Scared Puppy

[elihim]

We got our first rott pup at 9 weeks of age. She is going to be 13 weeks in 2 days. First off, she is terrified of other dogs. If another dog is down the street and she notices it she wants to run home right away. If it gets close she tries to hide under a car or starts "buggin out" if she can't hide. Second of all, she's scared of pooping n even peeing outside. She will cry n cry till we bring her back in the house. Is this normal n what can we do to build her confidence?

[hokisteph5]

The best way to build her confidence around other dogs is to get her into a Puppy Kindergarten class. The second best way I know is to just keep walking her around people, dogs, etc. so she gets a lot of good socialization. One thing to keep in mind is when she does "bug out" don't reinforce her behavior by petting her and saying things like "it's okay."

When it comes to getting her to go outside, unfortunately you're going to have to keep calm, keep asking her to go pee or go poop and when she does praise and reward like crazy. If you aren't already, asking her to go when she's on leash helps you keep control.

[brunie's mom]

Sadly, this is not normal for a pup.
Where did this pup come from? A breeder, a shelter?

A puppy of that age, may not want to go running to every dog they see...but should be curious and stand their ground. Being terrified of going outside..is not normal either.

I would get this pup into Puppy K classes ASAP...it would be nice to have the trainer evaluate her. Hopefully just more socialization and training will help her cope.
It's not a nice world for your pup to live in if she is terrified all of the time. ....and these are often the dogs that turn into fear biters.

Gina

[elihim]

She came from a breeder.

[brunie's mom]

Originally Posted by elihim

She came from a breeder.

If she came from a breeder, what kind of a breeder? Were the pups socialized?
Were they raised in a kennel or the house? What were the temperments of the sire and dam? Did the sire and/or dam have any titles?

Good temperments (or nerves) comes from genetics...they inherit this from the sire and dam.
Have you told your breeder about this? Did she/he pick out your puppy for you, or did you get to pick out any pup you wanted?

Gina

[Sharon Marples]

Originally Posted by elihim

We got our first rott pup at 9 weeks of age. She is going to be 13 weeks in 2 days. First off, she is terrified of other dogs. If another dog is down the street and she notices it she wants to run home right away. If it gets close she tries to hide under a car or starts "buggin out" if she can't hide. Second of all, she's scared of pooping n even peeing outside. She will cry n cry till we bring her back in the house. Is this normal n what can we do to build her confidence?

This pup is showing signs of a very unstable temperament. When you say she came from a breeder, was this breeder a member of any of the COE clubs? Did this breeder own both the sire and dam of the puppies? Did this breeder provide you with information on temperament testing and if so, were these puppies temperament tested at the age of 7.5 weeks?

There are a lot of red flags to your posts. You need to provide us with more information in order to get more information back.

It sounds as if the "breeder" of this pup did not socialize the pups correctly when they were young and did not take into consideration the temperaments of the sire and dam when breeding this litter.

Did you purchase this pup on a contract? If so, the contract should have covered instable temperament. Do you have the option to return the pup so that you can purchase one from a breeder who raised them correctly?

This can MAYBE be worked through, but you will have lots of work to do and have lots of patience. It starts with lots of encouragement, not "coddling" the pup when it shows signs of timidness, getting it into puppy kindergarten, keeping it in open obedience classes for years. And even with all of that, you may still end up with a fear-biter and/or a dog that is just miserable because it is afraid of everything in life.

[AngelBunny]

Originally Posted by elihim

She came from a breeder.

Breeder is a loosely defined term and can be meaningless.

If her breeder advertised her for sale in the newspaper and you bought your puppy from this ad, or she was bred by the guy down the street, or you heard about somebody who bred a litter of Rottie puppies from somebody who heard from somebody else, your puppy's "breeder" is a BYB.

[elihim]

Ok this a question my wife asked she doesnt have a tempermant problem, there are five AKC champions in her line and yes we have a contract with this pup if she inherits anything from the parents we can return her anytime we did not just buy her down the street. she is properly socialized we hav Five kids this bugging out thing only happened once she is not even to be outside right now, she's getting the rest of her shots on thursday, so then we will be able to bring her outside finally. I had two Rotties myself when i lived in Trinidad male and female breed them twice before i came to the US so i dont think its any of that i think she will be fine i have a fair knowledge of this breed.

[zorro13]

When her shots are complete and you enroll her in class, see how she does there, as she needs to build confidence. Even though it was one episode, I would make sure every interaction with another dog/pup is a positive one.

[elihim]

We definatly plan to do that. We had taken her out one day a couple of weeks ago and a neighbors dog (who is not friendly) tried to attack her. My husband stopped the dog but my poor puppy got very frightened so that's probably why other dogs scare her now but she doesn't go outside very often because we're waiting for her to get her last set of shots. As soon as she does though we will have her out everywhere with us and I feel as soon as she sees that she doesn't have anything to worry about she will be fine. She is very well socialized with people. She is extremely friendly. I have never had a dog before so I worry about her easily but as my husband said, he's had 2 rotts before since they were 8 weeks old and knows alot more about them then I do. Thanks for all the info.

[lovemypuppies]

My amateur advice would be to do as the experts here suggested and add my little techniques. I, against some advise, CARRY a pup out of the building, (they do tend to wee on the hall carpet.) Then i make a point of choosing a relatively quiet time on the street (NO sanitation trucks screaming by) and a cosy place to put her down. Once the pup is down I do nothing. I just stand by quietly while she gets the lay of the land. It takes some patience but i like for the puppy to start exploring on his own. Perhaps place a treat or toy a foot away and let the pup find it. Stay close to a wall so that the pup feels secure. For me this is a great thing --- just let the pup smell hear and see his world. Ideally a couple of low stress street visits instead of walks where you have to tug them along would a good way to start. Good luck with your new baby. Oh, and make sure the street is clean! The way I would make sure her first visits with other dogs is positive like Zorro said, is to arrange in advance for gentle dogs to meet the new pup. When you do it this way they are friends for life.

[elihim]

This is the best reply i have heard so far. Thats exactly what i planned to do, because i think some of thes people in here are tryin to scare you than give you advice on what they think you should do. Thanks again everybody and for the good AMATEUR advice.

[zorro13]

We had taken her out one day a couple of weeks ago and a neighbors dog (who is not friendly) tried to attack her. My husband stopped the dog but my poor puppy got very frightened so that's probably why other dogs scare her

***This wasn't stated in the original posting but something I suspected. I would expect most if not all pups to react in this way as well. When pups are taken from the litter, they lose security, as mom is not with them for guidance and protection, this is where you come in. So, the pup, naturally was acting out of self-preservation. I start out my pups same as Lovemypuppies, in a nice, quiet positive environment so they can explore and not have any nasties around.

[damp]

Please read this thread http://www.rottweiler.net/forums/pup...=socialisation

The way you describe your pup in the first post tells it is definitelaty not NORMAL sound behaviour/temperament!!!

Originally Posted by elihim

We got our first rott pup at 9 weeks of age. She is going to be 13 weeks in 2 days. First off, she is terrified of other dogs. If another dog is down the street and she notices it she wants to run home right away. If it gets close she tries to hide under a car or starts "buggin out" if she can't hide. Second of all, she's scared of pooping n even peeing outside. She will cry n cry till we bring her back in the house. Is this normal n what can we do to build her confidence?

We can only reply to what we read.... and it seems The Elihim family does not agree about this pup and the definitions of proper temperament nor socialisation!!

[elihim]

Well sorry for putting it across like that Damp, my wife was a little concerned. Zorro and what you said is completly true and thats the same thing i told my wife, and again my pup does not have an aggression problem.