Hi All,

My husband and I adopted a puppy 3ish weeks ago. We got him off a farm from a man who owns 8 rescue GSD's. Before we got him he had never been in a house, he lived in a barn stall with his mother as all his brothers and sisters went before him.

We think he wasnt fed properly because he was skinny when we got him, the man told us that he put a tin of meat mixed with kibble into the stall 2 times a day which the pup would have had to fight with his mother for. The pup eats his own poo, a habbit which he's starting to break now finally.

The main problem is the pup is scared a lot of the time. If you move too quickly around him, like go after a fly with a swatter, or smack a bug on the wall, or run near him, any sudden or loud movements, he starts yelping and pees himself. We are trying our best to reassure him that we won't hurt him and that he's safe but it just carries on.

Does anyone have any advice on how we can make him feel more secure and try and help him get out of this mind set where he obviously feels threatened by anything going on in the house?

We have a baby due in 3 months and it's very important top us to break this hopefully before the baby comes.

Pup is 13 weeks old GSD.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Oh dear, be patient gentle and understanding, try not to force the pup too much. There's been threads in past with similar pups, who're overwhelmed by their first experiences in house.

So try to make a quiet den room that can be dim and introduce things gradually, so the pup's less disturbed and can relax. Napping in there with it, might help.

In threads in past, suggestions have included using DAP diffuser. I don't have time right now to find you past threads, hopefully others will give more good advice.

Needless to say, it's best to obtain pups from better breeders, unfortunately at 13 weeks you're coming out of the key habituation & socialisation period, possibly at 10 weeks when you first got the pup the first fear period kicked in

Time & patience is going to be required with remedial work on the pup.

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For eager & reliable recall, be fun for the dog to come back to! Then often send them off right away to do what they wanted!
DT&B - Glossary of acronyms & jargon terms.
Encouraging good behaviours, whilst consistently avoiding practise of bad alternatives leads to extinction of the bad. So if dog sits 6/10 times it doesn't sit 4/10 times, encouraging with the right rewards (positively-reinforcing) enough for 9/10 times means it now fails to sit only 1/10 times, sit 10/10 means...

Yeah we are being as patient as we can with him. It's impossible to tell when he will become scared or what triggers it for that matter. Sometimes he's fine and running around and playing, then you go near him and he acts like he thinks you're going to kill him. Another good example is when it's time to come in the house. Sometimes he's more than happy to come in and sometimes he doesn't want to. When he doesn't want to come in I stay out with him unless it's necessary for him to come in like if I'm going to sleep or leaving the house and I go to pick him up, he doesnt run away but he starts yelping and pees himself. He doesn't do this EVERY time I pick him up only sometimes. So like I said it's kind of frustrating because I have no idea what triggers his sudden fears. It seems so random and I don't know how to help him.

If you didnt get him until 10 weeks old, and he spent all his life in a barn with very little socialisation and handling, and no introduction to his environment outside the barn, then he has missed out on a lot of things he should have been doing and getting used to by now. Pups also go through a fear period too which is natural, its something pre-programmed by nature to stop them being too adventurous and getting themselves in trouble before they an defend themselves and handle situations. So without his early introductions, and if he is going through that too, then its probably a case of all too much at once and sent him on sensory overload above what he can cope with.

He should have been, still should be probably for that matter on at least 4 meals a day of a good quality puppy food. Also it may be doubtful that he has had a proper puppy worming programme. Worming should start at 2 weeks old, then every 2/3 weeks until 12 weeks old, then monthly up to 6mths and then every 3/4 months like adults. This is to ensure all life stages are eradicated and pup is clear completely.
Worm loads can pull pups down in condition, make them under weight and can make them really ill. With not enough food and possibly a worm load too, Its understandable he is skinny. Poo eating has been linked to insufficient nutrition.
I would certainly put/keep him on a good worming programme.

You will need to take his socialisation and habituation very gently. Obviously everything in the house and outside is so new and strange it terrifies him.

I would make him if you havent already a safe area or "den" in a corner of the room,
Something like under a table is good, put in his bed, some chews and toys. Kongs are good, Solid Hard rubber with a hollow centre, you pack them tight with wet and dry food and can add bits like chicken, coat the inside with peanut butter or cheese spread. A treat ball or toys, that you fill with Kibble, and set to distribute pieces as they play is good, as if he dont know how to play with toys it can encourage interest. In this way, he has he safe place to go too if need be, but its is also somewhere that he can watch and learn how things work.

Another thing that can help are DAP products. Dog appeasing pheromone. They emit an artificial vrsion of the pheromone mum emits to calm and soothe pups, You can get them in plug in diffuser form (works like a plug in air freshener) and also a collar form. Both might be good in his case, as he will also have the collar if he goes outside. Vet-Medic - the same medicines as your vet at consistently low prices. is cheapest place where I get mine. But vets and pets at home do them too although more expensice usually.

Another thing that you can do to get him used to outside and other noises, is to get a CD of noises especially to help habituate and get pups used to noises they are going to encounter. You begin to play them at low bare audible level, whilst pup
is doing things like eating, laying chewing or playing with a toy, or with you, then as pup geets used to them over days and weeks, you gruadually increase the volume little by little as he copes and learns to ignore them. There are several but best may be Sounds Sociable its a CD based programme that helps pup adapt to his new home,socialise more easily etc. It contains CDs, a Book with handy tips, like taking pup for his first walks etc. and other useful things. Sound Therapy 4 Pets – Treatment CDs, Pet Publications & More

peeing himself is a sign of submissiveness and uncertainty usually. Things like eye contact can unerve them, and as you have found out quick sudden movements can too. I would try to pique his interest and curiosity and try to get him to come to you rather than the other way round at the moment. Maybe set up his den/place to observe, and do something like just sit on the floor a distance away and other wise just ignore him and give him space. Make sure you have tasty treats, cheese,chicken,hotdogs are usually good or liver based treats, Let him know you have them maybe even have a toy to try to encourage him to play. Every so often just slowly and very gently throw some treats in his direction and see if he will come and take them, let him approach you, ideally he needs to seek you out and want to
have attention and fuss and gain trust. Then I would start to build the bond, doing a bit of training and play with him teaching the basics, calm quiet praise and treats when he does. to build his confidence.

Going out for walks will need to be short and in very quiet places at the quietest part of the day. Too much traffic, people immediately are going to be far to much for him. Whats he like in the car? You could take him to quiet places firsst with as least scary things as possible, just so he initially learns to enjoy them without too much stress or over load.

Try a few of these things, and see if you make progress, if you feel that you are not though and with baby coming, I would consider a behaviourist one to one in situ to help you COAPE Assosiation of pet behaviourists and trainers.
CAPBT - COAPE Association of Pet Behaviourists and Trainers should find a behaviour practioner in your area.

Hope this might help.

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He has been getting better over the days and weeks since we have had him but as you can see he still needs alot of work. We aren't supposed to take him out on the lead until a week from yesterday but i have done a few times to get him use to it, we live in a quiet culdisac so getting him use to the lead was easy, he struggles on occassion but once we're out the door he's usually okay. He is absolutley crap in the car (lol!) As soon as we get in the car the drool starts and the nose starts running and it's only moments until hes sick. (which is sad for him because our vet is about 5 miles away poor little boy) The vet says he will probably grow out of it. He has been wormed now he's had his second dose of wormer on Monday and we have seen no sign of the buggars since a few days after the first dose. For the most part he's okay in the house in the lounge with us as at the minute its just my husband and I and we don't tend to make loud noises and sudden movements and sometimes there will be a loud noise or we can move fast and hes not bothered. Other times it's a different story. My best guess is that coming from a place with so many rescued and abused animals he's picked this behaviour up off of one of the other dogs? (is that even possible?) The only socialization he's ever had before we got him is with other dogs. He LOVES our neighbors dog and absolutley adores children. It seems his problem is mostly with men, as if a male comes to pet him he seems more scared than if a female approaches.

I think I will try the DAP plug in as most of his problems seem to be in the house, when we are in the garden, apart from if i pick him up we never seem to have an issue. He has learned alot in a really short space of time. He knows No, Come, Sit, and stay and 8/10 times he follows every command but in the house he seems much more weary to come to me when called and I have no clue why.

Thanks for the advice, I really appreciate your time and I would love to know if anyone else has any ideas aswell. We want to do everything we can to help him get out of this so he can be happy and live life to the full.

For the car and travel there are several natural/herbal things that you can use.
Homeopet Travel anxiety drops may help. They are said to provide temporary relief from Fear of travel motion sickness and relocation. they are said to be fast acting and non sedating. They may be worth a try. You can get those from the same place I gave you for the link for the DAP Products.

If he has lived mostly with dogs, and not had so much interaction and handling with people there in probably lies your problem, Ideally they should be handled and introduced from little puppies. Its not uncommon for pups/dogs to be more afraid of men, they tend to have louder lower voices and tend to move more purposefully and quicker.

As a guarding breed, who can be naturally wary of strangers sometimes, I think it would be best if possible to give him positive associations with people as much as possible now, although because of his lack of early socialisation when he ideally should have started, you wont be able to go overboaard with too much too soon.
if there any one you can get to help, maybe to visit, ignoring him completely when they first come, and maybe sit still ignoring him, and then do the throwing high value treats in his direction to encourage curiosity and getting him to seek contact.
They need to throw the treats nearer to them as he becomes curious, finally trying to get him of take one from them, then build up to speaking softly to him, then eventually soft gentle stroking, and eye contact. Taking a step at a time at his pace and gently praising and rewarding with treats as he gets more confident and wants to interact.

I would deffinately keep up his training sessions with you too, as well as teaching much needed commands as he is going to be a big dog, it should help with the bonding and his confidence with the gentle praise and reward.

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Well said Sled Dog Hotel....... Having had German Shepherds for many years I would tend to agree with everything you said....... Poor wee thing is just needing lots of love and time to adjust to his new life..... x

To add to SDH's full answer, tripod's blog is worth a look - Crazy Canines | Pet Central's Pawsitive Dawgs Blog! and particularly appropriate Vrrrrooomm! – Calm in the Car | Pet Central's Pawsitive Dawgs Blog!

__________________
For eager & reliable recall, be fun for the dog to come back to! Then often send them off right away to do what they wanted!
DT&B - Glossary of acronyms & jargon terms.
Encouraging good behaviours, whilst consistently avoiding practise of bad alternatives leads to extinction of the bad. So if dog sits 6/10 times it doesn't sit 4/10 times, encouraging with the right rewards (positively-reinforcing) enough for 9/10 times means it now fails to sit only 1/10 times, sit 10/10 means...

My two grew out of car sickness quite quickly with daily short trips. They were better if loose in the boot 4x4, not a saloon! I think because they could see where we we were going.

The OH should be feeding, treating, gently playing and any male friends you can borrow, so he gets used to men being a good thing (). Perhaps start clicker training for positive reinforcement. I'd be treating after loud noises if possible for good association.

I'm slightly appalled that you're talking about a puppy, but you haven't shown us pictures! Scandalous!

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Transplanted Geordie
RIP Jake, my best dog. 10.8.10
RIP Boomerang, beautiful horse. 27.5.08

Bless you for taking the little chap. Yes there is a lot you can do, but it`s hard and will go against all your instincts.
Don`t push him.
Yes, really - take all pressure off. Ask people you meet to ignore him and not make eye contact unless he makes the first move.
He needs to find the confidence to progress at his own pace, and a frightened dog doesn`t learn.

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