Stacysbc

If you can handle a GSD, you can definately handle a border collie. They have a lot of energy but it is directed energy, not just wild energy, like a boxer or terrier. Its too bad that the family that has her now cant take the time to train her properly. I dont understand why people get dogs and then expect them to train theirselves, but anyway, sounds like she would have a great life with you and your other dogs.

quote: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Originally posted by mistntag: In most instances (just my opinion), I do not think that the dog is merely looking for extra attention... I think it is honestly scared to death, for whatever reason - just as some people are claustrophobic or afraid of heights. ********************** I totally agree that the dogs are actually scared to death, i in no way meant to imply that they were faking. But i do know that some will play it up when the person who coddles them is around, IF how you "calm" your dog is by coddling. It reinforces the behavior by saying to the dog, "good boy for panicing". If desensitizing doesnt work then by all means i think it is much more humane to gives them some medicine to calm them, and I didnt mean to imply that they should be ignored while they are sitting there shaking and freaking out, i was just saying if you coddle, it reinforces the behavior...so do something about the behavior, whether it be desensitizing or medicating. It can be very dangerous for dogs to be this upset. But everybody's dog is different.

Somebody has a suggestion on another board that i belong to, they train hunting dogs to get used to a gunshot by easing them into loud noises. I dont know if there is time now, but you and a friend have to work together on it. You take some firecrackers and go far enough away that she can barely hear them, just enough to spark an interest but not freak her out. If she is used to the clicker training then it works even better. But when the noise is still far enough away that she doesnt freak out, you click and reward. Do this on and off throughout the day and slowly get closer/louder with the firecracker each time. You cant have them up close within the same day, it is a slow process of getting them used to it, but it might be worth a try. Just be sure to reward when she doesnt freak out, but ignore her if she does. You dont ever want to coddle or sooth a dog that is freaking out over something like that, all the coddling does is reinforce that behavior. A prime example is my dads poodle, if its thundering and its just me and poodle in the room, the poodle gets nervous and paces a bit, but the second my dad walks in the room the poodle FREAKS, starts shaking, crying, and carrying on like mad. SHe does this because she knows my dad will pick her up and coddle her...she is a smart cookie and a drama queen. ha ha

Oh almost forgot...Go to your bed. I like that one alot, its great for when things are just getting out of hand or too much excitement(happens a lot at my house, 3 fur kids and two skin kids)...she knows to just go lie down and take a break in her bed. Not a punishment at all...just a break.

Hows about Speak, no bark, leave-it (meaning he quits sniffing something when you need to move on, etc.). Touch it, can be branched out a bit too. I have a friend who taught her bc to "touch keys" that way when my friend loses her keys...Ginger can help her look for them...very funny. There are some good books out there too with countless possiblities for teaching tricks.

OH hey, i should have thought about it before i replied but, i have a pic of maggie on her webpage if you want to compare her to yours. http://www.brutusforce.com/maggie.html

What beautiful pups. Oreo is gorgous, she looks a lot like my maggie, coat and shape wise, but maggie is all black. She weighs very close to maggie too, maggie is 45 and the vet says she is perfect. Its just the round rib cage that makes them look thick. My vet said, as long as you can feel her ribs when standing and as long as, from a profile, her tummy tucks up a bit...she is fine. THat is odd about her being a lazy bum though, might want to have her thyroid checked...vet probably didnt mention it because most cant do it at their office...they have to send to a different state usually. But she is beautiful to me. Looks in great health.

Firecrackers...oh man, i forgot about that one. We dread fourth of july and new years. Poor maggie about has a nervous breakdown. Then there is the halloween thing...all those weirdo's coming up and ringing her doorbell.

My border collie is fine as long as she is in the house. My husky wants to be in the house during thunder but it fine once in the house. My Mastiff could care less about thunder but yet he is scared of the noise the garbage can makes coming up the driveway. Nuts.

anngreenthumb, bless your heart, and to think all you wanted to do was find out how to get her to not be scared of the clicker. I cant help but laugh.

Hey Vicki, I think you took my comments way too snappishly. I was just wondering if you knew the difference in a kick back versus profit. To me if a vet is selling a food that has worse ingredients than Ol Roy, there has to be something lucrative in it for him. I dont know about a house in hawaii, but definately more than a few pens and junk. But of the vets i know on a personal level, they dont get pens and stuff like that, they get a certain amount of money for every client they can prove they have "switched" over to the food the are pushing, like Science Diet. With your comments about a small profit margin, i guess i misunderstood you, to mean that you thought they were getting too minimal a profit to push the crap, but i was just saying, its not about profit margin, but about kick-backs and that there is a HUGE difference between the two. I dont think the world will collapse but it is one of those subjects that touches a nerve for me, i think it is dirty handed. There are a lot of ignorant and nieve people out there that trust their vet to do the right thing for their dog, not the thing that will give the most kickback.

My best answer for you dear trucker is to feed something to your puppy that is FDA approved human grade. It may cost a little more but you will save in vet bills down the road. I use natual balance.

hey sea4th, I dont think they (the vets) make a lot of proffit off of selling science diet and that other crap, but they do get a kick back...big difference from a proffit. DO you know what a kick back is? I know many vets on a personal level that fuss about it daily. Maybe you have just heard from your vet that they dont get kickbacks, maybe he/she just didnt want to admit it. Doctors get kickbacks for promoting all kinds of things, whether it be a regular MD or a vet. They get kickbacks for stuff ranging from medicines to food to bath and soap products.

oh one more thing, i go off on tangents sometimes, and then miss my point completely. ha ha. ANyway, proplan is a big vet kickback company. They pay vets BIG BUCKS to push their products. My vet refused to push proplan, despite the kickbacks...i just love my vet. She said she just couldnt in good conscience push it. Vets get HUGE kick backs from Science diet too. Let the buyer beware.

I wouldn't recommend it. Have you looked at the ingredients? Well, even so, they may not seem that bad until you compare them with a really good one. The first ingredient should be meat, not corn, not by-product meal...a meat. But my motto is "if i can buy it was walmart or a grocery store then i dont want it". But that does NOT mean that all the foods in the pet stores are good either, but do some research on companies and their ingredients. FYI: I was stunned when i read an article saying that with the food "kibbles and bits" that the dogs were showing up with phenobarbitol in their system but it wasnt listed on the ingredients. So after the FDA did some major investigating they found that kibbles and bits was using "meat" that had phenobarbitol in it. Okay, maybe that is not so alarming, what IS alarming is that the "meat" was euthanized dogs! yes, if you feed kibbles and bits, your dog is a canibal. Not to mention he has phenobarbitol in his system, depending on his metabolism as to how much, but anyway. So now i steer clear of anything that is not human grade dog food. BUt if you still dont take the route of human grade, just make sure it says COMPLETELY what kind of "meat" it is your dog is eating. It should clearly say, Chicken, beef, or lamb, those are the safest for dogs.