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Hey everyone, I have a rescue BC Mix (we think bc/aussie) named Kaze. She is about 1 year and 8 months old and probably the laziest and most uninterested dog I have ever met! She will run with me for about 3 blocks but then she gives up and would rather walk instead. I've taken her hiking and she does fine but she gets bored after a while. She is also not very into toys, bones, or food toys. She will lick her soft plush toys with squeakers and then line them up in her bed around the edges. She doesn't like fetch either! It took her over a week to start chewing on a cow rib bone that I gave her. Even now it is still mostly intact after a few weeks. I gave her a cheese filled bone (cheese is her favorite) and it also took her at least a week to start on it! The only food toy she is interested in is this disc top that gives her pieces of kibble when she nudges it. I tried giving her some new food toys and she is bored by them. She loves going to the dog park more than anything and she enjoys running around. She will interact with other dogs but she is not great at instigating play time with them. Many of the dogs are a little too aggressive for her so she just lays down and submits a lot of the time. In terms of treats, she will eat them but I cannot use them to food train her. She isn't interested in working for food at all. Essentially, I am a new BC owner. I've always grown up with Corgis. She seems pretty content and I try to interact with her with toys, but she just seeks affirmation from me instead. She also will not touch her food until after I go to bed because she seems to know I won't be able to pay attention to her then. Is this something that rescues tend to do? It seems very abnormal for a BC from all the research I have done that she would be so lazy so consistently. I am posting this because I just want her to be very happy and make sure she is happy! Any advice on rescues, BCs, ideas or toys I have not tried are all welcome.

Hi all I'm new here, but have been reading through a lot of this forum. I guess, the main thing I need to know is if there are any "quick fixes" for bc's? I mean, any specifics I can do to get good results quickly.... Let me back up and give some background. My bc mix, Brick, was a craigslist puppy. Met him, he played nicely with the kids (9&3) right off the bat and claimed him. (I knew nothing about border collies at the time. Wrong of me, I know. I was "licking a wound" getting a dog and didn't take the time/effort into going about things properly. Lessons learned). The original owner was going to keep him for the six weeks between my finding him and us moving to the family farm from our apartment. A week and a half in I got a call saying that he had been hit by a car and his leg was injured. When I asked when they were taking them to the vet I was told they would not and that I needed to pick him up asap. I picked him up immediately. He was not putting any weight on the leg, even though he was in good spirits. Got him into the vet the next day- two breaks in the leg. Missed the growth plate, barely. The vet made it very clear (ortho surgeon confirmed) that the injury was not due to a car and I could consider him a rescue from an abuser. She also mentioned his anxiety level (and the fact that he had already attached to me) being something that was going to be a challenge. It has been. I had to move to the farm ahead of my family, with Brick, due to the apartment landlord not giving any leniency given the circumstances. Being a "family" farm, that meant all the work for getting the place ready to live in, was on me (something i was not expecting. Wouldn't have gotten any dog, at that point, had i known.). Its initial state of being has lead to potty training issues with Brick. The previous tenant had let cats and dogs use the whole house as potty grounds. I had to pull all the carpet out (I sealed the floors for health matters). I do wonder, inspite of sealing, if this play any part in potty-training trouble. Another factor is that we live with my father-in-law who has some sort of small mix dog that has never been potty trained. He constantly marks corners and anything left on the floor. My fil has made it where if I complain about his dog, ask him to clean up after him, etc., he threatens all animals being gotten rid of... He also has no "animal behavior" sense, so to speak. When his other male dog was still alive, he would freak out on Brick when Brick would sniff/lick at his dog's genitals after urinating, calling him a "sicko" and "perv". I explained to him why dogs do that, but he isn't the kind of person to listen to reason. Also, Brick will be calm as can be, even sleeping on the floor, and the moment my fil comes home, Brick goes crazy. It's like he senses my fil's energy (high and not always positive) and runs with it. I can't change my fil, so trying to train Brick to sit/stay whenever he comes, instead. (Not sure if that's the right thing to do!) Basically, between my lack of training him with everything else on the plate (that I did not expect to have to take care of when looking at getting a dog) and the issues with other animals and people in the home, i'm in a tight spot. My fil and husband are at their limits with Brick and threaten weekly to make me rehome him. I can't honestly say he's a bad dog. The separation anxiety (extreme salivating, diarrhea, crying, pupil diallation, metal crate destruction, etc) is a huge challenge. Although, I am a stay at home mom and only gone a few hours one or two nights a week, if I'm not home, he causes trouble. I can be home for several days in a row with no bathroom incidents, leave Brick at the house for an hour with my hubby and kids and he will defecate indoors. He likes his crate, so long as the door is open and he can see you. He sleeps in it at night and goes in on his own accord or with a "go to bed". I did read the post about Patricia McConnell's book, I'll Be Home Soon!. I've read that and intend to crate train as she directs. He is a car chaser. I know. Bad. My solution was to not let him outside off lead. My thinking was that we needed to allow enough time to go by, without him having the opportunity to chase, to allow him out of the habit. We live in the country. We get a car ever 2-4 hours, maybe. No consistency. Not sure how to "train" with that being the case. Brick never left our property prior to lead restriction and never "ran off" (other than when after a car). Since restriction, if he "gets out" off lead, he bolts and there's no getting him back. (for some reason I knew this would happen, but just hoped it wouldn't. not sure why I thought that, but here we are). I think the main challenge I'm running into is Brick's personality. He's smart. Definitely meets the bc standard there, but he's got a lazy streak in him like i've never seen (we think he's mixed with basset hound based on dwarfism in legs, huge paws, floppy ears and temperament). He lays down to eat, refuses to do more than 2 or 3 chases of a ball for fetch, and once his tongue can't reach the contents inside a kong he's done with it. The one time my husband took him on a run he laid down in the middle of the road and wouldn't budge until he was good and ready. (hubby came home saying, "never again".) This makes keeping his attention on anything positive (like described in the book) a challenge. It makes training sessions challenging (trying to end on a good note is baffling!). It makes exercising his energy out of him a challenge. Just need some direction on dealing with this, in general. I know I need to be more consistent with training. Fixing me and how I'm handling him is the main thing. I get that. I'm willing. I just don't know how, especially with this lazy streak attached. It's not been all for loss. He's great with the sit command. He came with resource aggression and that was the first thing I tackled, involving both my kids. My 3 yr old son can walk up to him and take any toy/treat from Brick without any sign of aggression from him at all. He used to plow the kids over going down the stairs. He now sits at the top and waits for their release once they are at the bottom. He is not allowed in or out of the house/car until we are through and he is called. He is not allowed out of the door on his own without a sit/release (prior to lease restriction and still). He goes to bed when told (usually). He, now, gets off the bed when told. He still jumps up, which I'm not a fan of, but at least he gets down right away now, once told. I used to have to shove him off with the command, in order for him to budge. My heart was Brick's from day one. With the rough start and challenges ever since, my husband does not care for him one bit. I have never rehomed a pet for any reason other than necessity and have no desire to do so now. Sorry for such long post. Just wanted to "get it all out there." Any and all advice, positive criticism, etc., very welcome. Pics from when we first met him (5 months old we think)

I adopted an older border collie a couple of weeks ago and was hoping some folks here may be able to help answer some questions... A bit about Joe: he's approximately 8 yrs old, a bit overweight, very friendly with people, (almost too friendly... He'll basically go with anyone that calls him... even if they haven't met yet). Also does well with other dogs. Vet check is clear he's really a healthy senior other than being overweight. From what the Humane Society says, he came from a ranch here on the central coast California, owners fell into financial difficulty and could no longer keep him or their other female BC. He's fairly well trained in terms of obedience, sits, stays,lays down, comes, actively responsive to his name. He seems to be the laziest border collie I have ever met. I realize that he needs some time to warm up... and he's at a house not a ranch so I expect a bit of time before he adjusts. Does not acknowledge toys of any sort. Walking/hiking and dog parks seem to perk him up a bit, but when I take him outside to do some minor training or try to play he seems to be waiting for me to shut up so he can go inside and lay down. toys are nonexistant in his eyes and treats are sortof a side note to him. I'm trying to find ways to interest him... but I'm just not sure what does it. I know he's bored, but what's his cure for boredom? Are there any ways of flushing out what gets him excited? What makes him tick instead of flop? He loves attention, being close and being rubbed are working to help make him feel safe... but I feel like if I could find what it is that he really really likes, I'd be able to use that to make him feel more confident with our family and entice him to get him off his butt and run a little . I imagine scenarios that might explain the behavior... maybe he was working on the ranch until his family lost their animals... he sat around without work, got fat, and eventually financial decline got to the point they couldn't afford the dogs either. IDK If that's the case, I don't have animals for him to herd so I'm out of luck there... I also don't want to stress his joints too much since he's getting older and currently overweight. any advice is appreciated... I've never encountered a low energy BC. Thanks!