errica

Hi all! Apollo is home and seems to be adjusting well...except for one thing. We tried to introduce him to Athena, one of us holding him, her on a leash and not allowed too close too fast. He freaked out a bit, peed everywhere, even pooped and cried like someone was pulling his skin off. It was really sad.

So we calmed him down, cleaned him up and put him in the living room with his bed and some toys and we just sat with him and he fell asleep.

When he woke up we took him out front to pee, since Athena is out back, and a neighbor was walking his dog by our house. Apollo started shrieking again and peed all over my husband. (that part is kinda funny)

So my question is twofold. First, is this normal and second, what the heck do I do? Athena is so excited and wants to meet him...

Here are a couple pics, too!

Patches Mom

What ever you do please do not baby him when he is shrieking or yelping,crying or what ever if he is showing fear.Pups go though a fear imprint period. Look it up may even google it Fear Imprint ages in puppies. Just be calm act calm and as if everything is fine he will look to you to see how you respond to his shrieking ignore bad behavior praise good behavior. If you have a crate you might put the pup in the crate let the older dog in did they meet in neutral territory first??? Maybe walk them in the same general area then get a little closer over time. I'm no dog trainer hope others will chime in may have better advise than I do.
Good luck with your pup.

errica

I tried not to baby him, it's tough when he is crying so hard...

We tried to introduce them again, this time I held him pretty tight and we had Athena about 12 feet away on a down. He whimpered a little, peed all over me and then seemed to calm down. So I carried him back inside and set him on the ground. He took a few steps away from me and then ran off shrieking and peeing until he found a corner to hide in.

I let him cry there for a bit and when he stopped I grabbed him and rinsed him off again.

He's napping now and we are going to put him in his crate in our bedroom, shut the door and let Athena in. I really don't want Athena to get jealous because he is inside all day and she isn't.

Any advice for another try? And how long should we wait? I am thinking that we are done for tonight...

dragonflyz

I do a lot of foster care for the shelter I work for and occasionally have a pup like this. It is usually a pup that wasn't properly socialized. Take them both outside put him down on the ground near Athena. If he screams and carries on IGNORE him, He'll get over his issue. When he stops all the noise tell him he's a good boy and reward him. It sounds mean but if you give in and baby him you will regret it. Oh and don't forget to praise Athena to dealing with her new brothers crap. LOL Apollo is a cutie by the way.

thea2003

Poor baby boy, what about just crating him for the first day just to let him get used to his new surroundings? I have no idea, never had a puppy.

clipclop

Apollo is sooooo cute!! Its so scary to hear ur pup get traumatized... the first morning I got wyatt he took a tumble in the pet store and you would have thought he got stabbed- he peed and poo'ed himself too and it was just awful! but i had to give him the "tough pats" ... like... c'mon tough boy! shake it off! lol... poor guy...

errica

Alright dragonflyz, we are going to give your idea a shot. It might kill me to listen to him cry, but I can't have him doing this...

The hubby is going to take Athena for a long walk right now to tire her out, she has a lot of energy and I think the more mellow she is the better.

Apollo is crashed out right now, I am going to let him rest up for his next big freak out.

I will be praying for the strength to watch the puppy cry and do nothing...

Deep down I think that you are right, as soon as I cleaned the pup up he was romping around, eating and playing, so I really don't think that he is suffering too much during his episodes. I hope...

Funny thing is I tried to be prepared for everything, no one told me about this!!

heartbroken

LOL (sorry) - but your good sense of humor will help get you through all this!

I said the same thing to my sister after I gave birth to my daughter (her daughter was born 2 years before mine) - she had told me "oh, it just feels like really bad cramps".

Hang in there - DT and lots of great advice is here for you!

Scoob

You have to ignore the crying. In most all cases it is a pup reacting to a new situation. They will get used to the new situation and learn to adapt to the environment. As long as there is no dog fighting, you are fine. If you baby him, you are telling him to be scared. Just my 2 cents.

Scoob

errica

Heartbroken - I learned a long time ago that a sense of humor makes a lot of BS better! I also joke when I am nervous and a puppy screaming tends to put me on edge!

Scoob - I know that you guys are totally right and I can't tell you how much I appreciate all the answers and support, DT rocks!

Okay, things are getting better! I had hubby walk Athena and I let the pup out in the backyard to sniff, romp and do whatever. He came across a giant rope toy and took off crying. I ignored him and he came back a few seconds later fine. So I praised and praised.

We went back in and he came across one of the cats, he ran right up to him and the cat hissed. Apollo took off running and crying again. Again I ignored and he ran out back, hid under a chair and quieted down.

At this point one of my neighbors popped their head over the wall to see why I was skinning a puppy. I apologized and explained what we were trying to do. She was more than understanding and told me to carry on.

Paul came back with Athena and Apollo did a lot better, still cried and tried to run under me to hide (I was kneeling) so I stood up and waited for him to stop crying then praised him when he was calm. We slowly moved the dogs closer and closer and he freaked a little, whined a lot and finally just sat there quiet, but trembling.

During that a second neighbor popped over the fence and asked if everything was okay. Again we explained what was going on and she was cool. So now I know that if either dog was ever hurt and I wasn't here there are two people that would check on them. That is nice to know!

The bonus is that now he completely emptied of pee so that is one potty trip I don't have to take him on...