Ruger's Dad

I have always gone to the dog park with frisbees. Since Ruger is totally obsessed, he wants no interaction with other dogs. At first, the other dogs may try to chase him or steal the frisbee but then he will eventually give them a growl or snap. After that, he is left alone. For the most part, I will say he is mostly a people dog or at least work obsessed. He is also not very friendly to strays wandering in the yard. I would probably give him a D+ in playing well with others.

I know it is possible, but I was never very successful having Ruger on stay and me leave him and go out of sight. I worked on this at one time but gave up on it. I think it goes against their nature. They are supposed to watch over the flock not let it go out of sight. In my case, I am his flock. Some things come easy, other tricks or commands take more time. The key is patience. I believe these guys can learn just about anything you want them to.

Ruger is 3 years old and he still pulls. Our Springer is perfect on a walk and I walk both at the same time. Ruger pulls and Casey is right there at my side. I use a prong collar on Ruger and it helps. On his regular collar he is horrible. If I absolutely wear him out before a walk he is much better. I know Cesar does this. A girl that used to work at Pet Smart told me she used prong collars on her Border Collies. She was really knowledgable in training and did some competition with her dogs. That made me feel much better. I don't get upset like I used to these days. He may not be able to compete in AKC obedience but he's faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive and can snatch a frisbee out of the upper atmosphere in a single bound. Look, up in the sky, it's a bird, it's a plane, No, it's my OCD dog just catching another one of them dang UFOs.

Here is an answer from a completely different perspective. Ruger free feeds. I give him a bowl of food in the morning and one in the evening. I am feeding him about 1.5 cups per feeding. Sometimes he brings his bowl to me in the evenings and he gets more food. There are days he may eat just one bowl and I put it up at night to keep Pukeface, the bulimic fat cat, out of the food. Ruger is in wonderful shape by the way.

Great advice. I still take Ruger every place I can. The more people he meets the better dog he is. I cannot over emphasize that training needs to be done as well. Four months is plenty old enough to learn sit, stay and heel. Walks are also one of the best ways to socialize a dog and emphasize discipline while have a great time with the new pup.

Go to http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/03/...a-morell-text/4 This link showed up earlier in the year when the magazine came out with a Border Collie on the cover. Most of us are scratching the surface of what our dogs are capable of.

I wonder if it is the intelligence of the breed that makes them so skiddish. Maybe they think too much. Ruger was afraid of just about everything when we first got him. He was afraid of small kids, kids playing basketball, cars, bikes, strangers. Just name it. I took the sympathetic dad approach and just assured him everything was alright. I took him everyplace I could to get him accustomed to other people and different activities. He still hates fireworks and motorcycles. I can live with that. Good luck. Patience and time will take care of most ills.

Ruger is pretty good about barking and I usually don't have to correct him now. I do not allow him to bark at neighbors, kids, bike riders, etc. This was never allowed. He still occasionally does a low growl at kids and I put a stop to that. I do not discourage warning barks. When he really sees a threat he goes into a high pitch bark. I always check those out. He is very yard protective which explains some of his growls or barks. I have a love hate relationship with that behavior. He is a fair watch dog. His happy bark is more of a rooooo. I worked with him to say his name off this funny sound.

When I first picked Ruger up he peed on me. It was love at his first accident. I think he was between 6 and 9 months when he stopped. Nowadays he pees on every spot in our yard where one of the other dogs has gone. Simply amazing bladder control. Kind of like a faucet.

One trick done by some people is to first place the droppings in a paper sack, put the sack on the porch of your least favorite neighbor, light the bag on fire, ring the doorbell and then run. I'm sorry, I couldn't resist.

On the weekends I end up with 4 dogs. Ruger my Border, Casey our Springer, BC/ACD mix, and a Chihuahua. Ruger is the only male. Our Springer and the BC/ACD both suffer with incontinence. Casey is on medication which works. They are both female as well. The Springer is the oldest and is the top dog. Nobody messes with her or her food. She will eat the other dogs food if she wants as well. You don't mess with the boss. The Chihuahua is just plain nuts but I love her. She is the ultimate lap dog unless she is exercising her authority over the other dogs, except Case. I would never buy anything but a Border but the Chihuahua is a neat dog in her own way. Ruger is just plain happy go lucky. If another dog eats his food, big deal. He has a frisbee which satisfies every desire. Take his frisbee, he goes and finds another one. However, don't come in his yard univited. Moral of the story, my next BC will be male.

Wnenever I have been nipped or bit by Ruger it is my fault. There are a few easy ways to bring this about. First, intentionally running away from him. This is from the herding instinct. Horsing around with him will bring it out as well. Ruger is extremely rough mouthed and is not fun to play any biting games. I have found if he has a frisbee in his mouth we can act like idiots and he won't hurt me. If I am playing with the other dogs, he gets a frisbee before we start anything. Kind of weird but it works. That being said, you still need to teach your dog to react to a stern NO. Having to run for whatever reason and then getting bit is not to be tolerated, instinct or not. I taught Ruger how to stop and lie down with hand signals. I will give him the stop sign if need be.

Here are my two cents: 1. I hate rough housing with Ruger. He bites hard and gets wound up quick. He is about the worst dog I have been around for this. The solution to this behavior is DON'T PUT UP WITH IT. Playing with a tug is great fun and a way to burn off some energy without being bitten. 2. If I run away from Ruger he will go after me. It has to be the herding instinct. The solution to this is don't turn away. I have holes in some jeans from goofing around with Ruger. I will intentionly let him go one way and I will go the other. He hates it and tries to drag me back to him. I just tell him okay and not run away. He calms down and everything is alright. Border Collies seem to be a lot rougher than bird dogs. They have to be able to fetch live stock not dead small game. For us non-sheep herders we need to channel this energy into other ways. Remember, time and patience. Good luck.

A crate is an absolute must for every Border Collie that is living inside. It will be the second home until your dog can be trusted. Throwing the potty party is great advice. From what I have seen of others and my own experience, 3 months is about the magic age for being fully house trained. Good luck and keep patient.

I don't have this problem at all. Ruger only chases frisbees and balls. Flies and bugs are not on his list of play things.