Traumatic event with puppy help

[tsgaines]

My puppy is scared of everything.

So I got a Aussie that’s 13 weeks old and she was super confident and love going out side and seeing new stuff and she was picking up on commands. She was excelling with everything and including off leash. I would go play disc gold with her with a few friends and she would always stay by me and never would go further then 8 feet. So our morning routine would be us going potty in the front yard and for a walk after. One day I brought the trash can out and something happened where it freaked her out and she took off running. I never knew a puppy would take off running like full on sprint and not stop. I know where my mistake was and I won’t be having her off leash anymore. So I ran after her barefooted and she booking it and we ran about 4 blocks and she running toward a 4 lane road that’s always busy and I see cars. Her recall isn’t working she sprints and by miracle dodges all the cars and keeps going. Thankfully by standards saw where she ran and I finally found her im a corner of a side of a house and fence and this dog looked at me like a stranger and I won’t lie I hit her on the but and there was no sound but I’m thankful she’s alive and I broke down. She’s afraid to go out and j want to help her feel comfortable and not be scared of outside and build her confidence again. She does well with food motivation inside but outside everything shuts down. I don’t want her to worry and I owe it to her to train her properly.

 

[lennyb]

@tsgaines Hitting a puppy while she’s scared out of her mind is low key insane. You definitely added to her trauma, because not only was she terrified for her life but the person she is supposed to be able to trust hurt her on top of everything. Why on earth was your first instinct upon miraculously finding your beloved puppy safe to hit her? Next time she runs off she’s really going to think twice about coming back to you. This is the worst mistake people make with recall, getting mad at the dog when they finally get to it, leading to dogs who actively avoid their owners when off leash.

I understand getting emotionally dysregulated but this is a scared baby and it was 100% your mistake - you need to control yourself better going forward. Make positive associations with yourself and going outside, lots of treats and praise and fun games. Use a leash to keep her safe. Don’t hit your dog. Start training a recall now - you should have already been practicing that daily especially since you’ve been taking her out off leash. Recall should be trained with positive reinforcement. I hope this isn’t how you normally conduct yourself with babies.

 

[tsgaines]

@lennyb How do you think I felt I’m screaming and yelling. Cut both bottoms of my feet and I can breathe running and chasing after her while she runs towards a street of cars. I get it I shouldn’t have done it and believe me I could have handled that better but my first instinct was discipline. I don’t think it’s fair for you to judge me when I’m reaching out for help in this situation and learning from my own mistakes. It wasn’t right I get that but all I can do address the mistakes and situation and work at it. I had never had a issue with her and I’m really good to her. Constant praise, treats walks and toys and alotttt of snuggles. I was more in shock because it would have killed me if she got hurt or killed. So I’m trying to do the best I can to learn with her. I’m sure your not perfect as well and have made mistakes yourself. If you were in my situation when you had to chasing your dog a mile away barefooted across 9 am traffic. Would you react differently?

 

[lennyb]

@tsgaines Your reply suggests you have the wrong attitude. You don’t discipline a terrified animal. That baseline attitude is maybe what made your first instinct be hit the dog. I admire your honesty about what happened though.

I totally understand how scary it was for you too and I feel for you. It’s also understandable that emotional overload can mess you up and make you respond in ways you’re not proud of. We’re all only human. I’m not judging you as much as it sounds, but I’m not going to pretend how you reacted was okay. This is not how you discipline a baby. You should never use corporal punishment with a puppy, it’s really not necessary to train any dog and just destroys trust. Educate yourself on proper puppy training and raising techniques asap and this will be a blip on the radar in the long term. Aussies are not a beginners breed so my advice is start reading and ideally find a positive reinforcement based trainer to work with.

 

[tsgaines]

@lennyb Yeah it was very traumatic event for me as well because I was doing everything I could to get her to stop running towards jam packed traffic with cars as I’m sprinting and I can’t breathe. On the verge of a mental break down. Thinking I’m about to see my baby get killed. I know the reaction to it wasn’t something I’m proud of. I haven’t had any problems with her prior. She’s being walked 4 times a day, I use toys and puzzles to stimulate her and I socialize her and take her out and it was the first time I did that so like I said. Not a proud moment. Just really wanted some help and hopefully someone who’s been through something similar can guide me. Thank you for the response and help.

 

[lennyb]

@tsgaines It sounds like you’re doing a good job providing mental stimulation which aussies need a lot of- great job. She will be okay just take precautions going forward and make lots of positive associations when you’re taking her outside to pad that scary experience. You should be training already, and that adds tons of enrichment and mental stimulation too.

Check out kiko pup on YouTube. Her videos are amazing and she has a whole puppy training series. I really can’t recommend her enough!

Make sure to take care of yourself too so you can properly process this incident, let it go, and move on. Live and learn.

 

[tsgaines]

@lennyb Yeah it just brought a panic that I had felt since I lost my brother. So those emotions and me crying and seeing that was overwhelming as stupid as it sounds. I love my dog and she’s my world and I just want her to be okay. Thank you for the help seriously and I needed some honesty.

 

[tsgaines]

@lennyb I’ll be honest with you I was contemplating on rehoming her after that incident because I felt like I failed her.

 

[lennyb]

@tsgaines Aww hey, I’m sorry I came off so harsh in my initial reply. You’re only human and we all mess up sometimes when emotions are running high. Commit to doing better going forward (management to prevent this from happening again first of all, which you are already doing). Seriously look up Kikopup on YouTube, she will help you a lot. You’re already doing a lot more than many dog owners giving her puzzles and mental stimulation. Self compassion and self forgiveness is important. Trauma messes with our brains and it sounds like you have some pre existing trauma to boot. I unfortunately know what that is like and feel for you.

Definitely take advantage of the amazing free resources out there. I really can’t recommend Kikopup enough. IF you think this dog will be too much for you and you can’t meet her needs it’s also okay to rehome, and at this age it will be easy. Aussies do need a lot of exercise and mental stimulation daily - if you’re able to commit to that it may be good for you both.

 

[sherilyn]

@lennyb This was the most wholesome and overall positive conversation I have ever seen; and I just want to say to go guys

 

[ktorres08]

@tsgaines She got spooked and ran. Puppies go through fear periods and get scared of random things or things they were not scared of before. As for hitting her, that wasn’t the right move as you know already. You learned your lesson about the leash, but very young puppies are deceptively good “off leash”. They tend to stay close to you for security as they are still new to the environment. So don’t let it off leash until it’s trained

 

[jakefromsf]

@tsgaines It could take a lot of time for your puppy to trust you again, it may never trust you again. I’d practice all the doggy calming signs with her. Almost nothing better than ignoring a timid pup. Let her decide when it time to approach.

You need patience and to never hit this dog again bc clearly that method of training shuts this dog down. It’s hard to even say hitting a dog in this situation could even train it anything besides confirm it’s correct to run from you. What exactly in the moment we’re you thinking hitting would reinforce? was she already scared plenty when you finally grabbed her?

I get your scared but this is why we have leashes. Simply leash your pup and prevent anything like this from happening. ever. again. Leashing pups is basic puppy management that prevents lots of accidents both inside & out. poor pup four blocks is not a short chase.