drharps

Curious on people's thoughts regarding this. My BC is 6, and has been wanting pets more when she is near me, but when I'm doing other things (e.g. working), she will isolate herself in other rooms or areas. She is currently under a bush in the far corner of the yard. I know she has some bulging discs and it causes her pain, but this is the first she has this consistently and to this length isolated herself. Thoughts on what to do, and look for?

Thanks. That was interesting.

A friend of mine used them for his Australian Cattle Dogs and said it was fantastic. Curious what people's thoughts are, and if they have experience with them. (And to preemptively state: I know it's not the perfect substitute for play and proper engagement, but that's not always possible, and this I've heard is a good option, though want to know more.)

Thanks everyone. Will give it a try. She has learned that my left pocket carries the treats, so anytime I reach in my pocket, she tends to react positively. I'll use that to my advantage.

My dog is amazingly attentive and above average obedient when i have a bag of treats on hand. If I don't have the bag, she'll listen only if there's nothing else stimulating her. For instance, if I'm in the house and she starts barking and I tell her to come over to sit next to me and be quiet, she fully ignores me. The second I get the bag of treats, she comes and sits next to me and will work to stay quiet. She is six. Suggestions on getting better obedience without treats being present?

My BC is great at laying on the mat and picked it up in very short order. I was following the protocol, but honestly I could run around the house, clap, knock on the door, etc. and she would just lay there. The issue I'm running into is she sometimes will lay there and bark. Occasionally a stimulus will cause her attention to stray (usually a barking dog outside, or a person making noise outside the house), other times she's just making noise. She doesn't get up, she just lays there and barks. I'm curious what protocol is for this. Do I look away from her and not pay attention until she quiets? Do I stare at her showing displeasure until she quiets? My concern is she'll feel rewarded if I praise her or reward her when she stops. Thoughts?

My border, when she's playing fetch or doing something highly active, is REALLY bad at listening. She stands panting and largely ignoring. Some I understand is she's tired and doesn't want to do it, but I'm curious if there's a training technique for getting her to be more obedient during high energy activities like fetch.

I live in Hawaii and mine constantly walks from shade to shade, and at midday if I try to take her for a walk she refuses, unless she knows we are headed to the park for fetch.

Do people have suggestions on toys or tools they find their dogs love to keep themselves entertained? Some days I can't entertain the dog in the morning, but I work from home and it causes her to be very barky all day, which is brutal. Have people found things the dog can do to keep themselves worked out, when they want it? I have the usual feeding things (Kong, snuffle mat) but don't know if there are other options. Have people tried giving their dog an automatic ball launcher? I could possible throw that out there for 30 minutes if I don't have time (though I doubt she'd care as she's usually attached to my hip).

Thanks Terrecar. Another question: I know citronella and e-collars for barking are frowned upon by most, but I'm curiuos if it's a tool that can be of value to try to get her to not bark while I teach her the activity I want. My concern is - like today - it's going to be a lot of barking before she knows what is needed. A friend came over and I put her in the crate and while I tried to get her down, she was so focused and barking she was really struggling to pay attention to me and was loudly barking the entire time. Those 'freak out' barking moments will enrage already frustrated neighbors. I don't want to do the e-collar route or citronella, but I can't take months to teach her the right activity in a more measured manner. I want to get the barking stopped, and teach her what I want with the buffer that has allowed. But if it's just going to make everything a 1000x more difficult, I don't want to do it.

Let me clarify that last part: she gets exercise in both evening and morning, but I only do one 'big' exercise one or the other. She also gets continual mind work throughout the day with concentrations in morning and evening. But, like I said, there is more of a focus in the evening but a lot of people say morning is better.

Thanks for the response. I suspect it's fear as she is a very neurotic dog. When she is outside, actually, she is pretty good. If she hasn't been exercised she's of course more reactive, but for the most part she just stares intently at stimuli as they go by. It's when we're inside that she really loses it. Given your response on the second post, my thought is maybe have her go to her crate and reward her when there is a noise. I'm trying to get her to go to the crate anyway when people come to the house so she doesn't jump on them and she's pretty good about doing it. I don't think it'd be hard to do that for every stimulus. Thoughts? Also, somewhat related, is it generally better to exercise a dog in the morning or evening? She is far more active in the evening, and she's generally calm most the day (it's around 4 when she really starts to amp), but I've read a lot of posts of people saying working the dog out first thing was great for keeping her calm all day. (And for the record I realize they need both, but I usually focus more on morning or evening - for instance, she gets a 3-4 mile run most evening as opposed to the morning.

So I would love thoughts on what i'm doing to reduce my dog's barking. She barks at nearly every noise or visitor that is within 40' of the house (to say nothing of fireworks or loud noises some distance away). My trainer said to ignore her and she would eventually get better, but I've tried that and it simply hasn't work, and my neighbors have actively complained now about the barking. She can't always see the stimuli, noise is sufficient. So what I'm doing now is being much more strict with her in every day settings (e.g. making her sit and stay when I make dinner, heel before entering a room, etc.) to try and get her to be more deferential (I feel she got a bit over-confident in her place in the house). Now, when she barks or yelps at a noise, I grab her and drag her into the bedroom and make her stay until she stops - with me standing there watching her until she lays down. I know reacting to her reactions could promote increased reaction by her, but I can't have her barking all day and I'm hoping the 'punishment' and clear sign of disapproval will cause her to mellow. I'm also considering a minor e-collar, and have purchased a citronella bark collar. I'm not a fan of either, but it's really to the point if she doesn't shape up in a manner of weeks, I may have to re-home her because the neighbors are pissed, and it's really hard being in the home with her like this. Otherwise she's very sweet and obedient - it's really the barking that is a killer (and the escapism, but I think I fixed that). Thoughts?

Thanks for the advice everyone. I went the crating method and after breaking out of the crate (she pulled the side panel in and pushed the main panel out, which was amazing as even I have trouble getting them set-up and broken down) she has largely relaxed and accepts it. I only do it when I'm gone and as stated, it's not my favorite idea but it's the best I can do. Unfortunately the way my house is set up I can't block her from all windows. I live in HI so basically the entire house is windows and she has even pushed furniture up against a window then jumped out that way. I think the problem is largely solved for the moment...

So my BC has become a Harry Houdini in a "wow that's amazing," and a "oh boy, that is bad" way. It started where she figured out she could cut screens with her nails and started breaking through open windows. Now she has learned glass is breakable and is breaking the glass out of windows to escape. She doesn't run away - as she's always broken into the yard - but I obviously can't trust her at home now (I just moved to a new spot a week ago). Any advice is welcome. What are people's thoughts on e-fences so I can leave her in the yard when I'm gone and while the fences are secure, the e-fence may offer an added sense of security? I've never really crated her when I leave but may have to do that. Do craters have any thoughts? I recently separated from my girlfriend so I've never had to crate her while gone, and don't like the idea of her being locked up. Some of this is likely nerves as we just moved and I bet she's spooked, but I also can't risk her hurting herself and I can't keep taking these financial hits from this darn dog.