Just wanted to ask of my fellow breeders which would be the best way to deal with a 5mth old puppy who's been hurt by another larger dog in the home.

Her injuries were serious enough to need x-raying for a suspected broken leg - thankfully this proved to not be the case. She had/has puncture wounds to the leg and is undergoing twice daily physio for the damage. Under the circumstances I am having the puppy back to ensure that she will be safe and am thinking of letting my friend and her family board her for a few days for me.

My friend is a vet nurse and has a small family but more importantly she has a Choc lab and another schipperke plus a few cats lol. I think it would be better for the pup to spend sometime with them to asses her reaction to a dopy lab and a less than dopy schipperke. I have a new home for her which is not a problem but I do want to make the transition as painless as possible for the puppy and also to ensure that her new home will be suitable if she does prove to have a problem with other dogs after this experience.

My other alternative is to bring her straight home to her mother/father/sister/halfsister etc AND this is the interesting part as Bec is coming to stay for a while to do Crufts etc instead of the normal 7 dogs at home there will be 14 of varying breeds and sizes! Part of me says just bring her home and let her deal and the other side of me says no what if she's really not happy around big dogs or her 'family' reject her - although I have boarded my puppies from other litter for their new owners without any problems.

Your thoughts as to which would be the better course of action will help me to make a decision got a week to think about it - her treatment is finished this week but we have Crufts and so does her owner.

was the accident with the older dog seen, was it an attack or what went wrong, is it a much larger breed than your schip. what breed is it, if there where only 2 dogs in the family and the little one was bitten will it be ok moving in with a different big dog, how has it been affected mentaly, its a shame when something go's off like this, is the previous owner out a lot or was it just one of those things

Dizzy actually you know the dogs and family involved in this incident, it was one of your Shar pei's that injured her and she had been caged with the bitch 'Casey' several times since she arrived at the home last December.

The mental affects are what I'm trying to assess now as I don't want to make things worse for her. We were discussing the puppies return before this happend as she was going oversize etc. The incident was not an isolated case they seemed to be getting a bit OTT on and off for about 14 days. No it wasn't seen but it was heard they were in a different room to the owner who is home loads.

Her prospective home is in the lands of an estate like a tied cottage so plenty of room for her to play, but there will be livestock around and she may well be out during public visits etc. I am assuming that when the estate is open dogs are allowed onto the grounds so she will be meeting up with lots of different families and dogs etc. Not sure if she's still spending time with any of the other Shar peis but I know they are playing musical garden sessions at the moment.

im very sorry to hear thats happened, espescially with a bitch i bred--i was told by the owner she was going only because she was oversized ,he was at my house a day or so ago, -its funny as i was writing to ask how and what had happened to yours i was thinking about his going back ,not guessing that it was the same pup as the incident was never mentioned, there are 3 sharpei in the house and your pup, i asked how he would cope and he told me everything was great,apart from having a problem with housetraining the schipp, again im very sorry, ive written to the owner as he knows how much importance i place on the dogs behaviour and reputation , incidents like this dont do any breed any favours, -i hope the pups ok and gets over it ,

Thanks for that Linda - I had told him that Schips tend to revert with the house training when they start teething and not to get too anxious about it because they do get the hang of it again. He told me Shar peis come house trained lol errmm schips don't.

Still doesn't help with my decision mind - she is 5mths today so could go either way - schips although a very tough little dog can be sneeped by simple things and not the 'big' ones you'd expect. I think it's gonna have to be a play by ear time to see how she is when we pick her up.

theres been a new pup added since yours and i did say it might upset the pack order, hes a great believer in letting them sort their own order out, and now your ones suffering because of it, ---it would of been an obvious thing to do to seperate them if they werent getting on, more so if it had gone on for around 14days, im not suprised he didnt tell me about it as he knows how i'll feel about it happening, its not his first mistake while caring for his dogs--most of us learn by ours!!!

Can I ask? was this puppy in a cage with a bitch that wasnt getting on with her,and were they in a room alone? or have I read it wrong?

no ,i think you've read right, im waiting for some answers ,ive written to the owner about it,i was told they where left loose at night and only caged if he went out, i wasnt told they where caged together, i know hed said that if casey was asleep the pup would constantly pester her to get up and play, i dont know what went wrong but im really not very happy about it,

Dont blame you I'd be worried too

Poor linda, I know you are gutted. it was an awful way to find out it was one of your breed, but you are not to blame the owner was , not even the dogs were to blame . if they had not been in a cage together it would not have happened. a puppy can be very annoying and can torment an older dog to the point that the older dogs tolerence is tried to the limit, even a pups mother chastises them when they go too far. so with no where to run away from pup it chastised it. . well that is what it looks like to me ,we all know puppies need constant watching they are always up to mischief , they are babies after all. , sticking it in a cage with an older dog is asking for tradgedy to happen .never heard the like of it in my life.that would be like putting my shar pei puppy in a cage with my adult bullmastiff and let her torment her all night long . doesent bear thinking about an yet it happened. no wonder you feel gutted.but I stress it was not your doing. it was the OWNER . and sometimes no matter how vigilant you are one slip and things can happen. I would most certainly like to slap him for what he has allowed to happen, to the pup ,to the adult dog, and to linda, shame on him. Mari

you can only do so much. the pups are reared and socialised well before they leave -casey hadnt any temperament problems here other than the over exuberance of a puppy, i had her to training classes amongst other dogs no problems--ive never ever had anything happen like that at home or anywhere else--i feel she was just pushed too far-its a shame on the little one though but too late now,

ive spoken to caseys owner today--he had a slightly different tale to tell me to the one you've put on the board---however im having casey back with me, and we'll start from square one, i have been assured by the owner that if there was a temperament defect it wasnt belonging to casey,
hope your pup gets over it and that you and bec enjoy crufts together, :)

Dizzy I'm sorry you feel I have misrepresented the facts here, that was not my intention, I have no problem with what has happend as the saying goes 'that's life things happen' my only interest was and still is making the correct decision for my puppy as this is a new experience for me.

I have not to my knowledge suggest that there was a temperament problem/defect with either dog - I do feel that an error of judgement was made but that is all. As you have said yourself bringing in a new dog can make a big difference to the way animals interact. These two dogs have been together since early December so I would have thought a temperament problem would have shown a lot earlier than this.

At the time of my asking for advice I had assumed that all parties had been advised of the injury - seems that was my mistake but a genuine one all the same.

im not saying you've misrepresented the facts--im only telling you what caseys owner told me, im pleased ive found out as i have been able to sort it out , and the dogs coming home to me tommorow, im at home all day, i have her dam here also a litter of puppy's so i'll have to play it by ear--however i also have cages and kennels which have their uses, it will take time to reintroduce her but i'll be working on it, back to training classes etc, i really am sorry about your pup, as you say its no use trying to blame the dogs,
i think the owner would be the first to tell you i care deeply about the dogs ive bred, anyone who has one from me only has to ask and im their to help and advise as best i can , and as he was in my house on friday and never told me it obviously came as a shock to be told about it on the board, never mind, some things are meant to be, perhaps we've both got future champions coming back to us, :)