Mad as hell about lies about puppy!

jolo

:mad:

Hi
Answered ad about a 10 week old PB puppy. Rang and situation sounded a bit dodgy - puppy bought a week ago as gift for friend(?!?), friend has new job and has to move, can't take puppy. Person who bought dog for friend and placed ad already has own dog doesn't want 2 - puppy needs home. When questioned puppy was nearly 10 weeks old when collected from breeder (still only 10 weeks old!). Then collected from breeder 2 weeks ago on Easter weekend - which was actually 3 weeks ago so maybe nearly 12 weeks??? Papers to follow.

I know I know but I felt sorry for little unwanted puppy - we wanted 1, did the deal.

Anyway tonight finally after asking a few times got the details of breeder and contacted him directly. Puppy born on Dec 26th - 4 months old and collected from him before Easter.

Turns out now too that the seller's own 'existing' dog is only 8 weeks old and with her only a week.
Thing is now - puppy seems sweet - completely NOT house-trained or even with a clue to it but playful and sleepy and puppy like . There were a couple of little nip/yip growls when picked up or moved by my children when it didn't suit but thought that was ok when it was only very young. But then tonight she jumped up to my 12 year old's face when she was quietly watching TV and nipped crossly at her face. Completely out of the blue.

Had great plans for socialisation classes etc.
Is she too old now to benefit from socialisation classes. Even more importantly can this slightly aggressive nipping thing be sorted? I've read about how important it is to be on top of all this in the early stages.

I suppose mainly should I be really worried and trying to get my money back? It isn't all about money but I'm soooooooo p***ed at being lied to left right and centre(as was the breeder) and worried for my kids sake. Is there a way of resolving this??

I hope to talk to a trainer tomorrow to get his views but I'd appreciate your advice too.
And I do know I broke 1 or 2 cardinal rules but my heart led.

mollymascara

Just reading your post, its not a great sign that the pup is showing aggression at this age, and would make me wonder if that is the real reason it ended up being unwanted.

That said however, bringing the pup to a trainer is a great idea. There may be a number of reasons as to what is causing the behaviour. It maybe just down to establishing dominance. May I ask if the pup was sitting on the chair with the pup at the time?

I am a firm believer that an animal can be retrained, meaning that aggressive behaviour can be corrected and controlled given the right training (IMO). Ive seen it and experienced it myself over the years, that being said, your children would be your first priority, and it would be best to minimise any risk until training has started.

I can only suggest to go ahead and meet with a trainer/behaviourist talk to them about the pups recent aggressiveness and see if any solutions can be offered.

Best of luck to you and puppy, I hope you find a happy resolution

ghost_ie

The unprovoked aggression is worrying but I think you're doing the right thing talking to a trainer. Good luck - hope things work out

CreedonsDogDayc

Also, sometimes puppy play can appear aggressive if they played aggressively with their littermates/other dogs. If the pup jumped up unprovoked it may have been thinking 'hey, i wanna play'. Only you saw it happen and obviously aggressive playing is not good but going to a trainer early on and following all their instructions at home means you should have a great adult dog by the end of it!

Why is it your so mad? Because you were lied to about the pups age? that could have been an honest mistake. If the pup didnt belong to the seller they probably werent taking too much notice of its age and gave a general age when asked.

Morganna

What breed is the puppy .?

andreac

Sorry but for starters, the pup is only 2-3 months old and of course hes not going to be toilet trained, hes a baby and he wont be toilet trained for at least 6 months or so.

Pups at that age cant hold it in as their bladder isnt strong enough to hold it for very long so its up to you to train the pup to go outside but expect accidents for another couple of months until hes strong enough to hold it in all night.

All pups nip and bite, its what they do. Again its up to YOU to train the pup not to bite and nip and encourage good behaviour.

Its never to late for socialisation, again the pup is only young, you seem to be expecting an awful lot from such a young puppy which is strange as all pups nip, bite, wee etc until they are are old enough to know better and are taught what is good behaviour, they dont just know it themselves, they have to be trained by their owner which takes time and patience.

What breed is your dog?

You need to give the dog a chance, how long so you have it? They need time to settle in. Things dont happen over night and it takes time and patience to train a dog so you have to be prepared to put the work in. You decided to get a dog in the first place and all pups need to be trained and socialised no matter where you get them.

Dogs are big responsibility and people need to realise that when you get a pup everything isnt going to be all cute and cuddly and fun. They are living creatures that need time and effort put in, to make them a happy, well trained dog.

Morganna

Well said Andrea

Gurgle

jolo wrote: »

tonight she jumped up to my 12 year old's face when she was quietly watching TV and nipped crossly at her face. Completely out of the blue.

Seriously, you've raised a human for 12 years but can't recognize when a puppy is looking for attention?

I'll translate - this means "hello, I'm here, play with me".

EGAR

No pup comes with an inbuilt child friendly code. It has to learn, just like human children do.

Sudden bursts of activity with play-fighting/nipping etc are perfectly normal for a pup that age. To speak of aggression in this case is very OTT.

The pup is 17 weeks old and in all likelyhood teething at that age, so there will be alot of mouthing. Get him chewy toys.

It's not to late to socialise him but it's your responsibility to supervise the pup and the children.

Discostuy

I'd agree the dog definetly isnt too young for classes.

Just make sure the pup has all the necessary shots and injections before bringing him to any classes (any trainer worth their salt will insist on seeing vet certs to clarify this beforehand).

As Andreac said all pups nip and bite. The pup sounds like it just wants to play/learn. Its what they do in packs of puppies.

You just need to teach the pup humans arent as tough as other dogs.
Search the web and read about bite inhibition. When the pup nips or bites, let out a yelp to let them know its hurts.

This is how dogs learn from each other. If he jumps at the kids or barks at them, just ignore him. He'll soon learn humans arent other puppies who play fight. Give him a toy to chew on and play with.

There is tonnes of useful books and info on the web. Be patient, the dog is still a baby and has a lot to learn. But just take it small steps at a time.

Noopti

I would like to echo what a lot of people have already said. Puppies nip, they all do it. You do need to train the puppy not to do it, but be careful not to confuse this normal part of puppy behaviour with aggression.

Lormcd

I had a puppy when I was younger..it nipped alot. Now she is 10 years old and has been really mellow since she was about 2. Like with humans its a maturity thing

crotalus667

andreac wrote: »

Sorry but for starters, the pup is only 2-3 months old and of course hes not going to be toilet trained, hes a baby and he wont be toilet trained for at least 6 months or so.

sorry but i have to call bull on that , I had my fella more or less house trained by aobut 3 - 3 1/2 months (it took about a week to get him to that stage ,)

andreac wrote: »

All pups nip and bite, its what they do. Again its up to YOU to train the pup not to bite and nip and encourage good behaviour.Its never to late for socialisation,

100% agree op the pup is still very young and easy to train a good class will really help but you need to go asap the first 16 weeks is some of the most important iin the pups life so it is best to get in before the 16th week

andreac wrote: »

which takes time and patience.
.

and treats lots and lots of treats

andreac

crotalus667 wrote: »

sorry but i have to call bull on that , I had my fella more or less house trained by aobut 3 - 3 1/2 months (it took about a week to get him to that stage ,)

I think you are the exception though as very few pups will be totally housetrained by that age. Yes its possible but the majority wouldnt be trained that quick.

Maja

I have 4 months old puppy and he doesn pooh any more in the house and only sometimes happens when he piss (is that correct -sorry Iam not native speaker) -specially at night as he sleeps in the kitchen with his crate open he cant hold for 8 hours yet - but yes it is possible to train them to dont at 3 months!

jolo

Thank you for all the replies advice and reassurances.
Firstly let me apologise yes I overreacted and even panicked a bit. Without going into too much detail I had found outa number of 'inconsistencies' in what I had been told. I was angry and then my child got a shock.
Thanks for the confidence but I do recognize a shout(nip) for attention and I reckon the telly addict in question may not have picked up earlier more subtle efforts.
I fully intend to do my best with our little cutie. I don't expect her to be house trained particularly in a new strange set up. However the level ties in with something else the seller mentioned about the puppy 'liking to spend most of the day outside'. Again sorry I was wound up and venting.
overall yesterday was good toilet training-wise and I managed to read the signs well.
So I woke up more positive and ye've helped. Sure I feel stupid rereading my OTT ramblings! But you know what - I'll get over that too.
And together with my wonderfully well-adjusted children:-) we'll give this cutie a happy loving home.

beagle001

Don`t worry too much,your puppy is new to your environment and will be a little bit confused.
You are no way too late for training or obedience classes,these work best for puppies from 6 months upwards not 4 months as the dog will find it difficult to register your voice commands as quoted above.
What breed of dog have you got as the net has a tonne of basic information on puppies,google it to find basic information.
As regards training definitely go along to obedience classes any trainer worth paying money to will be able to guide you in the right direction with your dog.
Try and get 1 on 1 training and at least 2 sessions in your own house,this worked for us the best and we learn`t so much from the trainer when he visited the house.
If the puppy persistently bites get him a pigs ear or a chew bone as he want s to bite on something for teething.
If he persists to bite pin him on the floor gently but hold him down until he submits to you 100% even if it takes 20 mins,this must be done each time he aggressively bites or snaps.Your puppy will learn that this is unacceptable and change his attitude to win your affection.
It takes a lot of work but start now and you will have a calm dog,best of luck

Sigma Force

Agree, puppies will nip and sometimes it takes a while for them to get the message and you may go through some stages where the pup does jump up and nip it's not a wanted behaviour but can be sorted with classes.
A dog is never too old to learn and sure your guy is still a baby.

Toilet training wise every dog is different and even a fully trained adult dog can go back to soiling in the house when moved to a new home.

Highly recommend kongs and petstages toys (remove the material on them though), those filled white bones you can get are brilliant as well. Wouldn't give pigs ears or rawhide or anything like that.

Ice cubes are great too.

crotalus667

andreac wrote: »

I think you are the exception though as very few pups will be totally housetrained by that age. Yes its possible but the majority wouldnt be trained that quick.

I dont think so most of the people in my puppy class are pretty much the same , what way are you house training ??? (I am with my pup most of the time so that may of helped)


ps
my sisters 6yo rottie still has the odd misshap almost all ways my sisters fault( leaving her too long in the kitchen on her own)

lrushe

crotalus667 wrote: »

I dont think so most of the people in my puppy class are pretty much the same , what way are you house training ??? (I am with my pup most of the time so that may of helped)

As you say you are with your pup most of the time plus your pup has most likely just had the one home (other than its breeder) and therefore had more of a routine in its life, the OP's pup is already on it's second home at 4 months old.
OP no 4 month old pup is agressive and like others have said it sounds more like a cry for attention, of course don't reward this behaviour with attention rather try give him/her a 'time out' in their crate to show you don't agree with the behaviour.
Definately get your pup in to classes as soon as possible and I'm sure you will see great improvements in his/her behaviour as well as having a trainer on tap for advise

crotalus667

lrushe wrote: »

try give him/her a 'time out' in their crate to show you don't agree with the behaviour.

time out yes crate no , you dont want the pup thinking of the crate as a bad thing , where ever you use for time out make sure there is no toy's ect and 30 secs should be enough for the pup to get it you may have to time out a few times but make sure you do not pay him attencion while he is time outed

Maja

Guineapigrescue wrote: »

Agree, puppies will nip and sometimes it takes a while for them to get the message and you may go through some stages where the pup does jump up and nip it's not a wanted behaviour but can be sorted with classes.
A dog is never too old to learn and sure your guy is still a baby.

Toilet training wise every dog is different and even a fully trained adult dog can go back to soiling in the house when moved to a new home.

Highly recommend kongs and petstages toys (remove the material on them though), those filled white bones you can get are brilliant as well. Wouldn't give pigs ears or rawhide or anything like that.

Ice cubes are great too.

Why no pigs ears? White bones are great -agree, better then kong!
-and the true is puppy can be annoying as HELL!!!! and if someone would say that's not true I dont belive - my relationship with mine -is 90% love and 10% hate (when he goes crazy I would send him to the moon sometimes!)
There was few days I was seriously thinking about rehoming him -thats how hard it could be, so I wish you lots of patience!

star-pants

Maja wrote: »

Why no pigs ears?

Pigs ears can give a lot of dogs the runs/upset stomachs, and especially with pups. Certain rawhide treats do that to my two dogs, so I stay away from what I know will make them ill.

beagle001

every dog is different but pigs ears worked for mine very well and he was a little chewer at the time.
Observe your puppy and try and think like a dog seriously when you do, it will shed some light on puppy problems.
Best of luck and as I said it will take a lot of your time and attention but well worth it

lrushe

crotalus667 wrote: »

time out yes crate no

Crate has always worked for me??? Each to their own I guess!

branwen00

Dogs under 6 months are classed as puppies in terms of training so you have plenty of time, i have seen much older dogs respond to training so definitely a good idea to get training for him

Key to training at this age is firm voice and treats when they do what you want, hitting a dog will cause more bad behaviour (not saying that you hit the puppy but just wanted to state it so please don't take offence)

Puppies have little bladders and bowls so need frequent trips outside or train them on newspapers, check out the Purina website, loads of good information on it