herscheleh

Herschel barks at a lot of noises outside -- people walking down the sidewalk talking, neighbors walking around the side of the house between our houses, as well as the front gate creaking and someone at the door. He will continue to bark at someone on the porch, sounding quite vigorous, but as soon as the door is opened, he will sniff and be calm. We were burglarized at 3:30 a.m. when we were asleep upstairs (he was also asleep in our bedroom). He slept right through it. Mara

I don't know that my Border Collie is typical, but I adopted him from a herding dog rescue into an apartment (though there was a small fenced yard for the triplex), then moved to another apartment with him, now live in a duplex with a yard. He was about 1.5 years old when I got him. He is sound reactive -- but in the second-floor of the three famiily, pretty much just barked when people came in the front door or up the stairs past our front door. Occasionally when he heard foodsteps upstairs. In the next apartment, he barked far less, even though it was a big building with lots of people coming and going! It had concrete floors and heavy doors on the apartments and was more soundproof. He's most barky in the current place -- he barks at people walking by on the sidewalk, anyone coming in the creaky front gate and sometimes barks after neighbor dogs bark. It can be a little frustrating at times. I haven't made a concerted effort to train him out of it with the pet corrector spray. My Border Collie does not need massive amounts of exercise. In the first two places, he walked about an hour a day. Now with the yard, we've gotten a little lazy, and it's more like 35 to 45 minutes a day. My dog is reactive to strange dogs, and even that was okay in the big building.

I have a Border Collie who came to me in a 1050 sq ft apartment in Hartford (smallish city, had a small fenced yard) and now lives with me in a 600 sq ft apartment in D.C. He was a rescue, and was roughly a year old when he came to me, not house trained (though that was pretty easy to accomplish). He has been alone for 8.5 hours a day weekdays most of the time I've had him. He's the second dog I've had as an adult, the first was a *super* easy, super quiet Aussie-beagle mix whose only fault was he would run if he got the chance. I agree with some of the concerns folks have had -- running in the heat, dog parks (they are definitely fussy about being friends with other dogs) -- but it really, really depends on the dog. While Herschel loved chasing a ball in my old tiny back yard, he has adjusted fine to just having walks and infrequent longer hikes and no yard. He's actually less reactive/barky in this apartment, in a much bigger apartment building, than he was in the three-family house, because it's more sound proof. He does freak out at motorcycles still, and big box trucks, but as long as you hold the other hand on the leash low enough that he can't lunge into traffic, he gets over it as soon as it's past. I got to spend an hour or so with Herschel before I chose to adopt him, and while I couldn't know a lot of things about him, we did rightly perceive that he was relatively low key and affectionate. I don't need to exercise him nearly as much as you're describing. But I've never raised a puppy, and that may be the straw that breaks the camel's back, to use a cliche'. Even as a low-intensity Border Collie, I would say he's more neurotic than the corgi that I grew up with and my beloved Aussie mix.

Hi, fellow Nutmegger! I adopted a year to year and a half old Border Collie at the end of September. My previous dog was a very, very chill Australian Shepherd/Beagle Mix. My sense is that they range a lot in personality. Mine is very affectionate and has a GREAT off switch in the house, not at all the crazed Border Collie stereotype. But he does get bored alone at home when I'm at work and will be naughty, especially if there is any food on any counter he can reach. My guy will go running, but will sometimes get too excited while running on leash and start leaping about in the air or wanting to play with sticks. (I don't run, but my g.f. does). Mine does well with a moderate amount of exercise -- maybe 2 miles a day of walking -- and the rescue trained him wonderfully not to pull on the leash. He's up for more, of course, but doesn't seem to act worse if he doesn't get it.. I would be cautious about adopting a BC if you're planning on having little ones, though. My guy is much, much, much more reactive than the corgis I grew up with (and the first one we had wasn't great with little kids either, with herding nipping). When we spent a weekend with my g.f.'s friends, who have a 4 year old and a 6 year old, he was fearful of them at times and their running definitely triggered his herding instincts. When he's scared, he barks pretty vociferously. Also, my guy isn't all that fond of other dogs, so that may be something to think about. But maybe if you get a puppy it would be less of an issue? Mara

Thanks, y'all! I just signed up for obedience training to start next Sunday. Will let you know how it goes!

Hello all, I adopted a Border Collie named Herschel a month ago. He's somewhere between a year and a year and a half old. warning: very long! He started out in Arkansas, I guess was found as a stray, was heartworm positive, lived in a rescue kennel with lots of other herding dogs in Illinois for about three months, and now is with me in a small city in Connecticut. He has come a long way since he arrived! Happily, rescue taught him really well to walk on a leash, he almost never pulls. But he was not 'crate trained' as they said -- he chewed up the plastic mat in the crate even if he had something to chew on in there, and then chewed up the horse stall mat I got from Tractor Supply, too. He also managed to pull a blanket underneath the crate up into it (I was trying to protect the wood floors, as he would put a paw out and scratch the floor and even scooched the crate over to the bed and chewed on the bedskirt! He also would bark unhappily as I was walking away from the apartment, and bark on and off while in the crate, partly in frustration, partly reacting to noise. He slept fine in the crate in my room before I trusted him to be loose in the room overnight, and is very well behaved in the crate in the car, however. He's gotten a lot braver about the city stimuli. He doesn't like loud noises -- roofers working, a truck going by close, a motorcycle -- but can manage people biking by, cars going by close. Is not fazed at all by people walking past us on the sidewalk or other dogs, either, even if they are barking at him. He's done great in large outdoor crowds, including accepting petting from strangers, even little children. (I tell them not to pet his head, he doesn't like strangers petting his head, though he just flinches, he doesn't snap or anything). I've made a lot of progress house training him, and he is not destructive when left alone in the house (He has access to the kitchen, living room and dining room -- he's only in the crate if I came home at lunch and he's done something in the house, which is about once a week) He also is generally calm while hanging out in the house with me, and is very affectionate. I'm very glad I adopted him. I plan to take him to a group obedience class, because I don't have any real experience with training beyond 'sit' and 'come.' My last dog, an Aussie-beagle mix, was so well-behaved and easy that I really didn't have to do any formal training past teaching him not to get on the couch. It didn't hurt that he was smaller (28 pounds) so training him not to jump or things like that wasn't as critical. Herschel is 35 pounds, that makes a surprisingly big difference! BUT... if you have any advice on counter surfing and barking in the house, that would be appreciated! Since he is no longer in the crate in my bedroom, the woman who works nights and whose bedroom is directly below mine is no longer kept awake by his barking. What I've tried with barking is calling him to me (or going to him) and cupping my hand lightly around the top of his muzzle, while saying 'Quiet' in a conversational tone but with an edge in my voice. Sometimes this stops the barking, sometimes not. I also bought a 'dog corrector' canister that makes a hissing sound when it sprays air (not in his face). I have tried that a few times. It startles him, and he stops making noise right then, but sometimes barks again after that, and it's like spray-'quiet command' pause-bark-spray-quiet-command-pause-bark. (I tried pretending to check out the noise/taking him to see out the window, but that had no effect) I praise him for being quiet when he stops, and there have been some times (a handful) when instead of full on barking at the noise, he does what I call barking under his breath. I praise that vociferously, because if he were to go from barking to that, it's a solution I could live with. What makes him bark? Someone going in and out of the front door, one floor below us, which happens a lot, because four others live in this three family house! The upstairs tenant going up the stairs past our apartment. Sometimes the sound of him walking around upstairs (less often). Sometimes people talking loudly on the sidewalk outside. Once in a while I can't hear what set him off. My friend Tony came over a few weeks ago, and although he had met him before, he barked and barked and would not stop when he came in the apartment, even though I tried to reassure him he knew Tony, and hugged him to show he was a friend. (This is before I had the spray to try). Once we left and the three of us hiked together, he was perfectly fine with Tony. He visited a friend's country house this past weekend, and it was interesting -- he barked at the owner of the house when the rest of us were sitting around in the living room, and the owner came back in the front door, even though he'd been spending nearly the whole weekend in his sight! But when his wife came in after a briefer time away, he didn't bark. He also barked at a woman cleaning the apartment when she re-entered the room we were in after being out of sight for a half hour, and would not be calmed. He'll bark a little at noise when we're in the backyard together, but largely isn't barking much outdoors. The one exception was when he was on leash on a hike and we were taking a lunch break, and a strange dog arrived at the peak off leash. He was lunging and barking like he was going to tear the dog limb from limb, and my friend who was hiking with me, her dog got the same treatment when he came close off leash, though they had been hiking together with her dog off leash with no problem for a couple hours before that. (I was holding his collar, so there was no danger of an actual encounter) So! That's it for barking. Thoughts? I will keep trying with the spray in the apartment if the quiet/good quiet sequence doesn't work. (It did work just now.) On counter surfing -- he got into the trash when he was bored alone at home, and then I bought a simple human latching dog proof trash can. Not dog proof when he knocked it over and got into it again while bored alone at home. So now it stays out on the landing. He will try to get to any food that's not straight up vegetables (he's not interested in those) that's on the counter, unless it is way far back at the wall/on top of the toaster oven and he can't get to it. He doesn't do it in front of me, though once I heard him trying to bother a pan of tomatoes with cheese while I was eating in the dining room. Today he ate a half a loaf of bread b/c I forgot to put it back on top of the toaster oven after the toaster oven cooled back down! Argh! I can't close the kitchen off from him, because it has a swinging door between kitchen/dining room, and even though it has a latch of sorts, I found it didn't work to keep him in/out. So is my only hope to improve my vigilance on where I leave tempting food? I'm not used to this, my old dog wasn't tall enough to do this! And by the way, I have tried leaving him toys that promise hours of stimulation -- starmark brand -- but they do not. One is shaped like a tire and you put an edible chew disk in it; he makes short work of it. I do feed him always in their puzzle balls, and that works well, though one hasn't held up well and now isn't as challenging as it started out. If you're still reading, thanks for spending so much time with this Border Collie newbie!

Hello all, I adopted a Border Collie named Herschel a month ago. He's somewhere between a year and a year and a half old. warning: very long! He started out in Arkansas, I guess was found as a stray, was heartworm positive, lived in a rescue kennel with lots of other herding dogs in Illinois for about three months, and now is with me in a small city in Connecticut. He has come a long way since he arrived! Happily, rescue taught him really well to walk on a leash, he almost never pulls. But he was not 'crate trained' as they said -- he chewed up the plastic mat in the crate even if he had something to chew on in there, and then chewed up the horse stall mat I got from Tractor Supply, too. He also managed to pull a blanket underneath the crate up into it (I was trying to protect the wood floors, as he would put a paw out and scratch the floor and even scooched the crate over to the bed and chewed on the bedskirt! He also would bark unhappily as I was walking away from the apartment, and bark on and off while in the crate, partly in frustration, partly reacting to noise. He slept fine in the crate in my room before I trusted him to be loose in the room overnight, and is very well behaved in the crate in the car, however. He's gotten a lot braver about the city stimuli. He doesn't like loud noises -- roofers working, a truck going by close, a motorcycle -- but can manage people biking by, cars going by close. Is not fazed at all by people walking past us on the sidewalk or other dogs, either, even if they are barking at him. He's done great in large outdoor crowds, including accepting petting from strangers, even little children. (I tell them not to pet his head, he doesn't like strangers petting his head, though he just flinches, he doesn't snap or anything). I've made a lot of progress house training him, and he is not destructive when left alone in the house (He has access to the kitchen, living room and dining room -- he's only in the crate if I came home at lunch and he's done something in the house, which is about once a week) He also is generally calm while hanging out in the house with me, and is very affectionate. I'm very glad I adopted him. I plan to take him to a group obedience class, because I don't have any real experience with training beyond 'sit' and 'come.' My last dog, an Aussie-beagle mix, was so well-behaved and easy that I really didn't have to do any formal training past teaching him not to get on the couch. It didn't hurt that he was smaller (28 pounds) so training him not to jump or things like that wasn't as critical. Herschel is 35 pounds, that makes a surprisingly big difference! BUT... if you have any advice on counter surfing and barking in the house, that would be appreciated! Since he is no longer in the crate in my bedroom, the woman who works nights and whose bedroom is directly below mine is no longer kept awake by his barking. What I've tried with barking is calling him to me (or going to him) and cupping my hand lightly around the top of his muzzle, while saying 'Quiet' in a conversational tone but with an edge in my voice. Sometimes this stops the barking, sometimes not. I also bought a 'dog corrector' canister that makes a hissing sound when it sprays air (not in his face). I have tried that a few times. It startles him, and he stops making noise right then, but sometimes barks again after that, and it's like spray-'quiet command' pause-bark-spray-quiet-command-pause-bark. (I tried pretending to check out the noise/taking him to see out the window, but that had no effect) I praise him for being quiet when he stops, and there have been some times (a handful) when instead of full on barking at the noise, he does what I call barking under his breath. I praise that vociferously, because if he were to go from barking to that, it's a solution I could live with. What makes him bark? Someone going in and out of the front door, one floor below us, which happens a lot, because four others live in this three family house! The upstairs tenant going up the stairs past our apartment. Sometimes the sound of him walking around upstairs (less often). Sometimes people talking loudly on the sidewalk outside. Once in a while I can't hear what set him off. My friend Tony came over a few weeks ago, and although he had met him before, he barked and barked and would not stop when he came in the apartment, even though I tried to reassure him he knew Tony, and hugged him to show he was a friend. (This is before I had the spray to try). Once we left and the three of us hiked together, he was perfectly fine with Tony. He visited a friend's country house this past weekend, and it was interesting -- he barked at the owner of the house when the rest of us were sitting around in the living room, and the owner came back in the front door, even though he'd been spending nearly the whole weekend in his sight! But when his wife came in after a briefer time away, he didn't bark. He also barked at a woman cleaning the apartment when she re-entered the room we were in after being out of sight for a half hour, and would not be calmed. He'll bark a little at noise when we're in the backyard together, but largely isn't barking much outdoors. The one exception was when he was on leash on a hike and we were taking a lunch break, and a strange dog arrived at the peak off leash. He was lunging and barking like he was going to tear the dog limb from limb, and my friend who was hiking with me, her dog got the same treatment when he came close off leash, though they had been hiking together with her dog off leash with no problem for a couple hours before that. (I was holding his collar, so there was no danger of an actual encounter) So! That's it for barking. Thoughts? I will keep trying with the spray in the apartment if the quiet/good quiet sequence doesn't work. (It did work just now.) On counter surfing -- he got into the trash when he was bored alone at home, and then I bought a simple human latching dog proof trash can. Not dog proof when he knocked it over and got into it again while bored alone at home. So now it stays out on the landing. He will try to get to any food that's not straight up vegetables (he's not interested in those) that's on the counter, unless it is way far back at the wall/on top of the toaster oven and he can't get to it. He doesn't do it in front of me, though once I heard him trying to bother a pan of tomatoes with cheese while I was eating in the dining room. Today he ate a half a loaf of bread b/c I forgot to put it back on top of the toaster oven after the toaster oven cooled back down! Argh! I can't close the kitchen off from him, because it has a swinging door between kitchen/dining room, and even though it has a latch of sorts, I found it didn't work to keep him in/out. So is my only hope to improve my vigilance on where I leave tempting food? I'm not used to this, my old dog wasn't tall enough to do this! And by the way, I have tried leaving him toys that promise hours of stimulation -- starmark brand -- but they do not. One is shaped like a tire and you put an edible chew disk in it; he makes short work of it. I do feed him always in their puzzle balls, and that works well, though one hasn't held up well and now isn't as challenging as it started out. If you're still reading, thanks for spending so much time with this Border Collie newbie!