Puppy Survival Thread Autumn 2025 - all welcome!

[VanGoSunflowers]

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

@FromBarktoShark86 have all his big teeth come through yet? I think being a landshark is completely normal puppy behaviour until they have all their adult teeth and then it should gradually subside.

Having a puppy is so hard but we tend to forget after a few years. Look at old photos and think what a lovely boy/girl he was ... forgetting the awful puppy stage where your hands and arms and ankles can be covered in bites and scratches.

The advice is always mixed but they grow out of the biting whatever you do, in my experience. With our first dog we used to say "ouch!" (with any mouthing even if it didn't hurt) and he would stop and look at us all surprised ... until the next time. Our second dog we got different advice and just ignored the bad behaviour. I wouldn't say either technique worked perfectly but you could try both and see if either one works better for your dog.

Thanks for your response @Twiglets1 ! That does make me feel better.

I think he may have a few more to go, he’s due his next vet visit soon to check/get weighed, etc. I think some days it’s hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel but I know I’ve had an adult dog and know they do grow out of it. I think it’s more noticeable as he’s got a lot bigger recently as well … he’s going to be on the bigger side for a collie and obviously I don’t want him being jumpy and mouthy as a full sized lad. I’m praising 4 paws on the floor as much as I can.

I’ve tried both ignoring and saying a calm “no” and neither seem to have any impact he just seems to bloody love having a good go at my arms and legs 😂. I’m hoping in a month or so I’ll be through the woods on this behaviour (then on to whatever adolescence has in store for me)

Sounds a tough time @FromBarktoShark86

My friend's Lab was very bitey and she used to have soft toys all over the house and would direct him to pick up a soft toy instead of grabbing people's hands. In the end he would grab a soft toy whenever he got excited to help with his own self control - was cute to see that actually, but it didn't happen immediately.

She still has to take a rubber toy on every walk for him to hold in his mouth, it calms him down somehow.

If calmness doesn't work maybe try showing he is hurting you with a sharp No or a cry of pain? That worked a bit on our pup 20 years ago but not so much the more recent one ....

I don't think they realise it is bad behaviour they think they are just playing like with other pups but that's not much consolation when you're the target, I know!

@FromBarktoShark86 It's absolutely normal. Lots of puppies also lunge and snarl when they 'bite' (teeth) at this stage which makes me quite uncomfortable to receive. It does get better, but they are horrible at this age.

I just disengage (turn around, walk off) or say 'no' then walk away if mine bite. But years of experience with my breed has taught me that yelping when a Golden teeths at you just makes them more manic. They're quite a sensitive breed, so they really learn best by being ignored when they're naughty because all they want is to be loved. Different breeds do really respond to different things - although I think a few gundog owners on here have found yelping/speaking makes it worse!

I give this advice to every dog owner (don't I @VanGoSunflowers ...) but if he is having manic moments that don't stop, you can absolutely give him a giant toy to just destroy (or hump as lots of dogs will hump in excitement when they're puppies). Obviously watch him and make sure he doesn't eat anything, but at this age their real problem is they have too much energy and no real outlet because they are so young. I know the advice is 'correct and train' and not to let them do A-Z of various things, but sometimes a good giant toy for them to relieve their frustration on is just the thing. My second youngest is three and still humps his giant elephant when he's having a manic moment - better than than the zoomies.

I may be talking out of my arse, but I believe if you raise a happy, confident pup then they can cope with new situations/experiences as they arise. I've just exposed them to every day stuff.
Years ago someone wrote a list of things you had to do and people were going mad trying to tick everything off three times. Hi viz vests. People in hard hats. Bus journeys. Umbrellas. It was bloody endless!
K hasn't experienced any of that stuff, but she takes everything in her stride. When she was about 7 months old, I left her with a total stranger and her three dogs for two days. She wasn't phased one bit. I don't think she even missed me. Little traitor!
(Nb: Stranger to her. I've known the person for 16 years.)

That's the sort of stuff I mean @SpanielsGalore endless bloody rules. Every dog is so different anyway; some are pretty bomb proof from the start, others are more anxious. We've taken everything far slower with Brie than we did with Algy. She's just as bright but much more cautious, so everything took longer with her and needed a calmer, gentler approach.

We don't co-sleep either @Nella68 but they are free range downstairs from the start. It's a nocturnal breed and they tend to move around a lot during the night.

In agreement with you about the yelp for biting @TheHungryHungryLandsharks , Brie thought it was play when we did a dog noise and it definitely made things worse.

I sympathise @FromBarktoShark86 , I had a particularly bitey pup this time around and I still bear the scars. I spent the whole summer last year in long sleeved tops and tall riding boots because of her boisterous play. She continued jumping up and mouthing at us for far longer than any of our previous puppies had, her lead biting habit also had me in despair. So yes, it is normal. Some pups stop biting almost as soon as they finish teething but others continue mouthing for 12-18 months, it just gradually tails off. It is very hard when you feel as if they're fighting you all the time, I know, but it does get easier, I promise you.

I definitely think the ‘taking them to cafes’ thing is a personal choice and a pretty neutral one at that. Probably all depends on the type of lifestyle you have/what you want to be able to do with your dog. I don’t think it hurts them one bit to not go, but nor would it to take them (unless they’re particularly nervous of course) I would never want to take Pablo shopping with me, for example. Nor to anywhere super busy as I’m not a fan either. But I do like the thought of bringing him to the pub with me if I go for a drink with friends for example. It’ll get me out of the house more 😂

I may be talking out of my arse but I didn’t follow the DTAS stuff to the letter, either. From what I could gather, a lot of the principles are based on attachment theory which is just a theory and is an old study on child rearing from the 1950s. I do believe that largely, early experiences do shape children to a degree and probably logically animals, but innate personality traits do make a big difference too and I think sometimes it can cause people to worry if they put one foot wrong. I know this because I tried to follow it to the letter with my DS and put a huge amount of pressure on myself to do it ‘perfectly’! I haven’t done things ‘perfectly’ with either my child or my dog but I do know they both love me and trust me so I’m comfortable with that 😂

@FromBarktoShark86 I have a lab and I agree with @TheHungryHungryLandsharks about both yelping making it worse and getting a giant stuffed toy for them to hump! With mine, I had like a hierarchy of warnings - first time I disengaged/ignored. If he persisted, a firm ‘no’ and last was to put him in doggy prison (the kitchen with a baby gate over it) to cut his access off to me for a short while. This did the trick and maybe taught him ‘no’ is a last warning? I also used to have some treats on me, start playing with him and say ‘no’ if he bit me, pull away, go straight back to playing and praise and reward if he didn’t bite me. He also had a selection of stuffed toys and others - as @Twiglets1 said about her friend’s lab, mine now goes to one of ‘his’ things to self soothe if he is over excited. The biting does improve hugely!

@FromBarktoShark86 It does get better. My dog was very bitey when he was that age, particularly with my son. He’s a teenager so spends a lot of time in his room. I think he was a novelty. The advice from the trainer was to take him by the collar (dog not son) and lead him to the downstairs toilet and shut the door for a few seconds. The dog didn’t like being out of the action so it didn’t take long for him to stop the attacks on my son.
He was still a menace with me on walks and I think it was when he was overstimulated and didn’t know what to do with himself. It was always worse if he had been rushed by an off lead dog. I spent quite a few walks in tears because it was bloody painful. One occasion I could have quite easily have left him in the park. He’s so much better now (nearly 2) but I still carry a tug toy in my pocket just in case he gets that look of crazy in his eyes so I can shove it in his mouth,

I have let all of my puppies off lead from their first walk. I have let P and K greet every off lead dog we have met. (I did ask if the dogs were alright with puppies first.) And when K hit adolescence and started ignoring recall, I still let her off lead and used 'this way' instead. P was never naughty. 😇
K is 14 months old now and I don't think she's turned out too bad. 💖

I'm not a member of DTAS, so I don't know what their puppy rearing advice is.

I haven't looked at DTAS, I'm not on facebook. I wasn't dissing them specifically; their advice may be sound. I only mentioned it because it crops up on so many puppy training threads here and I felt that everyone was a follower. Clearly not, it seems that plenty of us are just doing our own thing.

Rebels til the last @CoubousAndTourmaIet 😉

Well I hadn't even heard of it until I googled it today.

Duplicate post.

Actually @SpanielsGalore I think it was you that gave me the advice to let Pablo off the lead from his first walk and that he’d never wander too far at that age and you were absolutely right. I spent so much time trying to avoid tripping over him on those early walks 😂

Yes. They're annoying little buggers. 😂

@Nella68 @Twiglets1 @CoubousAndTourmaIet @VanGoSunflowers @TheHungryHungryLandsharks Thank you all so much for your responses, it’s very reassuring! I think today it was just feeling especially relentless but I can see he is starting to get things like going to a toy to self soothe in between the chaos. I just need to persevere, I can tell he’s going to be a great dog as other than that he’s a big softy and he’s nice and confident for a typically sensitive breed.

I think you read things online about “if they rehearse a behaviour too much it becomes a habit” and then start panicking they’ll be like this forever. I think YouTube and instagram advice have a lot to answer for with their fear mongering.

i’ll take that advice @TheHungryHungryLandsharks and @VanGoSunflowers and get him something stuffed then! At the moment he seems to go ‘at it’ with his bed so he may well need that outlet. Doggy prison is also in use here, I go behind a baby gate.

@Twiglets1 unfortunately the yelping also seems to rile him up unless I hit a very specific pitch. I’m ashamed to say I may have told him to f off when mid attack earlier. I am not proud! And unsurprisingly it didn't
work.

@FromBarktoShark86 the yelp only works on some dogs not others. Like I said earlier it did work when I used it on my first Lab but he was an exceptionally gentle soul anyway. Even he bit my poor son relentlessly in the first few months- I’m sure he thought my son was like another puppy & they were play fighting!

Don’t feel too bad about losing your temper verbally. We’ve all done it or at least I have. We try hard to remain calm but we’re only human. I told my last puppy to F off once and my husband was shocked as he walked in from work saying aw he’s only a baby. Baby shark!

@FromBarktoShark86 @Twiglets1 yep, I have told my puppy to fuck off before as well 🙃

Haha one flash of anger does them no harm bless them. Not when they also get lots of cuddles each day & know that we love them.

Me too believe it or not. I regularly inform Brie that she's a little fucker. I called her a "big fat bugger" yesterday and my DP got really upset at me for it 😆She's not fat she's big boned.

😂

The guide dog organisation kept telling us Roman was a bit too heavy so I took to calling him Fatty. He didn’t mind at all.

I kept referring to Pablo as Rat Breath after his adventures the other day 😂

Haha we’re all awful but the dogs are too 😂

I think in the early days when his lead walking was atrocious, saying to him in a sing song voice “are you going to stop being a little dickhead?” Was a healthy outlet 😂

Whatever it takes to keep sane during the early months and not send them for rehoming has to be a positive thing.