# Five Month Old Pup - what to expect?



## becky2226 (Aug 30, 2010)

Hi all, I posted a little bit about this in my intro thread, but I wanted to post here to go into more detail.

My husband and I are bringing home our 5mos old border collie mix pup on Wednesday. We are SUPER excited (and I am admittedly a little nervous - it's a big responsibility!). We adopted him from an Australian Cattle Dog rescue by our house. We actually initially went there to meet a 2 y/o cattle dog named Liza. Liza was very cute, but she just wasn't "our" dog. She really could have cared less about us too... I'm afraid she's been with the rescue for so long that she completely attached herself to the foster mom there. Anyway, they were bringing out other dogs that they thought would be a good fit for us and our cats (who have only been around a dog once, and they weren't too sure about her), and eventually they brought out "Dakota". He is one of the calmest puppies I've ever seen. He was a little shy and unsure about us at first, but my husband bent down, picked him up and snuggled him a bit and then he was OK. He was playing with the toys we were throwing for him, but then he just laid down next to us and contentedly chewed on his little stuffy toy. He didn't bark once, even when we got him excited, and speaking of that - when he gets really excited his whole back-end wiggles... it's so adorable!! We felt a strong connection to him immediately (and this is after seeing SO MANY dogs and pups... we've been on our search for three months now), and the other interesting thing is my husband is allergic to animals (we have cats now, but he only gets affected if he gets cat hair in his eye or mouth, and he's starting on Allegra), and all the dogs we have seen up till then he broke out into hives immediately. He was not allergic to ANY of the dogs we saw on Sunday at the rescue. It was really weird.

So, as far as "Dakota's" background goes - he's been with the rescue for at least a month, and was taken from a high kill shelter in Kentucky. He's more used to dogs then people, which means we will have to really work on his people socialization. He also loves cats - really, he genuinely likes their company - which is good in our situation. The rescue currently keeps him kenneled, and claims that while he's not totally housebroken, they put him in the kennel at 9pm and let him out at 6am and he's not had an accident. I find that a little hard to believe, but I'm not really sure why they would lie about it.

Our game plan is to continue crating him while we are at work - for his safety and to ease his housebreaking. We are lucky enough to have two neighbors who are home during the day that will be letting him out for an hour at noon to play with him, take him outside to potty, and basically stretch his legs. He'll be in the crate for five hours in the morning, out for an hour, then four hours in until we get home. We'll be running him and getting him tuckered out after work, then back in the crate for bedtime, which he'll then be in for about 6 to 7 hours. Eventually once he is older and can be trusted around the house, he will have free reign with his crate always available. But this will be his schedule for now, and we'll be gradually increasing the time he's in there until he's totally housebroken and used to his new pack's schedule.

My question is, what should I expect with a five month old puppy? It has been a struggle trying to find information - most everything I have found revolves around 8 week old puppies, and what to expect each week thereafter. But our situation is a little different, seeing as how we are rescuing him at 5 months and he's never been in a home situation, as far as we know. Has anyone been in this situation that they can share their experiences with me? Also, are there any tips anyone can provide on socializing him to people? We have a lot of friends and family that are over quite a bit, so our plan is to just expose him to people a lot, and have everyone just show him lots of affection and occasionally give kibble treats (I lean more toward rewarding with affection rather than food... hopefully "Dakota" is of this mind too...).

We are prepared for struggles... he's just a baby, after all, and this is going to be very new to him. But, we are dedicated to him. We've been waiting a very long time for him to come into our lives.


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## hanksimon (Mar 18, 2009)

Your housetraining plan sounds fine, but prepare for a few accidents, because it is a new house and new experience.

Also, a 5 mos, a puppy may sore from teething and getting his adult teeth. His energy may change dramatically in 2 weeks.

As far as people socialization, start with a few friendly adults that are good with dogs, then slowly increase with different folks as Dakota can handle it, eventually including kids. Dakota may not care about food from strangers, but let him approach them, not the reverse, and have them ignore him initially, and suggest that they try to pet him under the chin (not on top of his head), after he approaches.

You also want to actively teach Bite Inhibition, even if he doesn't nip to play, because he needs to learn to control his bite.

Unique to Border Collies:
He may learn to stare and stalk and herd, as late as one year.
Hee is VERY intelligent, so training to engage his mind is as important as physical exercise


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## That'llDo (Apr 13, 2010)

Congrats on your new puppy! Five months is an awesome age to get a puppy--they are still babies, they are just babies that are old enough to potty train quickly. 

You crate training plan sounds great. I would start on serious socialization immediately. Early puppyhood is the best time for this, but luckily, you still have time to make sure he is well-socialized. If you are thinking about doing training classes, getting him into a puppy kindergarten class would be a good idea, as it will help with the socialization. For people, just expose him to lots of them. Take him places where there are a lot of people walking by, like parks, shopping center parking lots, places like that. Let them greet him if you want, but don't let them overwhelm him. 

I'm assuming you haven't had a BC before, based on your posting this in first time owners, so some advice that especially applies to them: watch him very closely with the cats, because even if he doesn't do it now, he may start to chase them later, so make sure you can call him off from doing that. Teach him "leave it" starting now, because if he ends up having the famous BC stare, you will need to be able to break his attention. Also, don't expect that he will necessarily stay one of the "calmest puppies you've ever met." BCs are hyper, but they don't get it all at once. If he's like most of the BCs I've known, he will start ramping up in energy around 6-7 months, and by the time he is a year, you will wonder where this quivering ball of red-hot energy came from, and whether there is some way to use it to solve the energy crisis. Please be prepared for that--guess what age lots and lots of BCs end up in the shelter (not that I think yours will, at all, just that you may come to appreciate why that is)? The nice thing about the age he is now is that it is prime for teaching new things. Start on the basic obedience things, and he will have them down faster than you can believe. You might re-evaluate your stance on using food rewards, at least at first. Not every dog finds praise all that rewarding, and no dog I've ever owned, even the most human-focused attention seeking dogs, preferred praise alone as their reward all the time. I find using kibble to train with at first, and then moving on to other rewards helps my dogs learn faster. And you will need to teach him many, many things, not just the basics, because training is probably going to be what tires him out best, and if you experience is like mine, then keeping his mind busy will save you from losing yours 

Finally, and most importantly of all: post pictures!!


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## becky2226 (Aug 30, 2010)

Thank you both for the advice!!

I am prepared for this first week (at least) to be challenging for him; everything will be very new. We'll just take it one day at a time.  I'm preparing myself with the fact that I may need to give him daily baths and the crate daily cleanings until he settles down and can go accident free. I'm also pretty sure that once he gets settled in with us that his true personality will come out! I almost think he may have a little dalmatian in him - so God help us! lol ;-)

I haven't had a BC before - just a Sheltie, but he was a retired show dog and _really_ didn't even act like a dog by the time we got him, so his energy level isn't really equivalent. I am definitely planning on going through basic obedience/puppy training with him as soon as possible. My hope is to get started in agility training with him when he's older too. He's also going to be my hiking partner - I'll start taking him to the trails when he's a little bit older.

Thanks for the tips on the commands! We are going to train him right off the bat to leave the cats alone. And I will get started with bite inhibiting. I'm so excited that we have him, because I know how intelligent they are, and I'm can't wait to see just how much we can train him to do. Hey - think I can train him to do the laundry? lol, kidding ;-)

I'm glad that 5 months old isn't _too_ old for everything we need to work on. I was getting really nervous about his early months being un-socialized with people. But, he did warm up to us very fast (kibble and affection were involved there), although he does seem to be very submissive. We had Liza out with him and she was totally dominating him the whole time. However, he did do a very good job at playing "keep away" with her. 

Will post pics as soon as we get him home! One more day...


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## becky2226 (Aug 30, 2010)

We brought puppy boy home yesterday - he also has an official name now: Riley!

He is very sweet, but he is very, _very_ nervous and scared. He basically slept on the couch next to my husband the whole day and night. He's terrified to go outside; when he is out there he just lays down on your feet. We worked with him and he got a little better by the end of the night. He's hard to walk on a leash though, because he just wants to walk between your legs. He slept in his crate last night (which he absolutely loves) and woke up at about 4am this morning. I went down to take him outside and he just stayed curled up in the back of the cage growling/barking at me.  Poor pup is very nervous! I just talked to him softly and opened the cage and calmed him down - soon he had is ears back and was doing the body wag. It took him a while to come out, and even then he would only come out about 2 feet and then run right back into the cage. 

He's also not eating very well. I've got him on Wellness puppy kibble and was going to supplement it with Wellness puppy canned after a few days (waiting for him to get used to everything first; he's got very loose stools right now and terrible gas). He will only eat if I put it outside his crate, so that he can eat it while still being in his safe place. Last night he only ate about a half cup of food. This morning he ate a little better, but still only about a cup. I'm hoping this is all due to his nerves. 

Potty training is going OK. He did not have an accident in his crate, but he really didn't eat or drink much yesterday. We took him out so often last night, and he did finally go poo, but then we took him in and he started drinking a lot of water. About 20min later he had an accident on the carpet, but that was our fault because we thought he was smelling around to get to know the place since he'd been on the couch the whole time - no, he was doing the "gotta find a spot" smell.

I am worried about his leash issue, since this is how we exercise him. Yesterday we were rolling his ball back and forth across the living room to get him up and active, which he did for only about 20min, then jumped back up on the couch to lay down. I have neighbors with a fenced in yard that I may ask if I can take him to so I can get him running, but he is so scared of being outside right now that I don't think he'll even run after the ball we throw... he will just stay by us and cower. 

Here are some pics of our handsome man with the bat ears:


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## hanksimon (Mar 18, 2009)

Terrific looking ! Looks very alert. I imagine that his shyness will diminsh significantly in a couple of weeks. As That'llDo implied, Border Collies have a tendency to learn new things - even mischief - fairly quickly, so you'll have to keep an eye on him for the next year, just in case he decides to "unlearn" something that you thought that you'd already trained him.

And, you can start training him now and begin having small socialization parties with a few gentle, friendly folks. 

I recommend that you don't carry him much. Picking him up and cuddling is OK, if he likes it, but otherwise, let him walk on his own, and even come to you to get cuddled. It should also help his confidence.

As far as the leash, one approach is to attach it to his collar and let him walk around the house with it, to let him get used to it. But, try to be careful to let him walk where the leash won't get caught. 

Let me hazard a guess that he was mostly an inside puppy, so he hadn't experienced outdoors much... so he is going the fear phase, and outdoors is new. A little positive experience will help that fairly quickly.

Another suggestion about new puppies is to figure out a way to leave them on their own for short periods of time, even if just confined to their crates. The idea is that you will go off to work or go shopping, so he has to learn that when you leave, that you will return. It sounds like he's moved around to 3 - 4 locations in the last 5 months, so it will take him a while to understand the stability that you'll provide. But you want him to learn that you'll come back ... not that you will always be there (because you won't).

Another school of thought adds to this idea, suggesting that you take him with you everywhere after his 3rd set of shots to improve socialization ... obviously you have to balance the two suggestions. But I think you understand the reasoning behind both suggestions.


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## becky2226 (Aug 30, 2010)

Thank you! 

OK - we have a lot of family, friends and neighbors that are anxious to meet him, but we didn't want to do anything last night because it was his first day. So tonight we'll have some of our neighbors over to meet him, and we'll have people over this weekend as well.

We really aren't sure what his background has been like, but yeah I agree - he is not used to outdoors. At least not where grass and wide expanses are involved. I'm thinking that since he loves his crate so much (he will now bring all his toys in there to play with - it's too cute) he must have spent most of his previous months in one, with dogs for company as opposed to humans.

My husband has been home with him these last couple of days and he told me he put him in his crate for 4hrs today just while he was home so he could get some things down without having to watch him like a hawk. He was fine - just slept in it and chewed his toys. Yesterday we put him in there and then went outside for about 15-20 minutes. He barked and whined like crazy for about 5 minutes, then quieted down. Last night when we put him to bed he whined for maybe 2 minutes if that - he's been very good so far. I do very much want to make sure he knows that we won't always be around for him, because I've had a dog with separation anxiety and it was HORRIBLE.

One day at a time! I'm looking at some obedience schools now - there is a nice one close to me that also has a dog park available to the public. Once I get Riley to the vet and checked out I'll be taking him there for sure.


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## That'llDo (Apr 13, 2010)

He is SO CUTE! What a looker, I love his face. 

They shyness will decrease as he gets to know you and feel secure with you, and as you socialize him. His puppy classes will help hugely with his confidence too.


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## Stanford's mom (Jul 22, 2011)

Hello! I know it's been awhile since you've updated but I just brought home last night my new 7 month old Goldendoodle named Stanford and the poor guy is just so pittyful! I'm just wondering how Riley is doing now and if you have any advice or stories about how things went for the first bit. I'm really afraid of him having separation anxiety so I'm slowly trying to leave him in intervals for him to adjust but is the first day too soon. He's also not a leash dog but he seems to be good off leash, I just don't want to get a false sense of comfort and have him bolt so I'm keeping the leash very loose. he's eating and drinking a bit today and is getting the hang of stairs. 

any info or advice would be great. he has a crate and so far he's not sure of that either. he's a very quiet passive dog so he's just being quiet and sad and breaking my heart with his puppy eyes! lol....being a mom is not easy.


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## hanksimon (Mar 18, 2009)

Got Pix ?

A 7 mos dog is different from a 5 mos pup. But the first week or two are 'stressful' for a new pup, because they don't know the rules or what to expect. Setting up a schedule is helpful. And, if you know that he's had all his shots, then a 30 min. walk, onleash, twice a day is a good way to start the schedule. 

A Goldendoodle is usually intelligent and energetic, so you can start training today - Sit, Down, Stay, Come, as well as his name, and Bite Inhibition. ... And, start socializing with people and other dogs next week.


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## becky2226 (Aug 30, 2010)

Oh my gosh, Riley is a totally different dog now! Lol 

It was very rough at first... He would constantly whine and seem so unsure of everything. I was so afraid that he wasn't happy with us. Fast forward to today, and I can't believe I ever doubted. 

It took time and patience. I put him in Obedience classes in October, so he was.... 6mos old? and that really helped with his confidence. It took him a LONG time to get used to other people. That is actually what we are working on right now. He does not like strangers, but even our friends and family that he's been around often he will still bark at if they look him in the eyes or try to pet him. If you are not me or my husband and you come into our house forget about it - he's a total psycho. I'm actually going to enlist the help of a professional trainer on that one.

He eventually got used to his leash, after working every day and being very patient. We started off being on leash for going potty outside, then I would take him out front and start walking up and down the sidewalk until he started getting used to that and moving further along. I take him to forests and state parks a lot and back then he would just whine and look back at me the whole time because he just did understand what a walk was. Now however he is bolting to the car when he has his harness on and hears my keys jingling, lol  He absolutely LOVES walks - sniffing and marking to his little heart's content - and loves going to the forest and parks. He now goes for hikes with me (on leash - he's WAY too A.D.D. for off leash... if a squirrel or bird or other small creature is in his view he's bolting after them), and in the next couple of weeks I'll be training him to carry a doggy pack so he can carry our water and poop bags 

It sounds like you are home a lot, which is good, but even if you aren't that is OK. We ended up not being able to have our neighbors come over to help let him out because he is a psycho with other people, but he never once had an accident in his crate and it only took maybe 2mos to completely house break him. We don't crate him anymore; he has free range of the downstairs while we are at work but we gate off the upstairs. He is a good boy, but he has a bad habit of destroying paper - mail, books, magazines. We have to be really careful and make sure anything like that is picked up before we leave.

Definitely make sure that you get your pup used to being on a leash, even if he does seem to be good off leash. Almost all places have leash laws so if you want to take him anywhere with you he'll need to be leashed. The crate is an absolute BEAUTIFUL thing. The only reason we stopped using it is because my husband started to work nights while I still worked days, so he kept him out most of the day and then I didn't like sleeping in the house alone with only the cats so I let him start sleeping in the room with me. When my husband went back to working days we put Riley back in his crate and he completed destroyed his bedding. He would be freaking out by the time we got home so we just started gating off the upstairs and leaving him out to roam and he's so much better.

Good luck!! Everything will turn out just fine, trust me.


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## Stanford's mom (Jul 22, 2011)

Thank you so much becky2226, 
Stanford is adjusting slowly but surely. He does great on a leash and off. he's still a little scared of noises and sudden movements of things but he's begining to be more curious instead of frightened of them. the first few days his tail was as low as it could be and I noticed yesterday it was nice and high and wagging while we were having our walk. it made me feel much better. he's going for his first haircut this Friday, I'm sure he won't like me for it but coming from farmland he needs a good cleaning since there are a few mats I want taken care of before they become an issue for him. I do work during the day so he is in the crate and although I didn't have as much prep time/days to get him used to it, he is really good in there...once he's in. 
We started obedience classes last monday and they are great for his social life and good for me and my nerves. seeing as he is a bigger dog, I like to know that I'm able to have a sense of control should there be any situation later on where I'll need it. whether it be him running into the street or misbehaving. he's growled once at a small kid and that made me very nervous so I will be talking to the trainer about that and I've been researching it for possible reasons. one of them being that he's just never seen a little person and doesn't understand it. 
He really is just such a great guy. He loves his walks - we have 3 of them a day. He's not big on toys just yet or playtime. He doesn't quite know what to do but we're working on it!

thanks again for all your help, just sharing your story eases my worried mind! 

I'll have pictures to post soon.

thanks!

Thanks Hanksimon!
It's been a full week to the day that we've had Stanford and he's doing better then I ever thought. the "stressful" part about the poor guy was we didn't know what to expect from him. but we're starting to learn his funny little personality and quirks. he is very clever and learning fast. top of his obedience class in my mind! The class is helping with the dog and human socializing which is great. 

Amazing how these little guys just make the day so much better! come home and they're just happy that you're there! they don't ask for anything. what's really good is that he has respected me as the "alpha" and has not challenged that at all. he's so passive and laid back. 

thanks for your help! really appreciate it!


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## Puptart (Jan 25, 2011)

becky2226 said:


> We brought puppy boy home yesterday - he also has an official name now: Riley!
> 
> He is very sweet, but he is very, _very_ nervous and scared. He basically slept on the couch next to my husband the whole day and night. He's terrified to go outside; when he is out there he just lays down on your feet. We worked with him and he got a little better by the end of the night. He's hard to walk on a leash though, because he just wants to walk between your legs. He slept in his crate last night (which he absolutely loves) and woke up at about 4am this morning. I went down to take him outside and he just stayed curled up in the back of the cage growling/barking at me.  Poor pup is very nervous! I just talked to him softly and opened the cage and calmed him down - soon he had is ears back and was doing the body wag. It took him a while to come out, and even then he would only come out about 2 feet and then run right back into the cage.
> 
> ...


Oh god! Those ears! XD He's soooo adorable! Just looking at him brings a smile to my face.


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## a7dk (Mar 30, 2011)

O.M.G. Riley is 100% adorable! What a gorgeous dog! If I lived in IL I might have to track you down and steal him


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## becky2226 (Aug 30, 2010)

Lol, thank you all!! He makes me smile so much - I have to post this other pic of him.... I love when he smiles 












Stanford's mom said:


> Thank you so much becky2226,
> Stanford is adjusting slowly but surely. He does great on a leash and off. he's still a little scared of noises and sudden movements of things but he's begining to be more curious instead of frightened of them. the first few days his tail was as low as it could be and I noticed yesterday it was nice and high and wagging while we were having our walk. it made me feel much better. he's going for his first haircut this Friday, I'm sure he won't like me for it but coming from farmland he needs a good cleaning since there are a few mats I want taken care of before they become an issue for him. I do work during the day so he is in the crate and although I didn't have as much prep time/days to get him used to it, he is really good in there...once he's in.
> We started obedience classes last monday and they are great for his social life and good for me and my nerves. seeing as he is a bigger dog, I like to know that I'm able to have a sense of control should there be any situation later on where I'll need it. whether it be him running into the street or misbehaving. he's growled once at a small kid and that made me very nervous so I will be talking to the trainer about that and I've been researching it for possible reasons. one of them being that he's just never seen a little person and doesn't understand it.
> He really is just such a great guy. He loves his walks - we have 3 of them a day. He's not big on toys just yet or playtime. He doesn't quite know what to do but we're working on it!
> ...


Yes pics please! 

Sounds like everything on the right track! I remember the first time Riley walked with his tail up high and ears back in his happy pose.  It does take time for them to get settled in, especially if they are older. Just think, a year from now you'll come back on these boards and think - wow, I remember when he was like that!


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## hanksimon (Mar 18, 2009)

And the really nice thing, is now you can share your experience so others can learn...

@Stanford - keep socializing him with as many people ( only 3 -5 at a time) and different animals as you can. And, expose him to as many situations, then he won't be fearful of anything....


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