Mandy1961

We have had the same problem with our boy who is now 15 months. The first few months went really well, apart from never sleeping beyond 5.30 am, but we got used to that. We live on a corner so get a lot of people, dogs, cats and foxes going past at night. This unsettles him and we have quite a few dogs who are let out after 10 pm who bark and set off all the other dogs. This causes ours to get anxious and won’t settle. We went through this stage for about 2 months, every night he would wake up and low bark continuously. There are 4 of us here, so we took it in turns to go down and settle him. Although this worked, he started waking earlier and earlier each morning. Everyone told us just let him sleep with you, he will sleep longer, We tried this, but he isn’t used to sleeping on a bed so slept on the floor for a couple of nights. He would then bark and scratch at the door to go downstairs on his own. Which is where we are now, he gets free reign of the lounge and hallway, not the kitchen. Where he sleeps I don’t know, I’d like to think he goes in his crate with the door unlocked. I am pleased with this as I really didn’t want him in my bedroom. Love him to bits, but I do like a little me time on my own.

She certainly is beautiful. Wouldn’t be a border collie if she wasn’t a little naughty occasionally.

I could have written this 8 months ago. But I hope like ours it gets better. I am at home with my boy each day and like you, didn’t know what to do with him. We live in a house with 4 adults and this can be challenging with everyone being on the same page with regards to discipline, training and altogether just looking after him. My boy is now 14 months old and he is so much more calm with me in the day, in fact he mostly sleeps. But come weekends when my 2 adult sons and husband are home, he just cannot seem to relax.

I personally found that at 10 months old, our energetic, crazy pup turned into a calm, quiet dog. Firstly I changed his food from a commercially made puppy to to a freshly made food. I cannot say this is the reason, but it seems to coincide with the changeover. He is now 13 months old and apart from waking up earlier and earlier each day, (3.45 am today,); he is very chilled in the day. He gets 3 good different walks each day, a couple of 10 minutes play with ball, tug or fetch. Plus I do regular sit, down, stand and wait. He is still a bit wild when my 2 adult sons come in from work in the evening, as he sees them as playtime.

We resorted to time outs in another room or conservatory just for a few minutes. We then played ball with ourselves, or if it was just me at home, I would throw the ball in the air and catch it. My boy didn’t like missing out playing ball so got the message soon that biting meant no ball. I also sprayed deodorant on my hands and ankles, this helped as he didn’t like the smell. He is 1 year old now, and is so much better.

So glad it is all going well with you and your puppy.

My boy is 11 months old. Our day goes like this. He sleeps in his crate, wakes up at 4.30 am and barks. I shout down go to sleep, whereby we get another 1/2 hour before he really gets going and is wide awake. Husband gets up and takes him out at 5.30 for 45 minutes to our local dog park (they are the only ones there at that time). 6.30 till 8.30 he plays, runs around and family play with him. Adult sons and husband go to work. 8.30 till 11.30 he will sleep on and off, follow me around and play and if I go out, he will willingly go in his crate as he will sleep there. 11.30/ noon, we go for a 1 hour walk. 2 pm to 4 pm, he will sleep on and off depending on whether I am at home, or in crate if I go out. From 4.30 onwards, sons and husband come home, so more play, training, dinner and then final walk at 7.30 for 45 minutes. Bed in crate at 10 pm. He has, over the last month or so, been a lot more chilled and will happily stay on his own downstairs, whilst before this, we would have to be in the same room as him. He does still require a lot of attention, especially in the evenings, but he has gotten used to there being at least 2 people with him.

I also recorded my puppy when I first left him. I walked him first, put him in crate, covered with blanket and put classical music on the radio. He would cry and bark at first, then would settle down and sleep, but occasionally he barked virtually the whole time. I was gone at most an hour. I did this most days and he soon got used to it, going in happily with a couple of biscuits. I then increased the time he was left. He now he goes into the crate just to sleep in the day. He is 11 months old now.

No nothing abnormal here. Our boy now Harry 11 months is like someone flicked a switch in the evening. He has only recently been sleeping well in the day, but unfortunately he only sleeps from 10 pm to 4.30/5 am. The reasoning behind the 5 minutes exercise per month is that their joints are not fully grown until they are adults, so you have to be careful not to do too much jumping and no stairs. I avoid petting other dogs and just let Harry and the other dogs play together.

My boy at 9 months was 33 lbs and all legs and skinny. He gets 500 grams of food a day, plus a few treats and biscuits. I go by you should only be able to feel the first 2 ribs from the bottom. He also had a growth spurt at 10 months as he certainly was heavier. His brother and sister from the same litter are far heavier than my puppy. They are on similar amounts of food at 11 months old. 3 cups is 375 grams, so you could feed more, I mix wet food with dry food, which is cheaper.

I would definitely give him time to sniff around first before settling down. I work from home and my 11 month old seems to know to leave me alone when I am at my computer, but I think I would have trouble outside as he thinks this is a place for play. Have a look online at Outback Dog Training Group, they have an excellent range of videos, there is one on teaching a dog to be calm. Maybe of use to you.

My 10 month old jumped up at me and bit me in the face. I had cuts and a black eye. What was I doing, changing the beds, he came out of nowhere. I immediately told him off, put him in time out and virtually ignored him the rest of the day. He hasn’t done it since and I now change beds when he is out walking with my husband. I did work on hand feeding, by giving him a handful of his food each meal for a while, as I think he has a problem with resource guarding as he doesn’t like us picking up things off the floor inside or out, he will jump up and air bite. This has helped with the issues I have with mine. I also came across Outback Dog Training Group online, they just about cover anything. Take a look there, I’m sure there will be something that will help.

I have only had the one border collie puppy and yes he was hard work at first. Just like a baby, you have to watch them all the time. We got ours in the hot summer last year so we were out in the garden a lot, where he destroyed most of our plants. He had lots of chewing toys, which he liked but was obsessed with my slippers, so I don’t wear them anymore. He was happy to go in his crate at night, where he slept through to 4 each morning and was potty trained pretty quick. Border Collies do need exercising, but not too much until they are fully grown. 5 minutes for each month, and no jumping and twisting, or stairs until their joints are fully formed. I also felt at first that we had taken on a massive commitment, but our pup is now 11 months old, loves his walks and playing ball, but he also knows when to chill and relax. He is happy to go in his crate when I go out. my children are adult sons who play with him when they come home from work and your children will be able to play and teach games with your girl, just try and keep play to short spells so she won’t get too wound up.

I have never used the crate for punishment, once when he misbehaved, I told him to go in his crate, he showed me his teeth. He didn’t bite me and was sorry and all over me the next moment. So now the crate is only for sleeping in and when we go out. When ours was about 6 months he did try it on when we said bedtime, he would go on the sofa or under the table. He is now 11 months old and now goes in happily both at night and in the day. I also have the same problem regarding taking anything from his mouth, or picking up anything off the floor, he will snap at me. I was recommended to try hand feeding him as it was resource guarding. I didn’t think this would do anything, but it has helped. I sit down to his level, hand feed him a handful of his food each meal.

Same with ours. In the evening, when he is not giving my husband the ‘lets go for a walk’ look, he will run through house into garden, then run back in and look out the lounge window. We live on a corner, so he hears anything and everything nearby Also barks like mad if we don’t jump up and let him out.