ElizaRose

Nice to know I'm not the only one struggling here The cycle lane has definitely become a no go for us too. Sounds like we need to more WAYYY further away from the threshold right now.

Thank you! This is probably our biggest problem - we live in an area surrounded by bike paths - so we are walking around bikes all the time. Might have to find some alternative tracks while this is an issue! Maybe we can find a spot to sit and train with bikes in the (far) distant view.

Hi All, This is my beautiful 10 month old boy, Winston. He is my first collie & I have posted on here a few times for help and always gain so much knowledge from all the experienced owners! Winston is a very friendly and gentle pup. He is however, quite aloof? LOVES other dogs, but isn't overly affectionate toward me. I know border collies love to please, but that doesn't seem very evident with our boy as he really doesn't like praise or pats that much, just food. This makes it a little difficult to train him without food - or get him to listen to any commands without food. We have been working on all sorts of commands and tricks since he was a puppy, and he learns very quickly, but lately he seems to be going backwards. He can't sit still for training and he seems to get stressed when we ask him to do something and darts off barking or whining. Things that he used to know how to do (down, roll, stay, paw etc). We can continue to work on this but my main issue is, chasing bikes!!! He is obsessed with bikes & people running. He lunges and barks & would probably nip if he got the chance. We have tried to teach a "leave it" command with treats and praise and all the rest, but it keeps getting worse. I would say he prioritises bikes over everything else in this world. Today, my worst fear came true. Winston's lead didn't attach properly and half way through our morning walk he saw a bicycle, lunged, and broke off his lead. He took off down a major road of traffic chasing bikes, people and completely unaware of surrounding cars. He wouldn't come back when I called and he ran from everyone who tried to get his attention. It was awful. We did catch him, and he is completely fine, but I realised how incredibly important his off-lead control is and breaking this habit. Looking for any advice on training please! Or success stories... I haven't spoken to anyone who has had a dog with a bike obsession before. Thanks

Hi guys, My 8 month old BC pup is absolutely full of energy (as can be expected) but I feel as though it is often due to being over stimulated & unable to calm down. I actually think he wants to sleep/rest but is too switched on to switch off. We exercise twice a day - lead walks in the morning and off lead time in the dog park in the afternoon. He runs around ALOT and fast and is clearly pooped when we are walking home. We also does lots of training around meals - practicing commands, tricks and hide and seek games. However, when we are at home he can't seem to lie down for more than a couple of minutes before something has his attention. He chases flies obsessively, does laps of the house & but never stops moving. The more we move around the house, making any sort of noise, the more worked up he gets. While it doesn't bother us, I feel like it bothers him. And when we have guests over he runs laps around where ever we are sitting which tends to stress everybody out. In any circumstance where he is blocked off from all stimulants (like in the car with the windows up) he crashes straight to sleep. I am just wondering if I should be providing him with a way to switch off at home or teaching him how to be calm. Any advise or experience would be fantastic!

Hi all, I noticed yesterday that my nearly 5 month old pup has just developed a small bald strip on one eye lid and a small bald spot above the other eye. The exposed skin isn't red or inflamed but the patches must have developed almost overnight as I have only just noticed them. My google research has me thinking it could be demodectic mange, but I really have no idea. He seems to be scratching slightly more than usual, but not scratching or rubbing his face. Other than that, he seems to be completely unconcerned. My question is, should I be getting in to see my vet ASAP or is it likely something I can monitor for a while to see if it gets worse. Winston is booked in to see the vet in 2 weeks time so I could have it checked then. Sorry, he is my first dog and I have no experience with this sort of thing - I have never heard of puppies losing patches of hair before! Would appreciate any opinions. Thanks!

Thanks to all of your input, we are having great success! We do leash training in the backyard morning and night and whenever he jumps up on me he gets a stern "no." If he ignores me I pick him straight up and walk him to his crate where he settles for 5-10 mins. After that we go straight back outside, on the lead again and continue. This week he has hardly acted at all and he seems to be responding to the first "no" command almost every time now - its like he understands what I want. We also do some other training after we do leash training and I am teaching him "in your crate." So now he happily lays down in his crate because he associates it with getting food (I use most of his meals as training treats). I don't think the timeouts in the crate are affecting how he feels about it at all. As he is starting to understand "no" I can control other behaviours such as nibbling my hands and arms while we are sitting on the couch, or stopping him from getting into things he isn't allowed. I can tell we have a long way to go before these behaviours are cemented, so still no walking the streets for now, but the progress is definitely there He is one very smart puppy.

Thank you all for your advise! We have stopped walking, and increased training time in the yard. Every time he bites, he goes in his crate. It seems to be helping, he doesn't get as worked up and excited. This makes it much easier to get his attention when he starts to act up. We will revisit short walks up and down the street soon I think, not too far. I will have to read some more threads on leash training!

I have a 16 week old male border collie pup who is very smart and usually fairly well behaved (for a puppy) but he has bursts craziness where he jumps on me and bites whatever he can get a hold of. He is drawing blood by latching onto my arms and ripping any clothing he can get his teeth on. This tends to happen mostly when we are walking on the lead but also when we are outside playing. I have been told at his obedience classes to walk away & ignore him when he starts to bite but when we are outside or on a lead I can't get away from him or even turn my back on him because he continues to bite and jump and growl. If I have treats in my hand/pocket I can ask him to sit and he will, but only until he eats the treat and then he jumps straight up again biting. He gets walks on the lead morning and afternoon, with training time and playing time as well. Most days he isn't home alone all day so I think he is getting a good amount of stimulation and sleep time. He started out lead training really well with me clicking and treating whenever he was walking nicely beside me. Our walks are getting worse and worse and I am worried that the jumping, biting and growling is becoming a habit. I would really appreciate any advise from experienced BC owners/trainers as to how to address these behaviours! I love him to death but the biting is so painful I'm becoming fearful of his outbursts.