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I have a 9 month old male border collie. He is a great pup and loves to play fetch. Living in North Dakota, the winter time has been a struggle with making sure he is getting out and exercising. For the past month ever time its been nice enough (above 15 degrees) I try to get him to the park to play fetch, but because of the ground being so hard and the snow being compacted he is always injuring his paws some way or another. So this is my question, has anybody used some kind of paw protection (dog shoes) to help prevent this? He has torn chunks of his pads off numerous times. I feel so bad not taking him to run because I know how much he loves it. Walking only does so much. He wants to "work" and be active. Any suggestions?

Hi there, Ive got this problem with my collie that he doesnt bring the ball directly to me. He's a 10 month old brown and white male. And when it comes to playing with a ball, he's over the moon excited. It's by far his favorite thing. Our yard is about 15m - 20m long. So when i toss the ball, he runs and fetches it with great gusto. But when bringing it back, he always drops the ball 3 or 4 meters away from me. He NEVER brings the ball to me/my feet. And when i take him to the park, it's even worse. I think because of the much bigger playing field. He drops the ball at around 6m - 10m away from me. Then i throw it again, and the same happens. So we end up moving forward the whole time. And no matter how much i call or coax him into bringing the ball to me, he never does. He just doesnt bring the ball to me at all. It's really frustrating to the point that after just a couple thows, i get irritated and dont want to play anymore. Coz i have to keep walking after him. Does anyone have a similar problem like this? Or have any solutions on how to train him better or something. Your insight will be greatly appreciated.

Hi everyone, I have a 7 month border collie puppy named "Gogo" and he has changed my life. I want to play with him and make him happy. I want to help him get his endless energy out. So I tried to play fetch with him. But I have encountered several setbacks during the training. I have tried lots of methods but none of them seem to work really well. He only drops a ball when I have no eye contact with him. When he does bring it all the way back to me, I'd throw it immediately to continue the game. But if I do look at him on his way back, he stays away from me and won't bring it all the way back. Shall I just never look at him while playing then? When he has the ball and is away from me, I would ask him to "release" the ball. But he seems very reluctant every time. If he drops it and I try to approach it, he will pick it up again. In such situations, I tried to ask him to "release" again. It sometimes work, sometimes doesn't. When it doesn't work, I'd go back to my bedroom and close the door -- as a signal that "no release no game". He will learn the lesson for the next few minutes but return to the old patter before. I've tried treats. And treats don't work for him in play sessions cuz his attention is so fixated on the game/toy. I've also tried playing with two balls, he would drop the ball without any cue, but he would drop the first ball very far from me on his way back, and has his attention fixed on the ball in my hand. What have I done wrong? Or what shall I do better to do the "perfect" fetch? Please help us!~ Thanks a lot!

I have a BC rescue that I've had now for 7 months. She is estimated at 5-6 years old, and was in a shelter for an unknown period, then a foster home where they basically gave her food and shelter but not much interaction. I have trained several other rescue dogs and a BC I had from puppyhood -- but they all had a high drive to chase objects/balls innately. I have tried some shaping exercises to get her on the road to fetch/retrieve. I did not start this until recently as I did not want to stress her out. In general her temperament is kind of chill for a BC, and she is affectionate to me and pretty much anyone she meets. I have kind of run into a brick wall and hoping some here could help out. I have read prior posts on the topic here but still hoping for more ideas. I want very badly to teach her because after months of effort, she has no reliable recall for off extended off leash exercise in a nearby forested park. I want her to get more exercise with fetch, so at least at the dog park she can work off some energy. It's especially important to get her some more extended exercise because she has hip dysplasia and the vet has stressed that she really needs to lose weight (I am not over feeding her, got the vet's input on this and actually am feeding her less than the recommended amount for her to lose weight, including treats). Her only innate "herding" interest is to alert to and chase cars, or go out to the backyard and listen to traffic. She will occasionally (but not consistently) try to chase squirrels. Her vision has been checked out and is AOK. In her foster home, a farm, she showed no interest in herding their sheep/chasing/eye-control. She doesn't play chase at the dog park with the other dogs, but instead goes up to all the humans and sits and seeks affection. She does not play with friendly and playful neighborhood dogs on "play dates." She will tolerate play invitations for a while, then leave the area so the other dog will leave her alone. If the dog park is near a street, she will go the perimeter and watch traffic passing by rather than playing or running in the dog park. She will chase ME, but will not play tug or even look at toys when you throw or run with them, or do various things to create excitement around the object. If she does look even briefly at the object and you "click/treat with hand delivery" she then becomes obsessed with the area around the place you treated her looking for crumbs rather than paying attention again to the object. In general, unlike other dogs I've trained, she doesn't even follow your hand motions or look in a direction you are looking --- unless food is in the hand or the direction. She just doesn't seem interested. She has learned "watch me" even without food treats after many many months of positive training with/tapering off treats. She started out when I first got her by actually turning her head AWAY from any toy I put on the floor (just trying to get an idea of what might interest her, no training or encouragement). She seemed averse to the sound of squeaky toys. She doesn't do the head-turning-away anymore, so I guess that's a good sign. She will fetch and run away with food treats, i.e, a long chew toy for example.