B-and-B

Thank you for your kind words. Yes she was beautiful and was such a lover of any person she met. Any one who ever met her was impressed with her gentle spirit. And yes, it is tough, and I know the pain will eventually fade and be replaced by fond memories...But when you're in the middle of the storm it sometimes feels like the sun will never shine again. Again, thank you.. Brian and Blanca

Our hearts are heavy, our beautiful 14 year old Shadow, who was literally our shadow, always within 6 feet of me or my wife, passed away at 8:30 this morning from kidney failure. When ever I was outside I could always look at the house to see her little face in the window, keeping an eye on me. I think I'll miss that most. GAH...why do we let these little furballs burrow so deep in our heart, the pain is almost unbearable....but I wouldn't trade all the joy she brought us during her life to be rid of the pain. Run with your sisters Pip and Bella, Shadow, they have been waiting for you. You will be missed dearly, and never replaced.

Shadow, our older BC LOVES the water. When she goes to the beach she will run non-stop fetching whatever we toss in the water for her, to the point of shivering (Lake Michigan water can be pretty cold all year long). We have to make her lie down on the sand to warm up. Dustie on the other hand doesn't like getting wet and will pace along the shoreline until Shadow gets within reach, then she'll try to steal whatever Shadow is bringing back.

Well, good news on one front. We just went a full week with no barking when doing our 'Goodbye' ritual in the morning. We would tell them 'no bark' hug and kiss and when they didn't bark they would get a treat, the treat is actually supplements my wife gives them. So that problem is on the road to resolve! the other one...meh, not so much, We put them outside the room during intimacy, Shadow, the older BC will bark from the living room, the younger Dustie barks once or twice, then stops. Slow but sure... we making headway. Just thought I would share :D

Thanks for the responses , I'll try to clarify and answer some of the questions... These issues have been going on about 2 years-ish, maybe a little longer. mseaver - When I leave for work my routine is... get my coat, if needed (we live in Michigan) then find my wife to give her a small hug and kiss and sometimes I use the phase, "Gotta go" . As soon as I get the coat on, Shadow, the older BC starts to get 'on guard' and will begin following me. Dustie will sometimes get up from her lounging spot on the couch to see what the impending excitement is....sometimes not. Like I said, we have tried doing this routine at other times during the day, but they both do absolutely nothing. I have tried having Shadow sit by my side and I pet her with one hand while I hug my wife with the other and give my wife a kiss....no change. We even tried putting them in another room with the door closed if they started barking and ignored the "no bark" command and would make them stay there until they stopped..no change... My wife and I both work, so they really spend no more time with her than with me, and we share feeding and grooming routines fairly evenly. As far as the issue with intimacy goes, it does not matter who the initiator is. Your comment "Although the behavior did not manifest in the specific manner you describe, my Aussie clearly thought its role in life included intervening in perceived disputes.." caught my eye as I have also wondered if they perceive our actions as aggression... I'll approach the idea of having Shadow visit a family member to see how Dustie responds without Shadow's influence... D'elle - When I said "they never bark except for when I am really leaving for work" , I was referring to our attempts to replicate their response to me leaving at different times of the day. They only bark when when this routine is the real deal, i.e. when I am really leaving for work. To put them outside when I leave feels like that would be skirting the issue rather than trying to get to the source of their response and resolve it. Hope that clears things up a little...thanks for ideas

We have two Borders, Shadow who is 12, and Dustie who is 8. This issues seems to be getting worse as they age and it has two aspects to it. The first one is their reaction when I leave for work. The last thing I do before I walk out the door is give my wife a hug and a little kiss, which sends Shadow into a barking frenzy, and Dustie sometime joins in, sometimes doesn't. We have tried getting them used to this routine by doing it at various times during the day, but they NEVER bark except when I am really leaving for work. Any time they don't bark (which is in the 2% with Shadow..) they get a treat with praise for "No bark" The other aspect is their reaction during times of intimacy between my wife and I.....they go full on bonkers! Pacing around the bed, barking like crazy! We have tried putting them out of the room....bark bark bark at the door, putting them downstairs....bark bark bark at the basement door, increasing our activity with no improvement.... Anybody else run into this issue or have some recommendations?? I mean, I don't want to have to go get a motel room to have peace and quiet with my wife.

I always let my pets 'name themself'...I get to know them and watch for a specific characteristic behavior, if there is none I pick a physical trait. We've had cats named Spanky ( he was always getting into trouble like the Little Rascal's Spanky) then there was Stinky, only cat I've ever known that farted... Gizmo who looked like the Gremlin by the same name... Our BCs are Shadow, as a pup she was always underfoot or right by my side, just like my shadow. And then there's Dustie, her markings as a pup made her look like she had been playing in the dust You can always 'disguise' names too.... instead of DumDum, go with D D... or Deedee, be creative and have fun. Since she's always tripping you "CONSTANTLY cross-walking in front of me and tripping me " there's Hazzard, or Tripsy...lol... you get the idea

DSG....I cannot fathom your loss and the pain at the suddenness of it all, even though I know I will have to face that pain sometime in the (hopefully far) distant future x 2...my condolences on your loss...

Update on our progress... We did the separating into rooms. Shadow (the older one) will sit quietly from the time she goes into the room... Dustie...not so much. But Dustie will eventually stop barking (or at least will stop for a full minute or two. )We did notice that Dustie (the younger of the two ) seems to que in on our phrase " Ok, gotta go.." just before we hug and will start barking at the phrase, and Shadow will join in, just because...lol. So we have been using the phrase out of context, or long before the hug with less barking....although there is still some grumbling from Dustie...I mean literally...lol Still working on no response...getting there.. thanks for all the input! You guys rock!

yup...been doing that now when they get out of the 'penalty box' Gothcha....that was the thought behind the casual "Good girl" with the desired behavior. Thanks guys. I appreciate all the input!!

^^^ So with that in mind, as things progress and they begin to NOT bark at hugging, then THAT should be rewarded with a pat on the head and a good girl.. yes?

Thanks guys. The 'rewarding' is only something (last month or so, and inconsistently) that we have tried. Never thought of it as reward but I guess that makes sense. We do have separate rooms we can utilize. And we can definitely spend plenty of time on the weekends putting them through the new response. Thanks !

So apparently my two Holstein....er... Border Collies are normal with their grazing habits, but they have another trait (or I should say response) that is bothersome, and intrusive at times (more on that part later....) Any time my wife and I hug each other, they go crazy with barking. We have tried calming them and calling them over to pet them while we are hugging, assuring them that , no, the Alpha male is not attacking the Alpha female. When we had just Shadow, we never saw this behavior. Even with the addition of Dustie when Shadow was 5yo this behavior was not present. This was not really present on a regular basis except for the last 6 months to a year, which is about when we moved into our new home. Lately it seems to be getting worse as they display this behavior with ANY hugging of friends or family. Just an informational side....Shadow is very laid back, and calm, takes to strangers with a tail wag, Dustie on the other hand is rather high strung, barks at anything and everything that moves outside the house ( she barks at the mailman when they deliver the mail to the mailbox at the end of our 300' driveway.) Greets strangers prepared to do battle but so far has never been aggressive with anybody. She almost strike as the type who is just a big blowhard and presents all big and loud just to scare people away because she is actually a great big chicken... So you can see the barking with hugs is getting irritating, where this becomes intrusive is if the wife and I try to pursue a little 'alone time' if you get my drift....even with closed doors they bark up a storm (even howled at one point I think...) which can be, well, distracting... lol Any thought on ways to address this behavior or is it 'normal' Thanks

Good info ... thanks guys. And ditto on the deer and rabbit poop, I can always tell when they find a stash, they stop whatever they are doing to partake of the bounty...lol Guess I can let 'Bessie' and 'Clarabelle' graze to their hearts content...lol

I could have sworn I have two border collies.... but I'm not so sure...they are black and white like BCs... but Holsteins are black and white too....and every time I take these two out they take to grazing on grass like cows...what is up with that?!?!? They will eat grass till they start gacking. Any one else have Border Holsteins that do this..??