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Everything posted by Shandula

  1. I work as a dog trainer, and we are always happy to let clients do what they need to do to work with their dog. Even if that is just sitting and watching other dogs, or working from behind a barrier etc. etc. If it isn't disrupting class, I don't care. You paid to take the class, and it is your dog that you know way better than I will. It's annoying the instructor is so finicky. I will say, Heidi gets bored super quick. What some dogs are struggling to get in the 50th rep, she's already mastered in two, so we constantly challenge her. The standard classes are far too easy for her, so we always add an extra challenge or two for her.
  2. Exactly this. She doesn't lunge, bark, or go after dogs. Ever. She just likes to be left alone. I might just have to get more rude with people who don't get it.
  3. What would you suggest? Just keep her away from non Border Collies? I guess I could leave her at home for pet festivals and stuff, although that kind of sucks for her.
  4. What would you suggest for working with her? I know if she was reactive I would find her threshold for distance and back up a bit and treat her for not reacting. Should I just have her be close to dogs, reward her, and then remove her?
  5. Thank you! I have been telling my husband that it is fine for her to not like dogs, but he doesn't know a lot about dogs, and was concerned she was being aggressive. I definitely do tell people she's not very friendly to strangers and she doesn't like meeting dogs on leash, and people are legitimately terrible at respecting that, honestly. I recently got both my guys a Julius-K9 vest and put the "In-Training" patches on and that has definitely helped with people giving her more space, but some people still don't get it.
  6. Hello! Thanks in advance for any thoughts, advice, and general information. My BC is now almost 16 months old and I'm starting to notice a little bit of a bitchy attitude that I'm wondering is common or if we need to work on it. Quick background: Purchased from a breeder, brought home at 7 weeks. Instantly in love with my year old male Aussie, and have been best buddies ever since. A couple weeks in, noticed she was pretty heavily resource guarding higher value treats from Aussie, and would steal treats from him. Would growl and snap if other puppies came near her while being treated in puppy class. We worked on it, and she no longer guards any food. She does guard toys, not from my Aussie or any people, but from stranger dogs for sure. She was fairly heavily socialized as a puppy with sounds, smells, places, dogs, people etc. We go to a very under-used park to give them room to play fetch and stretch their legs. She is very good with my friend's two Mastiff mixes regardless of the size, but she really seems to take a strong dislike to stranger dogs. At first it was just when they were rude to her/or really sniffer her butt. She was recently spayed, so I kinda thought that would dissipate, but it has not. In fact, I would say her reactions are becoming stronger, and it takes less and less for her to tell dogs off. She responds by snapping. No growling, no barking, she does get stiff, but I can call her away. She also will go into a down stay easily, and will engage and play with me if other dogs are around. She REALLY doesn't like being sniffed on leash. She isn't reactive in the sense that she doesn't ever bark or lunge on leash, and she's very cute, so people always bring their dogs right up to her. The only dogs she is truly, 100% okay with are Border Collies. Instant friends. Sometimes she's fine with other dogs, and sometimes she takes an instant dislike. I guess my question is, is this something we should work on, to prevent her reactions or change her emotional state about these dogs? I just feel bad, because then people instantly think she's mean/aggressive but I don't think she ever even makes contact, I really think she just wants to be left alone. Like I said, she's happy to engage with me in classes and at dog events. Thoughts? If she really is just more of a close friends dogs, that's fine, I just want to make sure there's nothing I can do to make her more comfortable. Picture for cuteness.
  7. Thank you for your replies everyone! We will keep training agility, she likes it, I like it, and we enjoy spending the time and working together. We will check out some other sport venues as well, to really find out what clicks the best for us!
  8. Thank you very much for your responses! I've been told several times by people at trials "For a Border Collie, she doesn't have the drive for agility" which I think I always fundamentally disagreed with. I've also been told several times that she has too much eye/too sheepdoggy for agility, which really bothers me. Of course she has "eye", she's a Border Collie. That dog on the left in the picture I attached is very frantic. No control. I couldn't do any training at all with him, despite trying lots of reinforcers. Poor guy. All the energy, none of the focus. I would LOVE to find a herding trainer for her (so if you know anyone in Southern Ontario or Michigan, let me know!). My Aussie would be terrible at herding, I think he would just chase and not herd, so he will stick to agility.
  9. Hello everyone! My Border Collie is now 15 months old, and so we are starting to try to figure out what kind of sports we should do to keep her busy and occupied. My Aussie likes Rally quite a bit, and we recently acquired our Novice title, and we are training in agility with him. I enjoy going and watching agility trials and I've noticed my Border Collie is not like those other Border Collies. She's considered "small" (I don't think she is, but everyone asks what she's mixed with), but she just isn't as...crazy? I guess. Drivey, maybe? (Note: I do see dogs similar to her in focus, but they definitely aren't as common) When we train agility at home (just Flatwork for now, and easy grids with bumps, and no weaving for now) and she seems to enjoy it. She's fast, loves her tug rewards, and seems very "in the game" but she just doesn't seem "high drive" if that makes sense. I guess ultimately I'm wondering if the focus/less hyperness is more common in the more "working" line BC? (Full disclosure: She isn't from stock lines, she's a goose hazing dog, and is AKC registered). Is it fine to keep doing agility or should I try to do something that requires more control and focus, like obedience or maybe even herding? Thanks in advance! Picture for cuteness, My Aussie on the right, my BC in the center, and a foster I had for a couple days on the left.
  10. Love love looooove crate games (although full disclosure, I am an unashamed Susan Garrett groupie). It has helped my dogs immensely in not only enjoying spending time in their crate, but I've applied it to every door they see. So they don't jump out of the car without release cue, no running out the back/front door, and they can stay on a raised cot while the other is working. My Aussie, who is a little older, stays on his cot as my demo dog during class and doesn't break either. I think it could totally be used to help on sheep!
  11. It was awesome! In the end, I was way too captivated (and maybe a little too nervous) watching the runs to talk to anyone. Which is probably for the best because both my dogs are still so young, I don't really need to be entertaining the idea of a new puppy just yet (much to my husband's relief). My Aussie showed mild to no interest in the sheep and sheepdogs running, he was much more concerned with soliciting pets from the spectators. My BC however, was intensely focused on watching them. We had to walk away several times because she was crying and lunging towards the field. There were some incredible runs, and a few naughty, stubborn sheep. It could have been more fun if my mother-in-law wasn't beside me saying "But HOW do the dogs move the sheep, how do they just KNOW?" and my consistently frustrated reply of "THEY ARE BORDER COLLIES".
  12. Hello everyone! I was wondering if anyone else is going to the Kingston Sheepdog Trials? I've been going for the past 4 years (even before I owned my own dog!). This year feels special since I'll be there for the first time with a Border Collie! I also like that they make it a big community event. I'm wondering if it is rude/weird to talk to people about any future breeding they might have planned? I want to make sure our next Border Collie is from appropriate working lines, and I figure there is no better place than a trial. I know breedings don't happen all the time, so I'd really like to make some connections for when they happen. Cheers! Please enjoy Heidi running a lure course at a local event here in Windsor as a thank you for answering my questions.
  13. What a beautiful and touching tribute. It is is obvious you two loved each other very much and he had an amazing life. My heart goes out to you and Kit, and I hope someday you can look back on Jester and not feel sad, but rather think warmly and fondly of what a wonderful time you shared. Hugs!
  14. Heidi was a voracious poop-eater. Her own, Levi's, random dogs (which gave me heart attacks daily). We tried everything, pineapple, changing food, etc. In the end, we taught her a good "leave it", and picked up poop in the yard immediately. She had totally grown out of it by 6 or 7 months. Good luck!
  15. I like doing both because I see two totally different aspects of my BCs personality. When we're doing obedience, I see her laser-like focus. She's so attentive, precise, and sharp in her movements. When we train or play in agility, she's so carefree, exuberant, and a little bit wild. The ability and encouragement for her to run as fast as she can is so much fun for her. I think if she had to choose, she would pick agility, which is what we do more often anyway because I think it is more fun for both of us, but she's very good at both.
  16. He's ADORABLE! I have a real soft spot for tris.
  17. Daycares are scary places. The place I teach is a daycare during the day. They sometimes have FIFTY dogs running around together. Hello recipe for disaster. Every week in class I have to remind people that this is not a place to socialize your dogs. In fact, there is a reactive dog in class and people bring their dogs SO close to her, and she lunges. Then the people look so surprised. Every damn time. When I'm training out in public spaces, we constantly have people coming up to us with their dogs (on and off leash). I'm considering putting muzzles on them so people will think they are mean. Although truthfully, my little BC has very little patience for rude dogs in her space.
  18. I'm very sorry for you. I have been following your other thread, and now this one. I just wanted to say that I am very sorry, and I am glad she could be her normal self, even briefly. Good luck to you and what you choose to do, I'm sure this is horribly upsetting.
  19. I have this one: https://www.cleanrun.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&product_ID=2606&ParentCat=54 and I like it a lot. Separate spots for different value treats, poop bag dispenser, hinges closed, and I can fit a ton of treats in there. Although the thought of a light-weight vest does intrigue me.
  20. Using her kibble as treats (and using more toys, since she likes that better anyway) and I've already noticed a small difference in her body composition. My Aussie has a great body size, zero pressure for ribs. Just gotta get her there. She seems to put on some pounds, and then thin back out. She's been in a little bit of a funk lately, maybe she'll go into season soon.
  21. Ah thank you so much for your replies everyone! She is a cutie, whenever she is being a brat, I look back at her puppy pictures and remind myself how cute she is. I didn't think she was small, but everyone says she's "so small for a Border Collie", but I'll take that with a grain of salt since we don't see too many BCs around here anyway. I had someone try to convince me she was a Bernese pup, which made me laugh. Smallest Berner I've ever seen. It definitely takes a little more pressure than I would like to feel her ribs, my Aussie requires very minimal pressure, so I think I'll scale back that size of treats we use during training. I really don't like fat dogs, so I will work hard on slimming her down a bit.
  22. I was wondering if anyone had a rough idea of when a Border Collie is "finished" growing? My poor little BC is always being asked what she is crossed with, I'm assuming because a) She's a black tri, and people have a hard time believing they come in colours other than black and white, and she's fairly small! I've included some pictures of her mom and dad, and some pictures of her as she grew. She was about 6 pounds (just under) at 8 weeks, and now at almost 10 months, she is 37 pounds (I think she might be a little chunky) and ~19" at the withers. Is she finished growing, or does she still have a little ways to go? Here's Dad: Mom: 7 Weeks: 16 Weeks: And a picture I just took a few seconds ago, at nearly 10 months:
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