ToffeesDad

indoors.

Adopted or Purchased? How did you aquire your furry kids? I adopted. Matt

Lunar, I respect your opinion and I'm not saying I'm absolutely right. I do think that you have your opinion, I have mine and the truth is probably somewhere in the middle. I will tell you that my opinions are based on opinions I have formed through reading ALOT of books. Yes, many books contradict each other and I have formed my own opinions based on what I have read and my own experience, probably like everyone else has done. Part of my reasoning for my opinions is the fact that many of these behaviors I have heard and read others talk about are behaviors that I have learned can be very bad. My BC used to have some of these aggressive behaviors and through my own personal "re-training" I have corrected these problem behaviors and my dogs and the dogs they come into contact with are much happier for it.

brookcove, Agreed

"Now as far as a dog reconizing a breed, it's not possible" "Can you please reference the source or sources for this?" Check out "The Truth about Dogs" by Stephen Budiansky I don't have my book with me so I can't tell you exactly where but there is a portion in the book that covers some things about that.

We may be talking semantics to some degree but I still feel a large amount of the way a dog acts is determined by the owner. The owner should be the alpha and dictate a large amount of how a dog is allowed to act. I know alot of people who think they are the alpha and yet the dog runs their life. If dogs are anti-social with breeds other than their own it is a learned behavior because nature does not produce specific breeds. Whether is learned through lack of socialization or from an owners leadership (or lack thereof) I still believe it is a learned behavior and in many cases bad for all involved. Yes, I know I'm making generalizations but this is a public forum and I'm making general comments. Matt

First off, I am not calling people snobs, I'm using that word because I've heard it used so freely when speaking about dogs discounting/disliking a breed other than their own. Now as far as a dog reconizing a breed, it's not possible. A dog will notice similar markings or size to themselves but don't forget, humans created breeds, not nature. Dogs within a pack will pick on the "odd" dog because that's what canines do within a pack setting so it's not breed snobbery as much as it is the dog picking on or discounting a dog that is "different" from themselves or dogs they are used to being around. I know many people dissagree but as responsible dog owners, we cannot attach human emotions and feelings to our animals. It leads to many problems and misunderstandings. Once again if you think I'm way in left field please let me know. Matt

I know I'll catch a bad time for this one, but I don't believe there is such thing as breed snobbery with dogs. Border Collies like any other dog or animal have likes and dislikes. Sometimes there are traits found within a breed that a specific dog may be attracted to or dislike. I find that usually owners/handlers are the breed snobs and that snobbish energy is sent right down the leash, so to speak. The reason I have this opinion is that I have had many different breeds of dogs over time and have found that certain breeds do have some traits that are stronger or weaker than in other breeds but overall dogs are dogs are dogs. It tends to be owners/handlers that try to attach these traits so strongly to the dog and become conditioned to believe in these traits. It's that same mental conditioning that causes people to freak out when a Pit Bull, Rottweiler, etc. come into the dog park. They have been conditioned to believe these breeds are mean and aggressive when in reallity they are no worse than any other dog when raised properly. My point being, as an owner of a BC if you act a certain way towards other dogs, your own dog will feed of the energy you project, whether it be snobbish, rude, aggressive, fear, etc. Please let me know if you think I'm way off base. Matt

Almost every dog I know eats store brand food. Some food is a little better than others. I prefer Nutro because it really makes my dogs fur look nice and they seem to be very healthy. I really don't think it's a huge deal. My friend had a little poodle mix that lived to be 19 or 20 years old and all they ever fed that dog was what was on sale at the super market, so go figure. I do agree with meat being the first ingredient but other than that I think you're splittin hairs. Hell, I know a guy that feeds his dog all kinds of stuff you're not supposed to, chicken bones, and/or whatever doesn't get eaten in the house and that dog is doing just fine, and looks very healthy. I'm not about to give my dog a whole chicken carcass like he does but I think we make too big a deal out of it sometimes. Especially considering about 60% of the people in the U.S. are overweight and don't know how to eat properly for themselves let alone thier pets.

Thank you for your response. That helps alot. I would really like them to be able to play together but if that can't happen, than it can't happen. I did try this on the general forum and no one replied.

Hi All, I just got a female Long Haired German Shepherd (Caramel)on Saturday and I have a question. I introduce her and my Border Collie Toffee and they seem to do pretty well. They sniff each other and no problems. We brought her home and Toffee was very well behaved and didn't even get very territorial. He's growled at her a few times when she did some he didn't like and she backed off and no problem. She seems to respect him even though she's about 25 lbs heavier than him. The only problem is Toffee likes to play rough and play tug o war, and Caramel doesn't at all. She likes to play fetch but for some reason if I throw her toy Toffee barks at her and if I don't hold him back a fight insues. This same thing happened this morning when Toffee picked up his floppy doll toy and started whipping it around, I don't know how it started other than that, just the next thing I knew I was yelling at them to stop. It's as if they don't seem to understand each others style of play. As long as they don't play together they seem to get along fine, does anyone know what might cause this, or if there is a way teach them this is just play? I know this probably will work itself in time but I wondered if anyone had any pointers. Thank you for your imput, Matt

Hi Lucy, I had the same problem with Toffee and I tried so many of the things listed above and non of them worked. He hated the Halti across his muzzle and would even walk with it on. He'd just flop over and try to pull it off with his paws. What finally worked for me was a combo of a couple methods (because all dogs respond differently to different methods). Toffee doesn't respond well to a stern voice on correction. Which I think was my biggest problem in changing his pulling habit. Here is my method: When he pulls (I do use a choke chain) I give him a slight jerk and say in a almost praising type voice "Toffee Heal". If he doesn't respond I do it once more. If he still doesn't repond I stop walking. I then wait until he either comes back to me or sits "but don't give the command to sit let the dog do it on his/her own". Once he sits I start walk again. If he pulls we start the process over again. It took about two weeks of doing this but it finally sunk in. One additional note, don't give the dog much leash, keep it short unless they stop pulling and give you some slack. The less he pulls the more slack I will give him to sniff around and explore. And I also praise whenever he reaches the end of the leash and then backs off to give the leash slack. Hope that makes sense and helps.

I currently have a Border collie mix. He is only about 30 lbs and is a total dominant dog. I really want to get a German shephard (a 90 lbs GS) but my concern is that they won't get along. Toffee is usually pretty friendly with most dogs as long as they don't try to dominate him. Are there any specific things I should do before introducing a new dog to Toffee?