jeanine

Hi Miz, I don't post offten on these boards but have been keeping up on your situation with Boy. I am sorry, you are going thru this. I am a trainer, and this might be related to how Boy is behaving. Last year, I had a nice family bring their golden retriever puppy to one of my classes. All statred out fine, my assesment of the pup was that she was an average nice golden. She had one problem in class, she would sometime refuse to sit...and get very determined not to do so if confronted, but she would gladly lie down or do any other bahavior. A few weeks into the class the mother started telling me that the dog was acting funny at times...she would get under a table or bed and refuse to come out, and if anyone bothered her she would growl and show her teeth at them. I was supriced since I knew her as a nice girl, and could not figure why she would be gaurding space all of the sudden. The next week in class I made a piont of watching her carefully, and noticed she was trying to ecape from the building when given a chance, we use all positive methods so this made no sense and she was not fearful or shy of anything. She had a wadely gait that bothered me so I send the family to the vet for x-rays which showed severe displastic hips, ocd in both shoulders. The orthepedic vet did not feel surgery on her mangeled skeletal system would bring her any comfort, just more pain in the long run. So the family opted to just manage her pain with meds. Unfortunatly the dog strarted associating her pain with what she saw in front of her, when she was feeling crappy and their cat walked by she lashed out at it since she thought it must be the cause of her discomfort...after a few months she started having aggresive outburst at her owner aswell when she was in pain. Finally the decision was made to put her to sleep, since she was loosing herself in the pain and the family had small children. Boy might also be bursting out in agression towards you, the cats, Finn, or your Husband...simply because he does not know why he is hurting. Dogs associate what they feel with what they see, ie. Boy hurts, he sees cat, and thinks that it's the source of his discomfort. If he is really in that much pain, he needs to be on daily meds for his chronic pain to keep it below threshold and then extra meds for break thu pain. This will help his behavior. Do research on cronic pain managment in humand or animal. Jean

I agree with Rebecca and Laurie. One huge mistake allot of folks make is running their dogs to the point of exhaustion. Or throwing stuff at the dogs will, a million times over. BC are the ultimate working dog, if you run them for miles and miles you build and athlete they will come to excpect to be run for miles and miles. If you throw balls 500 times at a BC, he will come to expect this as normal. Instead teach your pup to be calm, and use his mind. Sure you need exersise, but 5-6 miles on a bike daily for a pup is insane. Also consider your dogs diet, is he eating high protein, high energy foods...well then he will be hyper. A working BC is very diffrent from a conformation bred dog(can't really call them BC's). They are naturally more active, but sould most definitly not be hyper active as sutch a dog is of no use around stock. Jeanine

I Think if your breeding for working ability...good structure is a given. How can a dog work well if he does not have the right body to do it. Likewise, if your breeding form dogs with proven working ability then other health problems like hips/eyes are not that likely. However, good breeders that breed working dogs still test for these things. Temperament is the same. Breeders/farmers will probably only breed dogs with temperaments that suits their needs( why would someone want to breed a non-biddable sulky dog). So I think what I am trying to say is that " working abiliy" includes good structure and temperament... you can't have a good working dog with out them. Jeanine

I went thru this with my pup. Till I realized that I was confusing him. Sometimes I would bend over and pick up the ball, sometimes I would ask him to drop, other times to give etc. Now we have clear rules, he has to put it in my hand everytime if he wants me to throw it again. I ask him to "give" he places his chin on my open palm and lets the ball go. Now there is days that he tests me(he is 8 months)to see if he can make me reach for the ball... dumb human as I am, I have reached to get it out of his mouth and what happens???? he pulls his head away( aggg!!! that really ticks me off)so if he starts playing his mind games I just say " aah to bad, looks like you don't want to play" and I stop throwing ball for him and walk away. This really ticks him off and usually he will play by the rules the next time. Jeanine

Rebecca, I like your solution for pullers in extreme cases. My 8 month old boy is wonderfull on the leash, except when he sees the sheep or knows we are on our way to the sheep. Needless to say, I don't allow him to drag me to sheep and insist he walks next to me...but it takes a while, I have to stop(he comes right to me when I stop) many times. I don't correct(verbally) or get to hard on him when he darts out infront of me because I feel I do not want to deflate/stress him before we get to the sheep. So my question is would you use your above suggested quick jerk and verbal correction in this case? My thought is I don't want to fight with him and make him feel like it's a competition against me to get to the sheep, me always keeping him back, him always wanting to push foward. This will just set us up for trouble once in the field. However, just FYI off leash he walks nicly to the sheep, altough I need to call him back behind me a few times. But there is sitiuations where I need to have him on a leash before we get to the sheep. Can you tell I am a beginner here! Thanks Jeanine

Hi all, I was wodering if anybody else's dog is having problems when it is very hot. My 8 month old is having projectile diarea. It must be the heat, this morning we had a early session with the sheep when it was still cool, he pooped solid at around 10am and then has been in and out of the heat for short periods today. Now at 3:45pm(has not eaten anything since this morning) he has the most violent diarea... I am a being stupid for thinking that the heat has something to do with it, or is that not possible. Jeanine

Thanks JPB, I will ask my vet. Jeanine

Thanks Debbie, I am going to be a wreck on surgery day, but I am sure all will be o.k. Jeanine

Hi Folks, I am having my pup neutered in a few weeks. I am paraniod about putting him under!! I have heard that BC can be sensitive to anastesia. Has anyone had issues with this. Some words to put me at ease... Jeanine

How about a sheltie!

I think you should keep the " great little dog" and wait to get a BC until you are done with college and school. Jeanine

No, the "puppy" is Linda's 7 month old Zoe I was refering to.

Just a few week I had this same problem with my 7 month old male. What I did was: keep him away from other dogs on-leash, as I felt he is just going thru a insecure stage where he is trying to test what he can get away with other dogs, and I did not want him to learn to act aggresive. If he growled at another dog(for instance when one unexpectitly came running up) I would correct(just a low tone "what are you doing") him and let him know that I am not pleases with that behavior. Then he only got to interact with dogs I knew he would not boss aroung and the experience would be positive. THE RESULT: Tonight in advanced class he was an angel, I was so proud, he went from defensive to activly happy when a dog came near. I think it is just a stage puppies goes thru and you need to help your dog fing their place. Just a side note: if you are in a clicker class or one that uses food as a reward your dog may be acting aggresive towords others on-leash because she is gaurding you and the food. Jeanine