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Struggling with my rescue puppy

1K views 1 reply 2 participants last post by  Pantalanomin 
#1 ·
8 days ago I brought home a 14 week old lurcher puppy, Ruari, from my local shelter. He'd been brought in with his brother and sister from another pound that were going to put him down. I fell in love when I met him, he was confident, happy, and loved to cuddle at all our adoption meetings. However, since he's come home I am struggling to cope with him.

We had a family dog before, and for the last four years I've worked for a pet services company to help fund my study. This meant I have been dog walking, house sitting, looking after puppies, basically everything that should have prepared me for having my own puppy. Now that I'm finally in a position to be able to give a puppy the attention it needs, I started looking into buying one. I was originally going to buy a golden retriever puppy as I had had a lot of experience with them at work, but once I saw Ruari at the shelter, I knew I had to bring him home instead.

He's such a loving dog, and he is so smart and has already learnt sit, stay, down, come, and his house training is coming along. But I am really struggling with him. He bites and nips a lot, probably because his only companions have been dogs, but we are working on that and I know it will stop soon.

The real problem is his separation anxiety. He whines and howls constantly for attention, which reaches ear piercing levels when I leave the room, even for a second, so I never get a break. Even when my mother comes home, he won't settle with her, and has to be by my side. He is at his worse at night. He finds it incredibly stressful when we go to bed, and the first night I made the mistake of letting him in my bed. Now, of course he wants to get on, but when he wakes in the night he wants to play and will mouth me really hard. However, he refuses to sleep in his bed, and barks constantly no matter what toys or treats I give him. Because we are attached to our neighbours, I feel that I can't just let him cry until he gives in, so I have to let him back on the bed. I'm exhausted, and struggling to cope.

My mum is concerned that all this will upset my anxiety, and has brought up whether I should give him back to the shelter. But the idea of it seems heartbreaking. I love him, and I worry that taking him back would be incredibly traumatic for him. Everyone keeps saying that if I get through the next weeks/months then everything will be fine, but I am struggling to make it to tomorrow. Any advice would be welcome.
 
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