Puppy Tails (6)

Puppy Tails (6)


It’s been a while since I last did a pupdate for my doggos.

So, Rollo turned 2yo in January this year, and Brina turned 2yo in July (last month). In the last post (Puppy Tails (5)) I mentioned that Brina had come into her first heat/ season – despite being neutered, Rollo was a handful! We managed through and had had to separate them at times (to give her peace from him, and him a break from all the exciting pheromones) but we all managed!

Happy doggos

Brina has been neutered now, as we do not plan to breed from her, we were waiting for her to get through a couple of heats/ seasons, before booking her in for a spay. She had her umbilical hernia fixed at the same time – this would have needed to be fixed before breeding, if we had decided to breed from her. As a result, she had a bodysuit on, along with the buster collar (a.k.a. Cone of Shame) so that she left the stitches alone.The largest size the vet had fit her okay, aside from being tight round the front legs; I noticed that the bodysuit was cutting into her front legs! I cut bigger leg holes at the front, cleaned up the wounds (daily) and raised the issue with our vet at the follow up appointment – the action I had already taken seemed to be correct as the vet was happy with the fit if the suit (with the bigger leg holes) and happy the leg wounds were healing nicely.

Having never used a bodysuit for an injured/ recovering dog before, this isn’t something that I would have thought to be an issue – being too tight in just one area. If I ever use one again, I will be sure to check the fit of the bodysuit when I put it on and after the dog has moved around a bit, and make adjustments accordingly, to prevent injury.

Brina in her (modified) body suit

Having moved house a year ago, the dogs are well established now in their new home and environment. I think Rollo misses seeing the cows in the various fields every day (Brina doesn’t), as he used to like to interact with the cows. But they have some new friends locally – my student pup, Bailey the Golden Retriever, and another Lurcher (he is more greyhound like than Rollo) called Kodey. Having a big garden is great as they can run around and play to their hearts’ content (weather permitting), just the two of them or with their friends. We also now have the option of occasionally nipping down the road to my uncle’s farm so the dogs can have a run in one of the fields (if there is an empty one) – this is fab as I don’t think Rollo can quite reach full speed and stretch in our garden, but he can in a field!

As for the teenage behaviour of my dogs:

• Brina has developed a dislike for cats and barks at every last one she can find… she often wants to chase, too! So, we are very much working on this behaviour as it seems very unwarranted from her. Rollo had some experiences with nasty cats back in England, so you may expect a dislike of cats from him – he does sometimes bark at them, but Brina has had no experience with cats, aside from with the cats on the farm where she was born (likely forgotten). I have speculated that the behaviour from her is due to the lack of exposure to cats, prey drive or just a GSD thing – either way, it’s an undesirable behaviour from a 30+KG dog in an area with a lot of cats. She has much improved on this since she started the behaviour, but we have a way to go yet.

Brina is walking on a martingale collar now, instead of the Gentle Leader. We got both dogs the martingale collars for different reasons from Dog House Collars and Coats (they can also be found on the website Supporting Small Businesses page). This works for Brina in the same way a half check collar would work, but it’s all fabric with no chain. The collar, on its tightest, is how tight a normal collar should be. When she walks nicely, it’s a bit in the loose side, but when she pulls she can feel the tightening of the collar, without the size reduction causing any harm. She is learning with this, and walking a lot better. We stopped with the Gentle Leader as she had begun to pull against it and it was resulting in a bald patch on her muzzle.

Rollo showing off his martingale collar

• Rollo, since turning 2yo, has simmered down considerably. He still loves to play fight Brina, and he is still a cheeky boyo, but he is much better at listening again and obeying commands. We still get the odd teenage behaviour show through, where he chooses to ignore a command or act like he didn’t hear, or that we were talking to Brina, not him… but in the whole, I feel he is well on his way to becoming a well-behaved, good adult dog. But time will tell 😜

Rollo walks well on the martingale collar, but he walks well on a normal collar. The reason we got the martingale collar for him was more for his own safety – he has the typical Lurcher big head with slim neck, and the talent for slipping out of a regular collar! As with Brina, Rollo’s collar is fitted so it is the size a normal collar should be, when it’s on its tightest. He can walk normally, but if there is any pulling or indication he may want to remove himself from the collar, it is just pulled to its smallest size (normal collar fitting) and he can’t slip out of it. As Rollo isn’t really a puller, it isn’t often used for the same reason Brina’s is. But both dogs have benefitted greatly from these collars .

Cheeky Rollo

In summary, they’re both still cheeky teenagers, but we are getting there with their training. Patience and consistency is yielding positive results.

Puppy Tails (5)

Puppy Tails (5)


Continuing “Puppy Tails” detailing the training going on with our two young doggos – Rollo and Brina.

If you’re wondering where July’s post is… Well, it isn’t I’m sad to say. We’re in the process of preparing to move and time got away from me! However, if you’re in the same situation, please check out posts done by myself and Our Dog Friends related to moving with pets – link 1 and link 2.

Our Brina has turned one year old last month!

She and Rollo have been working recently on training commands, during on lead walkies – keeping them interested and engaged, to alleviate any frustration of being restricted to lead walks (now that the local livestock are back out in the fields) and to keep their focus on their handler. This has also come in handy with Rollo being restricted to lead walks for 2 weeks after a recent foot injury.

One of the commands we have been working on is “touch” – asking them to come away from whatever they’re doing and putting their nose on my hand. Rollo picked this up almost immediately, and Brina had the hang of it after just a couple of days – although Brina does like to put her nose and tongue on you 😅.

The idea is that these commands can also be used when the dogs are off lead, to come back (reward motivation) when I need them to. Dogs can become fixated on things that draw their attention away from you, and make them seem like they have selective hearing! They can grow out of this, with consistent training, but being able to manage their behaviour when this happens is key. No dog behaves perfectly 100% of the time, especially when they’re in their ‘teenage’ phase, no matter what some trainers will have you believe about their own (speaking from experience). So a variety of training commands for a variety of situations will prove helpful. So far, the off lead response to “touch” has been very good!

Brina is highly motivated by food, and will immediately “focus” when I give the command, when she knows I have treats in my pocket! This has helped train new commands, like “touch” as she quickly learns what behaviour she has performed that resulted in the treat and is keen to perform the behaviour on command, for a reward of course! Low fat/ calorie treats work best if you’re giving out a fair few in training sessions – remember that food/ treats given in the day will impact their daily food intake (so adjust as necessary).

Rollo likes to change his motivation – when he was under 1 year old, he was like Brina; highly motivated by treats. When he was around 1 year old he lost his interest in treats on walks, but was highly motivated by the reward of his squeaky ball! Now, he is back to being motivated by treats – but only by the right treat… Otherwise, the squeaky ball usually does the trick. Honestly, sometimes I think he wakes up in the morning and decides what he wants to be motivated by that day, in a training session or when a command is given! So, when we go out, I’m prepared with whatever I may need to keep his attention on me when necessary.

Alongside training “touch” as a new command, I’ve been reinforcing “go on” whilst on lead walks. When I’m training on lead, the dogs need to be focused on me as their handler, until I tell them “go on” which is accompanied by me giving them the length of the lead (providing it is safe to do so) and allowing them to walk for them – sniffing, dawdling, etc. (In my mind this stemmed from “go on, do your own thing”.)

It’s important to have a break command such as “go on” so your dog knows when training is done and they’re free to do their own thing.

“Touch” was initially introduced by asking the dogs to “sit” and “focus” (or “look at me* – whichever works) and me saying the word “touch” whilst gently touching my palm to their nose. After a few times doing this, I then held my hand close to their nose, and asked them to “touch”. This was then developed to be done whilst walking, and as a way to get their attention back on me.

Let me know in the comments or on social media (see below) if you try to teach “touch” yourself and how it goes!


To read the previous”Puppy Tails” please follow the links below:

Puppy Tails (1)Puppy Tails (2)Puppy Tails (3)Puppy Tails (3A)Puppy Tails (4)


All images are either open source, Google images, or my own – or photos donated for use by the pet owners.



If you have any questions or comments; please post a comment below, or contact Ali’s Answers via one of the social media pages…

• Facebook (Ali’s Animal Answers)
• Instagram (@alis.animal.answers)
• Twitter (@AlisAnswers)
• LinkedIn (Ali Lloyd)

Puppy Tails (4)

Puppy Tails (4)


So life at the moment is very hectic (hence missing doing posts for March and April) but hey ho life goes on! Let’s talk about the pups…

Rollo turned 1yo in January and was treated to a birthday biscuit (decorated like a cake) and he shared some pupcakes with Brina! They were treated to tuna and veg pasta for dinner – as I wanted to make a bit of a fuss, even if he had no idea why!

His teenage behaviour (due to teenage hormones) was not improving after this milestone and he began to ignore known commands when he wanted – not a good advertisement for a dog trainer! Still, I persisted and had been asking my vet about neutering him, as I know from experience that this can help with getting behaviour back on track – my vet however kept telling me he needed to be 18mo before they would neuter him. I’d always been taught at uni, and been informed by vets, that a male dog can be neutered from 6mo onwards. Needless to say, I was not wanting to put up with this behaviour from him for a few more months, so I posed the question to a few other local vets who all confirmed they would neuter a male dog from 6mo onwards – he was done growing and there was no reason not to.

So, we changed vets, got him booked in and he has recovered marvelously! His behaviour post-recovery is almost back to pre-teenage behaviour and he’s a lot more responsive to training again! He’s still hyper focused on the squeaky ball, which is a walkies only toy (to avoid him getting bored of it) but he will do most commands without the prompt of toy or treat, just like before 😊

And then there is Brina. Little Brina. Not so little anymore (she was in the photos in “Puppy Tails (3A)“)… She is almost 10mo now and has just recently come into her first season. This is new for me as I’ve only ever owned male dogs, or dealt with bitches well established in their seasons (not in a home environment). So I’m dealing with all the behavioural changes that come along with this – for her and for him! She’s gotten a lot more snuggly and in need of a lot more physical contact with her humans and a lot less tolerant of Rollo’s attention.

So a bit more on Brina, our German Shepherd Dog (GSD) up to this point – she adores Rollo, she follows him everywhere and certainly has ‘fear of missing out’ (FOMO) if Rollo is doing something she’s not involved with, even if she’s not interested! He loves a good tug of war or game of fetch, but she was always just interested in running alongside Rollo or jumping on him whilst he’s playing tug of war with one of his humans, as opposed to actually getting involved in play. They love to play fight and I’m sure to the untrained eye they’d look/ sound like they were trying to kill each other sometimes! The key thing is the play sneeze you’ll hear throughout, meaning that they do love each other really 😊

Brina is the most vocal doggo I’ve come across (not counting working in kennels, with multiple persistent barkers) – I can’t decide if this is a GSD thing or a bitch thing or just her! She talks to her toys, in her sleep and to anyone who will listen – as well as being very loud when she can’t keep up with Rollo (his zoomies are fast!) or when her FOMO kicks in 😜

Her on-lead walking has very much improved, with the help of the Gentle Leader when necessary, as she is a puller! Training aids, such as a Gentle Leader, can be instrumental in getting the desired behaviour – which I hope to go into in more detail in the next “Puppy Tails” post. The aim is to have her walking nicely without the aid of the Gentle Leader (but with her pulling strength and my health issues, the Gentle Leader has been a major help) and I’m confident we’ll get there!

Despite them both being a bit of a handful at the moment due to her hormones affecting her and Rollo, they’re still very much snuggle buddies and friends.

I am hoping the next installment of “Puppy Tails” can be a bit more training focused relating to their individual stages of life and training levels, with some insight into the training process.

To read the previous”Puppy Tails” please follow the links below:

Puppy Tails (1)Puppy Tails (2)Puppy Tails (3)Puppy Tails (3A)


All images are either open source, Google images, or my own – or photos donated for use by the pet owners.


If you have any questions or comments; please post a comment below, or contact Ali’s Answers via one of the social media pages…

• Facebook (Ali’s Animal Answers)
• Instagram (@alis.animal.answers)
• Twitter (@AlisAnswers)
• LinkedIn (Ali Lloyd)

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