I got a patterdate terrier puppy two weeks ago he was just short of 10 weeks when i took him home 'marvin' was at first weary of us all, then he started to shake all of the time and be scared of everything if he had a accident it was asif he was waiting for us to shout at him. now is where my concerns start... when i take him out for a walk on my own he physicly wownt walk he jumps at me to pick him up, yet if two of us take him out he follows me and tried to attack my feet (this is the only was he will go down and walk) then recently due to a lack of sleep i have give in and let him sleep on my bed as his mothers owner also did. Then lastnight he wet on my bed so i put him in his own bed next to mine and he jumped in to my bed as usual so i left him till he was asleep then i would usually put him in his own and he would be fine. Lastnight however i tried to move him and he growled and snapped at me, I tried again and he ended up with his mouth around my hand only gently but its still scary for me as i have always had 'soft' dogs so its quite scary with him growling at me. Any advice at all?? Much apriciated!!
Jaynie

Have you ever had a puppy before? Have you owner a patterdale before? Did you research the breed before buying? These are all important things to know.

1) When he has an accident, clean it up and pretend it never happened...it's not the dogs fault he went indoors as he doesn't know any different. Take him out every 30 minutes and praise/treat like mad when he does the loo, eventually you could add a command to reinforce he only goes outside.

2) He's 12 weeks old....he's probably very confused and frightened by all the new sights/sounds/smells. Just stand there with him on the lead, drop a treat a few feet away from him and praise when he moves to go and get it. Take him to lots of different places so he gets used to them to prevent any issues with being in new places later in life. Bus/train stations, towns, cities, forests, beaches, farsm etc are all good places to go for socialisation of your puppy.

3) Decide if you want him on your bed or not....you are confusing your puppy by moving him to and fro all the time, if he's allowed up don't try to stop him from being on your bed and if he's not allowed up don't let him up, you have to be consistant, especially with terriers as they can be snappy.

What food do you feed him? What games/activities do you do? How much exercise is he getting? Patterdales are quite honestly, mental dogs and need a lot of stimulation to keep them happy...agility is good for them as it gets them thinking as well as moving.

You don't have a psycho puppy, you have a pretty normal puppy. He is 12 weeks old and you are expecting quite a lot to be honest. Watch for signs of him needing the loo(sniffing, circling etc) and make sure you get him outside and praise when he goes, clean indoor accidents with proper odor remover(suitable for pets) so he doesn't get tempted to go again.

Patterdales are known to be dog aggressive if not socialised so get him to training classes where he can meet and play with other dogs in a controlled environment, let him meet plenty of dogs out on walks(do you know anyone with a nice dog who would come out walking with you?) and make sure he learns to greet and play nicely.

Socialising is THE most important part of any puppy's life...the more you get him used to now the calmer he'll be when he's older...my dog can sit in a train station with trains going past and doesn't even look at them as he's so used to loud machines moving around.

__________________
Owned by Tummel the rottaridgeador and Dante the Italian Spinone

Socialisation is THE most important thing you can do for a puppy whilsy he's still young enough - and this is especilly true of terriers, and even more true when it comes to Patterdales. Terriers are also snappier than most and need firm (but very fair) handling - give them an inch and they'll take a mile!! I have a border terrier and he gets snappy occasionally - you can't train the terrier out of a terrier unfortunately!

You say you have had 'soft' dogs before - terriers are NOT soft in any way and Patterdales are the least soft of them all. They are highly intelligent, born hunters and if they are not kept occupied they can become a nightmare in the home.

You have a job on your hands but if you put the work in now you won't regret it - I have known loads of Patterdales and whilst I would never recommend them as a first time dog, they can be great characters and make brilliant pets if given the right outlets for their energy. Have a look on the web and do some research about them - there's loads of info out there.

Hope this helps...