kiwigirl

Hi! We (myself and Bran, a 14 month old Border Collie) have just started Agility training! Well, we started two months ago. He loves the jumps, tunnels, and even weaves, and has picked up how to follow my hands already. However, we have a couple of issues that I am looking for advice on. Firstly - his wait at the start. At home and on lead his wait's are perfect. We have practiced over and over again, no problem. But we get to the front of the queue in class and I take his lead off and tell him to wait, and zoom, he's off. He usually goes over the first couple of jumps before either coming back to me or running off to see what the dog in the next class over is doing. Once he comes back, he is more likely to wait (not every time though) and if he does he does the course perfect! But, obviously, if we can't wait then its pretty hard to get anywhere with agility! Second issue - half way through class he starts lying down and looking like he's tired and/or bored. Is this an age thing, a training thing, or an owner's behaviour thing? His first two puppy classes he loved, but the third course (at 6 moths old) we did had so much waiting around that this behaviour started, and it hasn't stopped. Third - this is an issue not related to agility as per say. But his behaviour has got naughty. When he is off lead at the dog park he jumps on people. Not on me, and not at home. But off lead its anyone's game. I think he is getting too excited - but how do I control that when we are out and about with other dogs? He has also stopped listening to the odd command that he knows and has always followed (for instance, 'leave' when we see a muddy pond. Until two weeks ago he listened, but the last couple of times it's been right in!) Maybe there is a common thread here that I am missing, and most likely my training/energy/behaviour needs adjusting. Ideas? Please???

Hi! I need some ideas for my Border Collie. Bran is 14 months, and earlier this year (we live in New Zealand, so it was autumn) he started being kept in an outdoor run while people were away from home during the day. We far prefer this to tying him up. At first the run was made from a type of chicken wire, which he (surprise surprise) got through pretty quick. That was replaced with a wooden trellis, and we started putting him in there at night. We also added a second fence to keep him in a smaller area at night, an area that was also raised off the concrete. Then he managed to break out one day by removing three horizontal pieces and climbing out and over his kennel. Next it was a lovely Bran shaped hole by the door. Then he figured out somehow how to open up the inside gate and then out the hole. Finally we fixed the hole and added a second latch on the inside gate, so tonight he went back in. It took a few minutes for me to hear whining and the sound of wood breaking. When I looked after 10 minutes he was already out of the night area. He managed to somehow break the top corner of the small gate and crawl through, and I think was very lucky not to do any damage to himself. So once again he is spending the night inside the laundry in his crate. We are at our wits end. Suggestions?

Hi! This is my first post on the site. We have had Bran for two months now, he is a gorgeous (teething!) four month old Border Collie puppy. I have found this site incredibly useful when looking for info, so thought I would see if other's can help me with this one. We have one major behavioural issue with him that is driving me crazy! When he is too excited or tired (usually they seem to line up!) he goes mental when you try to pick him up. He rolls onto his back with his little paws in the air, eyes wide, mouth open. You try and get him and he bites (not hard, just puppy play biting) and rolls all over the place so you can't pick him up. Usually we are simply trying to remove him from a situation and then he goes mental like this, and what point we put him into his crate to calm down and he falls straight asleep. We have tried to calm him down by holding his collar, but he just responds to that in the same way, and doesn't calm a bit, no matter how long we do it for. Once he does get into the crate he falls straight asleep, leading me to think that perhaps he is simply being a tired toddler whose behaviour is effected by being too tired. Or he doesn't want to go into his crate (though he has no problems with it at other times). Or he thinks we are just playing. Any other ideas for what might be causing it? Is this puppy behaviour that he will grow out of? Or is it something that needs to be disciplined, in which case how do you do it? Any ideas would be very helpful!