That puppy!

[Malaquion]

Alright, thank you all...

In the end, a few days ago, we took the puppy back.

It was not my decision.

Apparently, she was...in a particularly bad biting mood, and that was the last straw. Far too aggressive, among other things. Hopefully, now she will find a better home than the one we can give her.

[Nisse]

This really saddens me.

So many animals end up in shelters every year, where many are euthanized because of population problems.

That said, where did you take your puppy?

[mini rant]
Taking in any animal is a bigger responsibility than most people realize. You shouldn't just give a life away like that. You should shoulder your responsibilities and take what you have and work with it.

All animals have different personalities, and it looks like your puppy had a dominant type. Dogs will follow you til the ends of the earth, you need to show them you are the one in charge.
[/mini rant]

[Malaquion]

Took her to the Humane Society.

@Mini rant: We tried. We tried all we could. It got to be too much. All the things we did to show her we were in charge, they didn't work. She didn't care. See my previous posts. -_-; And we didn't just try all that three times and give up. We've been trying, trying, ever since we got her all the way until we took her back. She simply will not respond. I wonder, actually, if she has some sort of puppy personality disorder.


And, as I said, it was not my decision. I would have preferred to keep her around and see what we could do.

[lightning claw]

I hope you took her to a No kill shelter the Pound will Euthanize dogs that are even an ounce of aggressive or hard to train

[Kumu Honua]

Don't beat someone up because they took a dog to the shelter. If a dog simply cannot be trained then it simply cannot be trained. From the looks of it they did everything they could and finally had to simply give up the dog.

[Dremora]

Don't beat someone up because they took a dog to the shelter. If a dog simply cannot be trained then it simply cannot be trained. From the looks of it they did everything they could and finally had to simply give up the dog.

Dogs can be trained if you know what to do. This is a mistake so many people make - they get a puppy and expect everything to be easy. It's not, and that's one of the reasons so many of them end up in shelters in the first place. That's why if you're not experienced with or do not have enough time for training a puppy, you should go with an adult dog.

I'm not talking directly to you Mala, I understand you didn't make the decision to take her back. Several years ago this exact same thing happened to us (my parents and I). We made a mistake and got an Airedale terrier puppy. The only things I knew about these dogs came from a Dog Fancier magazine, which focused more on the positive sides of the breed instead of the negative. Terriers in general are a huge time commitment, and we simply did not have said time. Add on to the fact that we purchased the puppy from a backyard breeder and we did pretty much everything you shouldn't do. Like you though, I wanted to keep trying but in the end giving him up was the most responsible decision as we simply could not give him the proper attention or training he needed.

Tl;dr: research, research, adopt, adult dog.

[Shian]

Dogs can be trained if you know what to do..

Umm... not always. I trained Guide Dogs for 12 years. Consists of this:

-receive 8 week old puppy
-up to four months old housebreak, name
-up to six months old basic commands
-six months and up socializing behaivor
-one year give dog back

Over that time we had one dog that was just a pain as the one described here. She just did not want to be with people and balked every time we tried to get her to sit near us. The worst problem was getting her at our side.

Guide Dogs are required to be at our feet/under the table when eating, near the bed when sleeping etc. This dog's personality did not mesh with what we needed her to do. Could we train her to do so? Maybe. Maybe not, but it would be unfair to the dog to ask it to do something it does not like to do constantly.

Just like the one described here. You cannot take a high energy puppy and train it to be quiet and docile without some rather extreme measurements that can only be classified as abuse.

[Dremora]

Guide Dogs

Well yeah, but I wasn't talking about training for a specific purpose, just house training and "biting people = bad".

[aine]

Every child I have taught has demonstrated a unique personality and differing intellectual levels. Exactly the same is true of every animal I have had, cats, dogs, hamsters...(and on and on).

Some are smarter than others, some more gregarious. Some are more cooperative, more eager to learn.

Some, no matter how it may hurt to admit, cannot be trained. A small percentage of the whole, but it does happen.

It seems to me, as well, that, despite the frustration evident in Mal's first missive, the family did try to train this puppy. *Hugs Mal* The Humane Society is a no-kill shelter, thus a good choice for her. Hopefully, she will find a home that will be able to accommodate her ...err...boisterous needs. Sometimes adult dogs can do a fair job of socializing a youngster where human family members cannot...and a fair amount of acreage can make up for what training she rejects, as well.

[Malaquion]

Terriers are a huge commitment, eh? Oh dear, that explains part of it...She's not a purebred Labrador, and we're pretty sure there's terrier in there.


In any case, yes...I hope she finds a better home than what we can give her.

[Dremora]

Terriers are a huge commitment, eh? Oh dear, that explains part of it...She's not a purebred Labrador, and we're pretty sure there's terrier in there.

That could explain it, yeah. Terriers are generally headstrong, assertive and high-energy dogs (especially as puppies) that take an even more headstrong, assertive and high-energy (and patient!) person to train, not to mention keeping them occupied with plenty of exercise. Needless to say though, that pretty much goes for any puppy.

[C`gan]

Terrierists. It's not a figment of your imagination why they're called that.

[Hrough]

Terrierists. It's not a figment of your imagination why they're called that.

This. Terriers are insane, especially the small-medium ones. The large ones aren't so bad.

Dogs are quite a bit like people, some just don't want to listen or cooperate.

Pugs are also very stupid, and they're the type of dog you have to use positive reinforcement. Ours doesn't understand negatives, he's happy to get ANY attention whatsoever (unless I'm trying to grab his tongue, as he likes to hang around with it sticking out of his mouth and it's become a game with us.). We can tell him he's done something bad, and he just wags his whole butt because we're talking to him. |D

Sorry to hear they took the pup back, Mala. At least she's still a puppy, and chances are someone might give her a home that she'll adapt to. Pups tend to get homes faster.

[Steele]

Wow... yeah, Terriers are definintely some of the highest-energy, most rambunctious dogs you'll ever meet. Simply draining them of enough energy to put them in a state where they can more readily be trained... is enough to tire most adult humans out.

As hard as it was, you made the right decision giving the dog up; this specific case sounded like it simply could have been a family-breaker for you.

It may be restating the obvious, but just remember if you decide to give another puppy a chance: even if you select from a more docile breed, definitely keep in mind that individuals vary within that breed.

Dogs with a "Type A" personality will try to test your dominance from time to time, even if your status in the pack is fully established... just like kids, dogs will periodically test you to see what they can get away with.

Good luck!

[Malaquion]

Hrm.

Well, that explains a lot...

[Hraefn]

Suddenly remembered about this today: http://www.strayrescue.org/rent_pet.html

An interesting little thing to look into for any prospective pet owners. ;3 Usually pounds or humane socities will often go along with the idea as well should you ever bring it up to them.

[Malaquion]

Good news on the puppy.

She was adopted by a pair of college girls who absolutely love her.

[Nisse]

That's wonderful to hear!

[Tcei]

I'm glad to hear that she got a new home!

Saddly I had to put mine down this morning She had parvo

[velveeta]

my deepest sympathies, tcei. its only been 6 months since tada-o had to go, but i still feel the loss. may flights of angels sing your pet to its well deserved rest!