Heat intolerant puppy?

[brookitar]

Hi everyone I'm new to this forum and also a new border collie owner. I got my fiance a border collie puppy a couple of weeks ago. Effie is a brown female about 13 weeks now and she is the biggest joy in our lives.

However she is a very particular puppy...possibly due to her upbringing? Her breeders were older of age and had a recent medical emergency so the pups only knew the inside of a horse trailer (with a fan) for the first 11 weeks of their lives. When we took her home it was the first time she had been exposed to anything really. She was extremely anxious...she held her potty for 24 hours poor thing. We have really worked with her the past few weeks but she is very nervous around children for some reason and snaps at bigger dogs. For the most part she has grown out of some of the anxiousness, car sickness, and holding her potty.

Unlike other puppies (short-haired) we've had growing up she absolutely HATES going outside. This has made her potty training extremely difficult. I have to douse her in water for her to feel comfortable in the heat (shaded area). Even inside at 73 degrees she sometimes pants. Her parents seemed accustomed to the heat. Is this normal border collie behavior? We have taken her to the vet and she appeared healthy...I guess the difficulties are just at home.

 

 

[CMP]

My 4 month old is VERY intolerant of the heat and starts panting at anything above 70 degrees. She's pretty quick to find the shade

 

Sounds like you have a puppy who needs careful socialization. She missed on several weeks of key development by not being around people, other dogs and society in general. As she has already developed anxiety about it, just be slow and patient. My advice would be to set up situations where she can interact with people *on her terms* - maybe have people over and let her take her own time to meet and greet. Sometimes we're so anxious to have them be friendly and make friends (and have people like them) that we pressure them without even knowing it or meaning to.

 

It's very common for dogs with poor socialization to really be confounded and confused by children and respond aggressively/anxiously to them - they don't fit into the "people" mold and they don't fit into the "litter-mate" mold. Other dogs more or less fall into the same category with some instinctive behaviours thrown in

 

It will all sort itself in time with patience and consistency.

 

She is a beauty!

 

Good luck.

[Maxi]

CMP gives good advice. My pup (now just 5 months) found the unusually hot UK summer tough going and yes she too would pant whent the temperature starte to rise. I made sure her "downtime" coincided with the very hottest part of the day & that her crate was positioned in the coolest part of the house.

 

Pups can also pant because of anxiety as well as heat.

 

With regard to socialisation. I again agree that Effie sounds as if she has had a difficult first few weeks of her life. Its probably not suprising that she is very uncertain of the outside world if she has been mainly kept locked up in a trailer during those initial informative weeks.

 

When you introduce her to others, start this with just one or two other people. If possible, perhaps ask them to sit of the floor & not to look directly at her or call her to them. This gives her the opportunity to come up to them only if she wishes it and she will feel less pressurised.

 

SImilarly if you know any children who are old enough to understand that Effie is insecure and perhaps they can do similar and just play quietly by themselves on the floor (perhaps rolling a ball or a toy slowly between their two hands) again without looking at herand without making any loud noises then with time Effie's curiosity will probably get the better of her and she will start to investigate... However, if you decide to try this then always make sure there is an adult on hand to supervise these interactions.

 

It will take take patience, consistency and understanding but with time Effie will come out of her shell

 

good luck

[Cass C]

My puppy Lily had a few fear issues when I brought her home, but it was mostly fear of new dogs. With her she would just shut down and hide. With the help of this forum I started desensitizing her by taking her around them in a controlled situation. Then I started making it fun by playing her favorite game (fetch) around them and giving her a treat once she calmed down enough to eat in front of scary things.

 

Lyka went through a phase of growling at children, so I borrowed a couple neighbor kids with their parents permission and had them start by tossing her a ball over the fence to her. Slowly as the kids started to become a good thing I had them come over to play a little fetch and feed her treats.. Then after a while as she warmed up to them I let them pet her. While she is still a little worried by them she is friendly and social as long as they are calm around her.

[brookitar]

Thanks everyone for the good advice. Needed some reassurance from border collie experts! The heat here is pretty bad in Texas but I only allow her to be in shaded areas at this time of the year with plenty of misting. I can't wait until October so she can enjoy the outdoors!

 

Yes I've had to be very careful socializing her with other dogs...especially the bigger ones!! For some reason she gets a long with every single one she meets except my mother's English Bulldog....I wonder if its because she's in heat right now? She gets a long most with our cat...I play fetch with them inside it's the cutest thing. As for children she has started going up to them...but refuses to use the restroom because she gets shy lol. I have to say she has really adapted significantly and I will continue to work hard with her.

 

We took her for her first swim at a local park with a big creek. She really enjoyed it...we got to expose her to children and a few dogs. I will probably do this every weekend I can with her until it gets cold. It seems to really boost her confidence. Here is a picture of her...she doesn't look scared makes me so happy!

 

 

Class C your border collie babies and kitties are so cute!

 

Again thanks everyone now I'm not worried!

[Cass C]

Thanks! You have a very cute puppy!

[juliepoudrier]

As others have said, puppies don't handle heat as well as an older dog. I suspect they just aren't capable of regulating their body temperature as well. (This is definitely true for really young puppies, and, interestlingly,can become an issue with geriatric dogs as well.)

 

It sounds like you're spending a lot of time with her outdoors. I'd do as much of that as possible, even if it's hot. You can always just hang out in the shade and do a lot of nothing (or simple trick training, which won't require a lot of movement from either of you). The more wonderful and fun or relaxing things she does outdoors, the more she'll come to find outside a good place.

 

J.

[brookitar]

Yes thank you. I sometimes spend four hours outside a day with her. I try to take her out as much as possible since we live in an apartment. Until our lease is up we won't have a backyard for her. Luckily I have a decent sized dog park right outside my apartment where she is beginning to socialize with other dogs since I have her vaccines up to date. We also make frequent trips to a couple of lake houses in my family that have a huge space for her to explore. She has a very relaxed more companion like personality compared to her siblings....I'm not sure if she would have made a good working dog. Then again the breeder never specified if he bred them for show or for work but I think it was a little of both since he lived on a farm. My mom wanted me to get an AKC and American Border Collie Association registered pup....but it didn't really matter to me. Effie was an older puppy but once I saw that pretty face and unique personality I knew she was the one out of the litter.

As for the heat I'll have to just keep sticking to her regular routine until it starts to cool off down here. Can't wait to teach her Frisbee in October!

[juliepoudrier]

Just remember that you can have overheating issues in any dogs in temperatures that are rather pleasant, say, the low 70ws. So even come fall you will want to be aware of the potential for overheating. Plus if she's three months old now, then she will be 5-6 months old when you start frisbee training, which is pretty young unless you keep it very low impact with very short training sessions. Her bones and growth plates need to finish growing before you start any intense, human directed activities with her (and that includes just running after a rolling frisbee).

 

J.

[CMP]

My rule of thumb is closed growth plates for adding more human directed activities such as real fetch or frisbee - 12 months in the absence of an xray to prove otherwise and most dogs are there or close.

 

What they choose to do themeselves as part of their regular play, within reason, is fine. But if they start leaping over small fences or hedges or jumping high and twisting to catch butterflies, you need to watch them carefully.

[brookitar]

Then I'll wait till she's a year old don't want her to get hurt. Luckily Effie isn't a huge jumper or runner. Swimming seems to be what she likes to do most in moderation. We will probably stick to that activity until she's old enough to be trained in agility and Frisbee. For now I make her walk through an agility course not run so she will be familiar with it.

[juliepoudrier]

Swimming is excellent low impact exercise. And moderation is the key!

 

J.