Bula's Lady

Thank you all. I have to admit I put it off for awhile and really tried to find reasons to keep her with me. I am glad it has worked out. Its funny - she was chosen for us by the man who owned the farm we managed. We paid $300 for her. Come to find out her fee was $500 and he paid the difference. We wouldn't have gotten her if we knew it would be that much. We prefer rescue dogs We didn't meet her until she came to our home. I think it was karma that placed her with us and where she is now. The look on the couples face is priceless when they talk about Bula. Thank you all for your support and helping me figure out the life of a border collie for the past 3 yrs. I started posting on her right after we got her since she was my first BC. I do love the breed but I think they may be smarter than me

I don't know if some of you remember but awhile back I posted some threads about my 2yr old bc bula who wouldn't stay home. She kept going to the eldery neighbors house. I wanted to update on the situation. Since that time my husband and I have had to move of the farm we were living on. During this transition process I let the neighbors keep Bula, to see if she could live there full time. I wanted to make sure that she wouldn't keep coming back to the farm on her own - which she didn't. I wanted to make sure that they could keep up with her energy level and that she would be a good addition to there family. A week ago I stopped by after making myself not visit her for a month. She was in the front yard with the guy hanging out. She was very happy to see me. He knew I had come to make a decision. We went inside and I sat down with him and his wife. Bula sat at my feet and brought me a ball. We talked about how Bula was doing. They said that she sticks right to P, the guy when he goes out and works around his property. That she loves going on car rides. How she goes upstairs (their daughter and son in law live in the apt above them) and loves hanging out with their birds, but will chase wild birds off the porch. She keeps their very elderly dog company and always loves on him... In my heart I really wanted to keep Bula but at this point I could see it would be a selfish decision. She had chosen this elderly couple. To bring joy and new energy into their lives. I couldn't fault her for that. I love her for it. I go and visit her and bring my other dog Kramer to play with her. This fall I will take her on some long hikes. The only negative I have seen so far is that she has gained a little weight not being able to run on the farm everyday. Since we no longer have the farm and already have 3 other dogs, I felt this was the right, tough, but correct decision to make...for now. They know that if anything happens I can take her back at any time. Another positive is that we have been able to work with Moose - a 7yr gsd dog that came to us when his owners died that needed a lot of social work. For some reason - he was obsessed with Bula and we couldn't curb the behavior at that time. Now we can correctly work on it and other issues he has. I miss her but know in my heart I made the right decision even though it was very very hard. She is in a good positive place.

Recently we took in a 7yr old male GSD from a deceased family member. He has been with us since April. He has his own issues we are working on - old people dogs are so funny - they think they are in charge! My issue is that he is obsessed with Bula, my 3yr old female BC. Its strange, its not like he wants to play with her. Sometimes I think its a submission thing. He puts her on her back with belly up and drools all over her. The worse is outside. They have a fenced in area and he chases her so that she hides or digs out - another issue. Usually he has a jolly ball in his mouth and just stands over her chewing on the jolly ball but is physically on top of her. I throw him off of her, tell him to stay back, leave it...nothing seems to work except to physically hold him back. its cause my bc to take off to the neighbors - more than normal - and makes her hide in the house when he is in. Any ideas on how to curb this or does anyone have similiar stories of one dog just being obsessed with another?

here is some more mojo from new hampshire, i got my fingers crossed, 4 pairs of dog paws crossed and i'll throw in the horses as well! ok, the cats want in as well!! hope you get better soon!

Bula - ooba, looba, booze, bul, bulas, kramer - kramanator, crazy, numbnuts kona - mona (she is the gsd and all she does is moan!)

so how many cats does it take to make you crazy? we got 4... horses... 3 that we own, 11 total we take care of... thanks for the reasuarance! I just hope no one gets hurt if they figure out the pecking order! My husband is excited to have a dog he can be stern with again - he knows to yell at Bula in a baby voice - or she runs away from him!

So my pack of 3 dogs is now going to 4. A death in the family has a 2 yr old male gsd dog coming to live with us on our farm. Are current 3 dogs, 1 fm bc 3, 1 ml hound 3, and 1 fm gsd 12...get along great and are fine when other dogs come to our farm. Just wondering how pack dynamics might be introducing a 4th live in dog. We sometimes dogsit my friends 10 yr old m gsd and everyone is fine because he isn't hyper... We are excited and nervous. We know we can provide a good stable environment. I have just never had this many dogs before! We also have a very, very, small log cabin but live on a very big farm.

i just watched it from another site! i laughed out loud at work for the longest time! its amazing!!

I'm seriously considering boots for Bula. Hints? Suggestions? I've never had a dog with boots but she keeps coming in with huge ice balls on the bottom of her paws. It doesn't seem to bother her but it bugs me....plus I want to start doing some serious snow activites with her - not just farm chorse.

Thank you for all the suggestions. I'll try to respond to what people have said and give an update. I can't remember when she started going to the neighbors. There were points last winter she would take off, but she would always come back. I would say that probably around June is when she did start to go over there and we started doing the exchange - they would bring her back or I would go get her. But it wasn't constant. I want to let her go over to the neighbors - but I want her to listen to me and know that it is her home. The problem is once she is there she won't come back on her own. This weekend turned out better with the leash. She started going to the bathroom on it and feeling comfortable. I talked to my trainer - a woman who I have used for basic classes with all my dogs. We determined that my schedule and lack of bringing bula to new environments has probably triggered this. So my new goal is to get out with Bula everday - away from the farm. She even suggested getting a doggy backpack for walks and putting some weight in it to make her work. She also suggested using food for the recall - to really reinforce it. I got to take her off the farm yesterday and went for a nice walk. She was the "old" bula and happy. I didn't get to go today because I'm working overnight and had to sleep, but I could tell the difference in her tonight. My schedule goes back to normal at the end of Nov. So now I have some tools to work on our relationship. That I am glad. Still have to figure out the fence deal at the farm, but for right now I am ok with doing things on a leash and taking her off property for exercise. I'll keep an update going because I believe this issued happened to me because I am a new border collie owner and didn't realize that I was motivating her anymore. Like my trainer said - the farm was becoming too familiar for her - she was getting bored with it.

the house she goes to is probably 1/4mile through the woods, right behind our house is a small river - which i don't like her crossing after heavy rain or if there is snow! - and then either up a hill or through some marsh land. I have walked it many times going to get her and bringing her back. I can't see the house from where I am and i'm not sure if she can hear me from there or not - don't know how far they can hear! The neighbors do have have a dog. They lost one to old age in june and there springer hadn't been doing to well. They said that with Bula around he is happier and eating. So she does him good. I think this is making her slip in other areas - her recall was excellent, now its not. she will just look at me, stick out her tongue, and keep going. I would rather have a physical fence for the immediate area but we live on the farm and i would like to build her back up so that she can run on the property. any training tips help.

So last night when picking up Bula she comes running down the neighbors driveway tail wagging. I call out to her, tail tucks and she runs for there door. I walked her to the car. Journey - This morning when I took her out I made myself stay neutral in emotion and walked her around. She peed and her tail started to come untucked. Hopefully its an improvement. Fence - Getting a fence indeed! My brother gave me an electric fence, wireless, which we are getting new collars for. I also want to set up the back yard area with a privacy fence. Thanks for the suggestions and tips.

argh, my husband just called and bula took off on him. he went to go tie her up outside and she got away and took off. he went to pick her up but i think she probably hid on the neighbors porch. I'll be off to get her at 7pm when I get out. I am going to talk with the people on monday to see if they can "ignore" her when she comes over, or just tie her to a tree at there place. I can't always go get her right away when she takes off cause I need to finish taking care of the horses and other dogs. so frustrating....and hubby gets mad because he doesn't want her to be locked in a crate all the time.... blah

i know what she does is my fault, trying to fix herself and myself. hopefully she will get over it soon! btw, I don't mind harsh comments, i'm not going to crumble and cry and defend what I do. I want to learn and to fix this issue, be it with her, me, or both of us. So if you have negative feedback I can take that as well! Thank you!

i now have 2 doggy day cares next door. I want to set up a routine with her but I want her to know that she lives we me and that she needs to obey me. I have no qualms with bringing her over to play, or letting them keep her for the day, if again, its on my terms and I bring her there. Luckily there is no road in between the two houses, its just woods. I thought Bula had really good recall up until now. She will just keep going now. I have gone through the woods after her, put her on a leash, and walked her back. I have done it both ways. Acted like nothing happened, no reaction, and puting her in "time out" So I am trying to go back to basics and keep her on leash, work on recall, everything, but she won't do anything while on the leash. She just sits there. She won't play with the ball, she won't go to the bathroom, she won't move away from me. When she is on the leash she tucks her tail and shakes. I have owned this dog since she was 7 wks and she has never been hit or abused, so I don't understand why she acts like it.