How's This For A Recipe For Disaster...

[Simply Grand]

*Long post alert*

I know this girl, she's 21, on Centrelink and living in government housing - in and of itself, no problem.

She's not what I'd call a mature 21 year old, quite into partying, out all hours, not great with budgeting, no real future plans, quite self-focused - again, no real drama for a 21 year old.

Yesterday she said to me that someone had told her I know stuff about dogs and could she ask me some stuff, of course, great :)

She has two dogs, the first one is a Shih Tzu cross she acquired because she found her wandering along the street and took her in. I don't know if an owner was searched for but I get the impression not. This little dog is very excitable, not particularly trained or trainable apparently, and prone to escaping the yard under gates and fences. Apparently she not desexed, although I'm not quite sure how she knows this.

Second dog is a 10 week old Rottweiler x Mastiff. Puppy came from the "breeder". The girl went to see the puppies just to look at them, not to get one, but then this puppy "chose" her by running over and resting his head on her lap so it was meant to be. Puppy was offered to her for $300 without vaccinations or $450 with them. Girl decided to take puppy then and there for $300.

Puppy was 5 weeks old at that time.

Puppy is very much loved, he's her baby and when he escaped the yard the other day (the older dog showed him how) she was terrified and devastated. Luckily the neighbours found him and she cried with relief when she saw him safe.

Puppy is now ten weeks old. The reason she wanted to talk to me was because she wondered whether she should get the puppy desexed, tomorrow. I suggested waiting until six months old, as although young puppies can be desexed, with large breeds especially they benefit from the hormones as they are growing. Ok, sounds good, what about vaccinations, could he get them done at this age? I asked if he has had any yet, no he hasn't. I said YES, straight the vet tomorrow, there are several fatal diseases he is now very vulnerable to. And he should be microchipped while you're at it.

I did explain that unfortunately this "breeder" has done the wrong thing by both the puppy and her as the buyer, and has in fact acted illegally by selling a puppy at under 8 weeks old, who is not microchipped or vaccinated.

While she was listening I threw in a quick mention that Puppy needs training, lots of it, and NOW! Puppy will grow to be 60kgs, she will not have any chance of physically controlling him so she NEEDS to learn how to control him mentally. I explained how my 21kg dog can pull me around if she wants too and I weigh a lot more than this girl. Well, puppy knows how to sit already, they're working on come, but friends and flatmate keep whistling to him and he runs to them instead. Puppy stays close though, he doesn't run off. Yes, I said, Puppy's a baby and he still wants to be with mum, when he hits about 16 weeks he may well decide the rest of the world is much more exciting! Now is a GREAT time to learn how to properly train Puppy, before he starts to challenge. There's heaps of training stuff on the internet, a great thing to search for is NILIF. How much does puppy school cost? she asked me. Oh, and he's very bitey, and flatmate encourages it him with rough play... and he still has accidents inside, she hasn't been smacking him for these, but should she? No, I said, it won't teach him what you want him to do, and personally I wouldn't want to get into a physical punishment type relationship with a Rotti x Mastiff.

Puppy is very healthy, although his litter brother is blind. She is a bit worried about his hips as he grows up. Great, I said, you will definitely need to be aware of looking after his joints. No jumping on and off stuff, walks on lead should only be for 5 mins per month of his age, exercise should be off leash playing and training. Ok, she said, I haven't been walking him on leash, and don't like doing that anyway, dogs pull everywhere and it makes the walk not fun, I'll probably only do short walks on the leash until we get somewhere he can get off and run around

As I tried not to cry, I said politely, you will need to be VERY careful with him around other people and animals, as one wrong move from him and he will be ordered to be put down, people will not be forgiving of this dog, you have taken on a huge responsibility. Yes, I know, she said.

Sigh...

With any luck, she'll take in some of what I said. Is there an emoticon for growing a lot of new grey hair in one conversation??

[Flashsmum]

Hope she does the right thing for both dogs.

You've done well to let her know what she needs to be aware of, and hopefully she will take note and follow through.

Fingers crossed she comes to you for further advice, but certainly a possible disaster.

Edited April 9, 2013 by Flashsmum

[raineth]

I think you've given her some great advice :) and it seems like she was open to it and listening which is good also

Is there a good community dog-training club she may be able to go to?

Hopefully everything will turn out for the best. You did all you could by the sound of it :)

[Dame Aussie]

At least she sounds as though she wants to do the right thing, well done on giving her some good info, hopefully she takes it on board :)

[Panto]

She sounds like she is on the right path, not everyone knows as much as you do, and I commend and am in awe with your patience and education of this girl, so she has to start from somewhere, and it sounds like she's asked the right person and seems to want to do the right thing. I hope everything else in her life allows her the capacity to keep on doing the right thing.

[juice]

I would probably write it all down and drop it into her, if she is young and scatty she may forget it all.

Things like, which is a good brand of food to try, which wormer flea etc, tell her to buy online its cheaper, if you give people the tools to do things they are more likely to try.

Personally i would have suggested desexing now, i know he is young, but he is a big breed and seems he can escape already.

[gillbear]

What has been said before but also if the shih tzu gets out I would be taking it straight to a vet to check for a chip. Some poor family is possibly missing it.

Edited April 9, 2013 by gillbear

[mita]

I would probably write it all down and drop it into her, if she is young and scatty she may forget it all.

Things like, which is a good brand of food to try, which wormer flea etc, tell her to buy online its cheaper, if you give people the tools to do things they are more likely to try.

Personally i would have suggested desexing now, i know he is young, but he is a big breed and seems he can escape already.

All spot on advice.

Write down the practical advice in plain language & simple sentences. Like recipes are written

And I agree about the desexing now.

I also think you're doing a great job with help & advice. Hope she continues to listen.

[Purdie]

It's good that she has asked for advise.Would she borrow books on puppies and dog training from the library.?

[Simply Grand]

Thanks for the responses everyone :) good idea about writing down tips for her. I might put some stuff together and say it's stuff I've been given over the years so I don't sound like a know-it-all. I feel like it's a delicate balancing act, as although she asked and listened I won't be surprised if other things in her life end up "getting in the way" of all the time she will need to spend with Puppy (that's not actually his name ;) ). I'm sure that money is also going to be an issue. I don't think she has any idea how much good enough quality food is going to cost, let alone medical stuff.

I will talk to her again about early desexing if you guys do think it's a good idea. I did think it was probably a good idea, but being such large breeds obviously in the right hands it would be ideal to wait longer. I think the fact that it should be cheaper when he's younger and smaller will appeal to her.

Purdie, unfortunately I don't think she really goes near books, let alone libraries I think trying to get her to go to training classes and possibly read one or two things online will be challenge enough.

I'll update how things go, and may need to vent when I ge frustrated with my advice not being taken :laugh:

[Simply Grand]

gillbear, I hear you about the Shih Tzu, I hate to think of some family missing her, and I think now that Puppy has come along she won't be getting to much attention in this house

She asked if I thought she should get the Shih desexed, I said DEFINITELY, or you are going to end up with puppies for sure. She mentioned that the little thing is so small she could probably only fit two puppies, I responded yes but if she mates with some big dog down the road she is likely to end up with a large litte of pups too big for her and she will die trying to birth them. Or if she's lucky, cost her $3,000 in vet bills for a Caesar.

Problem for this little girl is I think money will be a barrier again to anything getting done Maybe she'll be surrendered, scanned and returned to a loving family :fingerscrossed:

[Purdie]

Shame she's not a book worm.Keep an eye out in the op shops for dog training books anyway; you can pick them up for a couple of dollars and even if she used them as a reference as well as with info from you...I hope all goes well for her and her dogs.

[Simply Grand]

Puppy is yet to be vaccinated... Owner is going away for a couple of nights next week and apparently Puppy is going into a kennel. He will be getting an 'apartment' rather than just a run as he deserves the best.

My advice today: Puppy will need to be vaccinated and vac cert shown in order to be accepted at the kennel. They generally require vacs to be done at least 14 days before boarding so it may already be too late, super urgent to get to the vet!!

Response: hmmm, ok, I just need to get up in time to get Puppy to the vet, haha. Oh and I guess the Shih can go to someone else's house instead of with puppy to boarding so that I don't have to pay for her vacs this week.

This is one of those vents I mentioned, I'm still trying hard to be patient, for the sake of the dogs.

Edited April 10, 2013 by Simply Grand

[raineth]

It is frustrating, and you sound like you're doing a good job. It will be a hugely steep learning curve for her and I'm guessing there will be hiccups along the way.

Have you managed to broach the subject that perhaps the shih tzu's original owners are looking for her? Maybe you could point out how lucky she was that someone returned her puppy to her, and how upset she'd be if they'd just assumed it had been dumped. Obviously saying it more tactfully than that.

I have a family member who has taken in so many animals she has found she'll put a couple of posters up and when they don't get a response she keeps them she is convinced that they are unwanted, and I can't convince her otherwise.