New Pup - Feel Like I've Made a Mistake
Discussion
We brought our new pup, Hamish home a week past Sunday.
He will be 10 weeks old tomorrow.
The first week he came home, we let him run around the whole downstairs (with supervision) and introduced him to our existing dog, Haggis, a 10 year old Cairn.
Haggis has not taken to him and she has snapped at him a few times - she is not a very sociable dog since she got attacked aged 4 by a Springer spaniel and it changed her whole demeanour.
I thought there could be hope for a newcomer as, whilst Haggis is aggressive/defensive to other dogs when out and about, she gets on well with my Wife's pal's dogs (both Springers bizarrely) as she looks after Haggis when we have been abroad on holiday. So she does have capacity for getting along with another dog.
She also appears scared to come downstairs as he is a bouncy wee thing and has nipped at her legs a couple of times.
After speaking to friends who have a couple of dogs, we have restricted his movements to his own livingroom where his puppy pen is (he sleeps in here, it's large so he has plenty room to move around in) and we also only play with him in that room, and carry him to the back garden to go out for pees, etc.
We are hoping this will give Haggis some confidence back and maybe we should introduce them bit by bit, maybe starting on neutral ground once Hamish has had his jags.
He is also showing dominating behaviour and is very snappy. One website I read advocates holding him down by his chest (no pressure) so he can calm down when this happens, but I have read contradicting info on the Victoria Stilwell website and I have booked him onto an 8 week puppy training course starting January (when he will be 16 weeks) which follows her positive reinforcement approach.
He takes manic turns and has bitten both me, my wife and my daughter at different times. I am not sure at 10 weeks whether this is intentional or just a side effect of a boisterous puppy with very sharp teeth?!
Basically I feel like I've made a mistake bringing him home, we have no free time as he gets fed 4 times a day at the moment, and needs exercise, toilet trips, etc. Combined with what it has done to Haggis' demeanour and my wife has also been very upset with it all, I feel like it's the wrong thing.
But then I think, man the hell up, there's people having to deal with a lot worse than this, but having suffered from depression historically, it's sometimes the little things that can have the biggest impact (we have had a particularly hard year for family health).
I had hoped getting a new pup would be an enjoyable experience, but I see him as more of a bind/hassle than anything else at the moment which upsets me greatly.
Anyone else struggled with a new arrival, not bonded straight away?
How did you deal with snippy new pups?
Cheers,
AC
He will be 10 weeks old tomorrow.
The first week he came home, we let him run around the whole downstairs (with supervision) and introduced him to our existing dog, Haggis, a 10 year old Cairn.
Haggis has not taken to him and she has snapped at him a few times - she is not a very sociable dog since she got attacked aged 4 by a Springer spaniel and it changed her whole demeanour.
I thought there could be hope for a newcomer as, whilst Haggis is aggressive/defensive to other dogs when out and about, she gets on well with my Wife's pal's dogs (both Springers bizarrely) as she looks after Haggis when we have been abroad on holiday. So she does have capacity for getting along with another dog.
She also appears scared to come downstairs as he is a bouncy wee thing and has nipped at her legs a couple of times.
After speaking to friends who have a couple of dogs, we have restricted his movements to his own livingroom where his puppy pen is (he sleeps in here, it's large so he has plenty room to move around in) and we also only play with him in that room, and carry him to the back garden to go out for pees, etc.
We are hoping this will give Haggis some confidence back and maybe we should introduce them bit by bit, maybe starting on neutral ground once Hamish has had his jags.
He is also showing dominating behaviour and is very snappy. One website I read advocates holding him down by his chest (no pressure) so he can calm down when this happens, but I have read contradicting info on the Victoria Stilwell website and I have booked him onto an 8 week puppy training course starting January (when he will be 16 weeks) which follows her positive reinforcement approach.
He takes manic turns and has bitten both me, my wife and my daughter at different times. I am not sure at 10 weeks whether this is intentional or just a side effect of a boisterous puppy with very sharp teeth?!
Basically I feel like I've made a mistake bringing him home, we have no free time as he gets fed 4 times a day at the moment, and needs exercise, toilet trips, etc. Combined with what it has done to Haggis' demeanour and my wife has also been very upset with it all, I feel like it's the wrong thing.
But then I think, man the hell up, there's people having to deal with a lot worse than this, but having suffered from depression historically, it's sometimes the little things that can have the biggest impact (we have had a particularly hard year for family health).
I had hoped getting a new pup would be an enjoyable experience, but I see him as more of a bind/hassle than anything else at the moment which upsets me greatly.
Anyone else struggled with a new arrival, not bonded straight away?
How did you deal with snippy new pups?
Cheers,
AC
Gassing Station | All Creatures Great & Small | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff