maggiesmommy

Okay, thanks so much for the help!!! I was really worried about it.

I would have guessed BC/ACD and maybe a little Staffy. Beautiful dog!

Since all the doggers here have given me such excellent answers about all my BC-related questions... I've got one more. Maggie has recently-- just in the last two days-- started growling while playing with other dogs (wrestling, tug-of-war, etc.). The rest of the body language has remained playful-- play-bows, wagging tail, loose body language. I think it's something she learned from some of her friends at the dog park and she's imitating their behavior. In the past, she only growled when she felt threatened, and I didn't discourage it because it was her way of signaling that another dog's behavior (like mounting her or playing too rough) was unacceptable. When I've heard her start growling during play, I've gently pulled her away from the play and made her sit/stay for about 30 seconds before telling her "okay" and letting her play again. I don't want her to growl while playing because if it IS aggression, it needs to stop, and if it's NOT aggression, I don't want other owners mistaking it for aggression. She's never had any problems with aggression toward other dogs before, so if this is aggression, it's new. She normally gets along very well with other dogs. Is this a behavior that you would be cautious of, or try to stop? Is the way I'm handling it, by isolating her for a few moments, a good way to handle this?

Hey guys, sorry I haven't responded in a while. I got Maggie a new, larger crate last week and I've been feeding her in there. I'm leaving both crates available to her (one for familiarity, the other for newness, to see which she'll prefer) and seems to be comfortable eating and hanging out in them but still gets a little upset when I tell her it's crate time. I think the SA is the main problem but I'm continuing to work on it. Thanks for the help.

Huh... That's an interesting possibility. Our fire alarm went off in the middle of the night a couple of weeks ago (we never figured out why) and I'm not sure, but that may have been the time that she started freaking out about the crate. I was half asleep and the first thing I did was make sure there was no fire anywhere, and it didn't really occur to me to make sure that Maggie wasn't panicking. She was probably really freaked out to hear such a strange sound and be confined to the crate when it happened. I wish I knew the exact time she started the crate avoidance, because that could definitely be it.

When I adopted her, her spine and ribs were severely protruding, and we had her on a prescription weight-gain diet at the shelter, and I've kept feeding her almost double the recommended amount of puppy food. It had never even occurred to me that she was actually getting too fat at this point. I'm glad I saw this thread because I'll need to get her to lose some weight (or at least stop gaining).

Huh. This thread has made me realize that my Maggie (11 months, 21 inches, 41 lbs) may actually be slightly overweight. I would have thought that your dogs were underweight because of how much abdominal tuck they have, but if that's expected in healthy BC and BC mixes, I may need to rethink what I thought Maggie's ideal weight was. She was extremely underweight when I got her so I've just been packing the pounds on her without realizing that I might be overdoing it!

I volunteer at the shelter where she was surrendered. She was skin and bones and most of her fur had fallen out from malnutrition and anxiety-related fur-pulling. So, yeah, I know her background. I did post about her past and how I got her here: http://www.bordercollie.org/boards/index.php?showtopic=35317 She's always had SA but for some reason she found the crate comforting enough that it more or less overrode it. She would still whine and whimper a little, but she'd get over it soon. I think that the combination of familiarity and denning instinct for some reason helped to calm her down. The SA itself hasn't really gotten better or worse over time-- she's always freaked out if I've so much as left her inside while I went to check the mail, unless she was in her crate. I don't think it's new or worsening SA; I think that the crate for some reason isn't a source of reassurance to her. I've never coddled or cooed to her when she's been anxious. It's always just been a matter-of-fact, "Mommy is here." or "I'll be home soon." She does have a kong ball in her crate and that does keep her occupied when she's in it. She's also got a puzzle-toy full of peanut butter that she loves. But right now she would rather take them out of the crate and then nom on them somewhere else. Now that she's potty trained and respects baby gates, I'll start leaving her on the *other* side of the gate when I'm in my office working and see if that helps over time. I know I probably should have done more to stop the SA from the beginning, but since the crate was so reassuring and since I chalked it all up to her past, I figured she'd just outgrow it in time or just always be my velcro-pup. :/

She's an abuse/neglect survivor so her level of separation anxiety doesn't surprise me.

I change the bedding weekly and it's all fresh and clean now but that's not making a difference for her. I might start letting her sleep loose... She's done it a few times but the problem is that she gets REALLY excited about sleeping with me and my partner and wants to roll all over the bed and get in between us, and our bed isn't very big. XD And if she's in another room, she goes nuts with separation anxiety. Maybe I just need to deal with it and let her sleep with her mommies, even if she wants to roll all over the place and wake us up over and over again with kisses and tail wags. ^^ That still wouldn't solve the issue of when I have to leave her, though... And I'm not sure how a tie-down works. I know she'd chew through anything but a metal chain... And what do you secure a tie-down to indoors? Furniture? I can see her getting antsy and chewing up either whatever's tethering her or whatever it's attached to.

Huh. I wonder if it's an age thing. Maggie has leaked a little urine a few times when I've pushed/leash-pulled her to the crate (I'm too weak to carry her). I think the much-larger crate might be in order. She might have negative associations with this one that she wouldn't have with another crate, especially if it were a different size or style.

Maybe the OP means "Texas and German"?? And maybe by "papered" he means AKC? Are barbie collies more likely to be "hyper?"

Not a stupid question! That's something that I can see how an owner could easily overlook. No, there's nothing in her crate that she'd be avoiding. It seems to be clearly related to separation anxiety because she now strongly associates "crate time" with "mommy is about to leave me by myself." I've started feeding her in her crate and "hiding" extra treats in the bedding in her crate... And I'm going to try to spend my next paycheck on a bigger one so it's a little less confining, since she no longer needs it for elimination-training purposes. Thank you for the help. Oh, and also, the crate is in my bedroom, so she can see me when she's crated at night. But she's still anxious about it now. :/

Good plan! Thank you!!

Thanks!

My 11-month-old BC was good about going to her crate every time I said "crate time" until recently. In the last month and a half, I've managed to get her completely house trained, and for the first couple of weeks that meant more crate time than average. She for the most part still enjoyed her crate and would go there for "fun"/denning without being told to. For the last two-ish weeks, she's only been put in her crate at night time and during the rare times when I have to leave her home alone. For some reason, she is suddenly trying to avoid her crate entirely. I think it's because of separation anxiety, because she knows that the crate means that she's either going to bed or that she's about to be home alone. When I say, "Crate time," she now puts her tail between her legs, flattens her ears, and runs away. It's very, very hard to get her to finally go to the crate, even though it's full of bones and toys, and she gets a treat every time she follows the "crate time" command. ...So, doggers, can anyone help? Why would she suddenly develop new anxieties about her crate, especially since she's now in it *less* than before? And what's the best way to handle her trying to hide when I give her the command to go to her crate?

I'll do some research today to see if I can find a veterinary dentist... Thanks.

Borgis look like Cardigan corgis, but they're not the same thing. Maybe Pembrokes were outcrossed to border collies (or related dog types) to produce Cardigan corgis way back in the day, but there's a difference betwen a Cardigan Welsh corgi and a designer-bred borgi.

Animal cruelty has existed for centuries, too, often in much worse forms than we typically see today. That's beside the point, though... I'm well aware of the history of toy breeds. I don't have a problem with their existence. They were bred to be companion dogs while other breeds were bred for other purposes. If they are being used as COMPANIONS, that's fine by me, but I'm not okay with them being purchased on impulse by people who only want something that looks cute, and who don't realize what a tremendous commitment it is to adopt or purchase an animal. People who buy toy dogs are companions can be wonderful owners. People who buy them as accessories tend to dump them in shelters as soon as a problem arises.

THIS! Absolutely this. As I mentioned, I could see the utility in out-crossing for a purpose. The BC/golden crosses that loggerboots mentioned sound like they could be great service dogs. If you could breed BC intelligence and work ethic into a non-herding breed, I can see how it could be *outstanding* service animal. And, as I mentioned, I could see how borgis could be great cattle dogs; it's too bad they only seem to breed them as a novelty. The -poo thing seems like a fashion trend to me more than anything. Most of the people who buy them aren't people with allergies, and as another poster mentioned, there's little to no evidence that any dog breed is "hypoallergenic." Non-shedding, yes, but an allergy to dogs is an allergy to their dander and saliva. Dog fur itself is made of keratin just like human hair; no one is allergic to hair. I think a lot of people just think the curly coats are cute. But, yes... Animals are not accessories.

That makes a lot of sense. And, no, I don't think that the traits that appear in a lot overbred/inbred dogs are positive at all. I think yo hit the nail on the head by saying that the issue here is that people are creating novelty animals without regard to anything else about them. Responsibly breeding a dog for a specific purpose s fine by me. Breeding a dog because you think "puggapoo" would be a funny name or because you think border collies would look cuter with short legs is pretty ridiculous.

Right. One is not worse than the other. I was pointing out that most puppy-mill/pet-store dogs in my area are designer dogs, so it makes me think that irresponsible breeding is more common with designer dogs.

Awww, I thought the borgi was cute. :3 I just wouldn't breed them deliberately. It seems like a borgi could be great cattle dog, but I don't think anyone's actually breeding them as cattle dogs...

That's a good question. I think it's because when I think of purebred breeders whom I have personally known (and this is likely biased because the circles I run with), they have been very responsible and have been careful to preserve the breed's integrity and original purpose. My dad bred working BCs, there's a kennel not too far from here that breeds GSDs for police and service work, and I have a cousin who breeds beagles for hunting. I'm guessing I have a lot of bias because I know "purebred" breeders who are actually breeding dogs for a specific purpose, but I only know of designer breeds that have been made as companion animals. There are so many animals that would make wonderful companions already out there, so I see little purpose in making more of them. I don't entirely oppose the breeding of companion dogs, but something about the way designer breeders are going about it just strikes a chord with me. A lot of it is also because of what I see locally... I stopped going to my local pet store because they were selling toy designer dogs (no purebreds, toy or otherwise) and making a fortune on them, but wouldn't give the names or contact information for the breeders. That just screams "puppy mill" to me. When I see people selling non-designer dogs, even on Craigslist and in the newspaper, it's usually people who seem more than willing to talk to you about their breeding programs and to provide information on the parents' backgrounds. The shelter where I volunteer gets about a 2:1 ratio of designer dogs to purebreds-- with most of the designer dogs being toy crosses-- and about 80-90% of the purebreds we get are pits. That tells me that designer dogs are (at least in my area) much more overpopulated than purebred dogs and much more likely to end up in irresponsible hands.

That's a good point. It just does seem like designer breeds attract more than their fair share of irresponsible breeders.