FoxgloveBC

I like AKC for a couple of different reasons. First most the trials here are AKC so theres a lot of availability. Second, it is pretty competitive. And third, the jump heights are reasonable. My only dislike is it is a lot of "hurry up and wait" I will get to a show at 7am and sometimes be there till 5 or 6 to have 3 runs.... it can get very tiresome if you run FAST along with Stnd and JWW. I also like CPE, but it is a bit easy and not as competitive for me... its a good break to relax and have fun. USDAA is very competitive and I like a lot of things about them, but I am very dissappointed in their jump heights for the regular Championship division. My Sheltie at 16 3/8" would have to jump 22"!!! I find it a bit outrageous... I would prefer to do the Championship division since most the USDAAs are a few hours drive rather than only about an hour to most the AKCs I go to, it would be a lot of money to spend just for the "Performance" division. Again, I guess just a preference of mine. I will be doing USDAA with Foxy though. I havent ever really been interested in NADAC, with the rule changes and a lot of the straight lines they use in courses, and weird games such as hoopers.

My BC usually has her collar on, and my Sheltie doesnt wear one. Though Foxy has a weird "quirk." I have boughten several different pink colored collars for her and one camo collar (lol it was to match all the Labs at DockDogs) One day I set the camo collar down and a pink one and sent her to go "pick" which one she wanted to wear. She went straight for the pink one. A few months later, I attempted to have her wear the camo collar... EVERY day she would slip out of it when outside..finally it ended up getting chewed on. She has NEVER slipped out of her pink ones or messed them up in any way... can we say I have one "girly" dog????

I have two that are pretty opposite each other when it comes to riding in the car. My Sheltie, Yoshi, tends to lay down and be VERY quiet while riding. He almost acts scared, and if I did not know him any better I would say he was.. but he's not, its just his act. He just likes to be left alone when hes riding in the car. Foxy, however, wants to be standing up and wants to see everything and stick her nose out the window if I let her... Both dogs were taken a lot as pups and had the same amount of work done (actually Yoshi went even MORE places probably, and he still goes more due to him doing all the agility more) I kinda like the quite riders... LOL

I have a few DockDogs shirts... Im not a big fan of most the doggie t shirts either...they look a bit crazy, but theres a few I like.. I like the ones with the silhouette of the dog jumping and it has the breed name on it. I also LOVE the shirts that say iRun and it has a course map on it... too cute..maybe because im an iphone and ipod freak! lol I am going to the big Reliant dog show this weekend, maybe I will find some more doggy t's that I approve of...=)

It was Foxy, she does get excitement poos when we go somewhere else. I have, however, been able to get her to go BEFORE we leave, so if she tries to start going i just say ah ah and she has been able to stop getting so worked up and she will quit trying to go and I wait until I can take her to a specific potty area and then I let her go with the "go potty" command. I am in control of the poops as of now. Hopefully I can start from here and get a better grip on them so we can enjoy more outings without worrying about her having the oops poops. I am switching her to California Natural as well, I think she has a very sensitive stomach, and the simpler list of ingredients in the California Natural look like they might do her stomach some good. I havent decided on the Chicken or the herring yet though.

When I did my Border Collie hunt, I wanted a black tri male. I ended up getting a red tri female. Dont pick just one sex and base your decision on that. You might end up passing up the greatest dog for you. I always said I didnt want a female dog, but my Foxy is everything I could ask for, shes affectionate (attached at the hip and wont leave me alone!!! lol) and playful and loves everyone and everything. She has never been a moody grumpy female, or snarky. She is willing to share everything of hers with any dog....she is just one big goofball. Its cool if you let the dog pick you. My Sheltie did that. It was one of the coolest things I ever got to experience. He was the best looking pup out of the whole litter to me, I was so suprised that he hadnt been snatched up already! and my dear Foxy was one of the last of her litter left.... I guess she was always meant to be mine too

When I first got Foxy (she was 12 weeks old) she wanted to wander quite a bit as well. I worked through this, and tried to stay calm, because sometimes its hard to relax and remember they are just babies. Now at 9 months, I can have her off leash at a farm and she wont wander. She wants to stay around the same area I am at. Dont worry, theres nothing wrong with your puppers! Just try to be patient...I know it can be difficult! As for the leash, I go along with what everyone is saying...let her get used to dragging it first. Sounds like you are definitely on a good track to having a great companion. =) Good luck!

my dad is one of those people who think crating is cruel. He said I was never allowed to move back with them unless my dogs became 100% outside dogs. I explained Yoshi (sheltie) could not be in the heat all day, he HATES the heat and would get heat stroke in the middle of the day. And of course Foxy couldnt just be left outside either. He is a very stubborn person and wouldnt even listen to any of my talk and he still thinks crating is cruel and leaving dogs outside is much better. *sigh* I think my sheltie would die without his crate, he makes a beeline for it everytime we come home. lol

Foxy makes more noises than barking. She makes weird noises when she yawns. lol. She only barks if my nutjob Sheltie wont shut up when people ring the doorbell or people take her by complete suprise around a corner and its dark out or something similar. I have heard her bark a lot only a few times in the half year I have had her. My Sheltie definitely is a lot more "barky" than the Border Collie.. A barking dog drives me up the wall. I had to resort to a spray bottle with the Sheltie.

I dont know if I could leave my dog outside all day, but I could maybe eventually work my way up to half days??? If its something that you think would really benefit your dog- Maybe start out by 30 min, then an hr, then gradually get a little longer. A half day or something wouldnt probably be that bad (unless extreme heat or weather conditions.) Especially since you come home for lunch it might be something doable for you. I just would be very hesitant to do it for a full day though. I second talking with neighbors as well.

I trained a couple of dogs in agility when I was younger, but never thought I could handle a Border Collie. I was always in awe by their speed and ability... I just never thought I could actually own one. Fast forward to about 10-15 years and I got a Sheltie which I thought was the perfect breed for me, until I realized I wanted a bolder dog that liked to do more things (my Sheltie only likes agility, and can be frustrating with his moods) I then decided, I have always wanted a BC, why not get one while I was still young and still a fast handler? Here we are, I have had Foxy for half a year, and we have already accomplished many things. She is exactly what I wanted. Thats what made me decide that I am a BC person forever =)

It says character sketch, but I might give a little more...well because I love her. I had a really bad streak of luck right before and right after I got Foxy. I almost felt like I was doomed as a dog owner as well. A previous dog I had recently signed to co-own started having problems and the contract that was laid out stated that he had to be sent to the other co owner if problems emerged. Not little problems, health/mental related. I felt so bad like it was my fault that it happened, even though I couldnt control it. I started looking for a Border Collie after that, because I had always wanted one and after that experience, wanted to go with a different breed. Am I sure glad that I did, these dogs fit me perfectly to a T..I love them all! Foxy came into my life, after being picky about what kind of lines I wanted my next dog to be from. She wasnt the color I wanted, but color didnt matter, my dog did. My Sheltie got seriously injured in an agility injury only a couple weeks after I got Foxy. I was told to keep him under total crate rest for at least 2 months. Boy my little girl saved me during those times when I felt extremely discouraged. She is always so happy no matter who you are, or what you say to her. She's fast and tall (20.5") and all legs. She is extremely quick and has been described as the "dog who looked the most happy to just be alive." Everyone is her best friend, she meets no stranger. But she saves a special place for me and only will perform for me. Her intense stare and crazy looks make people always stare. Kids are drawn to her. Shes wiggly as wiggly could ever be. She is my everything and the only thing that has kept me together for the past half year. I thank god everyday that she is so young and that I can spend so much time with her. She looks wolfish at times, positively feral. She makes me giggle when I see her looking like that. I dont know how else to describe her, when I try I cant help but say over and over, "Man I love this dog. She was exactly what I asked for."

The videos show kind of the process that I took to train her. Of course it doesnt show EVERYTHING, but it gives a good idea. I am very fortunate to be a part of a DockDogs club where we have monthly practices. However I have to drive 90 miles one way to get there (the money I spend on my dogs!) but it is worth every penny. The most difficult thing really for most dogs, is the transition from lake or pond water into clear water. Clear water throws their depth perception off and they need to 100% trust you that you are not asking them to jump into a hole. If you get a chance to introduce to pool water, jump on it! Good luck, and if you get a chance to go to event, let me know how it goes. Sorry but it is addicting!

Well I decided to let my young Border Collie start getting into Dock Jumping when she turned 6 months old. It would be good exercise and get her used to working "with some pressure," so she is used to the competition like atmosphere. What I didnt know, is how much we would get into it. At first my little girl didn't want anything to do with water. It took some time to get her to even swim in a pond. It was absolutely frustrating and discouraging when I saw other new dogs jump right in and get into dock jumping easily. However, we hung with it. In 4 months, we have gone from hating water, to liking it alright, to being scared of pool water, to finally getting in, to being totally freaked by the dock, to relunctantly jumping in, to "plopping in", and finally to running down with speed and drive and launching like she should! Our first event two weeks ago, we got our Novice Jumper title (NJ) which is jumps under 10' and this weekend we took it up a step and got our Junior Jumper title (JJ) 10'-14'11" jumps. I was absolutely thrilled with her this weekend as she really jumped her little heart out. What's even better is she is only 9 months old, so we all cant wait to see what she can do in a year! She even was featured on two different news channels... one was regular and the other actually being live. I have videos of her progress through the last 4 months and wanted to share them with ya'll. It goes to show, that not just the Labs can do DockDogs. Getting used to the pond Not jumping just yet, but finally going into a pool "Falling With Style" Somewhat of some jumps To our second event with some lovely looking jumps! Heres us on the news http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/channel?sectio...&id=5755224 Anyways thanks for reading/watching! I just am still excited from this weekend (even though I have a throat infection and a BAD fever)

I am going to go today and try another Natural Balance roll out. I think I just got a bad one! Maybe I will put her kibble in with the Natural Balance when I train and see if that works. Slippery elm powder? I have never heard of it! I have a bad case of IBS (sorry if that is a bit much of info for you all) and I havent been able to find anything that really helps me out. Maybe I will buy some for both me and her!!! Thank you so much! A small update on progress so far. I had her lay very quietly in a dog bed and had a very calm state to me. Everything was slow and calm and it seemed to work on her. I was clicking and feeding when she would look at me with her expression and earset very calm. I started trying to stay calm when she could hear people and trying to do some slow heeling work. There was even a comment made about her acting a bit more calm than normal. I had a small food roll from Merrick that I also gave her, and she did make a big mess outside when I let her go. But she held it at least until I let her go potty. However, she wasnt running around and wasnt in a new place so I dont know if just being more calm is going to be the only answer I need, however there were plenty of positive notes about our sessions. Anything that was more interesting than lying in the dog bed would call for her to drop the kibble or not be too excited about it. I think the food rolls will be a good idea. I might have to throw in the occassional hot dog piece to make it even more enticing.