LittlestFinch

Hey all, I've posted about Mac before and what a joy he's been as a pup. We're going on 11 months now, he's still not neutered if that matters but will be soon! He's still really easy but, his worst behavior problems are with my boyfriend currently. He works all day and I work from home so when he gets home from work Mac just needs his attention non-stop for at least the first two hours my boyfriend is home. This includes a variety of annoying behaviors like following at his heels close enough to be tripped over around the house and pushing toys against his legs while he walks and sits at his desk. Mac gets more than enough attention and exercise daily, we aim for two hours a day of one on one time in the back yard, typically fetch (my boyfriend is generally there for at least 30 mins of this). We've been doing less walks lately, but just because it's been quite damp so we're sticking to muddy fetch I do at least ten minutes of training (right now we're working on Stay while things are exciting, i.e. a ball being thrown etc). I also will constantly toss things to him/for him through out our day together when he's not napping/doing his own thing. So the issue is my boyfriend is experiencing these behaviors with him that I don't. This frustrates him because my boyfriend has never had a dog aside the one from his childhood that was "perfect". Mac isn't perfect and he's definitely still a puppy and my boyfriend has a hard time understanding that. So his way of coping with the annoying behavior is to snap/yell at the dog which helps literally nothing and makes me irate. When I ask him to crate him when Mac does these behaviors he refuses, on the grounds that crating is mean and dogs don't belong in boxes. Which I think is so ludicrous, especially because Mac naps and sleeps in his crate like a champ and knows where to go when I tell him to "get to his bed". I have no idea where he got this perception of crates being bad, but I'm hoping to find some other tips to help him cope with Mac's behavior since he won't use time out. Could it be worth it to bring in a behaviorist just for this? Or should I just not budge and make my boyfriend start crating the dog? Like I've talked to his dad about this hang up, did the perfect dog from his childhood use a crate? Yes, of course. His parents extremely well behaved boxer also uses her crate. So again. No clue where the crate hang ups come from. I mean honestly once Mac settles (normally because I have to intervene) the two get along like peas, they cuddle on the couch, he'll sleep next to boyfriend while he plays games, etc.

My good boy Mac is almost six months! He’s still such a good boy. He’s done teething finally and he’s sitting at 36lbs. His ears have still not decided what they’re gonna do. We do between 3-5 miles a day of just walking, we got him a gentle leader for pulling and it’s been great! He only needs it about half the time (it gets put on when he pulls, otherwise it’s harness). Then we do hiking or dog parks 3-5 times a week. He has 100% changed my activity levels which is a positive for me personally. However, even with that consistent exercise a third floor one bedroom apartment has been less than perfect for us. He occasionally gets zoomies inside and out neighbor below us gets mad every time with out fail (not that I blame them at all!!) He isn’t destructive or anything fortunately but it bums me out when we go for walks and all he wants is to roll in the grass! Plus it makes me wary to do indoor play like tug, for fear of disturbing the neighbors. Fortunately we are moving to a 3 bedroom house with a yard in 22 days!! I would call our apartment experiment a failure personally, but it might just be because we’re on the third floor! I certainly wouldn’t bring a BC puppy up like that again. However, I did see a lot of people mentioning that bringing up BCs in the city can go poorly and I haven’t experienced that at all! If anything Mac has been exposed to so much at this point he’s barely perturbed by anything but children (and we’re working on that!! Parents don’t let your small children grab random dogs!! )We’ve also taken like five very long car trips and he’s been such a champ!! It would be insincere to say we don’t still have lots to work on! However it feels like he’s on the path to be a really well adjusted boy! Also his smarts still amaze me. Even when he’s using them to cause chaos! (Like opening doors) Thanks again for everyone’s amazing dog info on the boards. It’s been a fantastic resource for me while making my way through the puppy process!

@GentleLake I didn’t think about it making the bone harder!! Big yikes on my part! I am gonna just go toss it in the trash!! I can find a tube toy or something to replace it tried Himalayan cheese chews. He showed absolutely zero interest. Picky child. Gave them to my folks pit when I visited a week or so back and she was INTO them. So I’m guessing it’s just a Mac quirk.

@Lawgirl Oscar is so pretty!!!!!! He actually looks really similar to my boy’s gorgeous mama! <3 I have actually tried stuffed Kongs on advice of this awesome site! For some reason my child is totally disinterested in Kongs even with food stuffed in them. I have three different sizes and he’s just like “nope” even with his fave treats. I’m wondering if he had a bad kong experience haha! Yesterday I actually froze some meat baby food into a marrow bone and that occupied him for about twenty minutes! Which is a success as far as I’m concerned! Horns made me think of hooves which are something I didn’t consider and it is real smart cause my family dogs used to love horse toe nail XD when we got their hooves trimmed! Plus it’s soft enough that it’s hopefully not a tooth break risk! Though goat horn is keratin and should be softer than deer antler! I’m going to go seek the chew threads out! @Hooper2 I am wary of antlers for that reason but I feel like lots of chews can result in fractured teeth so I just try to be conscious of it and supervise the kid when he’s chewing stuff!

Hey folks I posted about my BC Mac a few months ago when I got him! He’s going on 16 weeks soon! Im not going to lie and say he’s been a total angel cause we’re still on mouthiness (though it’s much less recently, he’s gonna start teething soon I imagine so it will probably get worse again!) and we’re working on being alone cause he’s still just having a really hard time with it. We have been attached at the hip since I got him so I’m sure it’s partly my fault. However he has been doing really great!! Even in the city/apartment. He is the chattiest dog I’ve ever owned and I love it, though we try not to encourage it. He’s extremely clever and sweet as well! Hes also really a pretty boy and it’s been extremely fun and weird taking him places cause we get wild interactions with some humans! Based on everything I read prepping to get him he’s been extremely mild! Idk why there are so many horrible BC stories! I’m still partly waiting for some switch to flip and for him to turn into a fearful, flighty, anxiety beast. Even if he does though I’m feeling more confident that I can handle it. Currently we’re looking for ideas to occupy him when I’m working (from home) he’s been having a super hard time allowing me to talk to coworkers/clients. Like he’s totally fine when I’m doing solo work, I can toss a ball or play one handed tug, etc. he’s got the run of the apartment cause he’s just been so good! However, the minute I get on a call he’s trying to gnaw my fingers, jumping, etc until I crate him. A good chew will keep him occupied for a bit, but he just tears through everything I give him SO FAST. Those sharp baby teeth are ruthless! I don’t want him to HAVE to go in the crate for every call, but once he’s in there he’s totally fine, so that’s what we’ve been doing. Does anyone have any toy recommendations or fun solo activities? I can’t give him a pig ear every three hours even if it would keep him quiet all day hahaha! ps these forums have been a huge source of help & info so thanks for sharing your knowledge

I did not think about a blanket over the crate that's a really good idea! Currently he's blocked into my bedroom since he's still so young and I want to be able to keep an eye on everything he can get in to. However, if I leave to use the bathroom or whatever that's where the whines begin. When I put him in crate he is great, if I'm in the room. If I'm not in the room he gets extremely whiny and since I live in an apt complex I worry about leaving him to just whine/scream himself to sleep. Generally I'll stay out of sight, tell him to hush firmly and he'll quiet himself for a moment so I can re-enter the room. I don't want to come in while he's in the middle of peak screams and reward him. I don't let him out of the crate either, at the point he will just fall asleep. I make sure he gets naps in the crate (just while we're potty training and stuff) when he gets sleepy and he does excellent. Also I forgot to ask. Has anyone heard of testing for the MDR1 gene? We had two vet visits to find our fit and one of them mentioned the gene testing. Neither of his parents have had any issues with dewormer or heartworm pills so I wanted to get some feedback on it?

Hey All! Just thought I'd introduce myself, Finch, and my boy, Mac. I've been lurking for a couple months now just reading and gathering info on life with BCs. Especially all the info I can get on city life for what is very much a country breed of dog! I'm a former vet tech who now works at a veterinary based company where I can bring the puppo to work with me everyday. He's my first puppy as an adult, which I'll say was because I was patient for YEARS so I could be financially stable before bringing a dog into my life. Now I'm about a year or two out from my dream home a few acres out of the city (after having grown up on acreage and living in apartments for the last ten or so years has been a DRAG). So I figured the timing was right when an old cowboy friend contacted me to let me know he had bred his BC whom I was once very much in love with, cause she was the most beautiful, chillest, clever girl. I just brought Mac home over a week ago it was quite the trip from where I used to dwell in Wyoming and he got on a plane and flew with me at 7 weeks old. He's now working his way into 9 weeks and I love him so much. He's hands down the smartest puppy I've ever worked with and I'm not just saying that as a proud dog mom! I'm not disillusioned and I know his personality is still developing and we'll probably have many trials to go through together, but I'm still going to relish these good times, especially cause I hyped myself up for this energetic monster. So far though he's amazing on leash for being so young, his potty skills are super on point, he's great with other dogs, he's a champ in crate and he's getting more confident with other people by the day! He's also big for about 8 1/2 weeks he's sitting at 10.7 lbs most people who have met him at work can't believe he's so young. My only issue now is that I can't leave his sight unless he's asleep or occupied by some one else. We're going to really focus on this now since I need to be able to leave him unattended! For now here are some cute pics of my boy. He's going to be very pretty I think. I've only seen one other BC with the same marks. (Not that it really matters cause he'd be beautiful no matter what, that's the biased dog mom though )