NielZ

Thanks for the advise. We do not usually take him for runs, but we decided to take him for a quick 10 min jog. He has so much energy and we were trying to help him relive some. He actually was not sleeping when my fiance pet him, he was wide awake.

Sorry if this post is long but I feel like I need to include a lot of info...Yesterday night we had a very scary experience with our 5 month old Border Collie puppy. It was around 9:30 at night and he was laying on the floor by the refrigerator and I went to pet him on his back/hind legs and he snapped. He lunged at my fiance and bit her on the side of her chest. He showed no warning signs. After this incident he did not let me or my fiance near him without snarling, baring his teeth and lunging at us or trying to bite us for about an hour. It was like he was terrified of us for absolutely no reason. We were able to calm him down by sitting on the floor with him and gently petting him and not letting him bite is and basically just holding him. We don't know if he was hurt, or scared of the thunder since we had a lot of thunderstorms yesterday or if he was exhausted since we had a long day. Earlier in the day we took him to the dog park, and then my fiance took him for a run a few hours later. He then he came to my fiance's parents house for a few hours and then a stopped by a friends house for a bit. The whole time he did not show any signs of aggressive behavior. He is familiar with my parents house and all of the people there so its not like he was uncomfortable or anything. My 2 year old niece was playing with him (supervised) and he was sooo good with her. It was like a we flipped a switch out of nowhere and we cant figure out what happened. The only thing we could think of was that he was scared of the thunder and freaked out or he hurt himself/ he is teething and in pain. Is this possible? This morning he was fine, playful and cuddly as anything.

Sorry if this post is long but I feel like I need to include a lot of info...Yesterday night we had a very scary experience with our 5 month old Border Collie puppy. It was around 9:30 at night and he was laying on the floor by the refrigerator and I went to pet him on his back/hind legs and he snapped. He lunged at me and bit me on the side of my chest. He showed no warning signs. After this incident he did not let me or my fiance near him without snarling, baring his teeth and lunging at us or trying to bite us for about an hour. It was like he was terrified of us for absolutely no reason. We were able to calm him down by sitting on the floor with him and gently petting him and not letting him bite is and basically just holding him. We don't know if he was hurt, or scared of the thunder since we had a lot of thunderstorms yesterday or if he was exhausted since we had a long day. Earlier in the day we took him to the dog park, and then my fiance took him for a run a few hours later. He then he came to my parents house for a few hours and then a stopped by a friends house for a bit. The whole time he did not show any signs of aggressive behavior. He is familiar with my parents house and all of the people there so its not like he was uncomfortable or anything. My 2 year old niece was playing with him (supervised) and he was sooo good with her. It was like a we flipped a switch out of nowhere and we cant figure out what happened. The only thing we could think of was that he was scared of the thunder and freaked out or he hurt himself/ he is teething and in pain. Is this possible? This morning he was fine, playful and cuddly as anything.

Sorry if this post is long but I feel like I need to include a lot of info...Yesterday night we had a very scary experience with our 5 month old Border Collie puppy. It was around 9:30 at night and he was laying on the floor by the refrigerator and I went to pet him on his back/hind legs and he snapped. He lunged at me and bit me on the side of my chest. He showed no warning signs. After this incident he did not let me or my fiance near him without snarling, baring his teeth and lunging at us or trying to bite us for about an hour. It was like he was terrified of us for absolutely no reason. We were able to calm him down by sitting on the floor with him and gently petting him and not letting him bite is and basically just holding him. We don't know if he was hurt, or scared of the thunder since we had a lot of thunderstorms yesterday or if he was exhausted since we had a long day. Earlier in the day we took him to the dog park, and then my fiance took him for a run a few hours later. He then he came to my parents house for a few hours and then a stopped by a friends house for a bit. The whole time he did not show any signs of aggressive behavior. He is familiar with my parents house and all of the people there so its not like he was uncomfortable or anything. My 2 year old niece was playing with him (supervised) and he was sooo good with her. It was like a we flipped a switch out of nowhere and we cant figure out what happened. The only thing we could think of was that he was scared of the thunder and freaked out or he hurt himself/ he is teething and in pain. Is this possible? This morning he was fine, playful and cuddly as anything.

After doing some research online I saw that deer or elk antlers could be a safe alternative to nylabones. I decided to go to the store and pick up a deer antler. I brought it home, and Cody went nuts for it. He was occupied for hours. I decided to do a little more research on them and it seems many people have had issues with antlers fracturing their dogs teeth. Its a real shame because this could have occupied him for hours every day. Does anyone know of any safe alternatives that will last just as long but is safer for your dogs teeth? I read somewhere that the antler splits may be a bit safer since the marrow is exposed thus having a spongier surface. I have also used kongs filled with frozen pumpkin and apple sauce, but Cody can devour these in minutes. What do you use to keep your dog occupied?

Cody may be a little young for scent training. I tried teaching him, but he did not seem to grasp the concept. How did you teach your pup scent training?

Dyeates, It was very simple to teach Cody how to play hide and seek. During obedience training Cody learned the command place, which as mosskins explained has your dog stay in a specific place until he or she is allowed to venture off, we use the command free to allow Cody off of he designated place. When I say free, I start calling his name until he finds him. When he does find me he is so excited like he hasn't seen me in over a week, its very cute.

Hi Everyone, I am looking for suggestions on different games / jobs you give your Border Collies to provide mental stimulation. I have a 5 month old puppy at home and hes already trained in basic obedience (Sit, Stay, Come, Paw). I now need to come up with new ideas on how to train Cody. I started playing hide and seek which he seems to love, I have also started hiding his favorite toy, although he seems to have a hard time finding the toy. Does anyone have any suggestions on some jobs / mental exercises I can give Cody to occupy his mind. He is full of energy after I come home from work and I need a way to burn off all oft that energy from sleeping all day.

Thanks for all of your advise. Do you think I will still need a dog walker to come mid day when he is older, or does your collies do well enough until you get home?

I need some advise on owning a Border Collie. My Fiance' and I are recent proud owners of a Border Collie. We did extensive research before hand and we are fully aware of the attention and stimulation a Border Collie needs. That being said we currently live in an apartment and we have limited access to a fenced yard. We take our puppy for long walks in the morning and in the evenings, I also plan on running with him daily once he is old enough. We both work full time, roughly 8-9 hours a day so we crate him while at work. Because he is a puppy we have hired a dog walker to come by for the time being to let him out so he can relieve himself half way through the day. We have been providing private obedience training which has been working very well. He seems to be adjusting very well, of course in the morning and when we get home from work he is non stop and has limitless energy, but we dont mind entertaining him. We will eventually be moving into a house with a large yard, but this is a year or two away. My question is regarding all the articles online that I am reading that claim you should not own a border collie if you work full time, or if you do not have any farm work for them to do. Does anyone own a border collie who works full time? Are we in for a rude awakening as he gets older? Judging from some of the articles online we may be. If someone is in a similar situation maybe you have some advise, perhaps you have some ideas of jobs we can give him around the house to occupy his mind. Any advise would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!