Taffy

INU, I don't know about protien and behavior myself but I do know that increased BUN can be a sign of excessive protien which makes what Annette posted a very good possibility. Posted by Miztiki Posted by Annette & the Borderbratz

I am by no means a dog behavior expert but I wanted to say that one possible reason for an increased BUN is to much protien which goes along with what a few others have said about a possible link to Boy's behavior and protien.

Nevermind, I found an old thread with the info I was looking for. I searched before I posted but somehow missed it.

I know I need to find a trainer to help me learn about herding but in the mean time are there any good books you would recommend? I don't plan on going to trails or anything just having Taffy herd ducks and maybe my goats. I could also buy some sheep if need be. When I got Taff my plan was to have her be one of those BC's I have read about who are content having their job be chasing a ball or frisbee but that is not the case with her. She has a major herding instinct that I feel is seriously needing an outlet. She's not misbehaving or anything like that, actually she's an awesome dog all around but she's wearing a path in front of our fence from running back and forth eyeing things. She is able to go out and do chores with me and things like that without getting into any thing she shouldn't. She walks circles around the chickens and eyes them but hasn't attacked them and always comes when she's called. I would just really like to learn some things about harnessing that desire so I can put it to good use and she can really feel as if she has a job to do. I'm going to e-mail her breeder also because I know she works her dogs but don't know if she trains people for herding.

I actually did tie her yesterday morning while I was over there and it went very well. I tied to to a tree with a horse lead rope and she just sat there and watched the ducks and chickens without even seeming bothered.

I may be okay teaching her to come to me when I call her and going about it that way. I have only had her for 2 days so she's not listening to me the absolute best yet although she is already doing MUCH better then she was before. I think for now I'll keep her away from them until she's reliably responding to me and then see how it goes.

I just read your reply Steve and I have another question for you. If I keep her away from the chickens and ducks until she is ready to really work will it be equally as hard on her to see them through our fence? I guess what my main question is can I still take her with me to do morning and afternoon chores if the chickens are penned up or will even seeing them in their fences be to much. I'm just trying to decide which approach will work best for our family. I never plan on doing any herding for competition or anything just some fun on our farm and something to make Taffy happy.

Thank you so much Kay, I really appreciate your advice. I thought she should be taught similar to what you described but I wasn't sure. Now that I know we can work on it. I'll let you know how we progress.

I'm sorry to butt in here but I was wondering if any of you could answer a question for me. My pup is 4 months old and we've only had her for a few days. We have free range chickens and ducks on certain areas of our property and she wants to chase them in a very bad way. I would love to be able to control this as she gets older and starts listening to me better so we can herd ducks. My question is, is it okay now to walk her around them on a leash but not let her chase them or would it be better to just keep her away from them all together?