Bulldust Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 Hi, I have a prob with a puppy ive handraised from 1 day old Shes an only puppy, so i thought she will bond to me like crazy, but since about 2 1/2wks shes started growling when i pat her, even when im picking her up to give her a bottle! Now shes a week older and shes just going stupid! I cant pick her up, or pat her without her growling! Ive started flipping her onto her back when she does it and it settles her down cos shes hates it Is this an only puppy thing? Should i be worried? Is she going to be a nightmare when shes older? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rottgems Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 (edited) Hi, I have a prob with a puppy ive handraised from 1 day oldShes an only puppy, so i thought she will bond to me like crazy, but since about 2 1/2wks shes started growling when i pat her, even when im picking her up to give her a bottle! Now shes a week older and shes just going stupid! I cant pick her up, or pat her without her growling! Ive started flipping her onto her back when she does it and it settles her down cos shes hates it Is this an only puppy thing? Should i be worried? Is she going to be a nightmare when shes older? I have a "one & only" as well & she was just the same but the dam did feed her & help with the discipline, so I can imagine yours being worst because you don't have any help I didn't do the roll over & don't like it but what works for me is copying mum & grap the muzzle & growl, don't let her down until she relaxes in your hand You have lots of work socialising her ahead of you My Chaya is 11wks old & very bonded with me now & won't go to bed until I do, she is always asleep at my feet Good luck! Edited December 7, 2007 by Rottgems Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miranda Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 Is the dam still around and if so does the puppy interact with her in any way? Are you sure that it's not in pain, any gastric problems at all? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanglen Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 I would suggest finding a canine mum asap! She hasn't had the "inhibition" taught to her by her siblings and mum, one of the massive perils of handraising a single pup. You still have time to correct this but asap, the longer it goes on the more of your critical period is going to be lost. She should be moving to solids now anyway so would suggest fostering her to some-one with a maternal female, preably with other pups at present. Is she a rescue pup or your own? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulldust Posted December 7, 2007 Author Share Posted December 7, 2007 (edited) There is no dam as i am raising her for someone else, she is now my puppy anyway. I remember with my last 2 litters (3yrs ago handraised also) that they would growl at each other (no fighting of course at this age) when they got older thered be little scraps though What would a mother dog teach her 3 1/2wk old puppy when it growls?? Would a dam punish this behaviour at this young age? She is not in any pain, its just become a bad habit or maybe shes just a really cranky pup! Ive never seen anything like this before! My flipping her on her back when she does it works for awhile, i keep her on her back til she stops moving and whining, then she is a sweetie for awhile, of course i just want to play with her and pick her up all the time! Shes started on foods today actually, ive been persisting with lapping but she keeps snorting it up her nose then she gives up! but she somehow manages to lap up a fresh wee though Rottgems what can i expect in the next few weeks?? Shes too little for me to be bringing in an adult bitch and way to breakable to bring in an older puppy as theyre terribly rough Edited December 14, 2007 by Bulldust Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miranda Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 (edited) There is no dam as i am raising her for someone else, she is now my puppy anyway. I remember with my last 2 litters (handraised also) that they would growl at each other (no fighting of course at this age) when they got older thered be little scraps thoughWhat would a mother dog teach her 3 1/2wk old puppy when it growls?? Would a dam punish this behaviour at this young age? She is not in any pain, its just become a bad habit or maybe shes just a really cranky pup! Ive never seen anything like this before! My flipping her on her back when she does it works for awhile, i keep her on her back til she stops moving and whining, then she is a sweetie for awhile, of course i just want to play with her and pick her up all the time! Shes started on foods today actually, ive been persisting with lapping but she keeps snorting it up her nose then she gives up! but she somehow manages to lap up a fresh wee though Rottgems what can i expect in the next few weeks?? Shes too little for me to be bringing in an adult bitch and way to breakable to bring in an older puppy as theyre terribly rough I don't know what breed we are discussing (although I assume that it is one of the bull breeds) and I was wondering why you've found it necessary to hand raise two previous litters, it's not something I've ever had to do and I'm curious. Regarding weaning, start the puppy on little balls of raw human quality premium grade mince, I've never had a puppy that refused to eat it and they can't get it down quickly enough. I start the weaning process at 21 days. Edited December 7, 2007 by Miranda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cockerlover Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 this is commonly known as the sinle puppy syndrome!!! I have hand reared 2 single pups from different litters & i hate to tell you they boh turned out to be real little bitches SPIOLT BRATS /SINGLE CHILD; they had an atitude holyer than though;! 1 ended up staying with me & her nickname was revhead !she went on to have a litter of her own;which i think helped her to learnl not to be so selfish ;it is such a shame to see them turn out this way; but they have no siblings or litter mates to learn with; all I can say is try to nip it in the bud or she will end up a bloody monster who will always want her own way cause she knows no difference!good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BordaBull Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 (edited) Good luck with raising the little one Bulldust... I hope that the little girl grows out of it. Maybee she just misses her mum? We have our hands full ATM with our girl unwrapping the presents under the christmas tree!!! Edited December 7, 2007 by BordaBull Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogsfevr Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 My experience of raising singletons has been the pup turned out to be true gem,laidback,very social & no trouble at all with social manners. We havent had any monsters & my friends also who often have singleton pup have never had any behavioural issues either.so for me i cant say 1 pup as turned out any worse than those in a litter. Some pups arent as cuddly as others,maybe you are over doing it & the pup isnt sure how to react .How many people pick the pup up?? Do you just grab pup or give it a chance to acknowledge your there?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulldust Posted December 7, 2007 Author Share Posted December 7, 2007 (edited) Handraising Bull Terriers sadly is common, bitches want to kill pups, make no milk etc which is what happened in each of our cases. We are not blessed with a breed that it is the norm to give birth naturally, to bond to puppies and raise them with no hassles. Combine that with squashing them or standing on them and breaking bits.... groan Its just me and my OH who pick her up at this stage noone else has ever touched her yet Ive heard singleton pups of my breed are real little sh!ts, as shes proving to be. never in my litters have i had this problem. I dont just race in and sweep her into the air, she hears me coming as i call her while im walking over to her box, so shes up and looking at me. i pat her head and thats when the growling starts. Even when its food time and shes hungry she will still growl. I pick her up and shes growling the whole time im carrying her into the loungeroom to feed and play with her. She growls sometimes when shes sucking on the bottle! She growls when i burp her, and when i put her down and try to play with her! Then when i pick her up and put her back to bed shes growling nearly the whole way back! See what i mean?? Shes nuts Edited December 7, 2007 by Bulldust Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulldust Posted December 7, 2007 Author Share Posted December 7, 2007 this is commonly known as the sinle puppy syndrome!!! I have hand reared 2 single pups from different litters & i hate to tell you they boh turned out to be real little bitches SPIOLT BRATS /SINGLE CHILD; they had an atitude holyer than though;! 1 ended up staying with me & her nickname was revhead !she went on to have a litter of her own;which i think helped her to learnl not to be so selfish ;it is such a shame to see them turn out this way; but they have no siblings or litter mates to learn with; all I can say is try to nip it in the bud or she will end up a bloody monster who will always want her own way cause she knows no difference!good luck Oh god im afraid this is what this little monster is turning out to be, Bull Terrier pups think theyre king d!ck anyway without being a single pup and thinking theyre human to boot i think better change her sweet name to something more appropriate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staff'n'Toller Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 (edited) If it were me, I'd be trying to find a litter she can live with for a while, perhaps once the mother of that litter is having less to do with her brood. Not sure that it's 'the done thing' as I'm not a breeder, but gosh they learn an immeasurable amount for social skills between 5 and 8 weeks. Being with another bunch of pups would be extremely valuable for her. Mel. Edited December 7, 2007 by Staff'n'Toller Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BelgianPup Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 Bull Dust... I'll preface this by saying I have no experience in hand raising pups... A friend had a bull breed pup and from a young age (7weeks - when they got him) he would growl and grizzle when ever he was patted or cuddled... we soon learnt that this was his way of showing that he liked the attention! Sort of like a cat purring... Whenever he was put down he would ask to be cuddled again and the growling would start up when the cuddles did. She doesn't just have an odd way of showing pleasure? (I know its a long shot... just an idea which granted may be totally off the mark!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badboyz Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 Maybe you could make some sort of hammock to carry her around the house with you a bit so she gets more bonded to the smell and feel of you. Like a baby pouch. Maybe out of an arm sling or pillowcase - something soft and cottony so she can smell you and feel your body heat. She must spend alot of time alone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spyda62 Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 I have a 12 week old puppy that I have hand reared from 3 weeks old. She went thru a phase of growling all the time when she was about 4 weeks old. (we ignored it) It only lasted about a week. I assumed she did it because it was something she had just learnt to do. It was the same as when she first realised she could bark....she barked flat out for a few days, then it settled down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christina Posted December 8, 2007 Share Posted December 8, 2007 I also wonder if the pup is just growling to communicate with you,just sort of finding its voice,as opposed to actually being nasty. I had one singleton pup,no problems & hand raised a kitten from 3 days old,no problems at all. Kept both,they are fine with the other animals & just the same as from bigger litters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulldust Posted December 8, 2007 Author Share Posted December 8, 2007 Thanks for all your ideas guys!! BelgianPup thats interesting that your friends pup did that, i may have thought my gal was doing the same except she drops in a snarl every so often too with her growling Christina perhaps it differs between breeds? I wouldnt have a clue Staff 'n' Toller its a great idea i just dont know of anyone at all whom id trust to have her for awhile who has a young litter though i wouldnt want them any older than 4wks either badboyz she doesnt spend a huge amount of time by herself, all night shes alone in her bed but since ive had her shes been picked up and cuddled and nursed especially when we're watching tv we have her out on our laps (trying to get her to sleep on us LOL) ive been the one raising her from a day old so shouldnt she be extremely bonded to me as im 'mummy' ?? Thats what i dont get! Im mummy, she should LOVE me :D spyda62 she learnt growling from about 2wks old and she knows how to bark already i dont think shes just doing it cos she can unfortunately :D Im just a little worried what shes gonna be like in the next few weeks and whether we'll have ruined her for life because we did something wrong Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tapferhund Posted December 8, 2007 Share Posted December 8, 2007 (edited) Bulldust, I read a Vet article some years ago on Bull T mums wanting to kill their pups and it was found that these bitches had some sort of calcium deficiency . Perhaps you could look in to this? It could be why your bitch is like this with her litters? I believe this breed needs more than other breeds do after whelping. I really feel you are going to have more problems than you already have with this pup due to it being single and being hand raised. Perhaps you should seek professional help from a behaviourist such as Dr.Robert Holmes in Victoria Edited December 8, 2007 by Tapferhund Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulldust Posted December 9, 2007 Author Share Posted December 9, 2007 Bulldust, I read a Vet article some years ago on Bull T mums wanting to kill their pups and it was found that these bitches had some sort of calcium deficiency . Perhaps you could look in to this? It could be why your bitch is like this with her litters? I believe this breed needs more than other breeds do after whelping. Hi Tapferhund, with me, and alot of other Bully breeders, calcium sandoz is given during natural whelping or a calcium injection after a c-section is the norm, for us anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogsforall Posted December 9, 2007 Share Posted December 9, 2007 Bulldust was this a natural birth or a c-section is there any chance it lacked a bit of oxygen during birth or has had an infection on the brain? i have known one pup to do this it lacked oxygen and had to be helped at the start and was a total nutter as it got older it would growl at anything as it never knew any other way to act that part of the brain just didn't kick in properly she lives with her mother still and is fine with her but mum puts her in line and has done from day one but and other dog she will growl then if pushed wets herself and basically doesn't know how to act now if she growled at the wrong dog she would be in trouble but on the other hand if she was a bully and acted like that i would be worried that later if pushed she may not just wet herself basically if you are hand raising her all you can do is try and do what mum would do (put her in her place) i would get her interacted with other dogs as soon as she is old enough or if you can find pups around her age when they are in a litter mum nudges and other pups climb all over them and they learn to accept that is the norm now if she doesn't get that and is not interacting well with you she could become very dog and human shy which may turn into growl in fear and other bad behaviors maybe try one of those toys that move or vibrate when knocked or touched put it in with her and if she touchs it during the night it will do something it may get her use to having other things move and do things around her one more question is it only you she growls at or anyone who touches her dfa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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