waffles

Yikes, what a reaction. I never said they were the same temperature. I answered the OP's question of "when do you put clothes on your dogs in the winter" and the answer was never. I then typed a little antidote about today's weather and walk. The OP is free to do as they wish but I responded to their question. Guess I'll go back to not responding much on these boards as no one enjoys being called out by name for such a benign post as winter clothes on dogs.

I dont make them wear winter clothes. I have a rough coat and a smooth coat and neither seem cold in the winter. We just got back from a 30 min walk and its currently 18 F outside (its sunny though!). The only time they seem bothered by the cold is when they get ice/snow packed into their pads and I have to pull out the little snow balls. I cant imagine taking the time to put boots on them and them actually liking them (takes long enough for me to get suited up to go out). I thought it was pretty nice out today with the sun and of course we all have to acclimate. A month ago 18 F would have been so cold!

Yes to this. Harnesses should only be on for the purpose of walking or training with a leash attached. Use a regular collar to attach ID tags to that stays on the dog at all times.

My 16 year old cat has this. He has had a few episodes but always fully recovers in a week or two. Its been about a year since he has had one. Its rough looking for a few days but he always recovers. Not much the vet said to do other than make a comfy spot for him with food/water near by and let him ride it out. Once recovered no one would have any idea he has it.

This! I would drop the narrative that he is a poor abused/neglected dog. I think it can set people up for a negative mindset from the get go. It does not sound like his past is actually known so he may have crate issues because well, he has crate issues or was never properly crate trained. I know lots of dogs who have been in the same house since puppy hood who are not neglected but have behaviors that might make it look that way if they were plopped into rescue sight unseen. If he is coming into your home as the only dog you may never need to crate him (though it is of course good to work on if he ever does need to be crated in his lifetime). I would look at him like any other dog and assess as best you can. Listen to the foster mom as she knows him best but some quiet one on one time with the dog is probably your best gauge as to whether he is your next companion. Best of luck!

The good thing Diane, is that the prey model or 80%/10/10 way of feeding is something thats been used long before FB or yahoo groups existed. I personally wouldnt use a website that has something to sell me or requires so many supplements. Or requires a vet to oversee it. I dont consult my doctor to make my diet or my family but completely understand why someone would like the idea that a vet made the food. To me, the entire idea of feeding whole food is that supplements arent needed. They get what they need from the food, just like myself. Unless there was a medical reason to Supplement of course. Everyone should do what makes sense to them and what works for their dogs.

Most run of the mill grocery stores sell beef liver. Kidney can be hard to find and for that I just order it by 15lb cases at the meat market. It lasts a long time too. I feed our two border collies that are 45lbs and 27lbs. They eat about 16 oz and 12-13 is oz each per day. In general most of what I feed is .49/lb-$1/lb plus the free venison I get. I do sometimes splurge and buy something for 1.30-$1.40 I would say I feed about 50lb per month so I would guess my monthly costs are $35-45 or so depending on what I have. Years ago with one dog I used to feed Fromm kibble and figure raw is about the same or probably less than what I would pay for Fromm for the two dogs. I do have a small chest freezer in the basement that I use for our own food and for dog food. It was free so not sure the size. I store their meat in 64oz freezer bins (when I get home from the store I just shove as much meat as I can in each bin, I don't actually portion out meals or anything): Extreme Freeze Reditainer 64 oz. Freezeable Deli Food Containers w/ Lids - Package of 8 - Food Storage https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008XLE0IQ?ref=yo_pop_ma_swf I label them with a chalk marker and keep two in the kitchen fridge and a couple in the freezer to have them handy. The rest get stacked downstairs. The FB group I mentioned was moved over from the old yahoo groups that I think has been around for 15 or so years. Its the basic 80/10/10 prey model type feeding that they subscribe to. You can read about that specific feeding style on other sites but their files are filled with useful troubleshooting for when you first start out. Many members/mods have fed this way for decades too. Some of their advice about health/diet is a little too woo science or holistic for me personally but the feeding guidelines are solid. It does get easier and quicker the longer you do it. I just hand them boneless meat (I sometimes weigh it sometimes dont, you get good at eyeballing it) for two days then the third a bone-in. I throw in some liver and kidney a few days per week and each day a fish oil pill. It takes about the same amount of time as scooping kibble. I dont cut or grind anything (except the whole chickens and the enormous beef hearts into 1lb hunks).

If you are cooking the food or feeding raw, you can buy the meat at any grocery store. I have no clue how to feed a cooked dog food diet but there is not need for a special supplier. I would assume a cooked diet is mostly the same with lots of meat but they probably add in grains, veggies, and lots of supplements. I have seen cooked recipes before online and it looked way too involved (so much grinding!) and time consuming for my personal tastes. I buy chicken and liver mostly from Save-a-lot, Aldi and Wegmans, depending who has what on sale. This week Save-a-alot had whole chickens for .79/lb. I usually get quarters for .49 on sale too. I can get pork roasts for a good price at all 3 stores too (sometimes .99 for bone-in and 1.69~ for boneless). I get turkey, pork hearts, beef hearts, liver and kidney from a local Polish meat market that sells all kinds of meat, packaged goods, produce, etc. If I call ahead I can get a better price by asking to order a case vs just coming in and buying 10lb or whatever like normal people do. We used to have a great restaurant supply place with cash/carry but they closed. I am also lucky to have family members who hunt and give me venison and I do run a CL ad in the summer/fall before the new season starts. I was lucky this year to get about 80lbs of free venison from 2015-2016 seasons off of local people. What I am getting at, is that you can buy whatever you need for a raw diet in human-food stores without having to go out of your way to find some kind of dog-meat supplier. If you were interested in raw, the facebook group "raw feeding (rf)" is a good place for the simplest version of raw feeding. The group is a bit militant on what can be advised or said, it can induce some heavy eye rolling, but they offer pretty straight forward information for getting started/troubleshooting.

This is well, a lot of dogs, especially border collies. My oldest male is not tolerant of rude, pushy, in your face dogs (that includes puppies). He too, may show initial interest in meeting a dog or puppy that is pulling on their leash or is whining to greet us, but we just keep walking. For the most part both my dogs ignore other dogs because they have learned that they don't need/have to/get to go up to them. If I were to allow him to greet one of these over the top dogs, he too would do an initial sniff then the teeth would be shown and if the dog doesn't get the idea to back up, then he too has nipped to get his point across. Keep your dog on a leash (especially inside a business) and you shouldn't have problems. Levi goes all kinds of places with me on a daily basis and we don't let him meet dogs that fit the above description (we honestly rarely every let our 2 dogs greet strange dogs while out on leash). IMO, dogs should not be someone else's problem in public and should not be made to or allowed to greet every single dog they come across. No one should feel obligated to stop or talk to me because I want my dogs to meet theirs. I may be the minority in that, but if I am in public with my dogs then I am there to spend time/exercise with my dogs and not everyone else's. And of course, you can't always predict what the other dog will do. You can only control you and yours. I also wanted to add that these type of interactions are clearly stressful for your dog, as they were for mine. It is better for everyone to keep your dog by your side and enjoy your time together instead of trying to make him greet dogs you know he isn't going to enjoy meeting. Again, if you show your dog that he does not have to interact with these dogs, he will likely relax and be fine in public. I constantly get praise from strangers on how well behaved or calm my dogs are in public. I look out for them and don't let them get into situations that are stressful (I too don't want to meet every stranger I see on the street). If they only saw Levi's reaction if some big shepherd or doofy doodle thing came running up to his face, they would think he was 'aggressive" too.

I got my 2 year old border collie at a time when I lived in an apartment. I don't think that is the issue. The OP has said she has zero dog handling/owning/training experience and there is no option for an adult rescue. You are a very experienced dog owner so having a border collie in a city setting was not a big deal. Same for me, I had years of experience personally and professionally (working in a kennel) that made it much easier to train, handle a border collie in an apartment. I also think you see a lot of border collies coming into rescue from suburban and rural homes because those are the people that get border collies. There are more living in suburban/rural settings than city settings so that means more are likely to come into rescue from those settings. Most people don't get dogs like border collies in a city setting unless they know what they're doing. So that dynamic would skew where dogs are coming from. I still think as someone who doesn't actually appear to know the breed well, she may be interested in getting a border collie because of impressive YouTube videos of them doing advanced tricks or because they are known to be smart (which many mistake for easy to train). I think part of why people are saying for her to maybe reconsider is because she may very well be very disappointed that the pup she gets grows to be a dog that is nothing like what she wanted. Any dog can learn impressive tricks or be an active companion, it is up to the owner to have the knowledge to teach the dog those impressive behaviors. Now maybe if she said that she has known many border collies personally and loves their sensitive nature, their athletic ability or had some more in-person experience with the breed, people may be more inclined to agree that it would be a good idea given that she is up for the training and exercise needs. Just my thoughts, as I agree with you that lots of people successfully live in urban areas with these dogs. But they typically have more experience and knowledge with dog training or the breed.

I second that! If you are still working on his recall then he should not be off leash. The longer he is allowed to chase birds and blow you off then the more fun it will be for him. It will make proofing his recall harder in the long run. Keep him on a long line and work on his recall in settings where he can succeed. Then slowly as he gets better at recalling, you can work up to places where higher distractions are (birds!). Chasing animals is a self rewarding behavior so your little treats are no match. Prevent the behavior now while he is young and as he matures and you continue training, you will eventually be able to call him off.

I'll chime in with my first thoughts...you're making your life more difficult than it needs to be. I think the odds are stacked against you but certainly can be a success story since I don't know you personally or your situation. But from what you have written, I think you would be better set up for success by finding an individual adult dog through rescue who fits the lifestyle you have to offer. It's a selfless thing to think about, "what can I offer a dog" instead of I want this particular dog/breed and how can I make them fit into what I can offer. Lots of people successfully live with border collies in city settings but as someone who has zero dog owning, training, handling experience on top of no border collie experience who lives in a city apartment...just sounds like an uphill battle for both you and the dog. The best thing to do is find an adult dog who can thrive in the environment you have to offer (whether that is a border collie or another breed/mix). One thing that also jumped out, is that 1 hour a night of trick training is not realistic. As a young pup you are lucky to get several 2-3 minute sessions in per day. Even with an adult dog, we do maybe 10-15 minutes of advanced trick training at a time. My dogs will quit on me after a certain point or get frustrated (even if they are getting click/treat for each behavior) as the repetition gets to them.

I too would suggest working with a rescue group who can pair you up with the specific dog that fits your lifestyle. Do you know many border collies in real life? They're definitely not like other breeds in many ways and it is something most people cannot fully understand unless you know some personally. Your desired list of attributes can be found in pretty much any dog of any breed or mix. Border collies in general can be much more sensitive than other dogs. They notice things in their environment that other dogs would not, can develop weird quirks or phobias and really make you think about how you approach training. If you want a companion dog to do activities with, any active breed/mix can fulfill that role for you. I would really suggest at the very least, talking to a rescue or people you know who own the breed and try to get their honest feedback on what the breed is like to live with. If you are as young as you sound, then also consider what your parents want, who will be the actual caretaker day to day, who will pay for vet care, classes, food, etc. What will happen when you want to move away from home and the dog may not suit your new lifestyle (college dorm, pet friendly housing fees, job transfers/longer work hours, etc). It can be really hard at any age to consider where will be in 13-15 years (average life span of the breed) but even more difficult if you are young enough to still be living at home.

I know every dog is different but when we had a 1 year old spayed she rested herself the first night and second day home. She wasn't interested in doing much. The third day she was ready to go and we kept her to just leash walks and trick training inside. By the the 5th or 6th day it was pretty much business as usual with off leash walks/runs. We did no fetch or swimming though for a while longer. I think the vet also advised 1-2 weeks of rest. I would suggest doing trick training, filling and freezing kongs and just regular leashed walks for a while. It's a good time to let her know that sometimes life is boring but she still needs to chill/behave in the house.

There is no reason to spend all your time (certainly not 3 hour walks each day) and money on your dog. As others have said, as I type, my two are sleeping at my feet. If you don't sincerely have an interest yourself in working stock then I would pass on any type of herding lessons you may find in the LA area. It is about more than letting your dog run around and burn off energy. If you do have an interest in agility then the same goes there. Classes are likely to feel slow and boring (especially in the beginning when you're not doing any obstacles for a while) if you yourself have no interest in the sport. If you do, then it is a great way to train, bond and expel some energy in your dog. I agree with others that the daycare is not working for her and I would stop taking her. A dog walker is a great alternative, it provides more structure, less 'go-go-go' type of stimulation that daycare places provide. I don't think anyone has mentioned it yet but teach her an off-switch. It sounds like you are a tad annoyed at how much attention she demands. Teach her to chill when you are home and otherwise occupied. This is a lot about teaching yourself not to give in. If she begs, wines or demands attention just ignore her or give her something else to do. Teach her 'place' command and you can send her to place (my own dog does place for 30 min. at times while I vacuum and mop). This also uses her brain while giving her structured down time. There are videos on YouTube of how to teach 'place.' I don't think any one of us here spends all of our time and money on our dogs, they are here to complement our lives not further complicate them.

Do you think that is nation wide or your area? I live in western ny outside of Buffalo which has a pretty low cost of living (aside from high property taxes). We are certainly not like large wealthy cities in CA and yet there has been a trend in the past 5 years of vet practices (ones that have been around for decades) remodeling extensively. In my small area there are 5 local vets that have either demolished their old buildings or put additions on that doubled or tripled there size. The buildings are nicer than most human doctors, with wifi, flat screen tv's, beautiful tile work and so on. My vet told me that the local vet in my small rural town spent 1.2 million dollars (if I remember correctly) on his new building. It's 3 stories with wrap around porch and all the crazy expensive equipment a vet could dream of (it won some award in a vet magazine too). I keep wondering if there are some programs out there targeting vets with low interest loans for this work? Some of the vets have added boarding or daycare as well but not all. It appears from the outside that vets in my area are doing very well. A bank wouldn't loan that money out if they weren't showing strong profits. My SIL works for one of these places that tore down their old place and built a very large building. It has all the bells and whistles, it's gorgeous inside and out. The owners are husband and wife and she said they live in a subdivision in the wealthiest zip code in our area. They have 7 other vets on staff now. I would think at least the owners of these practices are making some good money. Maybe not so much the staff vets. I fully am on board with supporting my vet who I love and I never complain about their prices. They have bills to pay and I know he has said he works 60+ hours/week. But their place is still quite modest compared to others around here. I just have always wondered about all these new large places that have gone up recently and if that is the trend elsewhere.

Maybe I'm a negative Nancy but I think it's more about money. My vet would have said the same thing about bringing the dog in again. The only time they don't charge a second office exam is if they request to see the animal in a week or two for a recheck on something. Vets in my area charge $45-75 per office exam. Routine visits make up the bulk of my vets practice so those fees really add up to their overall income. My vet doesn't even give a discount if I bring two cats in for routine vaccines. I see him for maybe 10 min and he just got $80 from just the exam fee alone. With that said, I love my vet and understand it costs a lot of money to run a vet practice so I pay and grumble to myself. It's the cost of pet ownership unfortunately. It's also why I also use the low cost clinic at Tractor Supply and also do many things myself at home. I had a similar experience with my own doctor last year. We have private insurance that doesn't cover much beyond "preventative" until we meet our deductible. I went in last year to get a refill of my eczema rx which is something I have had for over a decade. They still require I come in and bill me $110 so i can tell the doctor I still have eczema. I asked the doctor to fill the Rx for several years worth of the stuff because I said I'm not able to pay the office fee each year just to get it. The great thing is that our insurance company recently started the TeleDoc program for situations just like this. I can call and video chat with a doctor from home who will write the Rx and that "visit" is only $40! I don't see why in vet care they can't do something similar. I have noticed that some vets here have "tech visits" where you don't see the actual vet, just a vet tech for routine things like vaccines. It costs about half the price of a regular exam fee.

I get the feeling that you may think we are judging your dog ownership skills. It sounds like you are doing a great job at recognizing what is happening and managing it to your best abilities. None of us are perfect and mistakes happen to everyone. I know I am only trying to offer helpful suggestions based on what I have read. I agree that it seems you are over analyzing things. Since you seem to have a good understanding of when he is going to react, then now is the time to work on this. He doesn't need to be exercised extensively to train with him. Border collies love to use their brain and that will tire him out more than physical exercise. Take him places you know he reacts or just start in your front lawn. Have him on leash, have a treat pouch full of the smelliest treats he loves. Wait as fair back from the sidewalk as you can, and as you see someone come by.. ask for a sit or down. If he knows stay already then ask for that. Reward heavily with treats (but silently as your verbal praise may excite him more) as he stays calm then reward him with his release word once the person is gone. Repeat, like a million times! Start as far away as you can so you can see the trigger but be underthreshold enough to not lose his cool. Eventually you get closer as he gets better. If he loses it, then back in the house to calm down. If you're out somewhere, then I would just say 'let's go' while turning around and walking away from the trigger. Try again once he is calm at a farther distance. You want to reprogram him so that his first instinct is to be calm in these situations instead of exploding. Eventually you shouldn't have to ask for a sit/down or whatever behavior you want. He will start offering them then eventually hopefully just walking calmly by. My young dog was also reactive at that age, though not aggressively or at people. She loved to stalk cars and stand on her hind legs when they would pass. I would always get up on a lawn away from the road when a car approached. I asked for a down. She had to stay down until I released, I sometimes asked for other behaviors like shake, twirl, play dead (I am sure people thought we looked weird!) just to keep her mind engaged on me and not the car. Now at 2 years old we just go for walks. She completely ignores cars. She was also very excited to see strangers on walks. Now she doesn't even notice people walking by.

It sounds like management and prevention at this point is going to be really helpful. Time and religion too. He needs to be on a leash so he can't reach strangers at the campsite, picnic site. No one else should be subjected to someone's loose, large dog jumpin in them in a public campground,park like that in an agreessive way. Same goes for the front yard. No alone time outside where he can practice this behavior. Work on calm behaviors (sit/down/stay/recall) both at home and at campsites, etc. engage with him before he reacts. Get him using his brain and not just reacting how he has been. Practice by having someone you know walk by and get the behaviors down in a more controlled setting then work up to waiting for strangers to come by. I too have been rushed at while on a sidewalk by all breeds of dog. They are left outside unattended and the dogs will run/rush/bark until we disappear down the road. It happened last week with a Bernese Mountain Dog, outside alone with just an underground fence. He scared the crap out of my young dog and continued to run the fence line growling and barking until we were gone. Every breed of dog can develop his behavior if it's allowed. I also wouldn't be lookin for someone with border collie/golden retriever experience. You want someone with the knowledge to properly work with the owner and dog on these behaviors.

I am sure others will give longer more detailed responses but I found the end of the post confusing. Border collies and Golden Retrievers are not livestock guardian dogs. They were not bred to guard. There is no reason a border collie/golden mix can't be a pet companion in an active home. A dog that has aggression towards humans (if that is what this is), should not be off-leash in public, regardless of the training tool used. I would re asses the trainers in your area and find one that has a reputation for working with more difficult behaviors, not just basic pet/obedience behaviors. From your post, I am having a hard time envisioning the problem. Trying to fully understand the situation (what the dog is doing, what his intentions appear to be, how you/your family fit into the equation) is really difficult over the internet. A good trainer should have references from clients who experienced similar problems to yours, they usually also have their own demo dog they can show you. Lastly, if the dog is going nuts at the fence in your yard, work on calling him off (recalling him back to you). Stay outside with him and work on down/stays as people pass by (will probably have to get as far away from the fence at first). I wouldn't leave him outside alone to practice the undesirable behavior either, if that is what is happening.

I too thought, is she leashed? You don't have to drag her out but use the leash to put some pressure on her initially and then in a matter of fact way, just walk her in the house. Coaxing rarely ever works for really scared dogs. Show her what you want by using the leash. Be calm and quiet and just walk her out. Repeat. Repeat.

What have you done to teach him to walk on a leash? Has he been allowed to drag you for the past year+? If active loose leash training has not been done, then of course he will pull. If he tugs and you tug back, what does that teach him? I would suggest watching videos on YouTube by Kikopup on how to teach leash manners. She has several videos dedicated to just leash walking and breaks things down easily enough for a novice to understand. I would also suggest starting the training at home, where you have success already. Then move to the yard, then to a quiet street with little to no cars/people. Then to quiet parking lots, then to busier roads, etc. This will likely be over weeks/months, not days as he starts to learn to be calm on walks. Set yourself up for success as this can be a frustrating thing to teach an adult dog who has a history of pulling. Just tugging back on the leash isn't going to teach him about leash pressure and what pressure on the leash means (in fact, tugging back teaches the opposite of what you want). Harnesses like the easy-walk (front-clip) may help but they don't teach the dog about leash pressure and most dogs still pull just not as hard. IMO head halters aren't the greatest tool for leash walking and I personally would not use/suggest one. Especially if the owner continues to allow the dog to pull with it on, now the strain on the body has just shifted. It takes active every day training from the owner and lots of patience to teach leash manners. If he has been allowed to pull for his whole life, it will also take longer to train. Patience and time will pay off so you have 14 years of nice walks ahead.

I would recommend getting a competent trainer to come to your home to observe how you and your family interact with him. They can then get you working on a plan to provide more structure, rules and boundaries for your pup. Most of what you described sounds like a pup that isn't getting enough mental stimulation and not learning impulse control. He is being catered to too much. Throwing a ball for a border collie for hours a day is going to create a wild pup that demands fetch for hours a day. Replace the fetching with leashed walks, trick training, impulse control training (teach "place", loose leash walking, sit/wait for things he wants-food, outside). Reward and encourage calm behavior. I wouldn't suggest playing more than 5-10 min a day of fetch with a young pup. I would suspect that if you taught him to walk on a loose leash and replaced the hours of fetch with walks, he would calm down considerably. Sometimes too young kids and border collies don't mix. Especially if the owners don't have experience with the breed. I would definitely get in person help so they can see exactly how a normal day is in the household.

We use this for deworming once per year for the barn cat: https://www.amazon.com/Pyrantel-Pamoate-Suspension-bottle-Generic/dp/B019QSE476/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1501339193&sr=8-1&keywords=pyrantel+pamoate It doesn't cover tapeworms but you can get the tabs over the counter/online too if you see signs of tapeworms. We always had to treat for tapeworms in our indoor/outdoor cats (they would either throw up a worm or we would see the 'rice' pieces by their tail). So I had just started giving them tapeworm tabs twice per year and it appeared to solve the problem. They're old now and don't go outside anymore. You can get a 5-way vaccine at Tractor Supply for $10 or so. After they have had their kitten shots and once more as an adult we usually don't worry about the 5-way again. Our county holds free rabies clinics or they can go in to the regular vet every 3 years for that.

I would maybe talk to the vet about switching back to fluoxetine and continue to work on the reactivity. The Look at That game from Control Unleashed may help. There are videos on Youtube showing this game/technique to help you get a better idea of how it works. I also wonder, does he have any dog friends? When we got Levi he had pretty much only had negative interactions with other dogs. He lived outside on a farm and the other male border collie and the 'house' jack russells beat him up (he had bite marks on his face/neck when we picked him up). In the beginning he was so scared he would see the smallest dog walking several houses away and tuck his tail, growl and sometimes refuse to move. I figured one way to help him is to find even one dog that he could be pals with who could understand him. I figure other dogs know better than me with some things. Turns out well-behaved female golden retrievers were his favorite at first. I was able to pair him up with a few dogs so he could just learn how to be a dog and it definitely seemed to help. He now has had many dog friends over the years (turns out he also loved little yorkie type mixes)... pretty much any respectful, chill, easy going dog could be his friend eventually. In the beginning, his time spent with other dogs really brought out this playful, joyous side of him I hadn't seen yet while just spending time with his human family. Do you know anyone with a dog that he may get a long with? See if any of your friends, neighbors or family are willing to help and take walks with you and their well-behaved, low-key dogs. It helped me to have dogs to work with that belonged to people I knew- I wasn't so hung up on Levi embarrassing me (like I was in public) and I wasn't so worried about him biting their dog (he has never bitten a dog). Even if you just take walks near each other and distract yourself by having a conversation with your friend, may help things. Not sure if any of this applies to you but just throwing out what worked for us.