Border terrier puppy advice

[gypsysmum2]

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Stick at it!

You are doing an amazing job. If you only knew how many people do no research and ask no questions and still manage to muddle through (well most of the time!)

 

[BazBaz]

Just had another interesting situation with her I let her out of the crate after a nap and because she was taking her time, I lay down on my back on the floor.

As soon as I did that, she came out of her crate and started sniffing me and then started to growl and bark. Does she think I'm dead? Does she think I want to play?

Couldn't find anything when I googled this, so just wondering if anyone else has experienced this.

It's really nothing I worry about, because I rarely ever do this, just thought it was interesting :lol:

 

[JoanneF]

Probably she was unsure and confused. My dog (6 years old) displays similar behaviour if he is unsure and a little nervous.

 

[gypsysmum2]

Yes, I agree with Joanne. Any kind of "different" behaviour can make them anxious. It is why socialisation is so important. They need to see people doing all the things that people do. Children, in particular, can seem like aliens to a dog that has not seen many. The move much more quickly, fall over, make funny noises.

My rescue dog was poorly socialised and he is still worried by "novel" items and situations in his life

 

[BazBaz]

Yeah, we're trying to socialise her as best as we can. Had lots of visitors, went to meet another dog (a huge golden retriever), met the vacuum cleaner and met neighbours and their children (very briefly outside). That all went well, so fingers crossed that she'll get enough socialisation.

We're planning to visit a puppy class and bring her to boarding once a week or so, so that she meets other dogs and experiences other environments.

Taking her to other places (cafe, pub, restaurant, city) will have to wait a bit still, because she isn't great on the lead yet. She just tries to go where her nose leads her and doesn't really care about us when we're out on a walk.

 

[JoanneF]

If she isn't great on the lead (don't worry, it takes time) have you tried a lead attached to a harness? There is less risk of damage to her trachea and a harness should always be used if you are using a long line or flexi lead because the dog can get stopped suddenly when it doesn't realise it's reaching the limit of the line.

 

[BazBaz]

We're planning to get a harness for her once she's closer to her final size. Just now we're not trying to dictate where she goes by restricting her reach, but we rather try to make being close to use interesting. This isn't working too well yet, but hopefully we'll get there.

 

[Kate75]

The biting got a whole lot worse with Holly (GSD) around the 10 - 12 week mark and then she got a lot better. We persevered with the ouch and ignore technique and because of her size i would turn my back on her too. Around the 14 week mark we suddenly realised that we could walk across the room or garden without a pup attached to our feet! Now she's six months and has more or less stopped. She'll try and mouth but its more like she's trying to hold our hand rather than play bite, it tends to be when she jumps up to greet us so we still do the folding arms and ignoring thing and she tends to just sit down now straight away.

We've had a few harnesses as Holly has grown as she hated the lead attached to her collar from the start. Most harnesses can be easily adapted to fit as the pups grow. The harness she has now is brilliant because its got a clip on the back and chest. The chest clip stops her pulling and I tend to use it when we are out and likely to meet lots of people.

Enjoy your pup it goes by so fast! I think I've spent the first few months worrying about everything and anything and most things are just stages that pass as quickly as they start!