Puppy embarrassed me at the vet today!

[KarenK]

Hello everyone!

I've been lurking for a little while, trying to pick up the dos and don'ts, and decided to post for the first time today. A little less than 2 weeks ago I brought Carmilla home. She was seven weeks then and is just past 8 weeks now. She was very sweet in the beginning, was beginning to teethe, so I took care of that by giving her a teething toy. I have her puppy pad trained at present because we have dogs that roam the neighborhood and I don't want her down in the grass until she's had a few vaccinations--years ago I watched a dog die of the parvo virtus and it was one of the worse things I ever experienced.

I started out by crate-training her, but she cried literally through an entire night and began thrashing in her crate to the point of almost injuring herself. Since I share the house with a flatmate, who works long hours, the crying and thrashing became a major problem for her. Finally, I let Carmilla sleep with me in bed. I can't really complain, because she was WONDERFUL, no crying, complaining and no accidents at all. It wasn't really what I wanted to do, originally--I felt it was best to crate train--but she wasn't having any trouble adjusting, and I only had to take her to her pad once or twice a night.

She was doing very well, then about 2-3 days ago she began developing a habit of nipping/snapping. It was hard to discern at first because I thought it was just regular puppy gnawing, except that soon it was accompanied by growling, and the gnawing becaming more violent. I began disciplining her by nose-tapping her when she did it and giving commands. It worked a little, but she didn't seem to take to the idea that biting was bad. Keep in mind I've only had her about 2 weeks and this only began a few days ago.

Today she went to the vet for her first innoculations, and she displayed aggressive behavior to both the doctor and the nurse. Suffice to say, they were not pleased. In fact, they both reacted very oddly to her, even after I disciplined Carmilla right in front of them. Carmilla settled down immediately after I disciplined her and began what I can only call sulking. Then they brought in another nurse who apparently specializes in rotties. I was told Carmilla is "too big" for her age (about 9 lbs.) and that she is "unusually aggressive". And the rottie girl told me I would have problems with her, and might face euthanizing her in a year. I tried to explain this only began a few days ago and that I was working on the problem, but the nurse just became extremely cold and basically treated the puppy like it was possessed or something. Luckily, the vet showed me a clamping muzzle technique for her aggression, which she responded to pretty well. I plan to continue clamping her muzzle when she becomes aggressive, unless someone can suggest a better or more effective idea.

Finally, I explained that I wasn't tolerating this behavior and was working with the dog. I didn't exactly appreciate the fact that the doctor and nurses felt like I should give up on an 8-week-old puppy.

Anyway, I DO plan on working with her to overcome this problem. She really is a sweet girl except when she becomes overly excited (when the snapping begins). I'm still not certain if this is basic "puppy playing" for her or if she means to show dominance. I was wondering if anyone knows if a puppy will start showing dominance at only 8 weeks, and what your thoughts are on the vet and nurses's reaction. I am trying my best to show Carmilla who the master is, and not let her get away with developing bad habits, but I came away from this whole thing feeling very divided. The rottie specialist took an instant dislike to her and just kept telling me what a naturally bad dog she was. Was this fair?

Thank you in advance.

Karen

[LavenderRott]

There are a couple of threads that are going right now about "aggressive" 8 week old puppies. This is common puppy behaviour and I am sure that you can find lots of advice in those threads.

I would suggest finding a new vet and avoiding your current vet's rottweiler "specialist".

[brunie's mom]

It seems to me you have started off on the wrong foot with this pup. Get her OUT of your bed and back into the crate. Forget about thrashing, crying,etc...she will settle in once she does not get her own way. You have started treating her like a baby and not a dog...not a good thing for a Rottweiler as you can see. She is treating you like a littermate, not as the leader.

Also...please start training her to pee and poop outside...even if you can only take her to one safe spot in the yard. Training a dog that will be this large on puppy pads just confuses the pup. You are teaching the pup that it is o.k. to pee and poop in the house ...and you will have a very hard time to change this. Not pretty when a 7-8 month old is still peeing and pooping in the house.

Your pup should be socializing in safe places...meeting people going places. Please do not let your pup be undersocialized because you are afraid of parvo. A Rottweiler that has been undersocialized as a pup has a much greater chance of dying (being euthanized) then a pup catching parvo.

Get signed up for Puppy classes ASAP...and as soon as your pup is old enough start taking them

Gina

[frontierrots]

9lbs is BY FAR not too big for an 8week old, it's actuallyon the small size.

PLEASE scrollthrough the last month's (at least) posts here in puppy developement you'll learn alot!

[KarenK]

Thanks so much for the advice! I'll be sure to try and incorporate it and look around the forum some more here.

:)

[Sharon Marples]

All I can add to this is "Get Rid of That Vet!"

I would not subject her to their treatment a second time. There are too many nice vets in this world.....

[spidey]

Also, please stop "nose tapping" her, and do a bit of reading about normal puppy development, I think your expectations might be a bit unrealistic if you're "giving commands" without training - it sounds like you may be setting up an adversarial relationship. Try Jean Donaldson's "The Culture Clash" and Ian Dunbar's "Before & After You Get Your Puppy".

[TrishB]

No vet has a "Rottweiler Specialist". I worked in clinics for almost a decade and never heard of such a thing. How do they qualify that? And if they were, they would certainly know better than to take anything that an 8 week old puppy does seriously, or anything over a puppy 'feeling it's oats'. Give me a break.

#1, get a different vet. If you know of any other rottweiler owners around, ask them where they go.

#2 no more nose taps or other retaliations. She's playing with you, you play with her, she 'ups' the game by playing tougher, you respond by playing tougher. You're playing the game. If you don't like the game, you stop it. By doing so, she learns that by playing that hard, she doesn't get to play, which is a very effective training method.

#3 Crate training - out of your bed, into the crate. Try feeding her in there, give her treats in there, make it a wonderful place. Work on putting her in it from time to time during the day. Wait until she's quiet and then let her out (outside of the times when your roommate is trying to sleep). Don't make a big production of her either going in or coming out. Quietly - put her in, take her out. It's not a big deal, so don't treat it like it is. She'll get the point.

She's only 8 weeks old. Get some books (what Spidey recommended is a great start), enroll in puppy classes for when she's 12 weeks old and enjoy this time. It's fun! Not a serious time of her life.

[Azrael]

I had this happen to me a couple weeks ago w/ my six month old puppy. I had to take him to a different vet because it was a sunday and my regular vet was closed, but he growled at the vet which is something he has recently started doing for whatever reason. So I ignored him and tried to keep a friendly conversation w/ the vet going until he calmed down and she just started going on about how in a year he's gonna be a fear biter and she immediately wanted to stick a muzzle on him.
If I were you I'd stop going to that vet, it will not help your dog to have a vet that is nervous about her.
To get my puppy used to his regular vet we would just go over there and hang out a couple times a week w/ the ladies in reception, (my Charlie really is a ladies man) and he really loves his dr cause she took the time to get to know him rather than just walk him in the room put him up on a table and start grabbing at him and poking him.
Anyway, Good luck

[TrishB]

Being comfortable with your vet is key to your being able to support their health. If your vet is afraid of your dog, unable to evaluate your dog, quick to judge your dog - his / her health may be at risk.

Now don't get me wrong. Some dogs need to be muzzled. Some dogs threaten because they know they can and people will back off. None the less, their exams and treatments MUST CONTINUE without putting anyone at risk. So if your dog isn't allowing the examination, yes, they require a muzzle for everyone's safety.

However, a dog must be given the chance to behave. An instant "Muzzle It" does nothing to help either party. As long as a vet allows the dog to behave, I'm happy with that vet.

I personally took Parker to 3 vets before I was happy. Now Parker has never growled at anyone. If anything, he cries and whimpers, doing the butt dance. But I didn't like the way the receptionists were afraid of him or the way the vet automatically assumed we'd need a vet tech to assist us in restraining, or a muzzle immediately without trying for a blood sample.

I now have a vet that loves Parker - that never even thinks of muzzling him - that did his hip and elbow xrays without an anesthetic - that tells stories about him to his other clients about "how rottweilers really are". I know that if Parker is ever in a situation where his health is at risk - that I can trust this entire team with my boy. Everyone should feel the same. It's our responsibility as dog owners to ensure the best available care that we can get for them.