# Pup screams like he's being killed



## nainai0585 (Jan 30, 2010)

My 4 month old (soon to be 5 months) JRT screams as if someone is killing him whenever he is caught doing something wrong and you go to pick him up. Here's my example:

Yesterday I didn't react quick enough to the cues my pup was giving me that he needed to go to the washroom (I did just walk in the door with my 4 yr old son and our 2 yr old JRT, my brother was supposedly "watching" the pup). Within 5 minutes of walking in the door, I look to see the pup squatting and peeing by the door. I immediately slapped my hands together and firmly said no. The pup bee lined it for his kennel and began screaming bloody murder when I went to pick him up out of the kennel and take him outside to finish peeing. I did end up bringing my 2 yr old JRT outside as well and used "go pee" cue for her and the pup did follow suite after a little while (about 20 mins of standing outside waiting for him to finish).

Anyone else have a screamer like this? He's done this since we got him at 12 weeks, the neighbours must think we beat this dog senseless when he screams, and all we're doing is picking him up to take him outside. FYI we can pick him up any other time with absolutely no issues. Its only when we catch him peeing or pooping in the house (first time in a month, but was 'human' negligence and had nothing to do with the pup).


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## wvasko (Dec 15, 2007)

Ok, The fact that pup screams only when an accident occurs says that somehow somewhere pup has had traumatic experience. You say the pup has done this since you brought pup home at 12 weeks of age. This would eliminate your family, are you absolutely sure that there was not a possible way the son or brother could not have had time alone with pup very early in pup's stay with you guys. This sounds like "the grab pup by back of neck and shake him" routines that some owners have used to chastise pups when accidents happen. I'm just' sayin....

If not, then for sure somebody else made a mistake. Who had the pup before you got him. I now would have him dragging a thin nylon lead so in future when accidents occur you can just grab lead and take him out with *no more than a light verbal aversive used on pup. * Remember this is only a guesstimate and not to be written in stone.


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## RedyreRottweilers (Dec 17, 2006)

Many many dogs are very uncomfortable with anyone reaching inside a crate to get them. Unless a dog has been carefully habituated to this, it can overwhelm them, or it can get you threatened or even bitten by some dogs.

I would keep the crate door CLOSED unless you mean to put him inside there.

As Wvasko says, letting him drag a very light line while you are supervising him in the house can help. Hurrying towards very submissive dogs can also cause them to be overwhelmed.

You can also help by focusing on rewarding him for outdoor elimination.


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## infiniti (Mar 19, 2010)

I agree with the above, and he's obviously being freaked out by the loudly clapping hands and the sharp "NO!". Switch that up to no clapping hands and simply saying "ah ah" in a normal tone of voice, or slightly up-pitched. No sudden movements toward him to scare him or anything, then take him outside to finish his pottying, with immediate rewards and praise for eliminating outside.

Jack Russells are kind of high strung anyway, and somewhere this pup got mishandled or something so that he is fearful of retribution. He needs to learn to trust so he can chill out and realize he's not going to be beaten to death!


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## zimandtakandgrrandmimi (May 8, 2008)

i had a foster dog who screamed like that.

with her it was not abuse...she had colonic intussusception which is a rare life threatening condition that needs to be addressed immediately by a veterinarian


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## wvasko (Dec 15, 2007)

> with her it was not abuse...she had colonic intussusception which is a rare life threatening condition


I scream like that sometimes when my wife give me the "Look" maybe I also have whatever that is above stuff.


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## zimandtakandgrrandmimi (May 8, 2008)

wvasko said:


> I scream like that sometimes when my wife give me the "Look" maybe I also have whatever that is above stuff.


its where a section of the colon folds in upon itself and the tissue dies. it can be sometimes corrected with surgery and is usually indicative of a bigger problem with the gastrointestinal tract.


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## nainai0585 (Jan 30, 2010)

B/c we already have a JRT that we had since she was 3 months, I knew very early on NEVER to leave child and dog alone at any time. The pup was very closely watched (and still is) when he arrived in our home and I am the main care giver for both dogs, so I know that no one has laid an abusive hand on him. Though I have had to correct and actually kick out my sister from my living room b/c of how she was approaching him (arms outstretched like she's coming in for a huge hug and looming over him). 
When we where first looking at him to purchase him, he was hiding in a corner and very intimidated by everything going on around him, so who knows what's happened to him as a pup.


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## zimandtakandgrrandmimi (May 8, 2008)

you might want to take him to the vet. its probably not what was wrong with my foster, but its possible its something to do with his body function. and if it is what my foster had...you wanna get it addressed asap.


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## JessRU09 (Aug 25, 2008)

nainai0585 said:


> When we where first looking at him to purchase him, he was hiding in a corner and very intimidated by everything going on around him, so who knows what's happened to him as a pup.


It sounds like you got him from a pet store, and they probably got him from a puppy mill. My parents got a Rat Terrier from a mall, and we're pretty sure he was from a mill. He had severe anxiety issues and was very difficult around anyone but my mother. I couldn't even walk him -- he wouldn't leave our property without my mom.

It's hard to say what kind of hell-hole this pup may have been exposed to before you got him. It's also possible he was taken away from his mother too soon and not properly socialized. 

Everyone thus far has offered great advice. I'd also try to make the reward for going potty outside something really great -- a treat he REALLY enjoys. Hopefully he won't have to scream in terror if he's no longer eliminating in the house.


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## Camillea (Jun 17, 2010)

Willow did this from about day two when I brought her home until a few days ago (short lived for me thank god). As wvasko suggested I'm pretty sure she (my puppy) had a traumatic experience with either a person or another dog -- she has a scar on her belly that very highly suggests this is the case (as well as is a possible cause of a hernia she recently had an emergency operation on). She still screams just when she wants to be a brat, but the fearful screaming seems to be gone. I've broken her of it like so:

Hold her: My vet's recommended me not doing this because as she puts it a 15 pound puppy becomes a 50 pound dog that wants to be held...well...too bad. I hold her, I pet her, I love her, I coo to her, and she's began to learn that people do not hurt they're fun and loving and they're fun to bite like your old litter mates (something I have to work on with her (9.9) but...that's a different issue entirely and we're working on it together with the key word "leave").

Secondly stop scolding. Yeah this sounds terrible probably and people are going to disagree. Also pre-Willow I was a scolder, but the darn dog was smarter than me and so in quick time I had to figure something out; thankfully I’m more stubborn than her.

Here's what Willow taught me (no joke either she taught me, not the other way around):

Don't scold for pottying in the wrong place. Seriously not even when you catch her (him for you =P but this is what mine taught me and yours may train you to train him differently) in-the-act. I tried scolding for bad pottying that I caught in the act, it not me no where except for a puppy that either feared me to no end, started screaming (bloody murder just like you said...except try it in a 1 bedroom apartment with shared wall...I need to make my neighbors some really good cupcakes or something in a few weeks) or sat there and started barking at me because she was going to show me that her teeth are sharper than my growl and she does not like the word "no". 

I decided to go a different approach and it worked lovely. The approach being I'd try to anticipate when she has to go. She always has to go (read this on the inter webs and it's true stuff here) about 3 minutes after she wakes up from a long nap, about 2 hours after she eats, 5 minutes after she drinks, about a minute after a really good play, and about 3 minutes right after you get home -- because she's happy to see you. During those times I'd take her to the potty spot, tell her potty if she did, she got a snack. If I caught her in the act, I very calmly (no anger or frustration no matter how much you want to be, you just can't have it, it makes them scared of you and you don't want that) walked over to her, scooped her up, took her where I wanted her and told her to potty. If she pottied she got a treat. If she didn't (because it was already all over my carpet or clothes from when I scooped her up) then she didn't get a treat and treat or no treat we happily end it on a pet and walk inside together. I’d be then a grown up girl suck it up and quietly and without any expressed frustration towards the pup, clean up her mess. 

She learned that potty spot is a good place where treats happen and even when they don't she still gets a pet. So now, like, she goes to the potty spot on her own and I tell her "good girl" and if I can I very slowly very calmly walk out and give her a pet and sometimes a treat too...if not, she's still okay with it. How you walk is super important though calm, relaxed, slow motions don’t spook them. I’m a big-time Type-A personality, but you’d be surprised how easy it is to just mosey around the dog even if it takes a bit of effort. 

During those "anticipated moments" too I still I take her out and sometimes she potties and sometimes she doesn't...embarrassingly though she's learned to associate the word 'potty' enough that >.> when she doesn't have to go she still squats down and tries...I kinda feel bad for telling her to go during these moments...but she's good pup for giving it a go when she's not needing to so she still gets a pet.

So potty wasn't the only place Willow had her screaming fits. She also liked to scream when I'd tell her she couldn’t chew the computer cords or couldn't shimmy herself behind the book cases, or couldn't jump on the couch (because she's not allowed right now). For places I wanted her to avoid...I've decided I can someday repurchase my decorative pillows and they have recently became barricades of bookcases. For the computer cords, shaker cans have become friends, and for the jumping a squirt bottle worked better than "no". With these things she's doesn't associate me scolding her as scolding her (I'm the fun one and her friend) instead she associate people = good but "the god of dogs" making the big loud noise of pennies in a can being shaken is no fun, and water falling from the sky on her head is no good. 

Every dogs different and I think you have to work to figure out what will work with your specific dog best. Your dog apparently is scared of 'no' and of being scolded. So teach him better things like "leave" (walk away from what ever you're doing and go somewhere else), "out" (drop whatever is in your mouth right this second puppy dog), "give it" (I'm taking that out of your mouth and you're gonna let me buddy), "quiet" (shoosh up you're being a loud annoying pesky mutt and I don't like it), "relax" (you're acting like a high strung buffoon, sit here and chew this toy), etc. the list goes on and on and on. In the end he'll stop associating you or your family with scolding and instead you'll be conditioning him to do exactly what you want when you need him to do it and the only time you'll need to use a real growling "NO" is when it's totally called for and necessary and it'll have real meaning to him.


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## Robrowe (Jan 25, 2010)

No Scolding for accidents!
This will only lead to puppy thinking its worng to go in front of you and eventually you wont be able to be around puppy when it needs to eliminate and for accidents in the house you wont know about it until it ferments awhile and start wondering what that awful smell is and you go pull out your sofa and find they have been going there because they are afraid to go in front of you. They dont understand that they are going in the wrong place but pervceive it as going is bad.


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## JiveDadson (Feb 22, 2010)

As others have said, scolding or frightening the dog is a big no-no. That will make the dog afraid to eliminate in your presence, inside or out. The dog will not associate the reprimand with the scene of the crime, only the act itself.

What you want to do when you see an accident in progress is to hustle the dog outside and (ideally after he finishes his business in the outdoors), treat and praise him lavishly. Keep high value treats at the ready where you can grab them on the way out. No dawdling to put on shoes or whatever. You must move the dog outside, gently but immediately. What you are trying to do is "capture" a behavior you want to reinforce - namely going potty outside.

When I had this problem with a young adult rescue dog (the gray one pictured below), I waited him out. It took a long weekend, but it got the job done. I simply set up shop in the back yard with a book to read (for me, not the dog). I watched the dog surreptitiously, because he did not want to go when a human might catch him. After he could hold it no longer, I waited until he was finished, then immediately started shoveling bits of frankfurter to him. He was very scared to approach at first, so I tossed treats. On the second day, I added a cue, "Go poo-poo" and said it when he started going. It was not long before I could say, "Go poo-poo," and if he had it in him, so to speak, he would run to the rest area and immediately earn his reward and come running back excitedly with his tail wagging.


You also need to condition the dog to welcome being picked up. Kikopup has an instructive video using clicker-training. Given how terrified the dog is of being picked up, it could take quite a while. Be patient and go slowly.

You can condition the dog to like being interrupted also. Decide on an interrupt-cue. The word "No," and hand-clapping are probably "poisoned" cues at this point, so choose a new one, like "Look!" Train the dog to stop whatever it's doing and look at you on that cue. "Clicker training" is ideal for that.


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