Question regarding leash biting

[ShellyF]

Hello and by way of brief intro I am a new BC pup owner; my little guy is now 11 weeks. I am an experienced dog owner but have always rescued before so this is my first pup. I am familiar with the breed but thirsty for knowledge. I have been reading these boards for some months and have also read three specific BC books prior to getting my pup. I am at home during the day and after three weeks have progressed reasonably well with training the basics although ‘stand’ and recall only lasts as long as his attention span haha! I am just about grasping the difference between him being bored and being overtired and in need of a crate nap! What I struggle with is when I take him round the yard on a leash he just wants to yank the leash, nip at ankles etc. Sometimes he does this in the house too. I have read the importance of not fueling his energy and either standing still or ignoring him but that’s hard when he’s having fun at tugging the leash or then trying to nip. I believe I am making some progress. I give him a ‘behave’ command and if he stops I praise and reward. But sometimes I just have to hold him by the scruff (not harshly) and sit with him until he calms down and stops trying to imitate a crocodile! I would welcome any tips please as I want to have good control of this before he gets much bigger! Aside from this he is a cutie

[Baderpadordercollie]

It's important to understand that, in the words of Nancy Tanner, "puppies are puppies and will do puppy things." Not to say that you don't already know that, but when my dog Brèagha was a puppy, I remember having to repeat to myself constantly, "she's just a baby, be patient, she's just a baby..." I thought the biting faze would NEVER be over and then... it was!

What worked for me was to gently pry her mouth off whatever she was biting and offer her a toy to bite instead. Which meant I always had to have a toy on me, but eventually, it worked. 

Kikopup (YouTube) always has good videos. My other favorite sources for puppy advice are nancytanner.com,  Zak George (YouTube) and Simpawtico Dog Training (also YouTube.) You should find a lot of good tips from these sources. 

Best of luck. 

 

[Rush Fan]

I had this same problem with my Mancer when she was a pup. I tried removing the leash from her mouth and substituting a toy as previously suggested. But that didn't prove very practical while I was walking her through the neighborhood, mainly because she quickly lost interest in the toy in that setting. I ended up carrying a water bottle with a hole poked in the cap with me, and gave her a squirt or two when she started biting at the leash. She doesn't like water and hated being squirted, so this turned out to be effective and she doesn't bite at the leash any more. 11 weeks may be a little young for this treatment though. (Mancer was closer to 5-6 months or maybe even older when I resorted to the squirt bottle). 

[ShellyF]

Thank you both. Yes I guess I must remember these are still early days. He loves water so yes that probably won’t work in his case lol! As there is some progress I will persevere. I think I am also going to have to give him more nap time. He does get over tired for sure! 

[Baderpadordercollie]

My dog would LOVE it if I squirted her with water. She chases the hose like a nut and relishes biting the spray. 

[Lawgirl]

I tried spraying with water once, my boy just learned to open his mouth and get a quick drink...

[starry777]

I have never had a dog that didn't hate water. Is a love of water somewhat common in Border Collies? (I've yet to own a Border Collie, if anybody is confused.)

[teresaserrano]

I've had dogs that instinctively loved water and needed no encouragement to swim, and dogs that wheren't that inherently interested in it. I live by the sea and near a dam, so I really want my dogs to like and be comfortable swimming. With the ones that needed it, I worked extensively on teaching them to love swimming. I started when they where quite young, taking them to the dam (sea waves are scary at first, so not good for beginners) and getting into the shallow water while playing with a favorite toy. For dogs that are uncertain, it's important that we go with them. We played fetch in shallow water and slowly built up the distance the toy was thrown. First times they ventured swimming for even a foot to get the toy I went wild with praise. Then I worked on slowly building the ease in the water, the stamina and the overall swimming skills. I never forced them but worked on it for as long as it would take, frequently going to the dam every day for their first summer. All my dogs ended up being crazy about swimming.

 

[GentleLake]

8 hours ago, starry777 said:

Is a love of water somewhat common in Border Collies?

Like so many other things, there's no universally correct answer to this. Many of them love water, whether it's swimming or playing with hoses and sprinklers, etc. And those who do can often became excessive about it. My first border collie was so obsessive about swimming that he would. not. come out when called, even though his recall was otherwise impeccable. He got himself in a couple dangerous situations because of it before a livestock trainer broke him of it. (I didn't ask how he did it; I didn't want to know. ) He still loved to swim all his life, but he'd come out when called.

I've had others who were afraid to swim or just not interested. Some of the initially frightened were eventually coaxed into the water and learned to like it. Others never went further than wading.

My current dogs, a border collie and a border collie mix, both have always loved to swim, just for the sake of it. They'll swim laps if they can, just for the joy of being in the water, but it's not obsessive.

I've never exposed my dogs to playing with hoses or sprinklers. Just don't feel the need to flirt with OCD behavior.

Interestingly, none of my dogs, even the water loving ones, have ever liked baths.

 

[urge to herd]

Of the 4 border collies I"ve owned, (+ a wonderful heeler) 1 has loved playing in water in any form. Pools, puddles, streams, the ocean, Samantha was happy in water. Except, of course, the bath tub. Probably because there were invisible dog-eating monsters in there.

Gibbs has a very odd tendency ~ he is almost OCD about drinking from moving water. Waves at the ocean, tiny streams in gutters, flowing creeks - he tries to drink from them all. I don't even take him to the beach anymore because I'm either yelling at him to stop drinking the salt water or he's leashed to me and pulling towards the waves. No Fun At All. Any one else's dog do that? Gentle Lake, did you notice any water-biting behavior with your dogs who liked swimming?

Rain is tolerated but not enjoyed. 

Ruth & GIbbs

[GentleLake]

11 minutes ago, urge to herd said:

did you notice any water-biting behavior with your dogs who liked swimming?

Some did enjoy biting at "waves" that their paddling produced.  Not all though.

[starry777]

7 hours ago, GentleLake said:

Interestingly, none of my dogs, even the water loving ones, have ever liked baths.

Wow, really?? I was surprised by that. 

And come to think of it, I did have a couple dogs that would go nuts for the hose but hated baths. I've never had a dog that liked baths.