Hi everyone.

I don't know how many people will remember my post from last year, but last December our beautiful Border Collie passed away. Her death broke our hearts and left our home feeling empty.

Well, last weekend we brought home our new little chum She is absolutely lovely. We adore her already.

We just have some questions, and also need a bit of advice on a few issues she has that we want to help her with.

Firstly, we don't know exactly how old she is, or her exact breed. The rescue centre says she is a Lurcher, but we'd love to know exactly what mix she is. To me she looks like a Greyhound crossed with a Labrador. Is there any way to know?

Also, we don't know her age. I would guess at somewhere between 1 and 2 years, does anyone know if there is a way to tell?

The poor girl has quite clearly been abused by someone, she has a few scars on her and is underweight. She's gained weight in the week she's been here.

Her first 2 days here she was very nervous of us, and we honestly don't think she's ever lived in a home environment before (She was found wandering the streets alone and was taken to the rescue centre), she didn't understand a single word when she arrived (She knows a few now, including her name) and she was startled by everything, like the television, the washing machine and even the toilet flushing. She has settled down a lot now and is really coming out of her shell, she plays wonderfully and really loves bounding around the garden like a lunatic

She's not even house trained bless her, but we are simply praising her when she does it outside, and saying nothing at all when she has an 'accident' (We are firm believers in positive reinforcement) She has a very strange habit of splashing water out of her bowl, and then weeing in it. any ideas what that behaviour might mean?

The issue is that she is too frightened to go out for walks, she's fine to sniff around just outside our house, unless she sees anybody. The minute she sees somebody she gets terrified and wants to come in instantly, she really gets quite anxious. A delivery man turned up yesterday at the back fence and she panicked and ran upstairs.

Any tips or hints on how to help her enjoy her walks and not be scared outside? We are planning to ask our neighbour in next week to see how she reacts to new people inside the house.

Another little issue is that she mouths our hands when she's excited. When we fuss her she gets pretty enthusiastic about it and starts gently chewing on our hands. She has adult teeth so it's not a pleasant feeling Does anyone know the best way to stop her from mouthing us?

Any advice welcome Thank you

She gets comfort from mouthing hands unfortunately, she doesn't realise this hurts. It is puppy behaviour. A soft toy might be better. Just watch her as some soft toys are also choking hazards.

It sounds like she has been badly socialised. Puppies need to get used to everyone very early in life. It is a bit harder with an older dog. Confidence building is important.

We've bought her plenty of toys, maybe when she does it we should just give her one of her toys instead? To try to distract the hand chewing?

I don't think she has been socialised at all, goodness knows what kind of environment she has come from. We know quite a few people around here who love dogs, maybe if we ask them to meet us outside and give her treats to try and associate strangers with positive feelings? I just don't want to overwhelm her either.

The best way to stop mouthing is to yelp like a fellow puppy/dog would if nipped - this teaches them very quickly how mush pressure is too much. She will release immediately you yelp (doesn't have to be loud).
I was told this years ago and its worked with every puppy/dog that I have had

Don't fuss your dog when she is chewing your hands, it's rewarding her bad behaviour. Wait until she is calm and then give her some attention.

It's best to discourage it early as you don't want a full grown dog doing it.

Thank you everyone, she is really settling in now and has stopped the mouthing for most of the time.

She's a little live wire, we love her