waffles

Thanks for posting this. We will have to continue to wait and hope our young one does not turn up deaf in the next few years (she is almost 2). Her sire has EOD. Interestingly, I just received my refund from ProjectDog yesterday.

I agree. How often are you using the word okra in every day life while your dogs are in a stay? It is good to test/proof a stay, but it seems tedious an almost pointless to purposefully confuse them for the sake of training. A good release word is also 'break' as it does not get mistakenly spoken in every day speak like 'okay' does. I would let this go, and continue to proof the stay in other ways and reward for longer duration.

The vet I use for spay/neuter only requires an up to date rabies vaccine. Many vets require distemper and kennel cough for their own interests. Just like boarding facilities-they have to think of the other dogs in the facility they care for and their owners. They certainly want to protect the masses that come in, and I understand that fully. The low cost clinic near me does not require it either, as they vaccinate (rabies and distemper) at the same time as neutering/spaying (it is all included if you qualify for their services). I personally would not want to spend the office fee ($42 at my vet) plus the cost of the vaccine just so I can come back a week later and spend a few hundred dollars on the neuter. I doubt that a vet who requires the vaccine would accept the receipt from Tractor Supply if you bought the kennel cough vaccine and administered it yourself. But I am frugal and willingly drive over an hour one way to a different vet for all of our pet surgery needs.

ACA and Continental Kennel Club are typically backyard breeder and mill registries. They are 'junk' registries where you basically pay money for a piece of paper. The CKC just asks people to fill out an application-you could register a hamster with them and they would not know. Breeders will pay the money to join these registries so they can ask more money for puppies from people who don't know about dog registries. I have no clue if the breeder you bought from was trying to scam you or not, but just stating my knowledge and experience about these registries in general. It does not mean your border collie is not a border collie. I also live an hour north of Randolph and actually use Randolph vet for all of our surgery needs because of how affordable they are. I don't use any HW preventative. It is a choice for you to make.

Search for 'charging a clicker' on youtube and google. Most clickers you buy in the store will also come with a short instructional pamphlet to get you started as well.

Thanks for posting.

I bought bully sticks twice. Paid around $8 for each medium sized one. Gone in under 20 min. Just not worth the price for me. I feed raw as a diet so my dogs get bone in meals every couple of days. I sometimes feed it partially thawed so it gives them more of a challenge. Otherwise Levi can pollish off a 1lb chicken leg quarter in under 4 min and Dixie at least takes longer. What really gets them working for a while are partially frozen pork hearts. Levi will lay there for quite some time gnawing at one as they seem to be a bit tougher than others hunks of meat, plus they're typically a nice 1lb size. I also wouldn't feed any knuckle bones or smoked cow parts from pet stores. Only edible bone-in meat for us and frozen Kongs. I filled them with canned dog food and freeze them overnight. Usually provides 40 minutes of entertainment and quite cheap. Levi came with some broken teeth years ago and so I try to be cautious with what I give them.

Management, recall training and don't let a young pup in with little chicks. One of our dogs will chase the chickens if we aren't supervising her. Chasing is not herding and I wouldn't allow my dogs to stress my hens out like that for the pups enjoyment. Keep the puppy on a long line while near the chickens to prevent more chasing. Proof a recall away from the chickens so eventually you can call him off.

I agree with Blackdawgs about listening to your dog. Some pets are going to enjoy the time sitting on the floor with you while you scratch their chest or feed them treats and other pets are going to be absolutely terrified. No one wants to force medical care on an animal where it crosses the line from helping them to taking away from their quality of life.

I don't have any experience with kidney failure in dogs but I am currently caring for a cat with kidney disease (not my own cat). Yes, she is on the expensive prescription food but is also getting sub-q fluids twice per week. The fluids are really the big difference maker. She went from not eating and looking really terrible to back to her normal 17 year old self after starting fluids. If your vet did not send you home with fluids, I would call and talk to him/her about this option for your dog. It is very simple and easy to do at home, also not very expensive either. I would also be warming food up to help her appetite and asking about anti-nausea medication. My vet said the disease can make them feel almost drunk and dizzy, making them not want to eat. I also don't blame her for not wanting the Ol' Roy food. Try cooking up some meat and scrambled eggs for her, serving it warm with some of the Rx food mixed in.

That is wonderful news! Dixie is just now a year and a half and we are still fine tuning some things. She keeps me thinking outside the box with our training as she presents completely different challenges than our other current border collie. Can't wait to see some photos and hear some updates. It is great that you were patient with the rescue and will hopefully be very happy with your new pup!

I suspected that might be the case. I would think more places would allow dogs inside then. Here, there are many gas stations that have bathrooms you access from the outside of the building. Not sure how common that is in your area. But That way you could bring him in with you and of course while filling up you can just hold onto him while you get gas. What do you see other people do? Is it common to see dogs chained to cars or crates sitting in parking lots?

Is it illegal to leave a dog in the car where you are? Just getting gas and going to the bathroom, I can't imagine not being able to leave the dog locked in the car. Crate him in a plastic sided crate in the car and no one should know he is in there or cover it lightly with a thin sheet if you are worried the car will be broken into. Unless you are stopping in high crime areas I can't imagine the car being broken into while running in to use the bathroom or grab some food to go. Hooking him up to the back bumper sounds like a terrible idea as you could forget he is there and pull away. No one thinks they could possibly forget but it does happen (like sleeping babies left in cars).

Controlling the mind is better than physically controlling her. Teach her to do what you want-which is to drop the object she has. Teach a solid drop command and teach her to 'trade up', use videos on YouTube if you are not familiar with how to teach this. Of course, you want to start with lower value objects. If people keep grabbing her collar or prying her mouth open or chasing her around, it just gives her more reason to guard what she has. It is confrontational to her. Once she knows how to 'drop' you can calmly ask her for what she has.

None of us have seen your dog, met her, or seen her at daycare. There is no set time frame for training puppies and dogs behaviors that go against their instincts. You could be working on this the rest of her life or just until she matures. How are any of us supposed to answer that question? My suggestions is to go to the daycare and observe her. See for yourself what she is doing and make a decision if you think she should be allowed to stay and have their employees work with her. This is really a situation between you and the daycare, not strangers online. Our advice is the best we can give you given what we know (which is basically nothing), and this is to remove her from the situation that is causing the behavior. That is the only sure way to stop the behavior. Take her back when she is an adult dog and see how she is. That is my advice, there is no black/white quick answer to your problem. Daycare to me is not a place for baby dogs to learn manners. That is their owners responsibility. I hope you find a solution, but the best thing is to ask these questions of the people at the daycare because they are the ones reporting the problem. I wish you all the best with your pup.

I am sorry you feel our delivery is wrong. We all mean well. Things can always sound harsher on the internet vs in person. The boards are not governed by a cohesive group that all know each other in real life so of course there will be people posting on other threads praising daycare. We all have our differing opinions and can express them here hopefully without much judgment. If our advice does not sit well with you, that is okay. We all want what is best for our dogs and we are only giving our personal experiences as well. It sounds like the situation you describe your puppy in, does not see healthy in the long run to continue on with daycare. It sounds like you have plenty of time in the day to spend with a 4 month old pup and should be investing the time/money into more structured activities like a puppy obedience class (they get play time there as well). Or set up play dates with other well behaved dogs that you know from the neighborhood, friends, or family. I know people that all meet at local dog parks at off hours so their dogs that they know get along can all play together.

I worked at a grooming shop and dog daycare for 10 years. I worked with many other ladies who came from other daycares. They are not what people think they are. In 10 years I watched dogs come in as pups and eventually saw the end of their lives. I knew many from pup to senior/end of life. Not one of the regulars was better behaved or better trained, socialized because of us. In fact many were eventually kicked out after being there every week for years as their behavior got worse. I never understood why people were so willing to let someone else care for their dog so much of the time each week. We had dogs come 2-5 days every week for many years. It's great you have had a good experience and most owners don't realize what actually goes on at them. Even the best staffed ones. It's always better to raise the dog yourself and if you need every once in a while, daycare can be used and be a good thing. No one at a daycare will explain these behind the scenes things to you. It's why so many places keep dogs that are not behaviorally ok to be there-they want the money. We had dogs we wished the owners would not bring. Their behavior was not bad enough to kick them out but was enough of a problem that no one including the dog was benefiting. I never liked when people brought young pups in. They all said the same thing about socializing. But a younger pup in with 15-25 large rowdy dogs did not benefit that puppy. I always tried to tell owners to take structured classes or even go to the dog park so you can be there to see their behavior. There was a reason almost none of us took advantage of the free daycare and brought our own dogs to work. I say this stuff to help you not to make you feel bad. There are daycares everywhere in my area. Owners can't possibly understand what it is really like at them until you work at one. I can remember countless puppies coming at young ages and by the time they were 1 years old we kicked them out. It's a high pace environment by default. Dogs in general don't need to be amped up like that all day. I hope you take this in a helpful way. We all want what is best for your pup.

Yes. Get up 30 minutes earlier for work, take her for a 15 minute stroll/walk, spend 3 minutes on training and pop her back in her crate with a stuffed frozen Kong. She will be just fine. As already mentioned, teaching her to settle inside when nothing is happening is a good skill. What did people do before daycare was invented? I sincerely think because dog daycare's are all over the place now, people get stuck thinking their dog needs to be there. I would think spending that money on a dog walker who comes in part way through the day to let her out and walk her would be a better use of money.

Set a timer for 3 or 4 minutes. When it goes off, you are done training. 15 minutes is a long time. I personally don't understand why the 'watch me' command is used so much for leash training. For loose leash walking, I do the opposite. And my youngest dog checks in quite a bit on walks. I click when the dog is walking by my side in a calm manner not looking at me. I click when they are not overly alert to something (squirrel, car) and are just walking normally. If she looks up at me, I wait until she looks away and click. Otherwise, I feel like I am rewarding the behavior of looking at my hand with the treats. I want the dog to be weaned off of treats and just go for a walk sooner rather than later. To me 'watch me' is the opposite of what I want the dog to do on a walk. I want them walking calmly by my side, not pulling, just looking around their environment, doing dog things. The point of a walk is not to stare at me or my hand with treats in it. If I took a child for a walk and told them to hold my hand and stare at me for most of the walk, that would be unrealistic and not the point of getting outside for a walk. The environment is going to be more exciting than looking at me and I want them to interact with the outside world, just on my terms (no pulling, no barking, etc). That is just my opinion. It has worked well for my two current border collies. I suggest also going back to the places where you have the best/longest success with leash walking and keep building up the duration that she can go. Continue on with the easy-walk harness for your safety while you keep training. It is definitely a frustrating thing to teach at times but with a dog who may have never been on a leash before or who has 5+ years experience dragging someone, it is going to take extra patience.

In my area we have one training facility that uses e-collars, along with treats, prong collars and such. The owner is the one I referenced before who appears to be quite famous in the last few years and is well known here for taking on the dogs that other trainers won't. Anyhow they regularly take on foster dogs from a couple local rescues and the city shelter for training-allowing their foster homes to train with the dog for free. Typically pit bull type dogs that struggle with something like dog aggression, inability to walk in public, a crazy lack of manners, etc. basically the really hard to adopt dogs. I know most rescues would not be open to using their services and would not adopt to someone who uses e collars. Many rescues in the area I have heard will not adopt to you if you have used their services (which is quite silly since they are not a shock collar only type place). But I wanted to chime in and say not all rescues are completely against them. I would guess though, that most border collie rescues would be.

Exactly what I was thinking. They find miraculous ways of getting out while in heat and getting hit by cars or pregnant by a dog you never saw. Having her spayed does not take much time. Make the appointment on the phone, have someone drop her off in the AM, and usually 4-6 hours later you return to pick her up. It is well worth the peace of mind. Is there a reason she can't be in the house and crated at night? Is she crate trained? It does not sound like the outside kennel is seen as a positive place. Plus with you still home...of course she will want to be with you and not locked outside. I would work on either kennel training her or crate training so she can be inside. For either of them, start slow, build a positive association, and don't expect to be able to leave her alone in either for long periods of time at first. Google 'crate games' for some good ideas. Stuff and freeze kongs for her to use in the kennel or crate as well, may also want to feed her in there.

But is that because they think the fence is abusive or because of the many other reasons invisible fences may not be suitable for the dog they are applying for? I have seen on GHF's adoptable page, dogs listed as okay for invisible fencing. To me they are a great example of a border collie rescue and they seem to not be morally against them (though I am sure that is not their preference and the dogs were most likely trained to it in their previous homes). Of course the fences pose many other issue such as easy escape, other animals/people getting into the yard, poor training of the boundaries leading to frequent escapes, and so on. I just never understand the emotional response by some to e-collars but not to invisible fences. And I am not even a user of or really a big lover of the fences. I don't want to veer the conversation off of the topic though. I can certainly understand why a breed specific rescue would not want to adopt to a home that uses an e-collar. I definitely think you will have better luck with a municipal shelter or humane society/SPCA type of place. Our training methods grow with each dog and I think you may find that you will not need a collar for the next one. And like Donald said, I too know a very well known e-collar trainer, one who travels the country now giving seminars and is quite respected by many similar trainers. His own personal working dog (his Mal who he used as demonstration) wore the collar always. I am sure his dog could do all the same things without the collar, but it was always on.

I think it is great that you are honest, and the rescue should be willing to see your dog and all of your accomplishments together. Many people never do any training with their dogs past sit and down, you seem like an engaged, active dog owner with higher expectations and goals than most have for their dogs. I wish you lots of luck with the rescue! Would the rescue think invisible fence users are abusive? There are millions of them in use on properties in the US. I am not one of them, but they can be a good tool for a lot of owners who would otherwise let their dogs run loose. Like my neighbors do (we have twice suggested they have an electric fence installed or the new wireless ones) and my in-laws used to as well before finally getting an invisible fence. I know their neighbors have to be happy they no longer let the dogs wander all over.

Video of a more pronounced episode: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BwhujKMRKNJsMEhPdmdjQW43bmJiSEtpMjBNZVo1T2ZyeGww https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BwhujKMRKNJsSTk5MXpSZ0NuYXdiVTFNTkt0TzVfeExDc1RN

I believe that I have only seen that in sites for EIC in Labradors. It makes sense that drowning would be the cause though none of the sources I read mentioned that important bit.