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hey_jude

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  1. Just got one tonight! Lady On the Street: What is your border collie mixed with? Me: Oh he's all border collie. Lady: Well you know anything besides black and white are mixes right? Border Collies only come in black and white. Me: Oh actually they come in just as many colors aussies come in (She is familiar with aussies). I have his papers, he's pure border collie. Lady: *unconvinced* oh... aghhhh!
  2. Seeing all of this just brings tears to my eyes. Although I just got Jude 3 weeks ago, I know I will be looking to add a second dog to my life within the next 5 years. I already know my next dog will be a rescue. I wanted to have the puppy experience, and actually thought for awhile I'd get all puppies over my life course as a border collie owner, but after seeing all of this I know after Jude, my future dog will be a rescue. I pray and know if the dogs are given to legit rescues, they will find amazing homes due to the kindness and love of border collie owners around the US. So sad to see..
  3. Because I have a puppy, I constantly get, "Is that a border collie?" *confused expression because of his tri markings* when I say yes, they reply with, "Wow you really don't know what you got into... those dogs will tear your house apart. Smart dogs, but they have a looooot of energy." Yeah maybe bored ones that aren't exercised tear houses apart. Do they think I just got a dog without researching the breed? It's sad because it just goes to show how many people out there do get BCs without researching the breed. It drives me nuts. I think it will go away as he gets older, but for now I want to scream, 'I know damnit!!!' I guess at least its good people recognize how high drive BCs are.
  4. Confidence for me too. I like a dog that can be in any situation, meet any new person or dog, and still be fine with it. Fortunately, confidence is a trait you have a lot of control over when you get a young puppy, so I made sure I instilled it. Still, my dog is a confident dog by nature, so that helped.
  5. Wow thank you so much. I woke up today scared everyone would think I was horrible for not necessarily wanting to crate all day, and glad to see everyone had a few other ideas. I do know it will take a bit more work, but I think it may be worth it for me. And perhaps I'll do just a bit more crating too. These are really fabulous suggestions and advice, I appreciate them all! I think considering I've had Jude for only 2-3 weeks, he's doing wonderful! He walks confidently into the city on his leash, sits at the cross walks, holds his head up along side noisy motorcycles but continues walking, he's really thriving and loving his city life actually! It helps that Austin TX is such a dog city and has so many outdoor nature options that we take advantage of, and will even more as he grows. He's met a bunch of other puppies and of course I'm bias, but he does seem well ahead of the other dogs in terms of training and just adjusting to life in general. I'm not trying to be too hard on him, I know he's doing wonderfully, I just want to make sure I'm not feeding into causing his house breaking and biting issues and that I'm doing everything I can to make him successful at those things. Thanks guys! Implementing these new ideas starting today. I'm thinking I should just put him on his leash tied to my chair for work time.
  6. Crate him all day long? I don't know, I just can't seem to justify crating him for 10 hours at night while sleeping and then 8 hours during the day while I'm working. That seems like an awful lot of crate and doesn't include when I need to leave the house sometimes. He's not a chewer, only plays with his toys, and stays occupies with the various activities I give him throughout the day, so it seems unnecessary to keep him crated the entire time I work. I know many people suggest that, but there much be a few other options for people who want their dogs to be a bit more central in their lives and don't want to go by the book 100 percent. I feel lucky that I work from home and can be with him, so it seems pointless to crate him all day long when I work. I do crate him for about 4 hours throughout the day when he needs to sleep, but all day seems extreme. Can anyone think of any other options, even if not quite as effective? I just know that crating him all day long will not be an option that I am comfortable with. I very much enjoy our days together when he lays there working on his puzzles and toys, and I sit next to him working myself. I do appreciate your input. I know crating when not directly supervised is what is the most commonly accepted suggestion- but I think there must be another option or two for those who are a bit more liberal about the crating issue. I crate at night, when I leave the house, during nap times for him, and at various busy points throughout the day, but the less busy moments I like him to have a bit more room to play. Do you have any other advice that is a bit more of a middle ground between the two philosophies? I just don't think crating all day is the direction I want to go in. Jude does have many chew items available to him- he's got about 20 toys that we rotate in and out and he does a fabulous job chewing on them and leaving almost everything else in the house alone, but he just seems to get fiesty when you're sitting trying to have a conversation, especially when he is not getting attention. I will definitely try this crating method for the biting. I feel i've gotten different advice everywhere about nipping- I read one thing in The Art Of Raising a Puppy, other things on forums, another thing from my breeder, another from my trainer, it's been very confusing knowing what to go with. Thanks for the advice!
  7. Jude is a great puppy. He's very easy for the most part. He's extremely friendly with people and other dogs (we live in the city so he's very well socialized), he comes out to dinner with me, he comes to coffee house concerts with me sometimes, he's just really such a driven but content dog. He loves stimulation but is just as happy to sit and watch sometimes, as well as run and explore other times. He's already starting to swim, just learned fetch, and is doing well in his clicker training. He does well in his crate and eats great. He eats a ton of apple slices and carrots- and has a great easy stomach. He is 10.5 weeks today. I'm having a couple issues with Jude that I would love some advice on. 1. Jude is still not doing super well with his potty training. It's been about 2 weeks (almost 3, but for 3 of the days we were on the road visiting family so it was inconsistent) and he just doesn't totally get it yet. He doesn't go to the bathroom inside in front of me, but he does when I'm not looking. It's hard because I don't want to crate him while I'm working- I work from home and he does a fabulous job sitting around the living room for a few hours playing with his toys- he's great at entertaining himself. Unfortunately it's during this time he walks away for a quick second and goes to the bathroom in the house. I've never yelled at him- I just make a loud noise when I catch him and scoop him up- but he seems to know he shouldn't anyway. I take him out generally 20 minutes after he eats but he doesn't go usually. I tried bringing him upstairs and putting him in his crate, and then bringing him out 20 mintues later, but this hasn't worked either. He just sniffs and plays outside and then when I bring him back in he goes on the floor. Should I continue to repeat the crate process and eventually it will click? I ususally catch him mid-bathroom and rush him outside, but he's still not getting to hold it. He can hold it quite well when he sleeps- he sleeps for about 7 hours straight at night- but during the day he doesn't at all. I got puppy pads (went back and forth on them) because I wanted him to know you had to at least go somewhere specific and not just anywhere in the house- but he doesn't seem to use them. I've tried clicking and treating when he goes outside. I scrub the places he goes with natures miracle. What am I doing wrong?? I know he's just a puppy, but I don't seem to be making progress. When he plays while I work, he's generally within site unless he walks away behind the loveseat. That's when he is out of view. The second I see him walk that way, I know he's going. I pick him up and correct him, but it doesn't seem to dissuade him in the future. He doesn't go when I do take him out and I'm getting frustrated! Help please! 2. Jude is sweet sometimes, but generally tends to be a bit more independent and fiery more often. He doesn't need me too much which I like, but a few things about this worry me. He gets very fresh after 1. playing with other dogs 2. coming out of his crate when I've been away for a few hours. He gets very nippy to the point I'm quite sure he knows what he's doing is wrong. In the beginning I was yelping when he bit but he seemed to continue to nibble even after I yelped. He gives me this look as he naws on my hand that seems to know he knows I'm telling him to stop, but he's not gonna stop on his own. I've tried, closing his mouth with my hand, grabbing the scruff of his neck, making a loud NO sound, a loud ACK sound, yelping, holding him up and staring him down, walking away and ignoring him, and now I'm just so inconsistent I don't know what to do when he gets like this. Now I just feel I'm starting to lose my patience and yell and I know that's not gonna help. Any suggestions would really be appreciated Thanks so much everyone! I appreciate it. And here's a jude picture for good measure!
  8. Ah okay I understand. Thank you for clarifying!
  9. First and foremost, I want to say that my below post is about the comments about agility, not breeding for conformation. I just need to ask, since when is agility looked down upon? Am I misunderstanding? I read the bulletin on their website and it said that people who do not herd sheep with their dogs are NOT second class citizens. I'm not seeing that in this thread. For everyone, herding is not a possibility. Just as not everyone who owns a retriever or terrier is able to hunt. I would much rather see people doing flyball and agility with their border collies than nothing at all. The truth of the matter is very few breeds are doing what they were bred to do as society has changed and the world has industrialized, but I think it is still necessary and positive to do sports and activities with your dog. Am I misunderstanding that suddenly agility is not seen as an acceptable activity for border collie owners? I want to remind the group of this statement made by the moderators: Border collie owners who don't use their dogs to work livestock are not second-class citizens.
  10. Oh, of course I will adjust that depending on what type of eater he is Just a prediction based on my previous puppies, what I read online, and what I've talked about with friends who have puppies at the moment. I also typically raise puppies with daily vegetables and fruit in their diets, so I think that's perhaps why I haven't needed quite as much kibble in the past. Of course I will not starve my dog Based on your suggestions though, I will try to encourage him to eat more per day.
  11. Haha oh yes! BC people are by far the most intense I've ever seen! I thought I was bad too.. I just assure my friends and family it gets a lot more intense than me!
  12. I considered Fromm, Orijen, Cali Natural, Wellness, and Canidae when deciding. In the end I think it was the fact that I could get so many different 'styles' of the same food from Fromm- duck and sweet potato, surf and turf, etc etc. I ordered from k9cuisine.com and the 30 pound bag was $57- which included free 3 day shipping right to my home. I believe as a puppy Jude will be at about a cup per day, so I figure a 30 pound bag should last me about 2 months in the beginning. I will need to store it in some kind of safe way so it doesn't get stale. Some of the other kinds I looked at were more expensive and I didn't like quite as much, so I was pretty happy with it!
  13. Sounds great! I don't think that's too too far from me. I will let you know when I'm in the area. Oh good, you are young! It's nice to find some committed young dog owners. I have many friends that have dogs, but very few that are as intense as I am about it. Look forward to maybe meeting you in the future!
  14. Thank you guys so much! I will start him with Fromm's and then will see how he is doing once he's been on it for 3 weeks or so. I found all of the information helpful- thank you very much! I will be watching him closely to ensure its the right food for him. If not, at least I know there are many other great options out there.
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