New pup advice

pukkamum

Hi all we have recently rehomed a 5mth old border collie.
So far so good, he was rehomed due to his owner starting full time work and she didn't want him left, so she totally did the right thing.
Good points (they do outweigh any worries)
He's already been trained to a certain extent, sit, etc.
He knows not to go on the furniture, he tries his luck but he gets down immediately.
He doesn't steal or beg for food, my youngest is six and often wandering around with food and he never tries to take it, just sits looking at her.
He is totally house trained, no accidents at all.
We had to leave him for quite a few hours on sat and sun due to unforseen circumstance and he was brill, asked the neighbours and he hadn't been barking or anything.
Things I want nipped in the bud.
Mouthing, he still mouths, especially when excited, and will bark and mouth to get attention.
He mainly does it with me, I suspect he may have been a bit naughty with the lady who owned him but not her dad as he is much more respectful with my husband and son.
We have been yelping like a pup when he mouths and it works really well for my husband and youngest daughter but he just tries to round me up when I do it.
When he's out he listens to me so much more, I can bring him to heel, get him to wait etc.
When out on a walk he is very good but will often try and jump up at people we meet and is a bit barky with certain dogs.
We intend to start puppy training classes once he's had his last injection but til then I want to work on him at home.
My main issues are the barking mouthing and jumping up especially with me.
We've both had collies before and had them trained beautifully but they were both raised from tiny pups.

Thank you.:D

pukkamum

P.s forgot my biggest stress, being in the van, we have a campervan and our hope is that he will travel with us.
But he's stressed out by the van, he has been sick whilst travelling, not every time and bless him he waited til he got out before he hurled!
We need to take him for his vaccine on Friday and he will have to go on the van but I worry this will add even more van hatred!

Huskyrunner

mouthing let him do it but the minute he does it too rough walk away from him ie get up go in the kitchen etc after saying a firm no.

re the van is he in a crate in the van??

pukkamum

Not sure yet, we've done it with a harness and he actually sat really well, he just didn't like it .
We do have a crate but he isn't crate trained but ideally in the van he would be.
But don't want to add to stress.

Timpu

Our dog has a PhD in chewing and mouths a lot, which is torture when they have piranha teeth. We've learnt to offer her something other than us to chew, we tend to use a deer antler. This coupled with yelping and a firm 'no' regulates the pain inflicted and she has learnt the limits.

We built up car travel. We literally popped her in the boot, heaped her with endless praise, offered treats, took her out. The next day, she went into the boot, lots of praise, one of us offered treats from the back seat while the other took the drivers seat. A few days later we had upped it to dog in boot, heaps of praise, us in front seats, engine being switched on and letting her get used to the noise plus vibrations. It was a while before we actually drove down the road and back but you get the idea. Now she can see out of the boot, she's not as sickly but that initial experience meant she was much more chilled out.

Helen2k8

Sounds like one of those cases where persistence will pay off...eventually! You're doing everything I'd suggest.

Re the car - a lot like us, many young dogs just get travel sick. So yes, make sure the car/van isn't a scary place with treats and building up time, but you could also offer a mint or a gingery treat to help soothe the tummy Extra strong mints are just sugar, starch, and mint so safe to offer.

Person_one

Only 5 months old and dumped already, poor pup.

mellymoo74

Or previous owners were sensible enough to realise they couldn't give the dog what it needed and found a fantastic new owner.

catkins

When we got our pup at 9 weeks we had a 5 hour journey home. We fully intended stopping quite a few times but, sod's law, it was absolutely pouring down and the traffic was diabolical - stop start all the way.

The journey ended up taking almost 8 hours and poor pup was sick and messed himself.

After that, not surprisingly, he was not keen on the car. We did the same as one of the previous posters which was get him used to it very slowly.

We started by walking round the car letting him sniff it. Then we sat in the car with him but literally only for minutes. We built that up then we sat in the car with him and turned the engine on. Again we built that up slowly. We then drove with him - a really short journey, couple of minutes and gradually built that up.

It did take quite a while but it worked and he is now fine and often just sleeps in the car when we take him out

Person_one

mellymoo74 wrote: »

Or previous owners were sensible enough to realise they couldn't give the dog what it needed and found a fantastic new owner.

It was 5 months old! If you can't look even that far into the future with a reasonable degree of certainty about being able to keep and manage a puppy, just don't get one!

mellymoo74

Never underestimated anything person_one?

Never realised a mistake and done your best to put it right you know by perhaps finding someone better equipped than you to take care of a puppy.

My dogs are both rescues had i realised how bad her separation anxiety is I may not have brought my girl home.
I couldn't know what it was going to be like till we got her back and it's only this year when I have had her for 5 it has got this bad.