NC for this.

Puppy is 20 weeks & over the last 3-4 weeks I've started to hate her. She's a massive bundle of mad puppy energy in a big dogs body. I'm her main carer, I come home at lunch & spend all my days off/free time cleaning up after her. I dread getting up in the mornings now as I just can't face the day ahead. Already today she's scratched me to pieces & biten my arm. She's currently exiled to the garden, but keeps scratching the door to be let in. DH has started sharing the lunchtime duty with me but it's hard as he's often away. He sorts her & does all of the cleaning etc when he gets in from work.

Her good points are:
She's good off the lead & she's housetrained.
She's well socialised & loves other dogs.
She likes her crate & has successfully completed puppy classes.

Her bad points are:
She bites & scratches me a lot.
She is destructive & chews a lot.
She can't settle inside the house apart from at night if the fire is on.
She jumps up a lot, putting her paws on the kitchen work surfaces, table etc.

She won't let me dry or clean her without it being a massive wrestling game.

I am literally at my wits end. What can I do? I can't crate her/put her in the garden everyday. We used to walk her together, but I've stopped going as I need to be away from her. I've told DH 3 times I want to rehome her. My last dog who I had from 8 weeks until he died aged 10 was nothing like this.

Advice?

Do you have anyone who could pop in?
Could you try puppy day care?
Friend with a dog to play with?
Training classes again?
Is the dog too young to try a bit of agility?
Vary walks? Try different places?

Presuming she's not from a puppy farm/BYB have you spoken to the breeder about how much you're struggling?

Every decent breeder I know would absolutely want to know if things weren't going well with one of their pups so they could offer assistance, whether that's offering advice, recommending a trainer/behaviourist or taking the pup back if a new owner really can't cope.

If you do decide you want to rehome and the breeder isn't interested then the breed club run their own breed specific rescue.

It sounds like your puppy is pretty typical of the breed. I don't know if you've already seen it during your research but the breed rescue page has a link to this article about living with a weim.

If you want to persevere with her then I'd focus on making sure she's not left alone as much and increase the amount of mental stimulation she's getting. Training classes would be a great idea, as would something like puppy agility where they start learning the foundation skills necessary to start proper agility when they're old enough. Have a look at YouTube videos for ideas of new things you could teach her, Kikopup is excellent for this. Do you do clicker training? If so then I've always found "101 things to do with a box" excellent for wearing a dog out mentally, plus it's hugely fun for both dog and owner.

The Weimaraner is one of the sub-group known as the Hunt Point & Retrieve breeds, within the Gundog group. He is an all purpose gundog but his character and temperament is quite dissimilar to that of other gundogs.

He was originally bred to be the tool for the foresters who worked him. He had to be capable of tracking and holding at bay such game as boar and deer. He had to have the ability to find, flush and retrieve fur & feathered game for the pot. He had to catch and kill predators that deprived his master of sport and also defend him and his property. He was intended to be a powerful hunting dog with a strong protective instinct.

What he is not
He is not the wisest choice for a completely novice dog owner. Of course there are the exceptions. People do buy him as a first dog and succeed admirably in his care and training. These are the people who have energy to match the Weimaraner’s own, who are possessed of patience, perseverance, and a certain amount of gritty determination. He must know from an early age exactly what position he holds in the family pecking order and if you are wise that will be at the bottom of the heap.

He does not take kindly to being left alone all day and every day and can show his disapproval by being noisy (very), destructive, or both. He needs free running exercise as well as disciplined walking and also to have his mind occupied. With correct training the Weimaraner will make a good family dog but he will never make an easy pet*

From the club breed website ^