[MissingInAction]

How old is pup when he grows out of his "pup" stage?
How did your pup/dog cope with a newborn in the family?

[FiveAus]

I have got a 16 month old who is still a "puppy". She is still soft and cuddly, and a little bit naughty (this morning she got in our fishpond and pulled all the plants out of their pots). Se's very enthusiastic about everything, but she might always be like that.
She is hopefully going to have her own puppies later this year, so maybe she'll grow up a bit then. I am enjoying her as she is though, she is absolutely gorgeous.

Don't have a newborn, so can't help you there, sorry.

[MissingInAction]

Additional Info: It's a purebred kelpie in question and he is a very active, lively, excitable bundle of joy. He loves children. He loves everyone, really.

[*Spikey*]

A Kelpie? Um, never....

Best you can do is train, train, train and compete in stuff like agility and herding competitions to keep their brains ticking over.

Teething finishes at 2yo for most dogs, so chewing tends to slow down a bit after that.

[caninestorm]

From the kelpies I know, they are a slow maturing breed. Sorry

In saying that, all the kelpies I know are good with kids as long as they are taught not to jump up on them.

[FiveAus]

A Kelpie? Maybe 12.
I handled one in a dog show a few months ago, and she was a little livewire. Little devil child too. Very, very different to my biddable and easy-going Australian Shepherds.

[MissingInAction]

TWELVE?!

*starts crying*

Hahaha... as I typed that my kelpie came up to where I'm sitting and put his nose on the laptop, gazed lovingly into my eyes and just sat there for a minute. Then lost interest, walked to the living room and passed out on the floor.

He's almost a year old and he's definitely calmed down a lot recently and is more mellow, more affectionate, more relaxed than he was a few months ago (though he is barking a lot more but that warrants a whole other thread).

[Justaduck]

I have a kelpie x cattle dog. I think around his second birthday he calmed down a lot. From 9mths - 2 he was a terror! Everything got chewed, torn, or ripped to shreds.
Apart from usual doggy excitement when you go outside (thinking of course it would be playtime) he is lovely and calm now. He is so good with DD in that he couldn't care less about her, to the point where I feel sorry for her as she seeks him out at the door and he just looks away.

He turned 4, four days after DD was born, so not a puppy by then. Transition was hard as he was the baby before her, slept in the bedroom and all. Started transitioning him to the hallway outside bedroom, then to garage before she was born (to sleep at night). He went through a big sulky stage as well. We had done all the normal suggested tricks to make it easy on him

[Puppy Love]

I think they are puppies until about 2 years.
But it depends on breed & intelligence. My PIL's have a beagle it's 5yrs & still acts like a puppy.

I have a rotti, who went to puppy school & can do basic tasks like sit, drop, shake, stay.
Our newborn arrived in December 2012 & the rotti was 14months. My DH brought home worn baby clothes, nappies etc for the dog to smell before we came home.
We have had no problems with our dog, thought she would be jealous, but she doesn't seem to worry about the baby.
She is an indoor dog so is constantly with us while I BF, change nappies etc. baby sits in a swing which she also lies next to. I never leave the baby alone while the dog is there just in case. So if I shower etc i just put the dog outside.
For us it works really well & I'm always talking to the dog so she is included.
Good luck OP

[B.L.J]

My mum has a purebred Kelpie. At 3 I have noticed she has calmed down A LOT. Still gets super excitable when we first get to mum's house but no jumping anymore.

Around DS she is the most calmest placid dog you will ever meet. She was a couple of months old when they first met and I watched her drop to her belly and commando crawl across the room then lay next to him with her nose just touching. She would do the commando crawl every time she saw him sitting down for practically a year afterwards. This dog was still in her jumping and chewing stage yet would barely move when DS was in the room... and we only saw them every few months!

DS is a kid who can't handle things in his face - she seemed to sense that and monitored her behaviour to match. This dog is the most in your face dog you can get!!