Search the Community

Got a Border Collie yesterday, (Friday 18th Dec) and noticed his tail is really short, called up the ex owner and asked him about it- he laughed and said his tail is short because he’s a puppy I didn’t know what to say so I just said oh okay and tried doing my research into this, it really doesn’t appear to be docked or anything because like the whole tail is there it’s just tiny- does anybody know why or how? The only thing I could find is that this may be genetic? The websites I went through are a decade old I’m not sure what to think- either way him and his tail are adorable.

Hi Guys, I need some help please I have a 7 month old Border Collie Named Misty. She’s always had an appetite and got excited at meal times however the last few days she has been leaving her food. Right from the moment we brought her home she has had the same food. Her food is a custom blend from tails.com which is formulated for her breed, age and weight. She has 2 meals a day, 1 in a morning of just dry food and 1 in the evening of dry and wet food mixed. She has always eaten both meals happily. But the last few days she has started to leave food. Her morning feed she tends to eat most of it but leaves a little. But with Her evening feed she has started to leave over half of the food. She’s no longer excited at meals times and when I put her bowl down she doesn’t want to eat straight away. When she eventually does she will have around half the food then walk away. I’ve tried reducing her portion sizes but she still leaves half. Other than her food she had a Dental chew and that’s it. Shes fine in herself, she’s still drinking and playing. She still goes for her walks and has plenty of energy but she just won’t eat her full meals. I’m just worried that she’s not eating enough and I really don’t know what to do. Is this normal? How can I encourage her to eat?Could there be a medical problem? Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks

Hi there Im new to the forum and this is my first post. Im pretty sure this is where I should post this but please let me know if otherwise! My BC pup Cooper is 9 weeks old and over the last few days we’ve been slowly introducing him to our 2 outside cats. One cat, Ollie is my own, and I was concerned that he’d be frightened by Cooper and run away but so far he’s been coping very well and has been approaching to check Cooper out before walking away. The other cat is named Jaspa, he’s my sister’s cat and he’s the big boss of our property. I was concerned he’d be a bit of a bully, but today he ran up unexpectedly while my sister and I were taking Cooper exploring around our house. He viciously attacked Cooper and my sister and I got between them. It was all screaming and chaos, poor Cooper was crying and my sister managed to kick Jaspa and get him away so she could lock him up for the time being. Cooper has a little cut beneath his eye and he was terrified. It was absolutely horrifying. If you have any experiences similar please share them and if anyone has a recommendation on what to do I’d be grateful. At the moment we’re just going to keep them at a distance and Jaspa will hopefully realise the pup’s harmless and staying. Here’s a picture of Cooper sleeping :)

Target stick dog hints there is a pencil or the finish of your finger or the spot of mild from a laser pointer all make super targets. Readiness trainers use a plastic nourishment area top, set on the floor or barrier target stick dog tricks. Wherever they need the dogs to stop. Post-It notes produce wonderful movable targets. Animal clicker trainers have taken to the use of orange plastic movement cones for focuses on that steeds can without a great deal of a stretch see at a separation. http://dogstrainingtools.com/2018/04/30/target-stick-dog-tricks/

Hi My husband and I recently rescued a collie cross from the RSPCA, she had hardly any background information except she was attacked by another dog before she went into the rescue centre and the owners 'couldn't afford her' what ever that means. The first five weeks were great, she was very nervous with other dogs and people (she really distrusts men) but began making friends with other dogs, even laid down and completely ignored a dog who was barking at her because he wanted to play. Then last weekend happened. We were playing fetch, and a tiny dog popped out from around the corner, barked and stood up straight and tall in front of misty. Misty walked towards the dog slowly, then really went for the dog. We managed to pull her off the dog and it was unharmed. We felt so terrible. The next day we went to a pub garden with misty, where we had been before and she had been ok, and she started barking at someone who walked too close, and when they didn't move away she started nipping at his heels. He was ok about this, but we decided to leave anyway. Unfortunately, within 3 minutes of leaving the pub, two men walked past us on the street and she bit one of the men. Again, he was fantastic about it, I think he saw the shock And upset in our faces. Luckily he was a nice guy, and refused to take our phone number and carried on on his way. I am cutting this very long story short. We have spoken to a behaviourist and I understand what we did wrong as to why she reacted in such and dreadful way. We have been given a training program, to help her obedience, help distract her when she gets scared, and generally help her be more comfortable in situations. The behaviourist is hopeful, she thinks Misty might always be scared of men but there are ways we can help her cope with the situations, and therefore be able to trust again. (We have two male friends who come round our house all of the time and she loves them so I can see it will happen) I am super confident, I know it will take a lot of work to get the friendly, confident dog that we know is inside her, maybe a few years. My husband, although he loves her so much, is less convinced that she might be able to run around free again, and is worried that she will do it again. SO! I was wondering if anyone has any similar stories with hopefully happy endings, which they could share to give my husband confidence that if we work hard with Misty, she will be great. I think he is just struggling to give her the trust back that was lost that day.