Just picked up a litter of puppies that were being housed amongst broken lawn tractors and cars. They are 10 weeks old, terrier (and only GOD knows what else) mixes. 1 puppy, a female, is terrified and is being very aggressive. Normally I would just let the dogs work it out among themselves but am leery to this time. My own dogs are a 5 yo husky, neutered, a female great pryneese, spayed and a 15 week old Saint Bernard. They are much greater in size so I do not want to let them handle her if it can be avoided, even though I do not believe they would ever hurt her.just pin her and make her yelp. But that actually leads to my next reason.she is scared of them due to their size (she is super with dogs her own size, no aggression at all).
anyway, how can I keep her from going into attack mode from fear until she realizes they will not hurt her. I am almost positive once she realizes this, she will be ok.
Answers:
Good for you for taking on the responsibilities of a litter of stray pups. Not just a job, but an adventure I'm sure :)
Your best bet is going to be to get a crate(preferably wire) and then have her in the crate where she is safe, yet unable to get at the other dogs. Place the crate in a communal area of the house
and allow her to a)get used to being in the crate for short periods of time, b)get used to being in the crate with the other dogs outside the crate. I would suggest maybe having her in the living room in the crate while you watch tv with the other dogs lounging around.
I'm sure it will be a bit chaotic at first while she talks trash from inside the crate and the others loom around sniffing, but you're looking to safely get her used to be around the other dogs and realize that she's safe. I'd do that for a few days, then perhaps start socializing her with the youngest dog first.
Also she will learn from the other dogs how they interact with one another and perhaps when she's calmer and feeling less
fearful, she will take the cue from them.
best of luck!
I would NOT let them near your dogs at all at this point. you never know what disease they may have that your dogs may pick up. At 10 weeks old they very well can be in a fearl state. I commend you for going and rescuing them. I had 2 puppies from sorta the same type of set up I rescued (except they lived around old broken down cars and trucks. they were guard dog puppies, their mom was the guard dog. they were to be rasied just like poor mom) any way I got them. had them in my home. i basiclly ignored them until they would aproach me. i placed food and water close to me, then closer and closer until i was holding the food and they would come up to me to eat or drink. I layed ont he floor, and they would run up very quickly to pla with me, but if I sat up they were afraid. I would get as low and small as possible as you can get
Its probably cause you just got her. Give her some time. Does she run from you? Maybe you just need to let her have her own space and feed her and water her. Eventually she will come to the bowl for feed.and see how nice you are.
Dogs dont usually recognize size as a threat. She may be a dominant female and is making it known that she is the protector %26 boss. If other dogs are female that may be the reason. But she could just be insecure, and terrier's can be aggressive without some training. You are the pack leader, let her know your the boss. You can try to love her a little extra too. I would suggest giving her a crate or small dog house to go into. That will give her a safe place to go. Good luck
You may want to try gating them apart but where she will still be able to go to the gate to sniff the other dogs. I think she just needs to be slowly introduced to them. Then under extreme supervision I would let them interact on a one on one basis. Maybe start off with the 15 week old Saint Bernard, seeing that he is closer in age with her. Keep her on a leash when she is with one of the other dogs, that way if she starts to be aggressive in any way you can correct her by tugging on her leash and telling her NO.
Seeing that you just picked her up, she also needs time to adjust to her new surroundings. Just take things slowly with her and be patient. Soon she will become more comfortable with her new family.
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