New Collie Pup

MildThing84

Hoping somebody can put my mind at ease. I’ve had dogs all my life growing up in my family home. Fast forward 15 years and now I have a family of my own and have recently brought a 12 week old collie pup into the home. As of Thursday just gone, he is free to be walked and venture out after his shots. Up until this point we have experienced the usual puppy behaviour or biting and chewing on anything he can sink his teeth into. Unfortunately this includes our two young children. 9 times out of 10 it’s play turning into over excitement turning into nipping. No aggression meant, I get this with puppies. But occasionally we have experienced nipping that appears to be a little aggressive and has resulted in face and arm nipping which has broken skin like a graze.

We are doing our best to correct this behaviour and use all the usual cues to ensure he knows it is not acceptable but I am concerned. Concerned that a nip to the face may cause serious harm.

We have spoken to the vet but the advice is the same as Google has provided. The dog has endless chew toys, a crate, etc.

He has been out for his first walk or two (afraid of every noise and movement) and two walks yesterday wiped him out but I am on edge now.

I get dogs and I am fully aware of the commitment and the need for exercise, mental stimulation etc but can anybody help calm my overthinking mind on this? Is this normal, should I be concerned? Do I need to consider a dog behaviourist? Help!

Ezeoul

He's only 12 weeks old. You should start bringing him to puppy socialisation and training classes.

It would be great if you could also involve your kids in this training too. They can learn how to play with puppy without him getting over stimulated.

Try to calm your anxiety, or puppy will sense it, and it will in turn, make them more anxious. Don't ever use the puppy's crate as a punishment.

airy fairy

It's no harm to enrol in a puppy training class, at the very least it's somewhere you can talk to others.

Tbh, I've a fear of dogs after an attack when I was young. Got a puppy last year, retriever/Cocker/doodle. A joy, but still puppy bites. I think it's important to step away the moment play gets rough. We did puppy training and socialisation classes and I'd really recommend them. Try enrol asap as these can be over subscribed. Your kids can attend too so they can learn about how to treat a dog, when to give them time out or rest, treats and tricks training too.

The one bit of advice I'll give you is if any person or child asks to pet the dog, warn them that your dog puppy bites. Last thing you need is hassle with an awkward confrontation when it's not an intentional bite.

Slightly Kwackers

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058357762/new-collie-pup

Sounds about right for some pups. It's play, rough and tumble, it's how they practice survival skills. My last collie had his foibles that went on from puppyhood. He would go for my ankles getting into bed. I never tried to break him off, it was fun to launch myself in and try to beat him, a chance to feel how a sheep lives :-)

I wouldn't have parted with him for the world.

I can't understand how you escaped experiencing the wildly differing personalities collies have. Not one is textbook training material. Amazing dogs, I would have no other breed.

tk123

If he’s going hyper and biting he’s over stimulated and over tired. Does he have a pen / crate / somewhere to rest away from everyone? Don’t make the mistake of trying to exhaust him until he drops because you’ll end up with a dog that doesn’t know how to relax. Try and put the time in to teach him how to settle and get him into a routine. I know that will sound mad to some people lol but puppies are babies and need about 20 hours of sleep a day.

volchitsa

To be clear, I'm not blaming the children any more than I would blame the pup, but if they are very active and excited around him, that will also wind him up and maybe lead to more, or more excited/less controlled biting?

As others have said, puppy training classes with the children (they don't both need to be there every time, and it depends on their ages too of course) will really help the children learn how to be around a dog. Certainly that was my experience with my son, who TBF was a young teen at the time, which made regular attendance and following instructions easier than if he'd been 5 or 6. But if they are too young to be able to listen for that length of time themselves, then occasional attendance would probably be enough and you could then have them practising at home what's been learned at puppy class. Maybe have you and your partner there at the start, and then one of you leave with the children when it starts to get too long for them, and the other one finish the class with the pup? Or maybe the children could take turns attending, and then each show the other what they need to practise for that week - or the elder teach the younger, if that's more appropriate.

Also, just to reassure you about the force of the bites, I was told that a 3 month old lab puppy has enough strength in his bite to crush an adult human's fingers - so what may seem to you like a lack of bite inhibition from the pup is still very, very minor compared to what he could do if he was actually being aggressive.

(I'm not entirely sure that will reassure you, TBH, as it's a terrifying thought! But what I mean is that he is still displaying fairly good bite inhibition, it's just that human skin is so fragile compared to his siblings' fur.)

Slightly Kwackers

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122324646#Comment_122324646

You need to ensure your collie is always topped up to the brim!

No room for kids in this one.

I know!

I'm upping the walks and cutting the treats.

SuperBowserWorld

Beautiful dogs. Lots of positive reinforcement and turn your back/walk away/don't engage with the bad behaviour. The kids will have to be trained too. Definitely take kids to training as they will probably listen and obey the dog trainer more than you.

Ezeoul

Is your pup a border collie? I often think they need more than average exercise and stimulation.

We had rough collies at home when I was growing up, they have so much energy, and are so intelligent.

Our boy used to take off like the wind as soon as he was let off lead. He'd do several laps of the fields where we took him for exercise, it was a sight to see him running free.

Once he got that out of his system, he was grand for the rest of the day!

MildThing84

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122325231#Comment_122325231

Cheers all for the comments.

He is a Wicklow Collie. Is this much of a difference really? Slightly shorter hair i guess.

Ezeoul

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122325469#Comment_122325469

No, not really, most collies share a lot of the same traits. Energy, intelligence and a bounce in their step!

Border and wicklow collies are more typical of the working breed "sheepdogs" and are usually mostly black and white.

Ours were rough collies, "lassies". The one on the left was a big male, the one on the right, a smaller female.

SuperBowserWorld

Collies are amazing dogs if they are well trained. Anyone who wants to become super fit - get out of the car, give up the drink, and get a collie.

Ezeoul

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122325799#Comment_122325799

We brought our big fella to puppy training classes from when he was a pup, and he did brilliantly. He understood every word we said. And once he got over the puppy stage, he was the calmest, most chilled out dog.

The smaller lady we adopted when she was approx age 8. She was used as a breeder in a puppy mill and we don't know if she was ever trained, but she learned very quickly when shown kindness.