Giving up 12 week old puppy

[Ridusofyourstupidity]

Please please be kind.

I’ve been quite honest on here about losing my last puppy suddenly to anaphylactic shock and getting our new puppy a few weeks later. Now I’m not sure I can keep her due to her behaviour. It goes beyond anything I’ve experienced. She is 12 weeks old, weighs over 14kg and can reach chest height when she jumps against me.

She is repeatedly attacking me on a near constant basis with seemingly no reason. She will be chewing on a toy, lying down and get up to lunge and jump at me and bite my stomach, legs and arms while growling if I’m standing in the room even if I haven’t moved to draw attention to myself. If I ask for a sit or similar to distract her she’ll snap at me and ignore the request, although she does know ‘Sit’, ‘Down’, ‘Touch’ and will give both paws. When I have to carry her in from the garden she’ll growl and snap at my face. She is a large breed who isn’t meant to do stairs so this is unavoidable.

I can’t enter the room without her attacking me, she’ll bite the backs of my legs or jump up at my side to bite my arm. She’ll try and mount my leg while biting me if I’m still Leaving the room does nothing, she’ll try and block me leaving and she’ll continue when I return, even if calm. Toys do nothing as she will ignore them to jump and continue biting higher. Or she’ll pull my clothing like a tug toy while growling. I’ve tried every kind of toy but she let them go, snarl and dart under them to get back to biting me.

It is either very rough play or something more but it’s unmanageable. I’m now having to leave her alone in the kitchen as I can’t be in there with her, even when calm she will without warning launch at me. I keep trying to go in but it soon becomes too much as she doesn’t stop trying to get to me to bite. 15 mins is the most I’ve lasted with her ignoring toys and being latched on to me.

She’s incredibly difficult to walk even with no distractions as she’ll still attack me and bite me while we’re walking. She refuses all treats on a walk (I’ve tried several) and will pull, be incredibly hyper, running from left to right, and lunge and bite when I stay still.

I’ve done everything we covered in the puppy classes with my last puppy with her from the day we brought her home and none of this has made any difference. She has a marker word and all other commands are the same as before so everyone is on the same page. I’m not sure I’m going to make it through until Friday when I have a private training session booked. I’m utterly miserable and defeated.

Don't all puppies struggle to be calm?

Mine was a manic bundle of energy at that age and often refused treats outside - he still does if he's too excited by something and he's nearly two!

Ilsa

Thank you for your understanding, it’s really helpful. I just want to be the best owner possible for her.

Yes, of course.

It just seems excessive in her case and primarily aimed at me. The new information that’s around currently recommends ‘capturing calmness’ and rewarding it so it becomes a standard behaviour. So if all four paws remain on the floor when entering a room, then a treat is given for the correct behaviour.

It may not be the correct approach with her though but until someone casts professional eyes on the situation I’m not going to know that.

Apparently an indication of this is her refusal to take treats when out of the house.

My dog won't take treats when outside. It's because he isn't food driven. He's nose/hunting driven. I could wave steak in front of his nose but he would rather sniff the floor.

Find a good trainer/behaviourist. Hopefully you vet will help you with that one.

Thank you.

My dog trainer is fantastic. She’s qualified up to her eyeballs and specialises in dog behaviour. She’s transformed dogs that were going to be put down. If you’d like her info pm me. She’s in Suffolk though.

Just got in touch with the behaviourist I did the course with so long ago, we’re going to start seeing him, he sounded positive that we could handle all this and work with her to work it all out and help her be happy. I feel so much better just knowing that I can get some professional help. I’ve been so anxious about it all which won’t have helped. I guess I do think that I can’t do it and that I don’t deserve her after what happened to my other puppy, even though it was a horrible accident. I’m almost just waiting for something to happen to her that I can’t control, and I’ve been desperate to make sense of her.

Thank you everyone for your contributions, I do appreciate them.

Adorabelle thank you so much, I’m South East so a bit far, but it’s always good to know there are great behaviourists out there.

Good luck. I hope you can solve the problem.

I really wish we had dog licenses in this country.

That poor dog.

Terf Talk

Go fuck yourself. Hope that helps you.

Good luck, OP.

It would be really interesting to hear back on what the behaviourist thinks when they see the dog. Sometimes just having that professional eye on a situation can be all it takes to help you feel better about it and, therefore, turn a corner.

Yes please do let us know what the behaviourist says.

One other thing that occurred to me last night is getting a second stair gate - I have 2 pressure ones (so they can be put anywhere) and they are really useful for setting up scent training games in different places so your dog can watch you.

You may not agree with my ownership of her, but own her I do. And I’m going to do the best I can for her. How the hell that makes me an bad owner I don’t know.

But you can fuck off with your judgement. She has a better life than I do and every single care and comfort required and then some. Save your pity for the dogs who have none of the above .

To everyone else, I cannot thank you enough for getting me through a tough day. I’am feeling far more positive and prepared for the job ahead of me.

I will happily update with our progress.

OP, my puppy was similarly bitten though this didn't get really bad until she was about 6 to 9 months. By 12 months she had matured out of it mostly. It's not aggression. It is attention seeking. Like a toddler pulls your trouser leg to be noticed and says mum, mum, mum, mum....until it drives you to distraction!

The thing I would recommend that nobody else seems to, and which made a huge almost overnight difference to my dog was changing her diet to lower the protein. A high protein diet often results in behavioural problems. A raw diet is too high in protein for a lively puppy with no boundaries, too much energy and excess enthusiasm. Lower the protein content by putting her on a good quality kibble. I put mine on 12 month+ food at 9 months, and it was the making of her. It's about tryptophan and serotonin. You can also get a dog version of feliway which might help calm her down too.

read this article leadchanges.net/dogs-diet/

"bitten" should read "bitey"! I was the bitten one!!

I don't know if you were just unlucky or this is the result of bad breeding, including rearing, or just the way this cross of breeds is.

It would be very useful for you to contact other new owners from the litter.

The advice about calming seems, to me anyway, contradictory. Calming is about lacking stimulation. To a puppy that hasn't learnt to self settle regularly it can go off the scale with over-adrenalisation. You are the target because the pup is beside itself and you are the easy target (in a good way, I mean, possibly because of your means of interaction or being female, lots of possible factors).

Personally, if the litter has not had calm and lengthy daily settling, sleep times as part of their daily development it needs enforcing.

Its perhaps the only time I would consider using one of those awful cages,in order to enforce a calm time after play/food/toilet cycle.

To bring that to routine. In the meantime, protect yourself well, including a muzzle for pup, until reliable.

Over-adrenalisation is awful for all, the main sufferer is the pup, and eye contact is key. Not giving any!

Thats all I can offer from what you've described so far. She clearly associates something with you.

Would a line help? So you could avoid eye contact and any contact with her?

On a line at least you could respond with a treat the moment she sat/responded to command?

I'm sure she could be immaculately trained, but this self-control issue, for whatever reason is the crux. It may never entirely be resolved as the pup sounds wired for it. Which could be a breed trait (as a result of a particular line of breeding) or rearing.

I really wish we had dog licenses in this country. How would that have prevented this? Op had already successfully (if sadly short lived) raised a puppy of a similar breed. She had researched the breed, has the correct insurance, obviously has the time and money for a dog.
Chances are, if she had taken any of the other puppies in the litter everything would be fine. But dogs are living beings, each one is individual, and some do have a higher arousal state and/or behavioural issues.

Op, can;t really give anymore advice until the behaviourist comes on Friday, but I do sympathise. When I got my rescue, gsd x, when he got over excited, particularly on walks, he would run past and bite my arm, he tore through many coats, and layers of skin. It was beyond puppy mouthing and nipping, he really meant it. I reckon many others would have put him down.

He's much better now, and I find stuffing a toy in his mouth when he gets too excited prevents him from mouthing.

I hope this works out for you.

I did wonder about her routine, but she has a good amount of sleep vs activity and has settled with me in the room. She can self settle too if I’m not in there. She is crated at night, in our room, and is happy to sleep through.

No, I can't see how dog licences affect dog traits and training at all.

Dog licences seem a bit meaningless without some qualification for having one other than being the owner of any given dog.

Its acquiring any puppy by any owner with or without knowledge, experience, research thats at issue.

I’ve just bought a kong wobbler and another brain training toy to try and use her mental energy a bit more, we’ve got a couple but she’s figured them out so I need to make them a little harder and hide them.

She loved the kong and is napping now.

How long is she sleeping for?

The more I think about it the more I would recommend the long line, which will keep you all safe and enable you to very quickly reinforce good behaviour without risk.

smother

I have a long recall training line, is that what you mean?