anngreenthumb

My little man had no eye either. His trainer was not too worried. Said some dogs just dont control with eye right away. But he has superb body control, moving and controlling them properly with his body. Trainer had to be very tough at first because of the behaviors you were mentioning and he gets frustrated faster than a dog with eye. But he controls the sheep better now with practice and we noticed lately that he is using one eye on them ever so cautiously. So maybe he is learning it. Don't know, just trusting my trainer.

Outrageous, thank you for that.

Do you think it can have to do with location also? I mean I have found some VERY prejudice people...professionals...in this area of wash state. I have found NO place that will let my 2 BC's in doggie day care, sight unseen. Also have to board my babies back where I got them, because I found 3 boarders who "dont take BC's...too much trouble, too unpredictable." I have 2 BC's and I got one from rescue who was a bit scared and aggressive around men only. Now her best friend is the neighbor man and I trust her much, much more than when I first got her. It took some time, but I think she finally forgot her past. But my other one bites with his tongue too.

Love it! Love to see if the walkie talkie works. Try it please and let us know.

Thank you. you did make me make a change today with my home equipment. I added some stripes and tape to them. we'll see if it helps. she is a happy girl. I need to remember that.

I guess it hurts because she is an active, smart, DUH, border collie and I really have strived to keep her entertained. She is totally bored with Rally O and any kind of obedience. I mean what good is a sport if you can't do a zoomie? In search and rescue she only wanted to find women and kids. She is so afraid of men because of her previous abuse, the abuse that caused the blind eye and deaf ear. You can't get her to chase a ball for anything...I don't know why. She loves agility and hiking and would be a good jogging partner, but I don't jog. We walk a lot and hike in the summer. I may make/buy more agility equipment and train more at home, but she zoomies so much more at home. I guess I just feel like a border collie owner failure, because I can't keep her busy enough. But I tried everything.

Thanks for all the advice. Confusing and varied, but interesting. I guess I don't worry as much about her because she is NOT a fast contender. She is slower, but very methodical. I may never compete with her, probably not, because she is slow...but I would like to still go to class with her and practice. She doesn't herd, she hates to play ball, she flunked out of search and rescue, so this is all she has left to do. She loves it, keeping her from doing zoomies is always a problem, so a conundrum ey?

Thank you...that was way cool.

I have been doing agility training with my 4 year old BC for a year now. Shie loves it and does well, but sometimes won't do a jump or refuses the tire. I just recently found out she is blind in one eye and deaf in one ear. My agility trainer refuses to let her in classes anymore. Says she has no business doing agility if she is blind in one eye. Can't I adapt and keep going? She has not had an accident in a year.

I wish I could read (German?) so I could enjoy the website more. Is there a video on the site somewhere?

I think you need to keep in mind temperment and motive.....of YOU, not the dog. I have seen it used successfully, when not in total anger, but as a TRAINING method to drive the dog off the sheep. But I quit a trainer who escalated from tossing stuff at my dog, to walking up to him and hitting him with a metal bucket that had a large rock in it. We were in a small pen and my boy yelped when he got whacked. It was done in anger, not training.

well said. My little 2 year old herder brings me a smile every day because of all he is learning and the joy he has. At least he does everything to the fullest, I wish we all did.

A lot of what you said is true. He does better with the trainer/instructor than with me. He also gets frustrated when the sheep don't do what he wants. Also instructor said he is a little nervous too close to the fence. He also got feistier when he got more accustomed to what he was doing. I guess I just wondered if it was a common thing to lose your brain when you begin herding.

I am not new to the boards, just returning and I have a new pup. He is a 2 year old male. He has his canine GC and his advanced behavior classes. This was all needed for search and rescue. he is a great dog and minds well. I started him with herding lessons a while ago and it was great watching him just instinctively know what to do. The trainer said he has not much eye, but controls well with his body and has great balance. Then the day came after about 3 months, that he became the herder from hell. All of a sudden he won't listen when herding, not to anyone, and just runs wild. In a small pen he grips like mad. What went wrong? How can he go from well behaved in agility and search and rescue and become the dog from *&^ in herding? Is this common? He seems to love to scatter the sheep and them collect them up again, but only at his own command, not others. I'd appreciate any reassurances or comments.

Lani gets that same pi***ed off expression whenever they lift the tire up higher at practice. She will run at it as usual, stop and look at the new height, give me a dirty look, then back up and jump it. It knocks time off, but I love the expression.

Good point but, in my class we have a dog that is out of control. Tho the handler has been told to leash the dog except when it is his turn; when it IS his turn and she places him by a jump and lets go, where does he go? Over to attack my dog or someone elses. I almost got bit last week because my dog was afraid of him and planted herself between my legs and he snapped at her thru them. Missed my leg by a mm. He doesnt belong there but is the daughter of the facility owner, so we have no choice. But my dog does nothing and suffers for it.

Lana has had down agility days and up ones. Jazzy was tired and sick and upset. Give her a break, she wanted to go home. But next week she will be ready and raring. Lana loves agility but last week all the dogs were wild. After an hour she went to the door and when I opened it she headed for the car. She had enough and wanted to go home. She loves it, but needs to make a decision about when she has had all she can take. Bring Jazzy back with all the enthusiam you can and start again. Have fun and she will have fun. Stay away from dumb poodle. We have a lab in our class that picks fights too.

As the holiday nears, it will be the first with our rescue BC. Already some neighbors are shooting off firecrackers and she barks and runs crazy around the house for an hour afterward. This is going to be a tough 2nd thru 6th. Isn't there anything I can do to make life easier for her? The cats I usually put in the basement with classical music on and they do alright until morning, but Lana is going to keep me up all night for many nights. Is there any way she will tire and give up or adjust after a while? or do I just set my mind to sleepless nights? Maybe she will lose those last 7 pounds in a few days from the stress and exercise. I am NOT looking forward to this.

One more thing that works. We removed the collar and went to a harness for a while. She liked it better and you can grab a harness without getting nipped. It is a more gentle control.

When we got our rescue 8 weeks ago, she had some issues like that. She paced and paced and she didn't sleep or poop for the first 3 days and nights. She also was collar nippy. she too had been abused but by boys with sticks. She improved after 2 weeks. Did better after 3 or 4, but it wasn't until last week that she quit trying to get away from us, but instead started to come to us. She is finally bonding and her bath time today was calm and sedate fore the first time. It has been a long long 8 weeks and a very successful one. keep at it. I bet you see improvement in 2 weeks like I did.

Lunar- tell your dad to try a short 2-3 foot piece of rope. My bc won't chase any toy. she self plays with a soccer ball once in a while, but that is it. she spent the first year of her life in a small pen and no toys, so she doesn't play. But one day I was pulling a rope and she chased it like a cat does. Now it is her new fun toy. I ball it up like a ball and throw it and she chases it and drags it back. We have a good pull and then throw it again. Might work?

I decided to go the clicker training method with my new rescue. I bought the book, clicker and a bunch of treats. The book said for a few days you just click and treat until they adjust to the click/treat relationship. She hates the clicker so badly that she runs from the treat. After one day of clicking she now refuses treats. I had to go out and buy all new treats that had no relationship to the clicker and start training her the old fashioned way again. What gives? Should I just toss the clicker or tray again or what? Is she really afraid of the clicker? Anyone want a hardly used clicker?

OCDBC- you live only a few minutes from me. I raise organic vegetables for a living. Where did you find the Sluggo and the Escargo around here? I can't use anything on my vegies, so I resign myself to loss of produce, plus I don't want loss of cats and dogs either.

My last BC/Aussie mix was a water dog. She would lie down in any puddle and loved her wading pool. A bath was a snap. My new Lani is a different dog, she hates water. Doesn't like wet feet, scared to death of the hose, walks a wide berth around the kiddie pool and tonite was her first bath. Wild time. She hated it and has been pouting since then. Pouting means, voluntarily in her crate with her face to the wall and back to us. Please tell me she will get over it. I thot BC's were good water dogs. How about yours?