Hello everyone, I am sorry I have left it so long to do an update on the puppy
but I have been really poorly (much better now)

As some of you may remember I wrote asking for help back in the summer/autumn
as my new pup was being really aggressive, far out of the normal range for a pup,
some of the advice I was given on these boards made me cry, some of it was really helpful
and supportive in the end I think  it was the advice and support from my vet that made
me look at things with the pup in a different way. She told me to give the pup one month
and to take her back to basics, for me to pretend that it was the pups first day home giving both
of us a clean slate :)

I began by changing her food from puppy biscuits to raw food, I also fed her and my older boy 6
puppy meals a day, during each feeding time I sat on the floor and interacted with them both
while they ate, when they had finished feeding we would play a game of hide and seek,
slowly the pup came to trust me totally, I could put my hand into the food and scoop some up
and let her eat from my hand, she would wait for my signal to begin to eat and would also allow
me to take anything off her, for example if she had a bone she would readily give it up to my gently asking
for it.

I think the 6 small feeds a day gave us the time to really bond, where as before the dogs were left to eat their
fill alone, I was now making full use of the time where her attention was focused to teach her how to
behave and the changes in her were remarkable, so much so since day one she has never even growled
or displayed any sign of aggression towards myself, my children or my older boy, even my daughters Staffie
was now a welcome visitor.

We went to a training class and the first week she was so stressed that we only managed to join in a little bit
by the second week she was having fun on the obstacle course and was commended for the fact she would
down stay while I left the room (must admit to having a proud mummy moment)

She is so bright and picks things up really quickly, she retrieves hoop for hours we always leave it with her
wanting more :) she can even be handled by my 9 year old, who she is in love with, it is so cute watching her
work with him to heel she knows he needs more training *laughing* and is quick to exploit his mistakes :)

All in all I am so happy with her, she is still a baby and like all babies she is hyper mental when she sees me
first thing in the morning and she delights in running round the house at
50 miles an hour leaping on anyone who is still asleep and licking them silly until the wake up, I love this
about her, she has gone from a very mixed up angry baby into a life loving puppy who is adored.

She has her moments don't get me wrong, just normal puppy behaviour, she pushes the boundaries
occasionally but to be fair I wouldn't have it any other way, it is her character and I feel she is now
being who she truly is, a naughty bundle of loving mischief.

I hope 2009 is everything you dream x

What a lovely post, so nice to hear a success story. Well done for persevering. Your vet sounds very wise. It's great that you have a vet you can feel confidence in.

thats wonderful news, well done you!

Thank you both for your lovely comments :)

I am really proud of her, my older boy is still quite indifferent to her
but she loves jumping on him and ambushing him all over the house  I
know secretly he loves all the attention he would just never admit it out loud

*laughing x

That is so good to read. It makes you feel all warm inside....
So glad you are better, and things are looking up now.

Karen ;)

Aaah lovely to hear, well done you :-)

Fantastic news :)

>she has gone from a very mixed up angry baby into a life loving puppy who is adored

That's so great to hear. I'm glad you're enjoying her now :)

That is so good to read. It makes you feel all warm inside....
So glad you are better, and things are looking up now.

Thank you Karen and yes things are really looking up :) I am sat here typing this
with my daughters Staffie sat on my feet my boy asleep behind my chair and the baby is
trying to play computer games with my son :)

All good here x

Hey Dexter and Mastifflover thanks for you lovely comments and Long time no see

I hope all is good with you both and that you had a lovely christmas :) x

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Here is my 9 year old son being trained by the pup (: hehe lol x x x

Please could one of the administrators delete the last post with the pictures in

thanks x

I read your original post with interest and I'm absolutely delighted to hear the outcome.  Hats off to you for putting in the time, effort, love and commitment she obviously needed.  I think she's a very lucky girl.  If there were more people like you, there would be a lot less dogs in rescue.

I read your original post with interest and I'm absolutely delighted to hear the outcome.  Hats off to you for putting in the time, effort, love and commitment she obviously needed.  I think she's a very lucky girl.  If there were more people like you, there would be a lot less dogs in rescue.

Wow! Thank you so much, that is such a lovely thoughtful thing to say,

It would have been so easy to give up on her in the beginning
thanks to my vet I got a second chance with her and to be fair my baby girl is one of the most intelligent dogs I have ever had the pleasure of owning, she picks things up so quickly and if it is something she really enjoys will do it without command just because she loves making us laugh, she is loved so much by us all and at the end of the day the soloution to the problems we were having turned out to be so simple all she needed was lots of smaller meals, lots and lots of love, lots of fun and lots of clear messages  :)

My 9 year old is the love of her life she can't get enough of him and follows him every where it is so wonderful to see her training him,

sorry that I have taken down the pictures but I had a mega dim moment when they were taken :| will post some more at the weekend

:)

Thanks again susieq you have made my day :)