Puppy Survival Thread Autumn 2025 - all welcome!

[VanGoSunflowers]

Hello everyone! Won’t tag you all as you know everyone is welcome 😊

Sorry if I came across as bossy/know all/snarky, whatever. It wasn't intentional at all. If I did/do, I apologise.

Hand on heart I think you're doing a great job with Pablo - none of them are ever 100% reliable at that age. Brie is still a work in progress at 20 months, but as I said to you a few days ago, P is at the worst age right now! It will get easier x

@VanGoSunflowers I’m stuck between going to quieter places where M can have a good run around and more busy environments. We have a park- come - woods opposite the house which is so busy with dogs. I go there if I have the energy for it. I’m sure it’s me that is the main problem and not Midge; I am so paranoid about him being a menace that I don’t give him the opportunity to be one.

I much prefer quieter places, but how do I train him to be neutral (ignore other dogs) if I avoid them?! He’s getting more selective now, I was chatting to a lady with a very yappy Jack Russell this morning and Midge completely ignored the dog. An enthusiastic cockerpoo then arrived and M got all excited. It’s the dogs that make play signals that he likes, and people who coo!

@Twiglets1 I don’t think I would be able to have another puppy. It was much better when he stopped ‘attacking’ us and slept, house trained etc, but the first four months with him were hell. He was threatened with Birmingham Dogs Home on many occasions. A seven month old sounds perfect and you will know the history.

@CoubousAndTourmaIet it’s interesting you saying the LGDs switch off if they see something they perceive as a threat. Midge switches off if he smells something interesting. I took the big guns out this morning as a reward- primula cheese spread- but I think he must associate it with worming tablets as he refused it.

Yes @Nella68 we would like to take the 7 month old - saw a photo and she's gorgeous too.

It's up to the organisation where she gets sent - there is no shortage of people who would like to look after her for a few months until she starts training.

So ... watch this space.

In the meantime, I like hearing about how you are all getting on with your pups.

@CoubousAndTourmaIet oh no, you didn’t come across as snarky in the slightest! I’m here to learn so welcome being corrected 🙂

I must admit, it is hitting me more than it has so far about wishing he would calm down a bit 🤦‍♀️

@Idstillratherbepaddleboarding & @Twiglets1 I agree, mine doesn’t like to be left behind. Going in the opposite direction and calling ‘this way’ is one of my moves 😂 it depends on where the dog is/how close/what direction they and we are going in. I think I may overthink it a bit too much 🤦‍♀️

@Nella68 that’s exactly where I am with P! It’s chicken and egg isn’t it? How can I train him to behave how I want him to without putting him in those scenarios? I’m wondering if I am a bit behind on it all. I won’t take him inside a pub or cafe for example, and won’t walk him in really busy places. It doesn’t restrict us in anyway but ideally, I’d like him to come to places with me and trust him to behave but how will he know what ‘behaving’ looks like unless I communicate it to him? I need to start being a bit more ballsy I think and putting us both in those situations more often.

To his credit, today he has walked past several dogs on lead and not reacted, looked at me for a command before choosing to chase a rabbit and walked through busy school pick up crowds nicely so he can do it when he wants to 😂

It's interesting @Nella68 how different dogs have different instincts. I suppose it's being a gundog/retriever that makes a Labradoodle scent obsessed. With the guards it's more about looking for anything out of the ordinary so if they see something in the distance, they're off. It is a nightmare when they get this one track mind thing going and completely blank you.

Your observations about Midge with other dogs are interesting too because I'm finding the same with Brie. She'll walk straight past certain dogs but pull like crazy for others.

I'm with you on the love of quieter places too. We had a nice walk in the wood this afternoon.

Oh good luck @Twiglets1 , I really hope you get the pup to foster! If you are chosen, please let us see her.

Thanks @VanGoSunflowers , I know I'm a bossy old trout at times 😬

Thanks @CoubousAndTourmaIet I will try to upload a photo if we do end up getting her.

You're not bossy x

@CoubousAndTourmaIet definitely not bossy, nor old nor a trout 😘

@VanGoSunflowers have you got a dog friendly cafe near you that you can just pop in to? I’ve been taking M into cafes since he was old enough to go on the floor. He’s usually pretty good about lying down and I toss him treats. I started with short visits and got longer. I can now have a hot drink and a meal.

We’re yet to encounter a rabbit, but I wish M would ask for permission before going after squirrels! I have to have my wits about me as suddenly he’ll lunge and if I haven’t spotted the squirrel I can’t take evasive action. Both of my shoulders have been pulled.

@CoubousAndTourmaIet what’s Brie like with sheep? Does she have an instinctive affinity with them?

Yes, she absolutely loves sheep and I've mentioned it a couple of times on the other thread. There's a small flock of Shetland sheep nearby, that we walk past regularly and two particular ones always come to the gate to bump noses with her. If we walk along the path beside their field they all wander along beside the fence. It's honestly bizarre that they recognise her. She's met Ryelands and Jacobs also, and they all just stand and look at her with no fear at all.
Horses seem to like her a lot too but I have no idea if that's normal - maybe they like all dogs... I really don't know.

@Nella68 yes there are quite a few in my town, some are really nice too. I need to bite the bullet and just take him. I think I’m keeping him away from ‘stimulation’ too much for fear of how he will behave. I will try at some point over the next few days and report back!

@CoubousAndTourmaIet that is unbelievably sweet. It’s like they have an instinctive affinity with one another! For context, when we walked past a load of sheep the other week (they were fenced in thankfully) Pablo was insanely excited and trying to
get through the fence to them and they were not enjoying it and ran away from him! He also likes horses but they don’t seem too fussed by him!

Go for it @VanGoSunflowers

As we were raising a guide dog puppy we had to take Roman to cafes etc from a young age as he needed to be exposed to all sorts of new environments.

Tbh he was a nightmare the first time we took him to a cafe though he was very young, and we walked out feeling embarrassed ( especially as he was wearing his guide dog in training jacket). Could imagine half the cafe thinking he will never make it as a guide dog with those incompetent people!

But the surprising thing was how quickly he became well behaved in cafes, pubs, etc. The more dogs are exposed to new situations the quicker they become at being relaxed about change. You just need a thick skin to not care if they play up at their first visit to a cafe and be prepared to walk out before you’ve even finished your drink if the puppy finds it overwhelming 🤦‍♀️

@VanGoSunflowers a few things I found/ find help with cafés. I try to get a table in a corner or at least by the wall so M is hemmed in a bit. It’s doable if the only table is in the middle but it’s more challenging. If there are other dogs I try and get a table away from them. Putting down his blanket and dropping intermittent treats helps too. As @Twiglets1 says as they are exposed more they will learn to take it in their stride. I would only get a cold drink when M was little so I could make a quick exit.
One mistake I did make was to allow a cafe owner to give him a treat. He now thinks he should get one every time!

@CoubousAndTourmaIet I wonder if it’s the colour or the fluffiness that the sheep feel less fear with. I remember watching a series about Australian muster dog and one of the dogs in training was a white dog. This dog found the sheep far more challenging as the sheep ignored it!

@Twiglets1 & @Nella68 thank you for the tips! Do you think I’ve left it a bit late to train him to be calm in busy places? I took him to loads of busy places before he was 16 weeks but haven’t done all that much since then. That’s probably a daft question as I imagine you can train most dogs at any age to be calm in those places? You are both very right though, I need to expose him to it more often. It would be lovely to think one day I can bring him with me and read a book/drink a coffee and knowing he will be calm. I just can’t imagine it being like that at the moment 😂

@VanGoSunflowers you’ve got to start somewhere! Midge hasn’t quite mastered the art of completely settling but I’m working on it. Going to cafes is an important part of our training!

@VanGoSunflowers no it's not too late.

One thing I did at the beginning was to take something Roman loves to chew like a disgusting pigs ear and give it to him at the beginning so that gave him something to focus on.

As he got older I could just give him occasional treats under the table whenever he seemed a bit bored/restless These little things help dogs to think cafes are good places to be.

It is the colour @Nella68 , most of the livestock guarding breeds are predominantly white, cream or beige. The sheep definitely react differently to white dogs.

Can't remember if I said this before, but some bloke stopped a small truck a couple of weeks ago to shout and tell me that he'd thought I was walking a sheep along the grass verge 😂

I have to admit that I've never taken any of mine anywhere near a cafe. I know it's supposed to be good socialisation, but just never done it. We did take F&A into Pets at Home when they were puppies, but we've never had Brie anywhere near town or any shops. I guess you can only do what you feel comfortable with.

@CoubousAndTourmaIet I've never taken K either. I think she's been to Pets at Home. And maybe into a couple of shops in town.
I did take P a couple of times and she was fine. But that was before her food phobia.

I'm quite relieved that you've said this, because sometimes I worry that I'm the only one not playing it by the DTAS rules of puppy rearing and not doing everything by the book...😬

DTAS has lots of useful stuff but I do tend to pick and choose. For example to me dogs are dogs and I’m not into the whole ‘puppy wearing/ co-sleeping’ stuff. I didn’t do it with the twins, so I’m certainly not doing it with a dog!

That’s funny about walking a sheep!

We all do things differently I'm sure. Doesn't mean what we do is right or wrong. As long as we're happy and the dog is happy, who cares?

I don't follow the rule book to the letter and did some things not supposed to do. I may have let the puppy off the lead sooner than I was supposed to ... have anxieties around having a dog that isn't well socialised due to childhood experiences so tend to go the other way and let them do everything early which isn't exactly in the rule book either.

I've never even heard of DTAS but doubt I ever followed their rules with either dog I've had - did them no harm 😉

Hi all,
Hoping for some advice or mostly reassurance probably!

I have a 5.5-month-old Border Collie boy who is lovely in many ways, but the biting/jumping is really getting to me. I lost my last BC earlier this year and it’s been 14 years since I last had a puppy – I don’t remember this level of land-shark behaviour before.

I know collies are mouthy, but lately he’s started launching at me when he’s excited – jumping up and grabbing arms/legs. I’m enforcing naps, redirecting to toys, and leaving the room when it starts, but after 3 months it doesn’t feel like it’s sinking in. I’m also confused by the mixed advice: do you say “no/ah-ah” or completely ignore and disengage?

He gets two walks a day (30–40 mins each, mix of sniffy off-lead and on-lead). We go to puppy class and do some training – he knows sit, down, stay, drop – but he can get frustrated and then jumps at me during training too.

I got a collie knowing they’re high energy and challenging, with plans to do lots of enriching things together, but at the moment it feels relentless. This morning I was in tears as every time I interact then stand up he’s launching at me.

Is this still within normal puppy behaviour at this age? And does it genuinely get better, or am I missing something obvious? Is this adolescence?

Sorry for the absolute essay! He’s a very sweet boy a lot of the time when he’s not sharking and gives great evening cuddles after about 8pm on the sofa