Questions!!!
This is our new foster, Hazel. I have a couple of questions about her and I'd appreciate your help!!
She was rescued from a backyard breeder who had so many pups, the state forced her to relocate them. Hazel is reportedly 7 months old, though we're suspicious of that. She has her adult teeth, weighs 13lbs (with very tiny features), has protruding nipples, and her female parts seem to be a little stretched. Could all of this be possible at 8 months?
She is also snippy with Penny. When we introduced them, she growled and lunged. It calmed down with clapping and loud NO's. We took her to an adoption event - a Woof-a-Palooza music/dog fest thing at the park today and she did pretty well. We took Penny since she's such a positive example of the breed. Toward the end (about 3 hours in), Hazel was just sleeping on my lap and Penny was next to us and she must have moved and Hazel woke up and instantly lunged onto Penny, put both of her paws on Penny's eyes and latched onto her jowles!!!!! Needless to say, we freaked out and screamed, which stopped it... she just seems to have really been startled. Penny was unharmed, though!
We're trying to give Hazel a fair shot at keeping her foster home with us. She LOVES human attention, is great with our 2 cats, and is reacting well to positive reinforcement. I think, coming from a breeder with a billion dogs, she's territorial and wants to assert herself. Penny mounted her from behind today to show some authority, but obviously Hazel still attacked her pretty viscously today. Does anyone have any suggestions???
Hazel really is a good dog and I don't mean to make her out to be anything other than sweet. She's already learned "sit" and "down" in 24 hours, lovessssss to cuddle, and really is warming up. I'm just concerned about the aggression and how to handle it.
For good measure, and because she's sooo cute, here are some more photos!
At the adoption event today.
She was rescued from a backyard breeder who had so many pups, the state forced her to relocate them. Hazel is reportedly 7 months old, though we're suspicious of that. She has her adult teeth, weighs 13lbs (with very tiny features), has protruding nipples, and her female parts seem to be a little stretched. Could all of this be possible at 8 months?
She is also snippy with Penny. When we introduced them, she growled and lunged. It calmed down with clapping and loud NO's. We took her to an adoption event - a Woof-a-Palooza music/dog fest thing at the park today and she did pretty well. We took Penny since she's such a positive example of the breed. Toward the end (about 3 hours in), Hazel was just sleeping on my lap and Penny was next to us and she must have moved and Hazel woke up and instantly lunged onto Penny, put both of her paws on Penny's eyes and latched onto her jowles!!!!! Needless to say, we freaked out and screamed, which stopped it... she just seems to have really been startled. Penny was unharmed, though!
We're trying to give Hazel a fair shot at keeping her foster home with us. She LOVES human attention, is great with our 2 cats, and is reacting well to positive reinforcement. I think, coming from a breeder with a billion dogs, she's territorial and wants to assert herself. Penny mounted her from behind today to show some authority, but obviously Hazel still attacked her pretty viscously today. Does anyone have any suggestions???
Hazel really is a good dog and I don't mean to make her out to be anything other than sweet. She's already learned "sit" and "down" in 24 hours, lovessssss to cuddle, and really is warming up. I'm just concerned about the aggression and how to handle it.
For good measure, and because she's sooo cute, here are some more photos!
At the adoption event today.
