Hi guys, I've got Shana (my ASD puppy) at 7 weeks and had her for 1 week now and I have got to say it is quite a challenge. I would like some tips and insights so that I can adjust my expectations accordingly. 1) Walking is great for releasing pent up energy, I've socialized her with a lot of vehicles, people, dogs, objects etc. However she is still a little nervous, wants to rush back home, sits down maybe 50 times in a 600 meter walk. I have to be very patient with her and I constantly praise when she gets up and moves again. Can any of you tell me when the walking will become a little more walking and less sitting/complaining and running back home? 2) In the house she can really go crazy sometimes. I'd call it fanatically playfull, she'll be extremely present and mischievious. I've already taught her biting inhibition, but she loves socks and slippers and shoes. So walking is not an easy thing around here. BTW, she has many fun toys but she's rather bite feet or play with me. The only thing that really works is to put her in a bench to cool down or to walk her enough to never get that energized. What are your experiences. Any tips in curbing this behaviour? At what age did it become less intense for you? 3) Can someone walk me through the puppy weeks from 7 - 20. What can I expect? I've worked extremely hard the last week and with good results. But I am lacking perspective of the future. I am hoping that things will get a little better with time. Can someone walk me through some incremental expectations? Thx for your time!
Hello Ben and welcome to you and Shana to Breedia from Tikva and me Tbh I think you are expecting too much of Shana in such a short time. She is still a baby and has only just left her littermates and the only home she has known, so everything - you, your home, her new environment etc are very new to her, and it will take her a while to get used to all the new things in her life. Trying to socialise her with so many new things will only confuse her - has she even had her first set of puppy inoculations yet? I also think that she is far too young to be taken for too many walks - the recommended amount of time for walking is five minutes per month of age, up to twice a day, until the puppy is fully grown, so at just coming up to two months old Shana should only be taken for two ten-minute walks a day. Free play in a garden or yard should be OK, but no longer than the five minutes per month of age actual street walking. Have patience with her and accept that she is still very much a baby. Believe me she will grown up and then at times you will find yourself missing that baby stage when she relies on you for everything. Oh, and please do post some pictures of Shana!
Here are some photo's of Shana. I will take the recommendations to heart and take her on 5-10 min walks twice a day. She has had her first inocculation and the second is coming on november 21. But the 6-12 weeks socialisation phase is important so I will steadily introduce her to new things and not wait for all inocculations. It is not going to be a farm dog, she needs to see things in time. Not at 4-5 months old. Please understand that I try to introduce her to 1-2 new things a day. So it's not like I have introduced her to 15 things on day 1. She is responding well to the socialisation and remembers everything and is not scared of those things anymore.
Mental activity will tire her out more than walking, practice various, short fun training sessions throughout the day, playing games teaching tricks ect: It’s also important with young puppies that you enforce timeouts for them to sleep/rest, rather than allowing them to become overtired. As for mouthing, I have always found that it does taper off after they get their adult teeth in, but in the meantime, continue with bite inhibition
Here is some information regarding your breed of dog. Most livestock guardians are very independent breeds due to the nature of the work work they are bred to do. Although possibly not so much now. It does seem though the traits are harder to breed out of these types of dogs than other working breeds. I hope you find this helpful. The advice given is good advice especially the 5 minute walking rule for young large breed dogs.
Thanks all for the responses. Can someone who owns an ASD answer question #3 in my original post? No one has really addressed my actual questions.
"Can someone walk me through the puppy weeks from 7 - 20. What can I expect? I've worked extremely hard the last week and with good results. But I am lacking perspective of the future. I am hoping that things will get a little better with time. Can someone walk me through some incremental expectations"? There's no way to predict how a pup will progress. A lot depends on their individual nature and what training they get etc. However, you can probably expect very up and down behaviour. Pup has to adapt to it's new surroundings and people. A lot of pups are very mouthy at this stage and with their needle sharp teeth that isn't an awful lot of fun. They are curious about their surroundings, but can easily be spooked. They are very boisterous, but, on the other hand tend to sleep a lot. At 16 weeks (give or take a few days either side), baby teeth start to fall out and their mouth troubles them. They will often chew anything and everything. Up to around 6 months old, they are very much the puppy so need an awful lot of guidance as to the behaviour you expect of them. From 6 months, adolescence kicks in and sometimes it can seem as though the hours of training you have put in has all been forgotten, but have patience, it is only dormant, not forgotten and it does come back. By 6 months, the mouthing has usually stopped This is a rough description. Some pups never mouth, some are never wary of their surroundings and some never chew.
