kyoo

sorry to bump the very old thread - my border collie has been doing this on and off. I started to give him a little snack before bed, but it still happens once in a while. probably a mixture of giving him too spread apart meals, and he does have an antler he chews on a lot..

haha I forgot about that. basically yeah, I did get him from a breeder, but everyone kept saying he looked like a BMD. At that age, it was a little hard to tell. Not so much anymore, or since basically 3mo old lol

Haha good to know - here he is now, ~9 mos old or so:

Mega old update - Pep is now 9 months old and has been happily living with us. We leave him in the crate when I go to work, as he has been a little destructive during the day. He is still as happy and as sweet as ever, and full of energy. I do have a behavior question though: even when we're not in the living room, Pep loves hiding under the dining table and staring at his ball which is lying somewhere in the living room. He doesn't come to us if we're in the bedroom, or bring the ball to him to throw it - he just constantly stares at it, as if it's going to move. If we kick the ball, which we often do, he'll rush to grab it and drop it down somewhere in the living room, and go back to hiding under the table to watch it. Is this a herding behavior? Does anyone else's dog do this?

thanks - SAME HERE lol. we toyed with the idea of getting Pep a friend but Pep's already a handful himself..

lol so cute!

Thanks! I figured that some of it had to do with his personality. Don't get me wrong, he's happy when we come home, etc. but he is in general fascinated by things other than 'us'. He will still obey as long as we have treats (though sometimes the temptation of a stranger is too much for him and 'come doesn't work). We've got all sorts of squishy, squeaky, wobbly toys that we use, as well as balls, frisbees and kongs, which he enjoys. Haha yea, definitely not a BMD, more obvious the older he gets. Definute true about 'motion-activated' - anything that moves just draws his attention completely - his mind just switches to "WHAT IS THAT?!?! I MUST CHECK IT OUT NOW!" lol. Good point about liking people than one who's afraid/defensive though. He will nip at us if we run away from him though lol but as I understand it that is a border collie/herding thing. Thanks! Was very cute as a young pup, but getting handsomer and handsomer as he gets older. Yeah - definitely - I guess puppies can be a little ambiguous when young. I'll definitely have to check those out! Thanks! Thanks to everyone for the replies - computer was dead over the weekend so I didn't have a chance to reply. Looking forward to learning more as time goes on! FYI, he has just started to lose his puppy teeth, and has started the shedding process as well.

Hi all! Finally getting around to posting about Pep, our new Border Collie. I picked him up at right around 8 weeks also, and he just turned 4 months last week! He is very smart and very sweet. I believe he is technically considered a tri-coat. When we first got him, the #1 guess at what he was was a Bernese Mountain Dog - fortunately, I think this has proved not to be the case. He went from very cute to pretty darn handsome. //at four months It was very difficult raising Pep at first - he was just a puppy and there wasn't anyone to watch him while I was at work. I didn't kennel train him - instead, what I did was fence off a certain area with a pet carrier, food and water bowl, and pee pee pad and toys. (I know this isn't the "correct" way to raise a dog, please don't judge). We've gradually opened up the rest of the living room to him, and he no longer goes inside the house at all (but sometimes can have an accident). Basically, I took away the peepeepad while I was at home and took him out every hour, gradually moving to every other hour. Anytime he went while he was outside, he got a treat, and he really only goes potty outside. Now, my girlfriend watches him 24/7 while I'm gone, so we don't have too many issues any longer, and don't leave a pad out anymore. I think at four months he was right around 15-16lbs, but I have a feeling he has a lot more growing to do. We were told by the breeder that he was fairly "laid back" as far as border collies go, which is surprising to us - he is FULL of energy. He is solely food-motivated, and it seems like to an extreme degree. This has had its benefits though - We've been taking him to puppy training school, and will soon move to intermediate school. He's been called by the trainer as the "valedictorian" and "show off" because he is so smart. I think he can literally pick up a new command within 5 minutes, and as long as there is food in my hand he will do it without fail. Hoping to keep him healthy, I feed him strictly Purina Pro Plan (switched to adult food now) and purified water lol. Commands he knows: - Sit - Stay (can leave the room) - Come - Leave it (food left on paws) - Watch me - Handshake - High five Working on: - Distinguishing different (stuffed) animals I'm hoping I could address some concerns through this forum - here a couple to start: - He only cares about food and strangers - particularly food. I know that describes a lot of dogs but his case seems to be extreme. We went to the park the other day, and unless we literally had food in our hands he sat as far away from us as the leash allowed (unless we were playing fetch, doing something else, etc.). It's kind of a concern to us, and to be honest a little embarrassing as well. We properly trained him to "come" and he does so without fail, but once the food is out of our hands, he's gone. He doesn't seem to enjoy petting very much, and practically doesn't do anything unless we've got food. When we're outside, we are the absolute least of his concerns, and it almost seems like he's willing to go home with anyone! If a stranger came by with dogfood in his hands, Pep would be long gone. - As far as strangers go, he goes absolutely crazy for anyone who comes by, jumping on them licking etc. I suppose this is fairly normal though, but he just seems to have an intense fascination in anyone who isn't us. - He seems to "chew" on himself pretty often. Either biting his leg or tail. I've read this could be a sign of an allergy or something, so I should probably see the vet soon. Anyway, very glad to be a part of the bc boards and looking forward to getting information and continuing to learn about our Pep!