jaybeece

Alright Jules, I'll relax a little about it all then I just want to make sure the next home she gets makes her happy I'm sure anyone who's owned a border collie before could handle her just fine.

Reakon if I joined up at Croydon and paraded her around there'd be any takers? I've been meaning to join up for ages now.

Not to be a downer but it's highly unlikely anyone will want her at her age for working. Most should be started a lot younger to be useful though a hobby farmer who wants a dog that barks stock from one paddock to the next might be interested.

She's got a lovely face.

Thanks ML, I did suspect this would be the case, but there's no harm in trying I guess

She is a bit older, but my god does this dog have energy still The vet checked out all her joints/movement the other day and said she's in fantastic health too, but I can understand that anyone serious about dog sports would want to start with a younger dog. She is amazing at picking up new commands though, I don't see her taking long to get very good at...well anything she's interested in.

It just makes me a bit annoyed that the old owner didn't think to rehome her sooner as she would have had a better shot at the perfect home. They didn't have the baby until recently, but it was clear she wasn't getting the exercise she needed for some time.

I do have a small lead for an older farmer who's considering a dog for light work with cows so we'll see if that goes anywhere. From what was described she could be just what he's after, I just don't know how she'd go with cows.

I have a lovely border collie with me who's needing a new, very active home. I took her on from a friend who bought her as a puppy, but as she doesn't get along with their new baby she had to go. My dog is not ideal for her as a doggy mate however so she unfortunately needs to move on.

Sasha is 4-5 years old and very active physically and mentally. She did not have enough stimulation in her old home and I'm honestly struggling to give her enough here too as she's constantly on the go. She is extremely intelligent and, given the chance, will get into everything very quickly. She needs good structure, a bit of discipline as she's quite stubborn and lots of exercise

As she's had not much luck in that area I'm looking at a home that will take her to dog sports (agility, fly ball, herding, anything) and/or use her to work. I don't know how she is with large animals like sheep and cows, but she's a very passive and gentle dog so I don't think she'd have a problem with them. Great with other dogs, although not very interested in them. Very good with food and toys, not even a hint of any aggression over them even with other dogs.

She's a little overweight (still has 2-3kg to lose), but otherwise in excellent health. She's already desexed, microchipped and up to date with her C5 and heart worm vaccs. She has the basics of obedience down nicely (sit, drop, shake, heel, speak), but could do with more work in that area.

She's a very sweet girl and is just dying for the right home to come along. If you can help Sasha, please let me know She's already advertised on the BCRA website.

EDIT: forgot a photo...

Oh dear...that's too funny! I'm so glad my dogs aren't like that though...

Bummer. I just spent 10 mins searching through a DOLer's posts because I thought the had posted the link of the place where you can order and pay online for a rental... :D couldn't find it.

I know it can be done.... Maybe you'll have better luck searching the rescue threads?

Hah! I have a theory that inside her head are rainbows, kittens and lollipops all MASHING TOGETHER AT ONCE She's a mental case whenever she's not sleeping, which thankfully she does a reasonable amount of. Like now, she's curled up on a chair looking amazingly cute and I think she can't really be THAT bad can she?

I think I have the rental aspect all sorted out, thanks for searching anyway :D I couldn't find anything either hence the new thread.

My border collie came with one in lieu of the old owner actually working on her pulling like a freight train. It does not work. In fact I think it makes pulling more comfortable for her as the leg parts are padded.

I'm sure it depends on the dog, but in my experience the only sure fire way to fix it is consistent training and a hell of a lot of persistance.

Oh cool, thanks SM Didn't think of that! I'll give them a call tomorrow to see what their rates are.

Meanwhile I've found a website that hires them out too (www.dogmaster.com.au) so will contact them if my council doesn't do it or won't when there haven't been any complaints.

I was at the vet today getting the batty border collie vaccinated and raised the question of barking collars with the vet. She recommended the citronella type and thinks it would likely work with the batty one as she's a quick learner.

She's not barking for attention or because she likes the sound of her own voice, she barks at bugs (even the tiny little grass flies), any birds that move and possums if she's outside when it's dark. I can take her for an hour long run with the push bike where she struggles to stagger home and 5 minutes after getting back she's circling the back yard barking at bugs again. I can be out there with her, even throwing the ball and she'll break to bark at them I swear she has a screw loose in that fuzzy head of hers. I haven't had a complaint from the neighbours (yet) as it's a fairly dog intensive street and a few do bark as much as she does, but it drives me up the wall and my housemate's getting annoyed about being woken up if she sleeps in. Being yelled at once or twice is usually enough to shut her up though (the dog, not the housemate) so I think a collar could help break the habit.

The vet mentioned that at a previous clinic they owned one and would hire it out to anyone who needed one as they're not cheap to buy and most people don't need them for long enough to justify the expense. She seems to think this isn't uncommon, however I've never heard of it before.

Soooooo does anyone have one I could rent or know of anyone who does? I'd rather go that way than buy one and find out it doesn't work on her.

I'm so sorry, she was gorgeous. Looks like she was really happy and a very lucky girl to have ended up with you.

Thanks for the reassurance I figured everything was ok since they're both happy, but haven't had a lot of experience managing 2 dogs so wanted to be sure.

Erny, absolutely agree with you. I treat them both as equals and they are both expected to mind their manners at all times. I don't let either of them steal the other's food and barging in when one is getting attention is not on. They're also given equal couch/bred priviliges. I'm happy that they're comfortable with their roles, but I'm not giving any special treatment.

This is probably dog behaviour 101 stuff but....

I have 2 dogs here and one is clearly showing signs of being the more dominant dog. They've been living together for about a month and had non serious 2 tiffs in the first couple of weeks over playing styles, but since then nothing so everything's been very peaceful.

But my boy gently pushes the new girl out of the way sometimes. If it's because she's receiving attention from me I don't acknowledge him at all, but I've been noticing him doing it over sleeping spots in the house too, he just walks up and, barely touching her, just pushes her out of the way. She puts up no resistance at all, just moves straight away. If she's carrying a toy he wants, he gently takes it out of her mouth and they both happily carry on as if nothing's happened. He doesn't take things off her or move her along all the time, in fact it's only happened a handful of times so I doubt he's just bossing her around for the sake of it.

When they play there is no excessive pushing around, they're as equal as they can be considering their size differences. The girl will roll over in play, but I've never seen her roll over in submission. He has a fairly dominant stance (ears & tail up, staring), but it could also be arousal and he's adjusted his playing so he doesn't overwhelm her and never appears to be threatening.

So is this something I should worry about at all or is it normal? They both seem really at ease with their roles and since they're adults (4 and 3 or 4 years) can I assume there won't be a whole lot of unrest between them now they're pretty settled?

Thanks

Awesome, thanks Mel :nahnah: The border collie is great with other dogs from what I've seen, old owner might have mentioned a little tension with some other female dogs, but I haven't seen it and I could be imagining that she said that. She just needs a lot of obedience work and I could do with some positive training skills, especially when dealing with her.

It's definitely close enough to home to drive back and swap dogs which would be pretty neat. I'll check them out after easter and see how it all goes.

Anyone go there or know anything about it? I'm thinking about taking the silly border collie there because my god she needs some training.

Also it looks like they're just a positive training club, how would they handle it if I brought along my dog aggressive maniac? He's trained with a check chain but I don't mind switching to a martingale and I'd be curious to see how they'd suggest handling him.

In the club photos there don't appear to be any larger or more "full on" (I don't know how else to describe it) dogs at all, mostly working breeds and medium dogs that look like they'd respond well to positive training while it hasn't even made a blip on boofhead's radar when I've tried in the past. Could be I'm completely wrong and the photos mean nothing, but I don't get the vibe from the website that he'd fit in well there.

Doesn't matter that much, just trying to figure out if I can take them both on alternating weeks or just one

So....um any clues about where the new venue will be yet? If it's closer to me than Keilor I wouldn't mind coming along some time.

Jaybeece if I tell you, I'm going to have to kill you

We are in the process of finalising the decision of which venue. Should be up and running by mid 09.

Aaaaaw no fair :D Herding would be good actually (if you end up near me), the silly collie was trying to herd (or eat) possums tonight, she'd probably have a great time chasing things that can't bugger off over the fence on her.

Kelpie-i, I want to come and train at your club! Move to Sydney please :D

me too

Me three please!!! We went to one of your obedience classes as part of NDTF and I was very impressed.

Thank you guys. My sister lives in Sydney and she is always harping at me to move there...but I love Melbourne too much ;) It's only a 10 or so hour drive each week (oh and back again :D )

So....um any clues about where the new venue will be yet? ;) If it's closer to me than Keilor I wouldn't mind coming along some time.

I've been to 2 different schools, both quite similar.

How do the trainers address the issue to avoid any situations occurring in class?

They never did really I'd ask the instructor to let the whole class know whenever we started a new one, but it was never very well followed through with and new people joining the group later on generally missed out on being advised as well. Bit frustrating, but I made sure to fill people in.

How big are the class sizes?

Best ones I had were small (around 6 or less dogs) as it was less pressure on my dog and he'd get used to the dogs in class. Worst class was around 25 dogs and an instructor who believed I should just throw my dog into the throng when they were doing group socialising...yeah top idea that one!

Is there a club policy on aggressive dogs? [bandanas, vests, etc.]

No, but there should have been.

Have you found it helpful for your dogs aggression to be around other dogs in a controlled environment?

Yes and no. If I was able to work on him in our own time with a bit of space it worked really well. Unfortunately it's sometimes hard to control which dogs come near and it can be stressful and distracting constantly keeping watch over who's around. It's also frustrating dealing with instructors who think they know better or that you're doing everything all wrong, not to mention confusing if you think you're doing well doing things a certain way and they pick holes in it. That affected my confidence a fair bit.

We don't go to obedience school anymore, but I'd like to try it again some time soon as the positives generally outweighted the negatives.

Another thumbs up from me too, they're fantastic and very friendly ;) I've ordered food late at night and had it turn up the next day several times which is amazing, at the most it's been 1 1/2 days. Just can't beat that for service.

Also liking Artemis dry food, might have to see if the cats like it too.

Thanks for all the awesome info Thanks!

I'll back off on the dry and see what kind of veggies she's interested in, the large brown one isn't interested in veggies so I'd forgotten about the concept ;)

Also good to know she shouldn't get bum nuggets, I'll keep her brushed and see how it goes. Worst case scenario I'll just have to run the clippers over her backside occasionally and she'll look a bit silly. She DID get a nugget the day after I got her (which was OH SO FUN to remove), but since then nothing so fingers crossed that's it.

Thanks Vickie, might try her on one cup + bones then.

I'm hoping that her coat will improve with the better diet and regular brushing so hopefully she won't need bum trims. She has a pretty thick coat on her now, but it could be caused by being clipped every year.

Just a quick couple of questions....anyone know how much I should be feeding a tubby border collie? She's around 22kg right now and should apparently be around 18kg. I haven't confirmed either of these yet, her old owner gave me the weights. From what I've read though female border collies can be between 12-19kg and I would imagine she's on the smaller end of the scale for a border so maybe 18kg is too much still? She doesn't have a defined waist anyway and is very unfit.

Currently she gets 1 1/2 cups of Artemis dry food (1/2 in the morning, 1 at night) as well as a raw bone most days and an egg once a week. I don't think it's too little as she's still full of beans, but I worry that it's still too much.

Also, I've been told by a couple of people that you really need to keep their bum fur trimmed as they get bum nuggets Is this really the case, or would a decent diet help er...firm things up...so it doesn't stick so easily? She's had a trim already and I don't mind keeping it up, but apart from the first day she hasn't had any hitchhikers so I'm thinking maybe the change in diet will mean it's not necessary?

Thanks

EDIT: one more....I know cutting back a coat like hers will change how the coat grows back, but she's had it done at least the last couple of years, maybe more. I probably won't have her clipped again over summer as I know when she's in better shape she'll deal with the heat fine, but will her coat be ok or will it be a bit strange when it grows back fully? Is there anything that can be done to encourage it to grow back right?

4 cups My god, the large brown one is 38kg and I can't get him to eat anymore than 3 a day

And training with her really is fun, I've been blown away by how fast she learns and how vastly different she is to my other dog, it's a completely different training style. I actually originally wanted a working dog breed, but then someone got conned into the madness that is the bullmastiff x (although I do adore the goofy bastard). I'll take her to obedience and try to get into agility too once I'm done with studying for an exam (should be studying right now....).

She's already started clicker training and I'll see how she likes rewards with her dry food, can't see it being a problem

The beach is just a little too far for us to be a morning thing, well that and I start at 6am, but I'd like to take her every couple of weeks for a good workout I'll do a hunt around for any lakes/rivers nearby too. I dunno how she is with water, but if she has a ball to go after I doubt she'd mind a swim.

I have no idea if she'll play tug o war actually, I'll give it a shot

Swimming would be good, but there's nowhere within walking distance and I'm not keen on driving 40+ minutes to the beach with her barking in my ear at the moment Maybe if the crate idea helps we can make it work.

I take her to a park for ball throwing so she's mostly doing long runs across an oval to fetch the ball rather than short sprints in the back garden. I guess it's still not ideal for her joints though, might start some gentle jogs on grass with the pushy in the next week or 2 instead.

She's 4 or 5, I keep forgetting to ask her old owner what her birthdate is. She's getting Artemis dry food + raw bones most days, their website says it's 23% crude protein. I've been giving her a cup and a half a day (half of what the large brown one gets as he's double what she should weigh), but not totally sure if that's too much or not. I don't think it's too little as she has plenty of get up and go still so I have been considering dropping it back a bit more and giving her brekkie to her in a treat ball rather than in a dish.

Oh hell yes Tony I feel sorry for the poor girl, she's quite a petite border collie and carrying way too much for such a small frame so losing the weight is a high priority. But I need to make sure it's not causing any stress on her body in the proces so we're taking it slowly. She's had a complete change of diet which should also help, I'm still figuring out exactly how much to feed her without almost starving her.

As for drive outlets, right now she gets the tennis ball thrown and that's about it. What else would you recommend? We've been doing obedience every day as well to keep her mind going (and because she really needs the training), but I guess that wouldn't count as drive.

Ah alrighty, that makes sense I've been thinking about blacking out the windows too, but a covered crate will be a lot simpler. I'll do some hunting to find one that'll fit in a hatchback with her in it and still leave room for the other dog in the car. I probably need a bigger car

Well the natural approach certainly can't hurt. I'll give it a shot and ta for the suggestion

She doesn't actually appear to be stressed though, just incredibly excited. He ears are up, tail is going a million miles an hour and she seems to be having a ball Bloody silly collie.

She started crate training 2 weeks ago and really loves it so far, but I don't have a crate that'll fit in the car yet as she's borrowing one of my other dog's massive crates until I have the dosh for a border collie sized one. Worth a shot though, especially with the cover since it's the visual stuff she goes mad over.

So I have this border collie staying with me who's earned the nickname of silly collie because she's slightly mad.

She's unbelievably exciteable and, although she's improved since getting here, I haven't made much progress in the car.

She'll pant, whine and then escalate to hysterical barking as she sees other cars move on the road. It's hard working with her as I'm trying to concentrate on driving, but I can't really avoid taking her in the car forever.

If we're stationary and there are no other cars on the road she's excited, but under control. If we're moving she pants heavily, but no whining or barking.

If we see another car coming head on she'll start to make a bit of noise, but it's the ones that pass on the side that drive her wild and she'll start barking hysterically.

I'm pretty sure her old owner mentioned that she's from working lines and, despite being overweight and incredibly unfit, she still wants something to do whenever she's awake. I'm not sure if this means she's not ever going to calm down in the car or not, since she's probably mentally trying to herd all the cars on the road or something. If it's not already obvious I don't know a whole lot about how border collies work quite yet Fair bit different to my bullmastiff x...

She doesn't get huge amounts of exercise as yet because she's simply not up to it physically. She's got around 5kg to lose and can't really chase a ball for more than 15-20 minutes (on top of a walk), after that she'll more or less pass out. When she's up to it I'll be taking her out on the push bike to the offlead park and really running her, but for now I'm trying to go easy on her. Maybe more exercise will mean less excitement in the car, but I'm not holding my breath.

So does anyone have any suggestions about how to approach this?