newbie with 3 rescued pups with lots of challenges

[cschimizzi]

Hi I am new to you site and I must say it has alot of great information. I live in NC in a rural area. I just moved here last month and there is a man that lives about three miles from me that has a horrible kennel. The dogs are filthy and kept in bad conditions. Anyway he has several different breeds and several litter all the time. From small breeds to Rottie and Labs. I went to see his dogs acting like I was interesed. It was really a bad sight. I have called animal control on him several times and so has a few of my other neighbors. Well he has found that people are no longer really interested in his larger dogs so he has litters and then when they get to "old" to sell, (12 weeks) he either "gets rid of them" or has different family members take them to the pound. I can't say for sure that all of this is true but it has been told to me by several people in the area. Anyway in one of his previous litters he had three puppies left. 2 females and 1 male.
They were 12 weeks old. He put a sign out on the street that said "Rottweiler puppies free". I went up there and took all three of these puppies. They are now named "Diva", "Diamond" and "Diesel". Our first stop was the vet. Well all of the puppies were severly infested with parasites. Diesel had tapeworms so bad that his stools looked like more worms then feces. Anyway that have all gotten a clean bill of health now and are almost old enough for their rabie shots and to get fixed. I had planned on finding wonderful homes for these guys but they have won my heart and we are going to keep them. We also have 2 other dogs that were rescues from a high kill shelter as well as 2 cats. I live on 4 acres and I have 2 acres of it fenced with 6ft chain link fence. We are going to be building runs in the near future. Right now all of my dogs stay in the house and sleep in their crates. Anyway I have some questions. First- Diesel is very very shy. He has came around quite a bit and loves me and my daughter to death but is very fearful of men. I cant get him or the girls to walk on a leash. They freeze when I put it on them and wont move. I try to motivate them with treats and it doesnt work. I put the leash on them and leave it and they are fine. They run around with it on but as soon as I touch it they freeze. Second Diva and Diamond both will not stay clean through the night in their crate. I take them out at 10pm and then my husband takes them out when he goes to work at 2am but when I get up at 7am, their crates are always wet and messy. I need some advise on this. Next, they will not come to me when I call them. I always have to go and get them when I want them. Any advise you can give me would be greatly appreicated. Thanks, Charlene

[Sansano]

First thing I would do is find homes for 2 of the puppies. It is a horrible idea to have 2, let alone 3 puppies at the same time. It also is a really really bad idea to have the puppies from the same litter. Once you do that we should be able to help you through your problems with your pup.

[Brooke&Ryan]

Wow Charlene! Sounds like you have your hands full. :D One puppy was a bit overwhelming for me at times & you have THREE.

Second Diva and Diamond both will not stay clean through the night in their crate. I take them out at 10pm and then my husband takes them out when he goes to work at 2am but when I get up at 7am, their crates are always wet and messy.

With them soiling their crate; how big is the crate? It should be just big enough for them to lay down & turn around in. If it's bigger they may pick a corner to use for the bathroom & another corner to sleep. With Julius we were getting up at least two to three times during the night to take him out to the bathroom until he got a bit older. If these pups are still twelve weeks old I don't think that just once during the night will be enough for them.... At least I know it wouldn't have been for Julius. :)

Next, they will not come to me when I call them. I always have to go and get them when I want them.

You should not ask them to come unless you can enforce it. If you say "come" you must make them come. I would not say the command unless you have them on a long line or leash. This is one of the MAJOR things that I learned with Julius. We would try the "come" command when he was across the room & when he didn't come when we called he assumed that he didn't have to come to us unless he wanted to. Some of the members on the board informed me not to command the dog to do something unless you can enforce it. It's a rule that I live by now.

:)
Brooke

[MontanaRott]

Originally posted by Sansano
First thing I would do is find homes for 2 of the puppies. It is a horrible idea to have 2, let alone 3 puppies at the same time. It also is a really really bad idea to have the puppies from the same litter. Once you do that we should be able to help you through your problems with your pup.

This is really good advice. Especially with pups that have come from such a disadvantaged start. The issues with one are going to be MORE than enough for you to deal with with out compounding it x3. Not to mention the resident pets you have already. Do a search here on multiple pups, you will find tons of good advice on why it is not a good idea. GOOD luck and you are to be commended for saving them.

[Brooke&Ryan]

Originally posted by Sansano
First thing I would do is find homes for 2 of the puppies. It is a horrible idea to have 2, let alone 3 puppies at the same time. It also is a really really bad idea to have the puppies from the same litter. Once you do that we should be able to help you through your problems with your pup.

I also agree. I know that you got attached to the three pups & that is understandable. I would too. But....all of these pups are going to need training. Most people on the boards reccomend staying in training for AT LEAST three years. We go to training class with Julius once a week & agility once a week. With three pups I don't know how I would possibly be able to do that. Plus, they must be trained seperately.

I know that it will be hard for you but Sansano & Montanarott's advice is true.

:)
Brooke

[cschimizzi]

Sansano, why is it such a bad idea to have three puppies and what is it about litter mates that makes it that much worse?

Brooke, I have them all in crates that have divider panels in them so they can grow into them. Right now their crates are pretty small. except for Diesel, he has his whole crate. They are now 17 weeks old and are let out every 4 hours. Diesel doesnt have a problem at all because he doesnt want to lay in his own stuff but the girls act like they don't care. Also about the "come" command, I understand about enforcing it but my problem is to get them over their fear of the leash. That is really a big problem they just freeze when ever I put it on them. I am dying to take them for walks but they wont budge when the leash is on them. I work with each of them one on one for about 30 minutes a day. I also have gotten to where I take them outside by themselves first to make sure they go potty because if I let them out together then they tend to play and forget to go to the bathroom until they are back in their crates. It has helped a little. Thanks for you advise and I am going to keep working with them and their leash training and as soon as they are comfortable with it then I will enforce the come command. Once again thanks for your advise.

[Brooke&Ryan]

Here are some of the things people have said in the past re: keeping two or more littermates & having two or more puppies at the same time.....

Just to caution you, raising littermates is a daunting task for even the most experienced owner. You will have to train and walk them separately, or else they will bond to each other, not you. Also, it is quite common for them to have serious fights once they reach adulthood, especially same sex littermates.

My advice is opposite sexes but 2 YEARS apart in age. This way each one will get your full efort at training and socializing and the first will be very mannerly and educated when the second one comes along and will set a good example. Also when you have a pair near the same age you often get 1 that bonds with the humans and 1 that bonds more to the other puppy.

I think most importantly, it's not the work, but that possibly the pups will bond more closely with each other than with you. Dogs don't really care so much that they have other dogs as companions, it's our time that they need. If you do choose to get 2 pups at the same time, you'll need to spend alot of time with each one separately.

Take all the work you're prepared to put into two puppies and put it into one puppy. If you're doing things right, you'll raise a superb role model for the puppy you'll get in a couple of years' time. Don't worry about a singleton rottie needing company: that's what you're there for. They're not known as velcro dogs for nothing! Get one puppy - bring her/him up right and when s/he's about two years old, then start thinking about an opposite gender puppy. If nothing else, the amount of poo and pee you'll be dealing with will make you glad you're doing it one at a time! Another advantage of spacing the dogs out is that the puppy will learn from the older dog: instead of trying desperately to reinforce your rules onto two puppies who'd rather listen to each other than you, you've got an adult dog who knows the score and who will keep the little brat in line Cute as two puppies together may be, they can't hold a candle to the puppy madly chasing after keeping up with the big dog and copying everything s/he does...

IF one of you is home all day long so that you can rotate the pups individual time with you; work on training them both together and apart; work on housebreaking them together and apart; teach them manners and discipline both together and apart; take them places together and apart and do all you can to ensure that they grow up as two well trained and well socialized individuals instead of one melded entity then you can try it

Beyond the reasons given by everyone else (which is very sound advice the the way), there's something else to consider. Money!

Another thing is when they get older. Having two senior citizens can be very expensive and heartwrenching. In the home of a friend of mine, the majority of her pets were within a 4 year age difference. Suddenly, everyone got old. They all needed special care ($$$) and they all began passing away. Losing a pet is never easy - but when they're close together, it's devestating. Not that I think she would have done it any differently, but she had some very large emotional losses over a relatively short amount of time.

:)
Brooke

[Rott-Wiley]

Hi Charlene and welcome to the forum. Wow, do you have your hands full, and a new home on top of all that. As the others have suggested here, I would highly suggest you find homes for 2 of the 3 pups.

To get a pup to come in the early stages, I never use a come command. Never use any command that can't be reinforced in some way. Even if the command is to sit, have a piece of food handy to lure the pup into a sitting position to get the end result. You can use a high pitch voice and just say, "Puppy, Puppy, Puppy!" and coax the pup to come to you. Walk backwards, clap you hands, hold a bowl of food. Always make coming to you a positive experience for the pup.

Can your husband spend some time with the boy pup? Sounds like he is going to need the most work especially some positive experiences with a male figure. Hope some of this helps, I'm sure it's not entirely what you wanted to hear.

[cschimizzi]

WOW....I will consider placing the two females once they are spayed. Which is going to be in a few weeks. I never realized how many problems multiple pups have. Thanks for all of your advise. Yes my husband does work with Diesel but Diesel does not care for him. He tolerates him petting him but thats it. He adores me and my daughter. He doesnt care for my son to much either. He loves the adult dogs as well. He is super sweet. It took me two weeks just to get a kiss out of him. He is the one that is the worst on the leash. Cant get him to move at all. But he is the best in his crate and responding to me when I call them in. Once again thanks

[LavenderRott]

I agree that finding homes for the girls is best. Both for them and for you. Rottweilers are working dogs and can be very time consuming. If you think they are a handful now, wait until they hit that "teenage" stage when they challenge you!

It is good that your husband is working with Diesel. At this stage, all of his interaction with the pup should be positive. Your husband should feed and play with him. As the pup gets more comfortable, then your husband can help train.

Welcome to the forum! You will find a lot of help with your boy and when the time comes, we may be able to help you find a local rescue group to help with your girls.

[Brooke&Ryan]

Here are some of the North Carolina Rottweiler Rescues for later on. I'm not sure if there are any near you or not....

Capital Rottweiler Adoptions, Inc. http://capitalrottweiler.tripod.com/index.html

North Carolina Rottweiler Rescue http://www.ncrottierescue.net/

Southern States Rottweiler Rescue http://www.ssrr.org/

:)
Brooke

[Luvs]

cschimizzi,
Welcome to the forum! We are happy to have you join us!:)

When I first got Akasha she HATED having a leash on. I bought a very thin nylon leash and would put it on her when we were just sitting around the house. I let her drag it around for a little while and pretty soon she forget it was even there. If you are going to leave a leash on any of your puppies for any length of time make sure that you are watching them constantly.

I also agree that it would be best for both you and the puppies if you placed two of them. I have two 13 month old puppies that are litter mates (sister and brother). It has been quite a challenge. Everything is so much harder when you have two going thru the exact same thing at the exact same time. One is mine and one is my daughters which has made things a little bit easier for us. At least we are both able to do our own training. Having two puppies the same age is 5x the work of one, not to mention the costs. We pay $50. each puppy for four weeks of obedience training. After the first of the year we will also be taking agility classes again. Those cost $50. for four weeks also. We will be paying $200. a month for training for both puppies. On top of our obedience and agility our puppies are in a handling class once a week.

While I would NOT trade either of our puppies for anything, I would definately think long and hard before having two puppies the same age at the same time again.;)

Whatever you decide, stick around. You will learn so much about this wonderful breed! :)