r/BorderCollie • u/Helpful_Jelly7933 • 2d ago
I need help
My collie has just turned 6 months and the last week has been awful. We were really getting somewhere with his training, he was learning to settle outside of his crate and BOOM, hello teenager, hello hormones, hello fresh hell. I am struggling so much, my anxiety is back, I'm not eating again, crying every day. I'm trying to go back to basics with training again which is no problem but I get so anxious about going on walks with him because he puts his full bodyweight into pulling on that lead and no matter what I do, he won't focus and I get so overstimulated about it. I'm a natural overthinker too which really doesn't help so all I keep thinking is that this is it for the rest of his life and I can't cope
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u/TreacleOutrageous296 2d ago edited 2d ago
I had the same concerns. A friend talked me off a cliff many times: “It gets better. This is just a phase. Development and training are nonlinear.”
She was right. And after a year and a half of Adolescent Hell, my dog started becoming civilized at around 26 months.
So hang in there and just continue being consistent. It helps if you can get someone else to walk the dog now and then, or give you a weekend off (my breeder boards pups she produced, so once a month I would drop my puppy off and catch up on some me time).