New puppy

[MegNZ]

Hi everyone,

 

I brought home a 13 week old puppy 5 days ago and am looking for somewhere to chat about how it's going, ask questions, and get advice and support as needed.

 

Sophi is a rottweiler/bullmastiff/amstaff mix, black with tan rottie markings in all the "right rottie places", with a very narrow white blaze down her chest. I particularly wanted a rottie mix that looks rottie as I have a 20 month old rottie mix girl who looks 100% rottie except she's only 30kg. She's an amazing dog in every way, a real treasure. Sophi's face is a real mix of her different breeds, no clue what it will look like when she's an adult. I call her Serious Sophi, not a hint of a smile in sight lol.

 

Her original owners were planning to keep the litter (all 14 of them!!) but their circumstances changed, hence deciding to sell the pups at 13 weeks. Not ideal imo, I'd rather have gotten her at 8 weeks so I could cover all the early socialization stuff but when they said she has had extensive contact with a large number of people, including children of all ages, I decided to take the risk.

 

The house was chaos! Pups racing around everywhere! But the pups and the house were very clean, and the pups all seemed happy and confidant and very, very keen to interact and get affection.

 

Sophi has had no vaccinations, no housetraining re going toilet outside, and seems to have experienced zero boundaries. But she's picking up going outside to toilet very quickly, is learning that sitting gets her affection and food, and her initial protesting when crated for the night has significantly reduced. She's very low energy for a pup which is a blessing for me. Lulu, my 20 month old rottie grl, was also very low energy. My mobility is somewhat limited and all the up and down of having a puppy has made my knees scream, to the point I can barely walk some of the time. I managed to take Lulu out for a long ball fetch session yesterday, thanks to the even ground at the park I usually take her and my walker to lean heavily on, but she's mostly being treadmilled which sucks. I love taking her out, I just can't manage it much at the moment.

 

Apart from being low energy Sophi is also extremely sweet. A soft, gentle, quiet girl in her interactions with me. Also very little mouthing (yet? lol). Lulu thinks Sophi is The Best Present Ever!!! and Sophi was initially very overwhelmed by Lulu wanting to play with her. I made the mistake of allowing Lulu too much free access to Sophi the 1st couple of days, to the point Sophi was snarling and lunging and biting Lulu. I was very taken aback by how over the top Sophi's response was, wondering what the hell I had brought home, but as soon as I started limiting Lulu's free access everything has settled down and Sophi is now happily initiating some of the play sessions, which I am keeping very short. 

 

So, so far everything seems to be going well, but I'm exhausted and in a lot of pain and am feeling pretty dreadful. Hence looking for a place to talk. Thanks for reading this long intro post.

[Rebanne]

as one of 14 puppies I'm not at all surprised Sophi was over the top with Lulu  Has she been to the vet yet for a check up? I would guess she might have a pretty heavy worm burden. Puppies are exhausting that's for sure.

[MegNZ]

Ahhh you think there would have been times the pups really escalated with each other when playing/play fighting went on too long? She acted like she had completely lost her sh*t. Pretty sure it was in response to any form of restraint/domination from Lulu, despite Lulu having no ill intent. From day one Lulu spends quite a bit of time "on the bottom", allowing Sophi to be on top during their short play sessions, and Sophi is now tolerating a role reversal - as long as I keep the sessions very short. I was, and must admit to some degree still am, concerned Sophi has the potential to become an aggressive dog, based on her response to feeling overwhelmed. I certainly hope not!!

 

I've taken her to the vet for her 1st set of vaccinations. They said the pups were regularly treated for fleas and worms but I have her on a deworming schedule for a much younger than 13 week old puppy, just incase.

[Rebanne]

5 hours ago, MegNZ said:

Ahhh you think there would have been times the pups really escalated with each other when playing/play fighting went on too long?

 

Absolutely. Sophi has some "strong" breeding behind her and they were all allowed to be little ferals. Sounds like you are on top of it though.

[Mairead]

You have taken on a mystery puppy with, I assume, no family history so you may have much work ahead of you or maybe it will all go well, here's hoping.

Be aware that a mixed puppy may still have inherited diseases if the parents weren't tested for diseases known in any of the breeds in the mix. Did you and their vet meet both the parents and were they able to be handled, not aggressive, healthy?

Begin as you mean to go on with standards of behaviour and boundaries etc, taking into account a puppy's short attention span.

The breeders may have said she got to meet a range of people but best assume she hasn't. Tick off as many items on the socialising checklist as you can - sights, sounds, scents, surfaces, eg vehicles of all sorts, stairs, sirens, horses, people in uniform, elderly, male, female, other, in wheelchairs etc - at a distance to start with if she seems unsure. There are probably checklists on the web to prompt you.

I would check with your vet whether a treadmill is suitable for a puppy of that age, even if a self activated one made for dogs.

There is also the very serious question of whether you will be able to have control of her if she grows to more bullmastiff size and amstaff temperament. She will look like a dog that will attack, and in the present day with so many people having no clue how to behave around dogs you have to be very careful. Only a few days ago I stayed to guard a dog tied up outside a supermarket, because whatever happened the dog would be blamed unless I could be a dissenting voice. I explained that to the owner when he returned.

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

 

 

 

[MegNZ]

Thanks for your response Mairead. Yes, definitely a mystery puppy. I met dad. He was a big goofy rottie mastiff. Mum was in guard dog mode tho, which is unfortunately what their humans want their adult dogs to be at home. The guy said both dogs had no health problems and were great with people off the section, just not so great with strangers on the section. Not that I necessarily believe everything he said, some people wanting to sell puppies will say anything. He seemed genuine and the pups were very cheap (not bred to make $$) but who knows.

 

I didn't have 13 week old Sophi on the treadmill, I had my 20 month old rottie Lulu on the treadmill because I am unable to walk much at the moment. I will, however, treadmill train Sophi when she's older because I have days of poor health and it's a backup when I can't take my dog/s out for a run.

 

Yes, yes, yes to all the socializing you listed. Dr Ian Dunbar really drills in its importance. And a big yes to beginning as I mean to go on. So much easier to teach what I want from day one, than allow behaviours then try to change them later. Lots of work! Especially with 2 dogs. I know, from past experience, Lulu will need all her training reinforced due to the changes an untrained puppy introduces. Like Sophi having no idea yet how to walk nicely on a leash doesn't mean she (Lulu) can stop walking nicely. Like Sophi having no clue yet about how to exit through the front door doesn't mean Lulu is allowed to break her calm sit stay until I release her. Etc etc. I'm still working on adding in distractions in Lulu's training, Sophi will provide a wonderful training opportunity as far as distractions go!

 

Yes, she will grow into a physically powerful dog. Even Lulu, at "only" 30kg is extremely powerful. I'm a 6 foot 3 inch woman and fairly strong but have terrible balance and walk with my walker or crutches when out of the home. This makes not pulling on the leash and not lunging (no matter how happily) to greet a dog very important to me. I used a luca leash with Lulu initially and she walks like a show dog on it, but I've recently switched to a gentle leader because I can leave the head harness on when she's offlead and clip the leash to it very quickly if I want complete control, as opposed to having to put the luca lead on her. I intend to use a gentle leader on Sophi as well when she's bigger. But I will spend a lot of time teaching her to walk nicely just on a leash.

 

I'm not sure what her face will look like breedwise when she's an adult, but I know from my experiences with Lulu that some people are very wary of muscular large-ish or outright large dogs, especially black ones it seems. Heck, some people were scared of Grace, a large-ish beautiful looking black dog with a medium length retriever coat. BUT some dog breeds (rottie, german shepherd, amstaff/staff/pitty, doberman etc) are extended very little grace by some members of the public so I need to be careful where and when I let them offlead. Lulu has an exceptional recall, Sophi will too or she's not getting offlead freedom if other dogs or humans are in the general vicinity!

 

Oh boy, so much work, it feels a bit overwhelming. I've got a good idea how to do it - tho always lots of room to learn more. With each dog I have I make fewer mistakes.

 

I'm hoping Sophi is smart, there are indications she is. She mostly learnt not to mug my hand for a treat, but to sit calmly and wait instead, after 3 or 4 repetitions. Occasionally when she's excited she forgets, but it just takes one unsuccessful mugging attempt to remember and she's back to sitting calmly. I then moved on to wanting eye contact before opening my hand and allowing her to eat the treat. She picked that up very quickly too.

 

Having calm dogs when the leashes go on, when we walk up the stairs to the main part of the house, and when we walk out the front door is important to me. Grace used to be beyond excited, barking and whining from the moment I got the leads out until we arrived at the beach or park. It drove me crazy but way back then I didn't know how to fix it and (if I'm honest) didn't have the patience needed to fix it. I did my 1st practice run with Sophi (and Lulu) yesterday. It took 6 or so of me shutting the door when she tried to move up the last couple of steps to walk thru the door into the kitchen, and 3 shutting the front door when she broke her sit and tried to move thru the front door. I was pretty pleased. And when we did walk out through the front door she did it slowly and calmly. We then walked about a bit on the driveway letting her sniff a lot and listen to all the new sounds. I think Lulu knowing the drill and being very calm helped. 

 

Sorry to burble on, my head if full of puppy this and puppy that.

 

 

Edited August 5, 2023 by MegNZ

[persephone]

 definitely sounds as though you have everything covered You have a mystery puppy, indeed, but she sounds amenable to learning and boundaries - Here's hoping she will not be too large! 
 

[MegNZ]

I have never seen a pup poo so much! I dewormed Sophi on the day I got her and she did 5-6 huge poos her 1st 5 days here. It's settled down now to 2-3 the past 2 days. I didn't see any worms in her poo but maybe she was carrying a large worm burden despite her previous owners saying they regularly dewormed the pups?

[persephone]

Sounds as if she is getting used to a new food? 

[MegNZ]

Yes, that's possible, thanks for that  

 

The quiet puppy I had the 1st few days is now a "normal puppy" lol. Still quite low energy but is now exploring anything that moves or is new with her mouth (aka chewing on stuff) and generally getting into puppy mischief. She's teething too and really enjoys quiet time with chew toys and random bits of material she likes.

 

Lulu's initial excitement has settled and Sophi's confidence has grown so the 2 girls are playing happily together. I'm still keeping the dog/dog play sessions quite short because Sophi can get a bit snotty when she's tired or feeling overwhelmed or frustrated (she has no chance of moving or impacting a 30kg dog lol), but they happily play for a good while when a toy is their focus.

 

She protested a while when put in her crate at nighttime the 1st few days but the protesting has very quickly subsided. Yay! I'm giving her a bit of crate time during the day too and she's generally accepting it well. A helpful tip I got from the Dunbar Academy is to put her food in the crate and shut the door for a few seconds, with her on the outside wanting to get in. 

 

Toilet training is going well. I put up with the winter cold and leave an outside door open and quite a few times she's taken herself outside to pee/poop (with me following ready to treat and praise). I got lazy yesterday, assuming she'd "got it" (silly me!!) and she peed inside a couple of times even tho the door was open. I got Lulu at 7 weeks and from day one she took herself outside to pee and poop, but Lulu hadn't had weeks of practicing toileting inside like Sophi has (plus Lulu was unusually exceptional). So, back to taking her out every few hours (like I should be!)

 

I haven't bonded with her yet but I didn't with Lulu initially either. She's getting tons of affection and snuggle time (which she loves!) but I'm pretty /shrug about her, as far as heart involvement goes. I just need time before I give my heart away.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 8, 2023 by MegNZ

[Rebanne]

I had to laugh at your post, it sounds so like a typical new puppy scenario. It's such hard work. Have you second guessed yourself yet and wondered what the hell you did?

 

I think we need photo's of your girls.

[MegNZ]

Haha! No, not yet - but only because she's such a good girl!! 

 

I'm a tech idiot so waiting for my friend to send me some pics she's taken of Sophi, but here's one of my darling Lulu taken about 6 months ago. The border collie is another friend's dog.

Edited August 9, 2023 by MegNZ

[MegNZ]

These 2 are of Lulu at 3 or so months old.

Edited August 9, 2023 by MegNZ

[MegNZ]

[MegNZ]

Most of the pics I have are a weeny bit too big for the kilobyte restriction here

[Mairead]

Going well by the sounds of it. Remember chewing is in a dog's job description, daily duty really, and the getting into mischief is a cleverly designed test of how well you can think like a puppy and foresee opportunities for getting into mischief.

If you think the games with one toy are becoming too serious about possession, try some distraction or adding another toy.

I went to an Ian Dunbar seminar. When he said he didn't so much compete in obedience trials [with Malamutes] as partake of them, to have fun, I was the only person who applauded. I guess the other people were there to learn how to win?

 

 

[MegNZ]

Hi Mairead, they play with a toy together quite happily most of the time, it's the dog/dog wrestling/mouthing/play fighting I need to monitor and keep very brief.

 

I subscribed to the Dunbar Academy a few months back for a month's free trial and watched and listened to about 150 hours of content. I liked a lot of what he said and learnt about the intricacies of how to make classical conditioning work for me and my dog/s, instead of against us. His son annoyed me tho, the American "sales culture" grates on me as a New Zealander. Just be real for goodness' sake.

 

I laughed reading you say chewing is in a dog's job description. Thankfully little pups grow up and learn what they're allowed to chew and what they're not. Tho, in saying that, Sophi has been pretty damn good so far. I do what Cesar Millan does - I don't remove the item (unless it's potentially dangerous or valuable), I hold it close to her and make his noise or go "uh uh!", then reward her when she doesn't try to chew it/turns her head/walks away etc. So things like the broom (which she thought was wonderful when I was sweeping the porch!!) and my slippers are left out and so far she's continuing to leave them be. Being so young she only has access to whichever room I'm in as I go about my day and I keep a close eye on her. It's tiring but definitely worth the effort.

[persephone]

I think you and Sophi are doing well Looking forward to photos of her - loved the ones of Lulu

[Rebanne]

I have a nice little app called easy thumbnails which I love, very easy to use.

 

I was watching Ian Dunbar back in the 90's so haven't seen the son in action. Have you looked at Daily Dog Star? Lots of free stuff on there, last time I looked. Got to sift through it but some interesting articles.

 

You've said you can have trouble with your mobility, if your yard is suitable the Two Toy Game might be worth looking up. You stand in the middle, the dog does all the work .

[tdierikx]

Link to Easy Thumbnails software... it's free, and I highly recommend it too.

 

https://www.fookes.com/easy-thumbnails

 

T.