Hi all, I am about to get a new dog but am a bit confused about what he dose,
he stares in to water, puddles, drinking bowl and was not to keen when I took him away.
He is in kennels at the moment and he is a 7 year border collie male.
Reg

It could be some sort of obsessive behaviour, Dogs in kennels can suffer from kennel stress and exhibit odd behaviour sometimes, Not sure what you exactly mean by not keen when you took him away, Can you give a few more exact details and we might be able to help a bit more or at least offer some suggestions and more advice. Also have you introduced him to lucy and have they got on OK?

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My dog has a bit of an obsession with water, he stares at it, then pats it with his paw to make a bubble, then bites it, pats, bits, pats, bites, pats, bites. H'es stay there all day if he could!!

BCs can be very obsessional, and some will show 'eye' to anything that moves if there is no other outlet for them. As Sled Dog Hotel says, if he's been in kennels, with minimal stimulation then he's probably just turned his attention to the only thing he has available, probably once someone moved the water bowl or he knocked it and saw it 'swish' and now he's eye stalking it to wait for that movement again!

My dog becomes more OCD when he is stressed/upset, so a stress free environment with routine will help. It may be an idea to get a DAP collar to help your dog settle in.

Once he's home and settled, find out what makes him tick, it might be a ball or a ragger, or he may be an agility star. By getting him to use his brain and do what he was bred to do, I bet this obsessive behaviour will lessen or even stop.

It's does osund like others have said that he has developed an OCD with water.

How long was he in kennels?

Is he responsive to training and play etc?

His behaviour does sound obsessive yes. HOWEVER the vital thing is recognizing the behaviour for what it is. He is a border collie and he is "eyeing" the water.
It sounds to me like (ableit obsessive) misplaced herding behaviour.

Firstly you need to try and give him an outlet for his innate herding ability. Collies love to control movement, so if you can find an activity where you can allow him to do so in a controlled and focussed manner then that would be perfect.
I recently went on a Training Day for Border Collies and the above was one of the key messages. In fact there is an argument to say that, if you find them a suitable outlet, you will see a decreased over sensitivity to movement that would have otherwise "bothered" them (so to speak). I.E. traffic etc.

You can see an excellent example here of a sport that was created in Germany named Treibball (literally translates as Drive/herding ball), that many border collie (and indeed other herding breed) owners have began to use as a way of allowing their dogs to perform innate behaviours and "work". Surprisingly however, it is relatively unknown in the UK?
I've just started working on some treibball training with my collie lad (as well as his agility etc)
Treibball

Another herding game example HERE

In addition to giving him a suitable outlet for his natural behaviour, I would also work on conditioning a new response to water. I would imagine that this will need to be a very gradual process. However, it could be something that you could start at home, with perhaps a small bucket or water and if you clicker train, clicking and rewarding for calm behaviours around the water. Perhaps you could teach a default behaviour? Or once the new herding game (with a toy I would imagine) has become rewarding enough you could start playing the game at a distance from water or near a bucket or water in the garden. If you are successful in capturing his focus and working ability with the new game, the water should be no competition.

There are other factors to consider of course. OCD type behaviours are often linked to stress, so perhaps the fact that he is kennels ATM may not be helping. In my experience, collies don't often tend to deal too well with kennels.
Once you get him home, I'd focus on getting him settled and happy and making sure he has some good positive outlets for his natural behaviour.
Best of luck

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Is a new dog a good idea - thought you just got your first pup a few weeks / months ago?

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