Puppy Survival Thread for New and Old Pups - here comes winter 2024

[Bupster]

I thought I might as well be the one to start the new thread! Nothing to report but a sleepy puppy over here.

Officially 5 months old today! 🥳

I would go for it if I were you. You could keep practising as you are, or put it into actual practice with the slip lead. It should also make off-lead training easier to do, because slipping it back on is so much quicker than having to fumble for a collar clip. We haven't done off-lead yet and I'm quite nervous but we've just done some off-lead training in the garden and she walked to heel beautifully. Although I'm not kidding myself – it was because I used her absolute favourite HVT – little slices of hot dog! But as you say, everything is a work in progress and those small victories make it all worth it.

Gorgeous! 😍

@DowntonNabby How old is she now? I've had V off since the start but it was so nerve wracking the first few times! I'm glad I braved it though. We only do it on the playing field next to the woods and inside the woods. I tried on the canal but was convinced he was going to try and jump in the water!

That's a good point about it being easier. I usually put his harness on as I can grab the handle at the back, and there were two times I needed to grab him in the woods today and I really struggled with just his collar there. I'm going to do the slip for his short walk tonight and see how we get on 😃

Also we have hot dogs in the fridge so I'm going to try them! I always end up throwing some away as they come in big packs and I only have 1 dd 😄

She's 13 weeks so we do need to try it soon. We live in a city with lots of green space so we need to choose the park where she's less likely to run off and never come back!

Let us know how you get on with the slip lead. The advice is to place it high up beneath their chin and round the back of their ears so if they do pull it's not against the middle of their throat.

Exactly the same as us! We have DD too and never eat the full pack. Our pup absolutely LOVES them. I slice them very finely so a little bit goes a long way.

Ah 13 weeks, I thought she was a bit older for some reason! V was a bit bigger before we could walk him due to his vaccination schedule but not too far off 13 weeks. The first ever time I put him on a longline just in case, so might be worth considering just to give you peace of mind. She will definitely stick by you though because they never want to wander far when they are so small.

At 13 weeks @DowntonNabby they want to stay close to you. It’s much better to let them off the lead while they are still of that mindset than when they hit adolescence and get bolder.

Honestly the worst behaved dog at my local park is an adolescent Labrador whose owner was too scared to let her off the lead while tiny. She’s really crazy now and still on a long lead which gets tangled with other dogs she engages with.

So we tried the slip lead and he was fine on it. I've realised he naturally walks on the right most of the time but I have taught him heel to my left, and he moves when I ask him. But I dont think I like the lead I bought - it's a bit shorter than our normal lead so felt weird and it's really thin so I didn't like how it felt in my hand. Might be worth trying a different one.

He LOVED the hot dog though 😂

That's a good point – we'll try it this weekend when my DP can come with me. Bit nervous to try it alone!

Ha, glad the hot dog went down well! And that he walked fine on the slip lead. If yours doesn't feel right and is too short, you could try the one we have, which is fairly thick – it's this one.

Following with interest regarding training, but as always very much the outsider.

Our biggest issue with Brie was that she had Nobivac 4, so we weren't able to get her out until 13 weeks - that was ridiculous. The next puppy is going out as soon as we get it, and sod the vaccines, because that 5 week period held us back too much with regard to socialisation and training. By the time she was allowed out she was bigger than a fully grown Cocker and already very independent. She might come when you call or she might just go "f**k you" and wander off to investigate something at the far end of the field. Do you risk it? With roads nearby, people, kids? No. Especially not in the current climate with so much big dog hate.

So you could say I was "too scared" to let Brie off at 13 weeks but with a pup that does its own thing rather than shadowing you it is difficult. LGD are already independent minded and inclined to wander off, even as young pups. In the working environment they start them off being around livestock from 5 or 6 weeks. They never are that baby pup that stays close to you. They're free spirits.
They will ignore treats or toys when they do the guard thing; instinct overrides everything - speck in the distance - might be a threat - check it out.

(should possibly mention that her Mum is a working Livestock Protection dog and Dad is a French import also with working lines; it makes a difference, just as in working Cocker compared to show/pet type).

Sorry @PyreneanAubrie if I in any way made you feel like an outsider when you are such an important member of this thread.

I probably was too flippant when I said 13 week old pups want to stay close to you so are fine to let off the lead. What I should have said is needy breeds like Labs want to stay close to you. I was forgetting that some breeds are more independent like your lovely Brie.

God I have the opposite problem, @PyreneanAubrie - I'm very lucky, in one sense, that I did get him off lead early, and my hooligan has decent recall, but sometimes I would like him to do something without being close to me. Even if I give him a chew he brings it to me to hold for him 🙄

Working lines gundog cross - breed instincts too I suppose.

Sorry @Twiglets1 No - it's not you at all, honestly, but I'm very conscious that my dog is odd when it comes to training. And that's what I mean by an outsider. None of you treat me like an outsider, you're all lovely 😊

Sometimes I start to wonder if I'm just going about it all wrong and allowing her too much independence. It's hard to define it; she is very bonded to me but at the same time she is not reliant on me to tell her what to do.

I'm still wondering about getting a one-to-one training session but I think they'll be horrified...😔

Is it nature or nurture, do you think?

We had one with perfect recall. She grew up alongside her half-sister who had no recall at all. They were three months apart. We walked them together, one on-lead, one off-lead. How does that make any sense? We didn't do anything different in the training.

Brie is more like the no-recall girl. A Mensa child. Brie is intelligent but if you walked in and saw her now you'd think young adult dog, not 7 month pup. She behaved like an adult at 5 months but she has dozens of toys and I played with her non-stop all summer. I think they're just not particularly playful, none of them have been. They'll bring the ball once then go pootling off to do their own thing.

As I'm typing this she's just trotted into the kitchen and brought me her purple spiny ball, almost as if she was reading over my shoulder 😂

@PyreneanAubrie I think it sounds like you're doing things perfectly right. Even if it's not the 'proper way' some trainers might expect (who probably don't have an ounce of the experience of the breed compared to you!). You're doing what works for you and Brie and I think that's what's most important.

I have been telling dd about your lovely girl recently and everything I have learnt about livestock guarding breeds from you 😄

I think you had one with the same name as my dd too! Beginning with S.

@Bupster V is exactly the same. He really is the definition of a Velcro dog! I almost trip over him 100 times a day and the fact he insists on eating all his stinky chews pushed right up against me is grim. Dd goes mad when he does it do her but I tell her it's because he loves her and wants to share his cows ear 😂

Thanks @YorkshireFelix You are a sweetheart 😘

I felt hopeless today after a bad walk yesterday where she pulled and did zoomies on the lead. Husband walked her this afternoon to give me a break.

Oh my S girl was very special; perfect recall and just a joy to walk with. She's the one that walked alongside a fox one day!

BTW, it's still my favourite girl name in the whole world!

Oh, I get stinky rawhide chews placed on my lap and chewed, or a spit covered purple ball shoved against my leg. She always shares her toys with me. She loves to be around me at home... but out in the world she is different.

She's just jumped up and put her paws on my shoulders tonight for the very first time. I got my right ear thoroughly washed. I'd say she's about 5 foot tall 😱Our other girls were tiny at this age...

Brie’s just different to the Labs & Spaniels, she’s not any worse & we all think she’s beautiful.

Sometimes I would love a more independent type pup to be raising. The clinginess can get on your nerves sometimes. I think we’re all doing fine on this thread.

I say only get a trainer if you genuinely want to, not because you feel you ought to. I never had a trainer with my old dog and he was fine - eventually! Nothing wrong with a free spirit & if a trainer is going to make you feel insecure, don’t bother. You will know more than most of them anyway about that specific breed.

I have a velcro dog too but assumed it was because he was had reared rather than feed by his mother.

He's been driving me insane today don't know if he's picked up on the really stressful day I was having with work today I didn't get a break one rubbish thing to another ( it is my family business before anyone worries ) or because I didn't take him out a lunch or a bit of both.

My stress levels were very high I was getting palpitations so I suspect that he could smell my raised cortisol levels.

I've not taken him for a walk at lunch before when it's been pouring down he hates the rain 🌧️ not great in dog that lives in Britain 🫣

Seems we've gone backwards with everything toilet training and behaviour.

But he's now sat on my lap like butter wouldn't melt.

@Twiglets1 Thank you 😘

We've never had a one-to-one trainer although three of them went to ringcraft and one went to puppy classes because he was a bit nervy as a youngster.
We somehow seem to have managed to raise problem free dogs - no aggression or excessive barking at least, but sometimes I still feel I should be doing better.
But then in other ways I like them to have spirit and a bit of wildness (provided it's not antisocial) 🤔

Sorry you've had a hard day @Imtheghostofchristmaspast

It always amazes me that dogs pick up on our moods so easily and it has a definite effect on their behaviour. Clearly, yes, we do smell different and I suppose that's how they can apparently detect certain illnesses. One of my girls would sniff my forehead hours before I started a migraine.

I think a lot of dogs hate rain, mine has a pathological hatred of getting her paws wet and she won't go down the garden to wee if it's been raining. She'll just do it on the flags by the gate 🙄

I hope your stress levels are lower tonight and you'll be able to sleep.