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Hi all! I'm hoping for some general advice from BC experts on helping us do right by our puppy Bailey (currently 5.5 months) and raise him to be a very good boy! I'm a first-time dog owner, whereas my partner grew up with BCs - but Bailey is our first puppy. I'll admit it was a shock to the system and a steep learning curve, but we're getting the hang of it now! Unfortunately with the pandemic we've only managed to go to a couple of puppy classes so we've been watching youtube videos/following advice online, but we don't know if we're doing it right or if there are things we're missing or doing to cause bad habits! I thought it might be helpful to post our daily routine below in case there are any glaring mistakes we're making - any advice really would be greatly appreciated! I'll apologise in advance for the long post...! We've definitely had our ups and downs but feel like we're through the worst of it now! It's still a work in progress, and reading the forums on this group has been amazing, but there are some specific essential things we're having real difficulties with and would love some help: Recall - I know he's only 5.5 months old, but he is terrible! We think this is largely our fault for giving him too much freedom too young - we let him go off lead at the park from ~12 weeks old until these last couple of weeks where he's back on his training lead. Our reasoning was that with the pandemic we had no opportunities for him to meet other dogs (we've been in lockdown for most of our time with him, so no-one can come round etc) so for the sake of socialisation we let him run around and play with some dogs we see at the park daily. It's great because now they are like his pack and he loves it and is super friendly and sociable with people and dogs, but perhaps too friendly as he is very easily excited and distracted and now won't (can't?) listen to us. His recall at home is great but with other people/dogs it's impossible - he has absolutely no interest in treats no matter how high value, nothing is better than charging about with another dog. We've been practising on an extendable/training lead while on walks and he's pretty good, but we feel like we should be doing more as other puppies around his age that we've met are miles better. Will he get better with age or what else can we do? Cars - He's ok around our cul de sac, but on any busier road he pulls and lunges at cars. We think it's a fear response trying to chase them away, or maybe herding? Either way, it's dangerous for both him and us and has to stop, but we're unsure how. We're working on exposure, making him sit, wait and watch with lots of praise/reward, but it doesn't seem to be improving, and might even be getting worse What can we do? Exercise - are we doing too much? We've heard the whole 5 minutes per month of life but that seemed ridiculous to us with such a high energy puppy - we would have lost our minds with him! We try and stick to only 30 mins of high intensity/running once a day, but are more relaxed for gentler on lead walks. But I'm worried that we're damaging his growing joints - how would we know? Should we be sticking to a max of 30 mins twice a day (even on lead)? We love our little dude to pieces and he's so funny, we just want to do right by him and raise a good, happy & safe pup! When he's older we want to do some agility or flyball etc (not competitively, just for enjoyment), but for now we just want to make sure he's happy and healthy, while also maintaining a lifestyle that we can manage! Thanks so much in advance! ------------------- General routine 7-7.30am - Bailey gets (us) up, cuddle, toilet 7.30-8.10am - Playtime at the park chasing a ball/running round with his doggy pals (~30 mins running) Focus on socialisation Previously off-lead, now back on a training lead as recall is impossible and he's turned us trying to get him into a game 8.15-9am - breakfast (puzzle toy), toilet, settle 9am-1pm - settle time while we work Usually crated ~9-11am, then toilet break, then settle in the room with us Usually a 5-10 min play/training session during this stint 1-1.45pm - lunchtime walk (~45 min walk) On lead, stretch of legs/sniffing 1.45-2pm - lunch (puzzle toy), toilet, settle 2-4pm - crate settle time while we work 4-5.30pm - Bailey is a pest time Theoretically this would still be settle time, but he kicks up a fuss being crated after 4pm. He may chill a bit in the room with us, but usually wants to play Self-entertainment with toys, kongs, chew, lickimat etc 5.30-6pm - Energy release (excited play time/attention from us) 6-6.30pm - Dinner (puzzle toy) 6.30-8.30pm - Focus on Bailey time Playtime with us, training time (obedience or scent games) Evening neighbourhood walk on lead (~30 mins) Lickimat or chew to help him settle (/distract him while we cook/eat) 8.30pm-bedtime - settle time No more play with us (self play is fine), cuddles, chews or lickimat Falls asleep on the sofa with us until being crated for overnight Weekends follow a similar pattern, with a slower start from us and trips in the car for nicer/longer walks.

Hi. I'm technically a first time BC puppy owner (I guess having one as a family pet when I was 7 doesn't really count as I wasn't exactly involved in the upbringing). He's lovely when he's not tired and had plenty of exercise and fed well etc. My problem is knowing how to tell the difference between him being nuts because he's overtired or being nuts because he actually needs more activity/stimulation. He's about 14 weeks old and doesn't have his second set of jabs until this Friday as the farm we got him from didn't have him vaccinated and he was about 10/11 weeks when we got him, so garden play, training and deliberate stress (getting him to do a few stairs which he's terrified of etc) are how we try to wear him out. He often goes totally crazy (runs around like a lunatic, digs, chews, nips, barks) which in the end I put down to being overtired, but it does take some considerable time for him to get it out of his system and settle down. Does anyone know how much sleep he should have as "naps" during the day? I go out to work for 2 hours and he is allowed to sleep in the living room, which I am assuming he does as nothing appears out of place when I come home. Other than that, he just crashes later at night and we end up having to wake him up for his pre bedtime toilet. Sorry for the ramble. Any help appreciated. (This is exactly like having a toddler - I often lose the will to live )

Hi. I'm technically a first time BC puppy owner (I guess having one as a family pet when I was 7 doesn't really count as I wasn't exactly involved in the upbringing). He's lovely when he's not tired and had plenty of exercise and fed well etc. My problem is knowing how to tell the difference between him being nuts because he's overtired or being nuts because he actually needs more activity/stimulation. He's about 14 weeks old and doesn't have his second set of jabs until this Friday as the farm we got him from didn't have him vaccinated and he was about 10/11 weeks when we got him, so garden play, training and deliberate stress (getting him to do a few stairs which he's terrified of etc) are how we try to wear him out. He often goes totally crazy (runs around like a lunatic, digs, chews, nips, barks) which in the end I put down to being overtired, but it does take some considerable time for him to get it out of his system and settle down. Does anyone know how much sleep he should have as "naps" during the day? I go out to work for 2 hours and he is allowed to sleep in the living room, which I am assuming he does as nothing appears out of place when I come home. Other than that, he just crashes later at night and we end up having to wake him up for his pre bedtime toilet. Sorry for the ramble. Any help appreciated. (This is exactly like having a toddler - I often lose the will to live )