BorderlineCollieaholic

76 bar: I would have preferred you give some advice or opinion as to my original post along with your statement, as it does come across as slightly on the offense. I had a couple DNA tests done on her, though, and she came back on both with Kelpie ancestry. There is actually a breeder two hours away from me, and I live in farm-country so it's more plausible than one might usually think. Honestly, I choose that dog out of the others in her ancestry to call her a mix of because she looks most like one. I could call her one of the other three breeds she's mixed with, but in the end I may end up offending an owner of one of those breeds. I've personally met very few mixed breeds I would say did an injustice to any of their ancestors, working dogs or no =) I know Quenya is an excellent dog and I would certainly never portray her as a purebred of any breed.

Thanks everyone! I'll try to find a GSD board where I can ask opinions. red russel: Thanks! It's from a movie sountrack.

After my BC was killed when my neighbor's Great Pyrenees got loose, I waited a long time to get another dog, and ended up getting a mixed breed someone else was rehoming just as a companion. To make a long story short I took her out with me to free-range the youngest chickens for the first time the other day (she had seen them before but they were always penned up) and the video records what happened. Is this herding behavior or just investigatory behavior? If she has herding potential I was going to take her to a few lessons as a herding dog would be so incredibly helpful around here. I just don't have the money to throw out the window if it's pointless (the closest trainers are all at least two hours from me on top of whatever the lesson costs and I'm in college) and am worried all that I'm seeing is just wishful thinking. '>Quenya "Herding" The Chickens - YouTube I apologize for this post not being directly BC related, I just remembered from when I did have Bandit how helpful and knowledgeable everyone was here and I couldn't find a forum appropriate for my question. I won't be making a practice of non-BC related posts and do hope to get another BC in the future. P.S. The video was originally shot just for friends so please ignore the "trying to be entertaining" comments I included.

I haven't been on the forum in a long time, but a while ago I made a post about how my Border Collie puppy, Bandit, was having problems with fearfulness/being scared of strangers. Today, for the first time, he readily climbed into a strangers lap! My friend came over, and Bandit snarled and barked at her for several minutes(while hiding behind my legs, of course) and she ignored him for a while, then started feeding him bits of cheese and ham. At first he just snatched it out of her fingers but eventually he was jumping on the couch next to her and licking her face so she would give him the treat. Then he came up and asked her to pet him! I know this seems normal for a dog but for Bandit voluntarily going up to a stranger and asking for attention is HUGE. He'll accept treats from non-threatening strangers usually, but he always immediately runs away once he grabs it and snarls some more. I was so proud of him today! Maybe one day we will get to the point where he can compete in obedience and agility trials where there are lots of people and other dogs present. On the other hand, there is something else in Bandit I hoped would go away but it hasn't... As a puppy, Bandit's breeder wasn't the most careful/kind, and he fed the puppies from a single giant dish. This taught Bandit early on to fight for his food, or he wouldn't get any. This has made him extremely food-aggressive towards other animals. Let me stress ANIMALS here. A human can walk up and take the dish from under his nose and he doesn't do a thing. But if another dog, a cat, even one of the chickens walks into his vision, he lunges at it. If he finds a treat on the floor and my other dog comes over to invesigate, Bandit snarls and lunges. I am so frightened that I won't be there to stop him one day that I don't let him or my other dog interact at all anymore, because Baxley is small and old and frail and Bandit could kill him if he wanted to. I don't want to take Bandit to a place where there are other dogs because what if he finds a treat on the ground and another dog comes up? But it seems sad to keep him from interacting with other dogs his entire life just because of his food aggression. He is fine with other dogs as long as there is no food anywhere in sight or smell, but it is hard to find a situation where there are dogs and absolutely no food. Is there anything I can do to get him to be less possessive about his food? I feed him plenty of food and he never goes hungry for any reason... Thanks for any help!

It will be hard to completely keep Bandit away from the stock, as they are located on my property. But I will leave him outside the pen from now on. He does know his basic puppy manners, loose leash walking, basic obedience commands, polite behavior, etc. He just gets to stressed/excited to listen to me around new people. I did teach Bandit to leave the chickens alone, and I wasn't complaining when I posted that he occasionally would chase them. I do realize he is a puppy and will make mistakes, my post was more centered around whether a puppy of his age should or should not be showing herding instincts and if his current timidity could affect this. I don't have the money for the agility classes around here at the moment(Closest one is $225) but when my friends come over I do introduce them to Bandit. I've pretty much stopped taking him about places because I am worried he could be driven to fear aggression if someone wasn't very, very careful. And I'm sure other people have had experiences with "dog lovers" who love dogs so much they can't help but try and pet them no matter what the owner says.

Hhmm, thats a good idea, exchanging work for lessons. I'll ask a few of the trainers close enough. Bandit's parents were both working dogs-His mom wasn't registered(Smooth coat b/w), but his dad was...not with the AKC though(Rough coat r/w)both were cattle dogs. Although I never saw him work(The stud/dad doesn't belong to the bitches owner) Bandit's breeder told me his dad was exceptional. Although I knew even less than I know now when I went to pick up Bandit, I did see his mom work a small group of cows-she LOOKED really good. And moved the cattle where she was supposed to. So as far as I know Bandit does have the genes in him.

Thanks for the advice I haven't asked him to herd the goats yet, I've just let him tag along when I go to feed, see if anyones close to kidding, etc. About a fourth of my goats are semi-dog trained. I had a Catahoula X at one time, and she at least taught them that when the dog says stay still, you stay still. Other than that, no they aren't dog-broke at all. I am trying to find an instructor, but I'm in college and have really low funds so its taking a while to find one that will work. I have another question, which might be completely stupid but I'll ask anyway. So far as animals to practice on at home, if I got a small flock of ducks, would they be better to start with than goats?

My puppy, Bandit, is 8 1/2 months old. The only time he has any eye is when he looks at my cat, and thats just suspision(Raven likes sneak up on the dogs and swipe at them when they aren't looking) and I have never, ever seen him do a Border Collie crouch. If he didn't look like one and I didn't know his parents, I wouldn't even think he was a Border Collie. If one of my chickens runs from him he'll chase it, but when he catches up with it he just slaps it with his front paws and chews on their feathers(although now that I explained very thoroughly that that is NOT how you treat chickens, he's left 'em alone). He is scared to death of my goats and if he comes into their pen with me he spends the entire time hiding behind my legs. If he's on the other side of the fence and goat comes up to sniff at him he'll LUNGE, teeth bared, at the goat, then scramble backwards as fast as he can go. Never had a bad experience with a goat. He just suddenly decided one day that they're fire breathing dragons that like to eat Border Collies. Also, despite my efforts for socialization when he was a young puppy, he is extremely scared/nervous around people. If I take him out somewhere, such as Petsmart, he hides behind my legs the entire time. If someone comes over to our house, he hides behind my legs barking. I have the feeling if he was pushed he would easily slip into fear biting. He is more timid now than he was as a 12 week old puppy. When I take him out places, people actually ask me if he's been abused He is not very playful, either. He doesn't chase balls or frisbies. If he is in a VERY playful mood he'll chase sticks or rubber whip handles. Is he just not destined to be a herding dog? I'm somewhat discouraged, I really needed a dog to help me with my goats. But if he just lacks the initiative and talent, I'll go in another direction with him(probably agility or rally). How can I help him get through he terror of people? I know he'll never be an extremely confident dog, but I'd like him to at least lose his deathly terror of anyone outside our family.

Lucky people for your adorable and talented puppies! My BC is eight months old and rarely even stares, let alone adding a crouch to that. Perhaps my dreams of sheep-herding will not be realized with him

When Bandit is old enough I would really like to start training him to herd, and compete in trials. At five and a half months he already enjoys herding the chickens-in a wild, nutty puppy way of course. The goats are still a little to intimidating to him, but if they run away from him he gets "eye." So I think he has decent enough instincts to make training worthwhile. Plus I just know it'll be a blast for both of us. I know he is way to young to start lessons now, but I like to be prepared. My questions are: How much do herding lessons cost on average? Where can I find an instructor(I live in North Central Florida? How old should Bandit be before he starts herding lessons? I've looked up training tips for self-training your dog, but as I am so inexperienced in the herding-dog atmosphere I really would like a professional stock/sheepdog trainer to help me.

Hi Rallim! Marla looks eerily like my puppy Bandit, and Bandit is five months as well I am planning to do both Agility and Rally with him-in fact, he is entering in a 4-H basic Rally competition in just three weeks. Rally is a fun, more light-hearted type of obedience competition. There are signs telling you what to do and when. In lower levels of Rally you are allowed to talk to your dog in "happy voice", clap your hands, etc. Whereas in a formal obedience competition this is frowned upon, or against the rules. Rally was created as a sort of stepping stone between a dogs "home manners" and a strict obedience competition. You do heeling patterns, downs, sits, stays etc.

Bandit's collar gets taken off whenever he goes in his crate. Since he is crated every night, and whenever we are away from the house he gets enough freedom from his collar that it doesn't mess with his fur. I always make sure his collar is on whenever he is outside, mainly because I am worried he'll wander off, and I hate the thought of him winding up in Animal Controls holding facilities, even if its just for a few hours. Also, since most of my neighbors have livestock I feel safer knowing that if he ever got curious and went to investigate, the owners would know he wasn't a stray dog looking for a meal(Bandit's collar is bright red w/reflecting pawprints and very visible).

For the past week whenever I let Bandit out of his crate and take him outside, he will run as fast as he can till he is about 15 feet away, then whirl around and lay down as if I had given him the command. He'll just stay there staring at me with this amusingly serious expresssion until I take a step towards him, at which point he gleefully runs to me for a rub. Is this something Border Collie-ish, or just puppy play? Also, I realize Bandit is four months old and some rough and tumble behavior is expected, but lately he has developed a love of running top speed towards our nine year old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and barreling into him, knocking poor Baxley over. Is there any way I can discourage this behaviour? Baxley is small and elderly and tolerant, but even though Bandit is just playing I feel that Baxley could unintentionally be hurt.

I fill my 16 week old puppy's kong half-way with kibble, then squirt some Kong Puppy Stuff'N, the kind that comes in the whipped-cream type can. Then I fill the rest with kibble. It really makes Bandit work at it, because he can smell the Stuff'N underneath the kibble that isn't as appetizing. Instead of Kong Stuff'N you could use any paste textered food that your puppy loves.

Hello all, I'm not sure if this is where my question should go...sorry if its in the wrong place. I have been wondering-I purchased my Border Collie puppy purely intending to have him only to help me herd my goats. He comes from herding lines, but his mother wasn't registered(dad was, but I don't know where) and so the puppies couldn't be. I don't know much about sheepdog trials and clubs, but I have been reading up on them, and surprisingly they sound quite...fun. Bandit isn't anywhere near ready to even start training for herding, but I wanted to go ahead and find out whether/where a completely unregistered dog can enter trials. I live in the U.S, in Florida. Any orginizations near me that will accept unregistered dogs in their trials, or allow unregistered dogs to have some sort of membership in the orginization so that they can compete? Thanks for reading!