This morning my husband caught a stray puppy at his work. They had been trying to catch him for a few days. I picked him up and we went directly to the vet.

He is scared and is growling and biting. I bought a small mesh muzzle so I can handle him for necessities while we try to get him past this, if we can. He is in a big crate now, but I will soon have to get him out to potty. I have been wearing a heavy coat and gloves.

When we bathed him today for fleas and ticks(he was covered) at one point he got on my lap when he was afraid, and he also sometimes wags his tail when he sees me.

We aren't keeping him, but want to see if we can socialize him some before trying to find a home, or getting him in the no kill shelter. If he would go there now, they would euthanize him for being aggressive I am sure.

The vet estimated him at 10-12 weeks, and he is 15 pounds.

If someone could point me in the right direction of an article, DVD maybe that I already have, or even other forum posts that deal with fear aggression? In puppies, that would be great.

The vet also said it was possible he could have the beginning stages of rabies, making him aggressive, but it is obvious he is scared, so we are taking precautions on getting bit or scratched of course, but I am not expecting him to be rabid. Julie

Julie, does he still try to bite you, too, or only others?

Really, this is more of a bump so the puppy experts see this.

Over the course of my interactions with him today, he has gotten a lot better, but aside from vet he has not been around anyone else, except when he was caught this morning.

Tomorrow I will have the opportunity for him to Intertact with my husband.

I think from his improvement today that he will be ok with me, but I really want him to understand that is unacceptable before he leaves for a new home. Play biting is one thing, but I want to make sure I handle this correctly.

After going out to potty tonight, he was so good I set down and he fell asleep laid up across my chest. He won't walk himself, though. He is on a light longline do he doesn't bolt, and he just pees and then sits down and waits.

It would be great if we could save all strays but aggression at 10-12 weeks would make me drop the pup off at animal control. I'll forgive a little fear based aggression when it's been chased after but not when it's been fed and left to chill for a bit. There's so many nice fairly socialized puppies looking for homes I wouldn't spend my time on one that isn't.

Sorry, but I used to work at a humane society and saw the flood of dogs coming in day after day after day.

This is exactly what has happened with me. After being captured, vetted, bathed, and settled in, he hasn't growled once. BUT, he has not been exposed to anyone else as of yet. I would like to know what to do if he does.

We have NO intention of putting a problem off on animal control if he turns out to be aggressive. That has already been discussed with the vet. When I put him in the truck, he became my responsibility, and if he does not have a temperament that will get him adopted, WE will have him put to sleep at the vet, not put through the stresses of going to animal control and the pound.

Good on you and your husband for picking this baby up Julie.

I really hope you can help him work through whatever has scared the poor little chap, for a wee one to be torn away from his sibs and his mother, for whatever reason, he must be terrified and traumatised, I guess it’s only natural he is going to be defensive and untrusting of anyone, god alone knows what happened to him before you managed to rescue him.

Breaks my heart thinking about it, keep us posted won’t you?

And thank you again for helping him.

Thanks. He met my husband today with a wagging tail.

This is kinda what I was hoping (but I'm not a puppy expert) .... of course there's no certainty yet, but I was hoping that it was a short-lived panic after his traumatic experience.

Fingers crossed, Julie... please keep us posted.

From a shelter/rescue background, I too know how many zillions of dogs there are who need new homes and are not fear-aggressive. Even though I work with fearful/reactive dogs, there is a point beyond which I know, as hard as it is, that my efforts need to go elsewhere and help many more dogs in the same investment of time.

Yes, we committed to a dog who the vet told us had an organic neurological disorder. She was 4 months old. It has been a long 12 years, and not an experience I wish to even remotely repeat. We still have her. I believe she will live forever.

Sounds like temporary trauma at this point. A lot of dogs are wimps, plus the fear stages pups go through x being lost and pursued.