HoosierMike

Congrats on your new addition. A bit of warning regarding black dogs with freckles on their socks. They will steal your heart. Living through it as we speak. Your new girl is beautiful.

I personally have no experience with JRT's , although our local shelters are loaded with them right now, for what that's worth. On the issue of adding a male or female, we had a female first, added a younger, more submissive male, have had generally no problems with that combination. Both are spay/neutered. My brother added another male, sheltie mix, neutered, to a household with an older male lab mix, and they get along great. I have heard horror stories about mixing females, but I think it just depends on the dogs and their personalities. Just my 2 cents. Mike

Night and day with my two as well. Maggie has never met a stranger. Inside the house or out. Dave, on the other hand, is very reserved with everyone until HE decides they're ok. It has to be at his pace and on his terms. I've never had a dog with that attitude before, but I'm not really sure if I see it as a problem? As long as he is under control and not going crazy, I kind of like his "stand-offish" behavior. Ever since the first day we got him, he has had a real problem with toddlers though. I think he lived with a hair pulling youngster when he was a pup. We know it's one of his quirks, and it's just easier to tell people right up front and most are understanding. Maggie is the more unique looking of the two, so she gets most new people's attention anyway.

When I was housebreaking our dogs I seem to remember reading that a pup can hold it's bladder for an hour for every month that it is old. I'm sure that's just a "very general" rule of thumb, but I stuck to it while the pups were younger and didn't have hardly any accidents. I also was on a constant watch mode too, whenever either of them wandered behind the furniture or something, we went out. Both were confined by baby gates to only certain parts of the house for a long while. My male pup just turned 1 and just now got complete run of the house. Even now, after a good romp through the house, I still automatically take them out. Better safe than sorry and have to start over again.

I've got the cure for puppy fever, It's called "Dave"... I'll send him your way and he'll fix ya right up.

I've got one too that's about to turn a year old, and yes it's hard to believe how fast a year goes... Happy Birthday ninja dog.

After a morning concrete pour that just plain went horrible, I thought my day was bad. I'll pour every day now. Thank you for that wonderful story that has made my day. I can't stop smiling. Mike

I asked the very same question a few months ago and the advice I got was right on. While looking for a second dog to go with my dominant, sometimes snarky, 3 y.o. female, the general consensus was a submissive type male. We found a young pup, actually younger than I was looking for at the time, and he has worked out just fine with her. They hit it off well right off the bat, other than one huge screaming fight when he tried to take her rawhide once. She set him straight, and I don't give them "special" treats together anymore. Learning experience for both of us. He has actually seemed to calm her down a bit with her guarding issues that she had when we first got her. I would have never guessed that that he would be able to take toys and less valuable possessions right out from under her. It turns into a big game, all the time. He kind of has that "little brother" way about him, always having to be close and touching her like he's tormenting her, it's hilarious. "Dad, he's touching me again!" kind of thing. She is still very possessive with her things when she's around my parent's female, so I don't think I would ever add another female to our mix. Mike

I should have explained a bit. When I said "working on it", I meant that it has taken us to this point to get a comb or a brush through him. At first, he wouldn't even let us touch him with anything on his back or tail. I can brush him now, can't say he enjoys it, but he tolerates it. As far as toddlers go, no we just don't let him anywhere near yet, that'll come later. It's hard to tell people that their 5 year old can play with him, but not the little ones. So unless it's just older kids around, I have to tell all the kids no and give them the " He's still being trained" speech. Amazing that kids understand that better than some adults I've run into.

Not to say that all are alike, but my female does the same. She does her commands at warp speed, while my male will do them, but at a much slower pace too. He picked up the behaviors very quickly, he just acts on them at his own speed. Granted, I have limited experience because I have always had female dogs, but they all seemed to respond faster than this little male does. I read that male dogs are sometimes more "goofy" acting, and that sure seems to be the case with mine. Is this common with female vs. male?

Both of my dogs are shelter dogs. Maggie settled in right away, but I'm pretty sure she was in a decent home, for a short period, before we got her. Dave, on the other hand, has been with us since April and and is still on limited access to the whole house, so he's still kind of exploring his home. I know that he trusts us and knows he's home though. He's not going anywhere now. As far as being "settled", he still has his quirks. I'm not sure exactly the situation he was in prior to us getting him, but he still doesn't trust / like any toddler he comes into contact with. We're working on that and he's getting better. If a child is about 4-5 or older, he's their best friend, but I'm guessing that a small child was a hair puller in his younger days.

Thanks, Julie, for your story. Much of what you say is exactly the thoughts that went through my mind. While this particular dog showed no signs of outright bad behavior, some of the females at the same shelter showed some real Jeckyll and Hyde personalities. One second laying quietly, then another dog would walk by and bam. I was told that he was probably going to have to be the only male in a pack, although at the time, he didn't act aggressive in any form. I can't fathom the thought of purposely putting my young male into any type of situation where he might be hurt. Someday, maybe, the right match will come along. Until then, my two are just fine. I don't know if this link will work, but this is the dog I've been writing about, I still think in the right hands he could be a very good companion. The picture doesn't do him justice. http://www.petfinder.com/petnote/displaype...?petid=14917490

Well, I had the opportunity to spend some one on one with him. All I can say is that I'm torn as ever. He's a wonderful dog. He's just so scared and confused as to what's going on. When I first approached him, he layed down tight to the ground. Within two minutes, he was climbing into my lap. And that's where he would stay as long as I would let him. He appears a bit older than 4-5, but not into his senior years by any stretch. His teeth are a bit worn, but not terrible. He let me look into his mouth with no problems at all. Also, I touched his ears, feet, belly, all with nothing more than a sigh coming from him. He's still very skinny,but his coat looks good, other than the patches where the mats were cut out. The "wild" look that I thought I saw, appeared as more of a sorrowful look of not knowing what is happening to him. It killed me to walk away from him.... After reading all the pros and cons, and thinking of how he would fit into our situation, I can't bring him into our home right now. I feel terrible. My thoughts are that he needs a special person to bond with that can give him all the attention that he needs. I can't, at this time, spend that much time on one dog, when he would be one of three. I don't think it would be fair to any of them. He's the first dog I actually said "I'm sorry" to as I left the shelter. I know he's in no danger, but I wish I could help him. He's a good boy. Again, thank you all for all your help and support. Mike

I thank everyone here for responding to my questions. You folks never cease to amaze me with all the knowledge and help that you put forth. I'm not going to try to respond to every quote that I've found helpful, partly because I'm not that computer literate, but mostly because there is so much great information here that I'd have quote boxes from here til Friday. After reading your responses, and talking at great lengths with my wife, you know where this is going, no just kidding, she's very supportive in dog related adventures, I've decided to stay undecided, at least in the mindset that I can't get him out of my head. I am going to go spend some one on one time with him at the shelter tomorrow evening. I'm hoping that there will be some defining answers to my questions regarding him as "the" dog that I am willing to take on. In regards to some of the helpful info brought forth here, I do realize that 3 compared to 2 is a lot more work, and I should be concentrating on our pup for the time being. He is actually more bonded with my wife and she does the majority of one on one work with him. Not that I don't, but that little guy has turned into a momma's boy. When it comes to vet care and costs, we are actually very lucky in that department. My wife works at a vet clinic, as does my oldest son, and we get discounts on almost every aspect of care. That helps out immensely. Now, any unforseen injuries are of course going to be a major expense regardless. I guess, after reading all of your posts, and some things that I have written or thought myself, I'm wondering if I just have that " I can try and save them all" mentality. I suppose that it isn't a bad way to think, but is it thinking clearly? Anyway, I'm going to approach this very cautiously and carefully think it through. Thank you again for your responses and I'll have more news after I see him tomorrow night. Mike

I need some guidance on this topic, and I know that many of you here have been through it many times. I can't seem to get this dog outta my head, he's one of the Swafford dogs that made it here to Indiana a few weeks back. The people at the rescue where he is says he has come quite a ways since he arrived. He still has that wild look in his eye, but something deeper makes me think he's got promise. He's supposedly at least 4 years old, and maybe older. I haven't gotten anywhere close to the point of introducing him to my dogs that I have already. I haven't actually gotten to the point where I can't say no to him yet either. It's a very big decision going from two to three dogs, and especially with one that I know is going to take years of work. I have a 3 yo female and a 9 mo. old male now, both are very well behaved, and training on the pup is going very well. I just don't know if this is the right time to bring in another. I've thought about asking to volunteer at the shelter a few nights a week to work directly with him, but I know if I do, and he shows promise, I'm doomed. So, I guess I'm asking for advice from those who know. Am I looking for trouble? Success stories, horror stories, failed foster stories, anything is more than welcome. He is in no danger where he is, but I know that a better environment couldn't hurt. We have plenty of time, space and resources for him, and like I said in the beginning of this ramble, I can't get him outta my head... Mike

Been using it for almost three years on one dog, 5 months ,so far on the other, no ill effects. Had to change from Revolution years ago, because it didn't work for deer ticks. I don't have any experience with advantix...

Just a warning, or better yet, a reminder, that tick season is in full swing in our neck of the woods. Here in northern Indiana and southern Michigan, April and October are the worst tick months. And that has proven true again this year. After a short walk yesterday, I picked 12 deer ticks off the dogs. None had attached, but they still disgust me. They are fairly easy to spot on Maggs since she's got alot of white on her, but with Dave, being mostly black, it takes a little longer. The nymph stage of deer ticks are sometimes as small as a tip of a pencil lead, which makes searching for them quite the task. We do live in an area where Lyme disease is quite common, so I'm really careful about this. It pays to keep mine on frontline and heartguard year round. Better safe than sorry. We have tons of deer and turkeys in the woods behind the house, and they aren't shy about cutting through the yard, so that doesn't help matters. I never thought too much about turkeys being a major transport vessel for ticks, but our vet says they're as bad, if not worse, than deer. Anyway, just thought I'd pass this along and check your dogs close til we get a good hard freeze.

He looks all BC to me too. I may be a bit biased though. I have a soft spot for large pricked ears and smooth / medium coat dogs. His posture and body style are dead on to my Maggs, even the undercoat showing through behind the shoulders is the same as hers.

This should go with the other thread goin' on now, Nope, he's all Boy.

Nope, here's the lion ....

Our local shelter, no kill, the same place that I actually got my pup Dave from, has just brought in 25 of these dogs on Sunday that were seized from this place. They all go to fosters right away and these people are great at what they do. I know I shouldn't, but I'll go there and look them over... Probably, be here in the coming weeks with questions regarding how these types of dogs fit into a home and 3 bc's as opposed to 2. Mike

We taught our 8 month old pup to speak, and quiet command, to control his barking for attention. It works really well 90% of the time. But, when I see him give me the look, put his ears back, and purse his lips, I tell him "quiet" and I swear he almost acts like he's mumbling under his breath at me. Instead of a bark, it's a muffled "roo rooo". He looks at me whole time while he's doing it, which doesn't help, because I can't help but laugh at him. He just reminds me of my 12 year old son, that always has to have the last word. He knows "quiet", because he gets a treat for it. Sometimes I think he is just plain messing with me. Another one of his little "fits", if you will, is to throw himself down with a loud "hmmpphh" when he doesn't get his way, or if I tell him play time is over. I have never seen or had a dog before that acts so much like a kid. It hasn't gone past the amusing point, yet, and I'm hoping it's just the age phase that he's in. Does anyone else here have a back-talking dog, or am I just that lucky to have this brat have found me to torment? Mike

Idle thoughts while watching my two monsters romp through the house... Just curious if anyone here has any thoughts to the size of pups compared to their eventual adult size. I read a couple of different theories on the subject. The first said that an adult dog's weight will be basically double of what the pup weighs at 4 months old. The second that I found said that a pup is 80% full size at 9 months. Using the first scenario, that would put my pup at over 50 pounds when reaching adulthood. Using the second, granted he's only 7 1/2 months now, he would end up about 44 - 45 pounds. I guess I was just wondering if anyone kept closer records than I have. Thanks for any input.

You will get many more knowledgable answers from the vast number of more experienced people here regarding BC vs. Aussie, but the one thing I can definately answer to your questions is "one puppy at a time is plenty!!!"

The first purebred border collie I ever had hands on contact with has the hair type you're describing. He's a healthy dog and his owner told me that the breeder called it "rough coated". After learning more about the breed, I know that rough coat means just the opposite of what he has. He has that type of hair no matter what time of year it is. His owner told me it became more prevalent with age. Now on the other side of the age issue, I saw a 1 yr.old male at a breeder that I was looking at that had the same hair, and lotssss of it. When I saw this dog, it was early spring, and he was soaking wet, his hair was almost in ringlets and facing forward towards his head.