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.

I have a pup and was at the vets this week for an injection. While in the waiting room people were fussing him and I mentioned a couple of problems we were having and the receptionists and the vet afterwards were incredibly helpful and made lots of suggestions and showed me things like a calming collar and a spray too etc. Why not tap into their expertise too? I can pop in free for a weigh in and pick up a wormer pill and see the nurse. Does yours have that option too? Worth even ringing them for advice ... as they see pups days in and out and will have seen bad behaviour before.

I have two Rotties. Both raw fed. When they were a bit younger (now two years old) and somewhat boisterous, the vet suggested adding some vegetables as the protein level of the fed was high. We gave them nice to chew on things, such as big carrots, and the behaviours improved.

As an aside, I had a St Bernard bitch. She was on the light side of the breed at 69kg full grown. She was a very bouncy younger dog, though no biting that I recall, just a lot of energy.

Google Colin Tennant. A very well known dog behaviourist/trainer. Specialises in problem dogs etc. If he is not in your area still may be able to recommend someone locally.

@lazymum99 I hope OP doesn’t. Anyone who suggests a dog alarm, ignoring a distressed dog or a water pistol as methods of training is someone to be avoided.
Look for positive and reward based training.

What exactly is a calming collar? Or a spray?

I don't think that sounds the way to go.

By 'a line' I was meaning some use lines indoors to clip a dog to so the dog has freedom of movement yet restricted to an area, which would mean you could do some specific training around walking close enough, just out of reach and ignoring any jumping snapping, but yet regarding the moment of quiet and turning away again at any lurch or snap.

Failing that, personally, I would do this just with a lead attached to something sturdy for short spells, whilst you were in attendance obviously as I wouldn't want to leave a pup alone on a lead.

Just moving away and approaching dependent upon pups reaction.

I would expect this to give a very quick result in a bright dog who will immediately realise whats expected of them and actively regulate themselves.

“What exactly is a calming collar? Or a spray?”

Adaptil or similar, they contain calming pheromones - they can be useful for stressed/anxious dogs.

I’ve currently got two feliway plug ins for the cat to be less worried about my foster dog and an adaptil one for the foster dog for fireworks...

We must be swimming in pheromones by now, rofl

Ah..so a collar that gives off pheromones, and an air spray? Ah, thats different. Yes, I've heard good results from them, for cats. I don't know so much about dogs.

Not regarding

Rewarding!

Hi all,

Sorry I stepped away from the thread.
I’ve spoken to the vet and they’ve referred onto my preferred local behaviourist. And we see the puppy trainer on Friday as the behaviourist recommended still seeing her.

We went for a walk today and it was hell on earth, so I’m looking forward to working on that.

Good luck! At six months old a member of the public told me my dog was “uncontrollable” (on lead!) Now people stop to say how calm she is. She’s three!

I've only just got round to posting, but have been reading your thread.

All I can say is please don't feel bad about feeling at the end of your tether about the biting. You're doing better than I was - at least you still love her. I didn't even like Biteypup one little bit and I too wanted her gone She was a savage biting monster that growled and lunged at us (particularly me) and we were absolutely shredded and I was in tears every single day and didn't want to be anywhere near her

Getting a 1-2-1 trainer made all the difference and she gave us great advice and coping strategies.

We found walking away and 'being a tree' made her biting and growling worse then ever. Whilst being a tree she managed to jump up by back and grab my bra strap and she was weighing in at around 15 kilos too

The advice from the trainer that made the difference for us was having her on a house line and when she got too bitey to manage we very calmly and with no eye contact/verbal communication at all just popped her in her crate and closed the door and walked away. If she barked or cried she was ignored and she was only let out when calm and quiet, again with no eye contact or verbal communication. She very quickly learnt that getting bitey got her crated and us out of sight and ignoring her and we cracked the worst of it in a day or two. She will still get a bit over excited and mouthy and gets the odd time out, but she is a million times better than she was and knows when she's gone too far and will go and pop herself in her crate sometimes preempting being told

If anyone had told me that I would love the little shite like I do now I wouldn't have believed it, so please hang on in there if you can as there will be light at the end of the tunnel In the meantime have a big hug as I know how you feel

I’m losing the will to live. I can’t even be in the room with her today. She’s biting, jumping, growling and snarling ( her lip is curling back). I’ve gone in to try and play using her long toys but she is worse when I introduce them and will jump up past them at me, or turn away completely from them to attack my feet. I’ve been calm, had toys and treats ready nearby but no luck at all.

She’s been fed, toileted and had a run in the garden. I’m just feeling like the worst possible person.

You were all right. I’m not fit to be her owner. I can provide every single thing she needs, food, shelter, the behaviourist, the vets, and I love her. There’s just something about me that is wrong to her.

Are you experiencing puppy blues OP or do you think this goes further than that?

It is so so hard when they're small and all they want to do is bite you but if you pick a method and stick with it then you'll find it does get better eventually.

However considering the breed you've chosen you may be right that you've bitten off more than you can chew. There's a reason these breeds aren't recommended to novice owners!

It could be puppy blues. It could be just the wrong dog.

This is why I honestly think a trainer/behaviourist is the way to go as they will see past the first possibility and give you the support you need or confirm that it's the second.

adaline

With respect, you’ve all assumed I’m a novice with zero experience. And none of you have asked for my partner’s experience.

For what it’s worth, both of us have experience, him a lifetime’s worth more so with larger dogs as he was raised with mastiffs etc. My puppy who died wasn’t my first dog either.

If I’ve honestly given the impression throughout this thread that I don’t have a clue what I’m doing or the responsibility I’ve under taken then I’m sorry but I don’t feel that’s the case.

Both the puppy trainer and the behaviourist have said that what is occurring is out of the normal puppy biting behaviour, even despite her size and breed mix and until we look deeper and get it fully assessed then we know exactly what her motivations are.

Right now, I don’t blame myself for having the puppy blues. I have a 13 week old puppy who two professionals feel is displaying unusual behaviour. It may well be more than that.

Oh OP. I feel for you.

Is your trainer still coming tomorrow? Can you hang on until then because I think getting someone professional to see your puppy and help you figure out what's going on is critical.

Ultimately no one online can ever be sure about what's happening because we cannot see the dog.

Today just go easy on yourself and the dog. If she's fed and wee'd and has somewhere comfy to sleep and company then she's taken care of for now.

Just hang on until your help arrives.

Second this

Just hang on until your help arrives.

No advice OP but much sympathy. I remember reading about your boy who passed away so tragically. I don't think how you are feeling is anything but a completely normal reaction to the trauma you have experienced plus dealing with a very tricky puppy and I really really feel for you.

Thank you all.

We’re seeing the puppy trainer tomorrow, the behaviourist in about a week. Just waiting to see if he’s got the referral from the vets.

Much as some here may feel I’m a complete idiot and totally irresponsible I really don’t think I’am.

I’m home all day, every day, but I have doggy day care nearby if I need it.
I have the time, money and space for her.
I live in a great location, 5 mins from beach, 10 from countryside and 20 from a large forest.
I have a good relationship with my vet and puppy trainer.
I did the research, read the units on the recommended FB page, read the recommended puppy books.

I’ve done everything right as far as I can see.

I just wish I knew why I was getting it wrong

I just wish I knew why I was getting it wrong

I came to the conclusion a long time ago that puppies/dogs are as individual as we are. Sometimes it takes a third person to see what's happening and turn that relationship between owner and dog around. I also think some dogs are just 'easier' and have noticed that some friends and relations dogs followed the 'normal' dog behaviour training path much more than mine did. I also know some people who had relatively easy puppies and then the next one was a terror and they were like WTF is going on.

Maybe don't dwell on the thought that you are doing something wrong but focus on the fact that you need a third person to point out why the dog is behaving that way with you. Understanding why is the most important part of fixing the issue (even if that is that the dog is wrong for you).

I just wish I knew why I was getting it wrong

You are not doing anything wrong some dogs are challenges end of.

I have worked with dogs for years and they are trained to do a specialist job but I have one (yes you know I am talking about you Pix!) that pushed all my experience and knowledge.

Being close and emotionally involved makes it so much harder and I needed to take advice from my colleagues to work out a decent training plan where we all stayed alive ,calm and off the gin.

Having a professional involved will be a huge help - ask them a lot, do be prepared for plan a not to work but plan b should do. This will take time and you are the person that can do this.

I imagine in your mind you are thinking there is something wrong with the dog it can not be "right" it does happen but it is unusual to see this.

Not a stealth boast but a blatant one! Pix did go on to get a commendation for his work for bravery (hmmm bravery or stupidity no other dog would be so crazy!) and he became loveable in the end.

Hang on in there this is a very difficult time but things can be changed. Really good luck tomorrow. Keep things calm and do only what you can manage today - a chilled day chewing bones will do fine for the puppy today.

Tbh your situation sounds fantastic - give the dog back and I will come and live with you near the sea and the countryside

Jouska

Thank you. Reading that helped. I’am really lucky to be in this position atm and be around so much for her and definitely lucky to be in the location that I’am.

I would try changing her food to try and lower her energy levels. Something like Arden Grange puppy large breed.
Good luck for tomorrow

I don't know why you're taking what I say as a criticism but it's not intended that way.

What I'm trying to get across is there's nothing wrong with admitting that this particular cross (or particular puppy) is too much for you to handle.

OP to me it sounds like you're doing everything you can, and it must be so difficult not being able to build a strong bond with this puppy especially after losing your other puppy.
I hope you can grit your teeth and hang on till tomorrow to get another opinion.
Would it be possible for your partner to take over primary care for a few days and you create some distance? I'd also second having a look at her diet. You can always return to raw feeding at some point in the future.
Good luck.