Puppy Culture Potluck: Ep21 - Puppies Who Don't Bond With Their Owners

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I'm Jane Messineo Lindquist

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and this is a Puppy Culture

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potluck podcast.

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You bring the topics,
we bring the conversation.

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This week's question is about

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puppy placements, where the puppy does

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not bond with the owners

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and it's a long one.

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Buckle up.

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But the details are important.

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This is a beagle
puppy placed at eight weeks old.

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The puppy is currently 12 weeks old.

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And here's what the question is
that the breeder wrote in:

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Advice please.

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Never had a puppy returned
and would like to offer the puppy

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the best training
based on the message from the family.

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And here's
what the family wrote to the breeder.

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Functionally.

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Mac is excellent.

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Crate/house training,
obedience. Excellent.

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And coming along well.

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He sleeps through the night.

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He's a great puppy at classes.

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And the trainer says
he learns at a million miles an hour.

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We've made sure to socialize him.

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Prior to full vaccination
we took him to car parks

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where he would sit in the crate
in the back of the car to be exposed

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to people's sounds, sights, etc.

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We took him to garden centers
and supermarkets.

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He's good with other people and dogs
when we're out.

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He was good at the vets.

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No problem so far with loud noises
or anything like that.

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He's experienced pheasants, squirrels,

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various birds, tradesmen, repairman.

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We've had visits from family.

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He's the garden hose

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drip dipping for carrots, water generally.

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We believe he is well socialized.

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We make him sit before he has food.

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He is not demonstrating resource
guarding or aggression.

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He's fit and healthy.

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The local vet checked him out.

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He loves his food
and is putting on weight.

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But he's not overweight.

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The problem is that we have been unable

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to build a relationship with him.

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He doesn't respond to affection at all.

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We find it hard to make his tail wag.

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He will briefly let us stroke him,

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but this usually ends with a bite.

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He's unwilling to let us pick him up.

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He'll play enthusiastically with toys,

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but this will quickly progress
to a biting and frenzy.

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We've tried both more
and less play with no improvement.

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He doesn't show any symptoms of fear
or aggression,

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such as hackles, raised, growling,
tail, either down or to erect.

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He bites.

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And this has escalated from puppy biting

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to more definite biting
and now holding and drawing blood.

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He will leap at our legs and bite
for no apparent reason.

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We've discussed this with two trainers

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and use their recommended techniques,
but this hasn't worked.

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We don't think it's attention seeking.

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We don't think it's aggression.

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It may be some kind of dominance,
but we don't know.

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We've tracked his sleep to ensure
that he does not become overtired

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and he gets around 18 hours per day.

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He settles well and sleeps in his crate,
but nowhere else.

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Even though there are various comfy
alternatives.

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This may be a clue.

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Each day we've done play, training,

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socialization
and habituation, which he's very good at.

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Perhaps because

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there's no relationship,
we can't fix the biting.

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We've had rescue dogs before.

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We've had puppies before,
but we have never experienced

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this lack of relationship.

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We hate doing this and we are very upset
that it has come to this.

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We wonder if we've done something wrong,
but we've tried

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everything we can think of
to improve the relationship.

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Our prime concern is the best
care for Mac.

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We want him to have the best chance
for the future.

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We are very sad that we can't fix this
relationship problem.

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We fear that the situation will become

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worse.

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Okay, so generally, this is me again.

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I have a rule in my discussion groups that

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we don't take third party
accounts of situations.

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Right?

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So if it's a breeder writing in saying,
Hey, my puppy

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buyer says that my puppy, their puppy
is doing

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dominance biting or some such nonsense,
what's what shall I tell them?

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I'm always like, we need the puppy owner
to write in because I can't

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diagnose what's going

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on through a third party story of what
the behavior is.

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I mean, they're just there are
too many questions I have to ask.

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I have to know the exact behavior.

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I took this question

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because it's a little different,

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and I'm going to address it
from the angle of

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as a breeder,

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when you get a story

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like this,
what what should your plan of action be?

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Okay. So

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regardless, we don't know
really anything about this puppy.

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But regardless,

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what do you do as a breeder
when you get a story like this?

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And as I said to her,
let's just start with what she probably

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already knows, which is that she's going
to have to take this puppy back

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and observe the puppy herself
and draw her own conclusions,

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because there is just no way to know
based on the owner story,

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what's going on here.

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I mean, we have some clues,
but we truly don't know.

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This is
a puppy you're going to have to take back.

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You're going to have to live
with the puppy for a while.

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And I guarantee it's
going to become obvious very quickly

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what's going on.

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Okay. That having been said,

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I'm going to talk about a few things
that this could be.

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What would be the likely things
that would be in the back of my mind

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as I'm running this puppy
through its paces

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And by far

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the most common
cause of this kind of return

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is puppy owner expectations,
not matching puppy behavior.

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And I think we can talk more about it,
but there's a lot of clues to that

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in the story that these people, for

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whatever reason, just don't
seem to understand what a puppy is.

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They're reading it as

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a lack of

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relationship when it's just a puppy.

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You know, they want to pick up the puppy.

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They want to cuddle the puppy.

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The puppy is not interested in that.
It's a puppy.

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The puppy then protests and bite
when they pick the puppy up

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because the puppy doesn't
like being picked up.

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Puppies generally
don't like being picked up a lot.

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The puppy wants to play, not cuddle.

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And you know the puppy owners read this
as no relationship.

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I did a whole podcast on this exact topic.

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Episode 14 Growling Puppies.

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Should you be worried?

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And I highly recommend that you go back
and listen to that if you haven't already.

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But suffice it to say, it's super common

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that puppy owners will
just pick up puppies when they do not want

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to be picked up and legitimately
they don't want to be picked up.

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But the puppy owner, for whatever
reason, feels this is the bond.

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They're reaching for the puppy
because the bond is

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that they can clasp that puppy to them.

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So that

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would be the most likely scenario here.

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It’s just the puppy owners expectation
do not match what a living,

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breathing puppy really is.

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Adjacent to this idea is

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what my friend Lorelei Craig calls

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the training straight jacket,
meaning to say that a lot of puppy

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owners think that they can train the puppy
out of the puppy,

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that if they just make the puppy behave,

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if they can make the puppy sit before it,
it eats its dinner

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or sit before patting or sit
before accessing resources

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that somehow this puppy will not do

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normal natural puppy behavior

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like bite and yes, bite and hard sometimes

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and draw blood and and jump up and grab
and tear your clothes.

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And then the more the puppy expresses

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this natural puppy behavior,
the tighter the straight jacket gets,

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the more the
the puppy owner doubles down on on.

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I can train this out of the puppy
that I can modify this behavior.

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And then

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frustration increases in the puppy
and yes, it converge

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on aggressive displays in that case.

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This is often the result of the puppy
owner going to a dog trainer

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who maybe is not a breeder,
maybe is not extremely well versed

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in young puppies, and the dog

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trainer, it,
you know, takes it on face value.

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Okay, the puppies biting you.

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Let's stop the puppy biting you.

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And here's how we can stop the puppy
from biting you. But

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that's treating the symptom
and not really the disease.

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And the disease here is that the puppy
owner just doesn't understand normal puppy

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behavior
and has unreasonable expectations.

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In actual fact,

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the puppy owner just needs to be told
that this is normal behavior

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and it will pass
if they can just manage it.

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I also did a podcast on this one episode

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15 Mentors for Puppy Owners.

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Do we need a new kind of professional?

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I do recommend if you haven't
heard that one, you also go back

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and listen to that one.

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Okay, so after unreasonable

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puppy owner

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expectations, or I should say unrealistic

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puppy owner expectations,

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the most common reason
for something like this happening

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is a mismatch

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between the owner and the puppy.

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Puppies sometimes
do like some people more than others.

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Nothing wrong with the puppy.

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Nothing wrong with the people,
just not a good match.

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A smart puppy that learns quickly

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and is a go, go, go wanting to do things
puppy,

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is not a good match for your sweet care

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bear family with kids that they have,
you know

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all this warmth and love
and hugs to give the puppy,

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but you know, not a lot of individual
training and interaction time.

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I have definitely seen puppies
who just don't bond

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with the family because it's a mismatch.

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But those same puppies bond deeply
with another family

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and those families bond deeply
with another puppy.

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I have had this happen to me
in my own breeding program.

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It's like putting on a cozy

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oversize sweater
on a beautiful summer day.

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There is nothing wrong with the sweater
and nothing wrong with the day,

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but they just don't go together.

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Somewhere in between all of this,

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we would have to define

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normal for a beagle in terms of bonding.

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I don't have a lot of experience
with beagles,

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but what I have observed
is that their quirky, quite humorous,

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especially when they don't
want to do something.

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I've also not observed them
to be overly cuddly dogs.

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I think their behavior is adorable,
especially when they pitch a fit

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when they don't want to do something.

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But you know, it's not for everyone.

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And if you have a puppy owner
who is hoping to get something

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a little more dufus-y golden retriever-y
this can be off putting

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the first time they go to move the beagle
or make the beagle do something.

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The beagle just sort of says no.

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So there could be a breed specific

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incorrect

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expectation on, on the puppy owner's part
and again what might be normal for one

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breed in terms of bonding and willingness
to cuddle and play and be patted.

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You know, it might be very different
for another breed.

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But again, this is where the

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the breeder is in the best position
to take the puppy back and assess

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whether the puppy is within normal
or an outlier behaviorally.

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Now, look, I would guess based on that
history, that it's going to be

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one of those two things that we talked
about or two and a half things.

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It's either going to be incorrect
expectations

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of a puppy on the puppy owners part.

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It's going to be
they don't know what a beagle puppy is

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and it's a normal beagle puppy
or it's going to be just that.

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It's it's a mismatch.

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The beagle is a smart puppy
that wants to go, go, go do play, learn.

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And the owners

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just want something that they can,
you know, put in a purse and carry around.

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So I do think in this case, that's
probably one of those things.

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But again, when I'm taking a puppy back,
I'm going through all the possibilities.

248
00:14:58,480 --> 00:15:02,960
Another possibility is maybe the puppy
really is a little bit different.

249
00:15:02,960 --> 00:15:06,760
I do think that dogs are on a spectrum

250
00:15:07,240 --> 00:15:12,840
similar to the human autism
spectrum, and I have observed that

251
00:15:13,920 --> 00:15:15,960
dogs, puppies that

252
00:15:17,160 --> 00:15:21,200
have sensory integration issues where
they don't really like to be touched much.

253
00:15:21,200 --> 00:15:25,400
That does often sort
with emotional attachment issues.

254
00:15:26,040 --> 00:15:29,880
So that that would sort of track
with a little bit of what the puppy owners

255
00:15:29,880 --> 00:15:31,040
relating here.

256
00:15:31,040 --> 00:15:34,440
The puppy not wanting to wag its tail
or be touched or held.

257
00:15:35,280 --> 00:15:39,680
If it is truly outside of breed, normal
and puppy normal.

258
00:15:39,680 --> 00:15:41,880
I mean, this puppy could have a touch of

259
00:15:43,080 --> 00:15:46,520
what would be doggy autism,
I guess you'd call it.

260
00:15:47,160 --> 00:15:52,000
And those kinds of puppies sometimes do
wind up needing something equivalent

261
00:15:52,000 --> 00:15:56,360
to an occupational therapy
type thing for their sensor, sensory

262
00:15:56,360 --> 00:16:02,280
integration issues, and those puppies
are likely to be more aloof,

263
00:16:02,280 --> 00:16:05,600
but they can also be really delightful
puppies.

264
00:16:06,480 --> 00:16:10,680
My Ruby, who is, was, the grandmother

265
00:16:10,680 --> 00:16:15,320
of the Puppy Culture puppies,
she was probably on this spectrum.

266
00:16:15,920 --> 00:16:19,200
She was an amazing dog

267
00:16:19,200 --> 00:16:24,000
to do things with,
but she really did not have a lot of use

268
00:16:24,000 --> 00:16:27,920
for me if I was not actively
sort of entertaining her.

269
00:16:28,240 --> 00:16:33,040
So if we were training, going someplace,
doing a walk, competing,

270
00:16:33,040 --> 00:16:38,480
I mean, she was the best, but cuddling
on the couch, you know, not so much.

271
00:16:39,160 --> 00:16:43,800
I would not trade the world for my time
with Ruby.

272
00:16:44,080 --> 00:16:47,160
I learned so much from her
and I loved her so deeply.

273
00:16:47,680 --> 00:16:50,720
But, you know, if I was the kind of person
that was just

274
00:16:50,720 --> 00:16:54,160
looking for a dog
to cuddle on the couch with and watch TV,

275
00:16:54,720 --> 00:16:57,240
yeah, I really would not
have liked that dog at all.

276
00:16:58,480 --> 00:17:00,120
And finally and

277
00:17:00,120 --> 00:17:04,280
I'm going to put this way down
at the bottom, like, you know, you got

278
00:17:05,000 --> 00:17:09,920
maybe a half of 1% chance
in most cases of this happening.

279
00:17:09,920 --> 00:17:11,760
There could be something
really wrong with the puppy.

280
00:17:11,760 --> 00:17:17,000
The mean the puppy could really have
some kind of serious personality disorder.

281
00:17:17,000 --> 00:17:20,160
But in my 20 odd

282
00:17:20,160 --> 00:17:23,600
years of breeding,
I think I've had one puppy

283
00:17:23,600 --> 00:17:26,640
that I would say was just really wrong
in the head like that.

284
00:17:26,640 --> 00:17:29,840
So it absolutely can happen.

285
00:17:29,840 --> 00:17:33,800
But again, there's nothing in this history
that these puppy owners

286
00:17:34,240 --> 00:17:38,080
have given you that that would lead you
to think this would be the case.

287
00:17:38,560 --> 00:17:43,600
You always have to have it on the table,
but I don't think that's the case here.

288
00:17:45,080 --> 00:17:47,040
So now I want to go
back to some of the comments

289
00:17:48,800 --> 00:17:49,720
and it was interesting.

290
00:17:49,720 --> 00:17:52,600
A lot of people said,

291
00:17:52,600 --> 00:17:55,080
well, the puppy hasn't
been in the home long enough

292
00:17:55,080 --> 00:17:57,000
and they're not giving it a chance.

293
00:17:57,000 --> 00:18:00,000
And, you know,
a lot of people were sort of on

294
00:18:00,000 --> 00:18:02,520
the side of working with the puppy

295
00:18:03,320 --> 00:18:05,760
and the owner
and trying to keep this puppy in the home.

296
00:18:05,760 --> 00:18:10,040
And it's an interesting thing
because I struggle with this myself,

297
00:18:11,520 --> 00:18:14,760
both advising people
and in my own experience.

298
00:18:14,760 --> 00:18:19,760
And I'm just going to say there's
enough red flags in this history

299
00:18:19,760 --> 00:18:22,120
that as a breeder,
I'd be taking this puppy back.

300
00:18:23,720 --> 00:18:25,920
I mean, let's just start with the D-word,
right?

301
00:18:25,920 --> 00:18:26,760
Dominance.

302
00:18:26,760 --> 00:18:30,000
Where they’re, they’re saying they've done
absolutely everything.

303
00:18:30,000 --> 00:18:31,040
Everything, everything.

304
00:18:31,040 --> 00:18:34,160
And still the puppy is like this
and it must be dominance.

305
00:18:35,160 --> 00:18:38,440
I don't get a feeling
like they really like the puppy at all.

306
00:18:38,440 --> 00:18:41,160
And I get the feeling from this

307
00:18:42,760 --> 00:18:45,080
letter that they're really just

308
00:18:45,960 --> 00:18:49,120
almost trying to make themselves
absolve themselves of guilt

309
00:18:49,120 --> 00:18:52,360
for returning this puppy
to really just say, Absolutely,

310
00:18:52,360 --> 00:18:55,880
I have done everything
and we don't like this puppy.

311
00:18:55,880 --> 00:18:57,960
We still don't like this puppy.

312
00:18:57,960 --> 00:19:00,240
And when you start reaching
for the dominance thing,

313
00:19:00,240 --> 00:19:03,160
that worries me as a breeder
because it tells me, okay,

314
00:19:03,160 --> 00:19:07,560
they're going down a bad path,
that I don't want that for my puppy.

315
00:19:07,560 --> 00:19:12,080
Also, you know, an eight week
old puppy, you're making the puppy sit

316
00:19:12,080 --> 00:19:13,480
before it gets its food.

317
00:19:13,480 --> 00:19:15,240
I don't agree with that.

318
00:19:15,240 --> 00:19:18,760
I mean, if the puppy does sit, boy,
that's adorable and fun,

319
00:19:18,760 --> 00:19:21,800
but it sounds like
they've got a very tight

320
00:19:22,360 --> 00:19:27,080
training straight jacket on this puppy
and they're just, they're doubling down.

321
00:19:27,080 --> 00:19:28,600
They're making it tighter. And

322
00:19:29,640 --> 00:19:33,040
that really can lead to bad results
with these puppies

323
00:19:33,040 --> 00:19:36,920
and honestly can breed aggression
eventually.

324
00:19:36,920 --> 00:19:42,520
So, no, for myself, I would not want to be
keeping this puppy in this home.

325
00:19:42,520 --> 00:19:45,120
I'd want to be taking this puppy back.

326
00:19:45,120 --> 00:19:49,320
Now, if you got the same letter
from a person

327
00:19:49,720 --> 00:19:53,360
who's crying and telling you
how much they love the puppy

328
00:19:53,360 --> 00:19:55,400
and how much the puppy means to them,

329
00:19:55,400 --> 00:19:59,160
but still the puppy seems to bite them
and it's so upsetting.

330
00:19:59,160 --> 00:20:02,760
And you know that that's a person
that you can talk them off the cliff

331
00:20:02,760 --> 00:20:06,600
and just go to their house and say, look,
I mean, this is the normal puppy.

332
00:20:06,600 --> 00:20:07,480
It's fine.

333
00:20:07,480 --> 00:20:10,560
But these people,
I don't know what to tell you.

334
00:20:10,560 --> 00:20:12,960
They don't like the puppy.
Get the puppy out of there.

335
00:20:14,680 --> 00:20:15,440
One thing

336
00:20:15,440 --> 00:20:18,720
about this post that I really loved

337
00:20:20,120 --> 00:20:21,800
in the comments was

338
00:20:21,800 --> 00:20:25,680
how many dog trainers wrote in saying

339
00:20:26,040 --> 00:20:30,600
they don't even breed dogs,
but they follow Puppy Culture

340
00:20:30,600 --> 00:20:33,720
and the discussion group
because they learn so much about puppies

341
00:20:34,480 --> 00:20:37,520
and how many dog trainers said;

342
00:20:38,880 --> 00:20:39,720
Absolutely.

343
00:20:39,720 --> 00:20:43,520
We see it all the time
that people come to us wanting

344
00:20:43,800 --> 00:20:46,800
to train these behaviors out
and we're like,

345
00:20:46,800 --> 00:20:50,160
How about you just enjoy your puppy
and let the puppy be a puppy?

346
00:20:50,560 --> 00:20:53,160
So I did find that very encouraging that

347
00:20:53,600 --> 00:20:56,680
so many dog trainers,
even who are not breeders,

348
00:20:57,080 --> 00:21:01,720
seem to have a very good grasp of
what the real issues are

349
00:21:02,040 --> 00:21:05,800
in cases like this.

350
00:21:05,800 --> 00:21:11,320
A number of other people commented
that they've had the puppy only 30 days

351
00:21:11,320 --> 00:21:15,080
and according to the post,
they did an awful lot with the puppy.

352
00:21:15,080 --> 00:21:17,120
Maybe it was too much activity.

353
00:21:17,920 --> 00:21:23,400
Again, I don't think the activity per say
is an issue.

354
00:21:23,400 --> 00:21:27,880
I think it's the attendant emotion
around the activity,

355
00:21:27,880 --> 00:21:32,880
the intent of the activity,
which is to somehow make this puppy

356
00:21:32,880 --> 00:21:36,160
not be a puppy,
not to be the puppy that it that it is

357
00:21:36,160 --> 00:21:40,320
that to make the puppy be something else
by just running it off its feet.

358
00:21:41,200 --> 00:21:45,320
And yeah, in that sense,
sure too much activity but

359
00:21:45,720 --> 00:21:50,320
I don't think with these people doing less
activity is going to change the picture.

360
00:21:52,800 --> 00:21:54,000
Now, but here's

361
00:21:54,000 --> 00:21:58,560
something great
and I'm going to read this comment.

362
00:21:59,040 --> 00:22:04,120
Just being a hound person,
not an expert by any means,

363
00:22:04,400 --> 00:22:08,320
he may need activities
that simulate hunting, behavior,

364
00:22:08,680 --> 00:22:12,000
search and find things in the yard
and around the house.

365
00:22:12,320 --> 00:22:16,440
He may be overstimulated in ways
that he doesn't understand or like

366
00:22:16,800 --> 00:22:20,400
and not stimulated enough in the hound
instincts.

367
00:22:20,920 --> 00:22:24,480
Some hounds can seem rather
detached from people,

368
00:22:24,720 --> 00:22:27,080
especially those with high prey drive.

369
00:22:28,680 --> 00:22:29,920
This is really interesting.

370
00:22:29,920 --> 00:22:35,040
It would not change my advice
about wanting to take the puppy back

371
00:22:35,040 --> 00:22:37,480
because I just want
to stop the bleeding here

372
00:22:38,400 --> 00:22:41,160
and I don't want to get a messed up
puppy back

373
00:22:41,160 --> 00:22:44,400
and I'm afraid that these people
are going down that road. But,

374
00:22:46,400 --> 00:22:47,840
you know, sometimes

375
00:22:48,800 --> 00:22:51,200
showing the puppy owners how to appreciate

376
00:22:51,200 --> 00:22:53,880
what's exceptional about their puppy

377
00:22:55,320 --> 00:22:56,600
can help.

378
00:22:56,960 --> 00:23:01,920
So things like invite them
to take their puppy to a nose work class

379
00:23:01,920 --> 00:23:07,440
and let them see their puppy
doing an activity that speaks to his soul.

380
00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:11,160
And you know, some people, when they see

381
00:23:11,160 --> 00:23:15,640
that it it can speak to them
like it can light them up

382
00:23:15,640 --> 00:23:18,600
and make them see
just the magic in their puppy.

383
00:23:19,880 --> 00:23:22,560
I'm not saying all people because again,
some people it's just

384
00:23:22,560 --> 00:23:24,280
we want a puppy to sit on the couch with.

385
00:23:24,280 --> 00:23:28,080
We really don't care that this puppy
is magical in some other way, but

386
00:23:28,800 --> 00:23:32,160
it's a possibility
that they might learn to appreciate things

387
00:23:32,160 --> 00:23:36,000
about their puppy
that aren't readily apparent to them.

388
00:23:36,000 --> 00:23:37,480
When the puppy is doing

389
00:23:37,480 --> 00:23:40,680
puppy things like biting them
and not letting them pick them up.

390
00:23:41,360 --> 00:23:44,520
This reminds me of Fathom Berger's book

391
00:23:45,840 --> 00:23:49,120
written almost 100 years ago now.

392
00:23:49,120 --> 00:23:53,040
I guess, where he was dealing with guide

393
00:23:53,040 --> 00:23:56,120
dog colonies and guardian homes and

394
00:23:58,360 --> 00:23:59,720
one of the rules

395
00:23:59,720 --> 00:24:02,840
in the guardian homes
was that these retrievers

396
00:24:02,840 --> 00:24:06,360
that they couldn't hunt with them,
that they would raise the puppies

397
00:24:06,360 --> 00:24:10,520
and they could not let the puppies do
any kind of hunting activity

398
00:24:11,080 --> 00:24:13,720
because they felt that

399
00:24:13,720 --> 00:24:15,720
that would make them too

400
00:24:15,720 --> 00:24:18,240
wild, to be good service dogs.

401
00:24:19,560 --> 00:24:23,040
But, you know, naturally,
some homes just disobeyed.

402
00:24:23,040 --> 00:24:26,880
And it turns out that the homes
that disobeyed this and allowed the dogs

403
00:24:27,480 --> 00:24:29,640
to hunt the puppies to grow up hunting,

404
00:24:30,200 --> 00:24:32,360
that those puppies did better
in the program.

405
00:24:32,960 --> 00:24:36,600
So, again, there's
something about allowing the animal

406
00:24:36,600 --> 00:24:40,480
to do its thing that it was bred to do,

407
00:24:41,280 --> 00:24:44,240
to let its soul wake up and do that thing

408
00:24:45,200 --> 00:24:48,520
can spill over into more amiability

409
00:24:48,920 --> 00:24:53,720
and success in other parts of life.

410
00:24:53,720 --> 00:24:54,320
Ah yes.

411
00:24:54,320 --> 00:24:57,360
And somebody else commented,
And I am really remiss

412
00:24:57,360 --> 00:25:01,920
for not putting this upfront
that if the puppy truly does

413
00:25:01,920 --> 00:25:05,640
not like to be touched
and it's outside of breed normal,

414
00:25:05,640 --> 00:25:08,560
and if the puppy really
is an outlier in that regard,

415
00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:13,160
we have to rule out any kind of
veterinary problem with the puppy.

416
00:25:13,680 --> 00:25:17,880
I didn't mention it
simply because based on the history,

417
00:25:18,400 --> 00:25:21,920
it doesn't jump out as the first thing,
but it goes

418
00:25:21,920 --> 00:25:25,240
without saying,
okay, that you first eliminate

419
00:25:25,680 --> 00:25:30,720
any kind of medical issue
for the behavior problem.

420
00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:34,200
I'm just not convinced
that it's a behavior problem.

421
00:25:34,200 --> 00:25:38,040
So I didn't
mention eliminating physical causes

422
00:25:38,040 --> 00:25:41,160
first, but so noted.

423
00:25:41,160 --> 00:25:43,000
Yes, you're right.

424
00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:47,760
The first thing you have to do is
make sure if there is a behavior problem,

425
00:25:48,040 --> 00:25:54,120
that it's not caused by anything medical.

426
00:25:54,120 --> 00:25:58,360
I want to close this by saying
my heart goes out to this breeder

427
00:25:59,240 --> 00:26:02,160
because it just really stinks

428
00:26:02,160 --> 00:26:06,680
to get a puppy back this way
without even knowing this breeder.

429
00:26:06,680 --> 00:26:08,760
I don't know you. I never met you.

430
00:26:09,080 --> 00:26:11,880
I know you don't need to take this
puppy back right?

431
00:26:11,880 --> 00:26:13,120
I know you're busy.

432
00:26:13,120 --> 00:26:15,120
I know you've got more on your plate

433
00:26:15,120 --> 00:26:17,720
than you can already handle,
and you're getting this puppy back.

434
00:26:18,560 --> 00:26:22,320
But trust me, it is the right thing to do.

435
00:26:22,320 --> 00:26:27,400
Because the only thing worse than getting
a 12 week old puppy back is getting a six

436
00:26:27,400 --> 00:26:30,680
month or a year old puppy back
that actually has been messed up.

437
00:26:31,400 --> 00:26:33,920
So it's the right thing. I'm sorry.

438
00:26:33,920 --> 00:26:34,680
Being a breeder

439
00:26:34,680 --> 00:26:38,280
sometimes feels like you're
running a board and train, unfortunately.

440
00:26:38,280 --> 00:26:41,440
But if it makes you feel any better,
we've all been there.

441
00:26:42,320 --> 00:26:44,360
If you like this podcast,

442
00:26:44,640 --> 00:26:47,240
you'll love our Puppy Culture bundles.

443
00:26:47,520 --> 00:26:52,160
We have bundles for breeders, bundles
for puppy owners, bundles

444
00:26:52,160 --> 00:26:57,560
with courses, bundles for show
puppies, bundles for pet puppies.

445
00:26:58,080 --> 00:27:01,680
Check them all out at puppyculture.com.

446
00:27:02,280 --> 00:27:03,880
Well, that's all for this time.

447
00:27:03,880 --> 00:27:05,360
Thanks for listening.

448
00:27:05,360 --> 00:27:20,200
Bye bye.