[Dog5]

If you can't keep her, I wouldn't return her to people who cared for her so poorly. Maybe there is a good rescue in your area that would take her and match her with the right home....

[Taz Monkey]

Originally Posted by Carlaod

well it's the fact that I was misled that I am angry about, I want told about her health issues, or that I wouldnt get her papers.

I know if I do return her that she will be going to another home, one of their family members are willing to take her, they let me know this before I took her in.

I would feel awful to give her back though, but it is putting such a strain on us.

I know a puppy would take more time, but at least I could raise it to be house trained, to not nip, to have all it's needles etc in the beginning instead of RE training it everything.

I am mostly worried about my cats and family that come over, if that nip all of a sudden, before it gets under control becomes a bite then I'm in for it.

I am already attached to her, she's a cutie but I just need some advice as to what to do. So far I have got give her back, which is the one thing I wish I didnt have to do but I can not afford all the vet care I truly believe she needs.

Sorry, I just don't get what the difference would be between training and REtraining. Either way you are training. She's 6 months old. I have retrained dogs much older than that. Take her to get her shots updated, and take her to obedience class. She is stressed, probably because you are stressed. Poor baby doesn't need to be given up on twice in her short life.

[Roscosmom]

She's just a baby. Perhaps you don't feel bonded with her because you didn't have her at 8 weeks but that's no reason to give up so quickly. Sometimes it takes time. And sometimes puppies go through a relapse so maybe she WAS potty trained but she's backsliding a bit, you just have to be consistent. As far as the nipping goes- that's just something aussies do and you'll have to deal with it whether she's 8 weeks or 6 months. Mind you at 8 weeks she'll have those razor sharp puppy teeth.

My aussie/acd mix was heck on four paws for the first six months of his life. Mind you at nearing ten months he is still no walk in the park. Just five minutes ago I chuckled to myself and told my daughter he is worse than a toddler. At least little kids go off and play or nap now and again whereas he is always up in my kool-aid, nosing at whatever I'm doing.

I can look back at when he was six months'ish and omg'sh..that was the worst time (touch wood). I recall chopping potatoes, watching him out the window as he tried to pull my daughter off her swing by her coat and telling my friend on the phone that I was going to kill him..."I could feel it in my hand", (having already been out there five thousand times to correct him.) So,imo, you really took her on at the most rebellious and obnoxious life points. Even if you get one at 8 weeks you will still have to go through this stage. I've had my fuzzy wuzzy puppy from seven weeks on and there were still times that I've wanted to strangle him

[mcknkc]

I'm very new to this forum but I'd like to add my two cents, if I may. I must agree with a couple of the other posts - (1) she is a child and is simply testing her new parents and (2) it doesn't sound like any of you have bonded. I understand the costs of owning a dog - I have 2 dogs and 3 cats (all rescues) and yes, it can get expensive - especially in the first year. If properly taken care of from the beginning the shots and preventative care are not horribly expensive and since you know when their boosters are due you can prepare and save for those times. Just yesterday I took my newest baby, Bella, for her first check-up after we adopted her. $340.00 later I still feel good knowing I have given her a great home and she is well taken care of (mind you, the $340.00 also included heart-worm shield for 2 dogs and flea and tick treatment for 2 dogs and 3 cats - ouch!).

I get the feeling, and excuse me if I'm wrong, but it sounds like some of your stress comes from your husband's stress. Trust me, the stress will be worse with an 8 week old who cries all night, pees in the house and takes months to stop chewing. I suggest that your husband take the pup to obedience training and see if those two can bond through the training. You'll be amazed at what happens once the pup knows what is expected.

Please think about putting in more time with the baby and not giving him/her up once again. Thanks for listening and hope I didn't offend.

[Patt]

I'm sorry this has happened. I wouldn't give her back to the original guardians, they didn't care enough to take care of her in the first place. Please place her with an Aussie rescue. This way she will get the proper medical care and training and adopt her to a loving home.

[Dog5]

Originally Posted by mcknkc

I'm very new to this forum but I'd like to add my two cents, if I may. I must agree with a couple of the other posts - (1) she is a child and is simply testing her new parents and (2) it doesn't sound like any of you have bonded. I understand the costs of owning a dog - I have 2 dogs and 3 cats (all rescues) and yes, it can get expensive - especially in the first year. If properly taken care of from the beginning the shots and preventative care are not horribly expensive and since you know when their boosters are due you can prepare and save for those times. Just yesterday I took my newest baby, Bella, for her first check-up after we adopted her. $340.00 later I still feel good knowing I have given her a great home and she is well taken care of (mind you, the $340.00 also included heart-worm shield for 2 dogs and flea and tick treatment for 2 dogs and 3 cats - ouch!).

I get the feeling, and excuse me if I'm wrong, but it sounds like some of your stress comes from your husband's stress. Trust me, the stress will be worse with an 8 week old who cries all night, pees in the house and takes months to stop chewing. I suggest that your husband take the pup to obedience training and see if those two can bond through the training. You'll be amazed at what happens once the pup knows what is expected.

Please think about putting in more time with the baby and not giving him/her up once again. Thanks for listening and hope I didn't offend.

This is excellent advice, IMO. You know when I got my Dominic at 8 wks old, we had a loooonnnng time of living with a furry little - and I mean this most affectionately - "psycho puppy". He actually brought me to tears sometimes. Six months old is still quite a baby and at this point your pup is actually READY to be housetrained and learn things. If you got an 8 wk old you'd be DYING for him to be 6 months old!!!

[Lorina]

ARPH is a fantastic Aussie rescue, and in addition to helping Aussies find new forever homes, they also provide resources and work with owners to help them keep the dogs they're considering rehoming.

[erway]

I feel for you. My DH just popped a 5 week old husky in my lap a couple of months ago. It is a huge responsibility to have a puppy. Are you sure some of the issues you have aren't stemmed from the resentment of being lied to about the puppy? I had to get over the resentment of having our puppy forced upon me in order to try and bond with the puppy. We signed up for obedience classes and it seems to be making it a bit better. I also started taking him with me places so I don't seem so trapped/stressed. For the biting, I've used bitter apple with both of my dogs and it works pretty well. My other dog and the puppy don't get along. I tried letting them out together, but our vet advised just to keep them apart. My old doxie can't take the hyper puppy.

If you do decide to give him away, I agree with the previous post that you should not return him to the owners but you should do it soon. The same issues that your husband had about an older puppy are the same issues a lot of people would have. You would probably feel better about letting him go if you found a good home yourself and knew that he would be taken care of. Someone that was so eager to get rid of him that would lie to you about all of his issues, would probably not care enough to find a home where he can get the vet care that he needs.

Good luck with your decision and don't feel bad if you feel like you have to find him another home. Your health and your marriage have to first.

[DogGoneGood]

I feel for your situation, the dog and the people involved.

Can I tell a little story? I'm not trying to steal the show, just wanted to tell you my story as a kind of pick me up for you and others in simular situations...

When I got Linkin he was EIGHT months old and had ZERO training. I'm not exhagerating in any way. He hadn't lived inside of a house since he was probably around 3 months old. When I got him at 8 months he was completely out of control. NO obedience, NO manners, chewed EVERYTHING (I think I went through about 20 pairs of socks during his sock chewing phase which lasted about 5 weeks), he wasn't house trained, he didn't even know what TOYS were! (which I found was the saddest thing ever). I probably called home to my parents on a daily basis crying my eyes out because I was soooo stressed out. I was living with my boyfriend at the time who doesn't exactly like dogs (he's more of a cat person) so his anger and stress with the way Linkin behaved was adding to my stress. Linkin did this thing where if you tried to watch TV he'd stand in front of you and bark, bark, bark, bark, BARK! I swear, he did everything in his power to be as annoying, destructive, disobedient, and stressful as possible! It wasn't his fault though, it was his previous owners.

In the first few weeks I had him, about a week before I had to go to Salmon Arm for school he was run over by a truck in my parents driveway. This came to well over $300.00 in vet bills, and when you're 20 years old working for less than minimum wage, and you've just spent your every last cent to go to school this is a lot of money. But I scraped it together, borrowed some from my parents (which I've since paid back) and paid for the costs to get him fixed up.

I've had Linkin since the end of August, 2007. He now knows all of his obedience (and several tricks), he's fully house trained, doesn't chew things, doesn't get in the garbage, doesn't bark AS obnoxiously (though he whines a LOT still), and I'd say his obedience is probably even better than my other dog whom I got as an 8 or 9 week old puppy.

My only advantage was that I had 6 weeks (24/7) to work with him with a professional trainer. (The school I went to was Canada West Canine Centre).

Linkin was by far one of the worst dogs I'd ever gotten. I was in WAY over my head and did not expect him to be as bad as he was. No kidding, when I phoned his old owners to see if he'd ever been to the vet for anything the guy told me "I was almost afraid to answer the phone because I thought you were going to give him back"!

The point of my story (and the moral) is that there is hope. If you work really hard, do you homework, and consult a professional if necessary, you can curb those bad behaviors. You just have to take a deep breath and make a game plan and then STICK TO IT.