HELP!!!

[Joy]

I have a 6 month old BC that was on his way to the pound! I have no experience in training and am wondering how to get into an Agility or Obedience class with my dog. I have watched the Agility contests on TV and they look like great work and fun. I am just not sure how practical it would be for me to try this. "LUCKY" lives in our fenced in backyard and seems to be bored, whereas he is chewing and eating EVERYTHING not moving. Our wooden stairs, door frames, and bannisters are ruined. He goes through chew toys extremely fast. He does NOT care to chase after balls or any other retrievable type toys and this baffles me since all i read is what kind of playful dogs they are as far as wanting to retrieve for you??? Any suggestions on the eating of the wood, retrieving interests, appropriate toys, and who can i go to about agility training?

[4-H handler]

i'm glad you rescued him, bcs are very special dogs. everybody talks about puppy classes,but i guess it depends on where you live. my idea is to contact your extension office and see if any 4-H clubs in your area are doing agility. 2 of the 3 dog clubs in my county have full sets, and there are a few adults who come practice with us. hope this helps.

[chicken]

I don't think this is a rescue dog. First of all, you need to contact you're a Border Collie rescue organization, not the pound, unless you want you're puppy to die in a week.

 

Secondly, this pup is only 6 months? What do you expect? Those dogs you see on TV have agility courses in their backyards and the owners spend hours a day training them. Just because BC's are smart, doesn't mean you can expect them to do what you want without training and guidance.

 

I hope you wouldn't give up you're own child just because he's biting other children at daycare. You need to rethink what you got this pup for in the first place.

[juliepoudrier]

Chicken,

 

First, any dog you rescue, whether it be from the pound or from someone's back yard or from a rescue organization is a rescued dog. And although some pounds may be seriously lacking in the sanitation department, I think it's a bit of a stretch to say that all pups coming froma pound will die within a week!

 

Second, Joy was asking how she could get information in agility training. From her post it seems to me that she does realize the amount of work that goes into such training. She's asking for *help* on finding training resources and on how to teach her pup to fetch so she can help him to work off his energy in a more constructive manner.

 

Joy,

 

Search on the computer under agility. I can't remember the acronym for one of the sanctioning groups, something like NADAC I think. Anyway, if you put the terms agility and dogs into a search engine, you can probably come up with some Web sites that might point you to groups in your area. Also, if you have a BC rescue group in your area, contact one of their members and they can probably give you lots of good resources for obedience, agility, flyball, herding, and anything else you might want to do with your dog.

 

The fact is that BCs (puppies or adults) left on their own without adequate mental and physical stimulation will become destructive and will likely develop neurotic behaviors. So keep trying to find things to do with your pup to keep him busy and active. It doesn't necessarily take hours and hours, but if you take walks or do other activities where dogs can go along, then take him. That way you can socialize him (which will help in the mental stimulation department) and get him out and about. If there are no obedience trainers in your area, or none whom you like, then try a book like Morgan (?) Spector's "Clicker Training for Obedience." You can also search the archives on these boards (I think if you search under "rainy day" you'll find some activities you can do with him). Also provide him with appropriate chew toys. Kong toys are good because you can fill them with goodies (dog food, peanut butter [freeze it to make it last longer], etc.). Kong has a Web site with all sorts of recipes you can use to fill the Kong toy and give your dog hours of chewing fun. Also, if you go to the parent Web site for these bulletin boards -- www.bordercollie.org -- they have lots of information on BCs and links to all sorts of activities that you can do with your pup.

 

Good luck!

 

------------------

Julie, Indy, Willoughby (Willow), Finn, and Farleigh

 

[This message has been edited by juliepoudrier (edited 08-29-2000).]

 

[This message has been edited by juliepoudrier (edited 08-29-2000).]

 

[This message has been edited by juliepoudrier (edited 08-29-2000).]

[chicken]

Julie,

Puppies do only have on average a week in the pound, because there are time limits as to how long they can stay in a pound - usually a week. When their time's up, they're put to sleep.

 

Joy,

Perhaps I misread your post. But when the first line reads "I have a 6 month old BC that was on his way to the pound!", I interpreted it as meaning you were at your wits end with this puppy and ready to get rid of it. Sorry if I miss understood.

[Dynamite Tess Again]

Joy

Can I please endorse what Julie has said about keep finding things for your dog to do. Agility alone is not enough. Overtrain and they will switch off. My little Isa loves using her brain so at the moment we are teaching her to pick the things up we want and place them in our hands. She watches, listens and she learns. In fact I'm thinking how wonderful it would be if I could teach her to recognise the numbers from 1 through to 18, so I can just run round an agility course shouting out the numbers......now there's a thought......

love, Val and the girls

[Zebbie]

use bitter apple on stuff you dont want chewed!! I am surprised no one told you this before. Bitter apple the vasaline kind can be rubbed into wood and stuff to stop them from chewing it. I used this on anything Dakota showed in interest in chewing on and it worked, I no longer need to use the bitter apple on my furniture. and it wont hurt your furniture one bit!

[diane allen]

Joy, in case you haven't found any yet, here are some agility resources that are of great help. The first two web sites listed (US Dog Agility Association and North American Dog Agility Council) have lists of local clubs - contact them for info on classes, etc. Clean Run is the agility magazine, and their web site has useful info as well. The other has lots of "self-help" type info, not specifically for Border Collies (you'll find TONS of that here!; read old posts for lots and lots of ideas), but including lots of agility info.

www.usdaa.com www.nadac.com www.dogpatch.com www.cleanrun.com

 

Socializing is really important at this young age; hopefully you can find a puppy class for obedience. You don't have to do "show-style" obedience, and hopefully you can find one that uses positive reinforcement rather than the "jerk the collar" style. Six months is way too young to do full-size agility; you should wait until the dog is fully developed (more like 18 months, the minimum age for most competitions or even two years). BUT you can teach them almost everything they need to know except jumping full height. It's very tempting to get 'em going - you know they can do it - but those tender joints and bones need to be solid before putting the stress of full-height jumping on 'em.

 

Chewing? Good ideas already posted. Be careful what the dog has access to - splinters in the throat can get ugly. Do you have a crate? Sometimes this is the only way to get through puppyhood with you sanity. Think of it as his "den" and train him to think the same!

 

Just stick with it - it is a puppy thing, though you can get a lot of damage done if you don't have other outlets. Retrieving is fine, but not having an obsessed retriever is OK too! Lots of fun things to teach your dog - tax out his brain, give him lots of exercise, and he will sleep better - as you will too!

 

Best of luck.

 

diane