hello, need help with my 5 month old Border Collie puppy, he,s started herding and been very vocal.

Took him to a behaviour therapist last week which cost quite a lot of money, she told me that he was a bad dog and put a muzzle on him the full session, when he came home, he was a changed dog.

She told me to train and walk him alone, I have tried this, but i don't have a happy house now.

My gorgeous new friend has become aggressive towards his new friend and big brother ( my older dog ) every time they are separated.

When we do take them out together, people have told us what fantastic dogs they are and how well behaved.

The aggression is only at home and I feel that he is far to attached to me.

He is also teething at the moment and his mouth is quite sore and his gums are bleeding as his new teeth come through, could this be part of the problem.

Where do i go from here as they are both my best friends, any help would be most grateful.

Zack

Hi Sounds a bit of a waste of money on a behaviourist to just stick a muzzle on him? Poor guy.

I have heard putting a damp t-towel in the freezer is meant to be good to let a teething dog chew is good. Personally I have always given a rawhide chew, it seems to help.

As for being attached to you at home, does he have a pen/crate he sleeps in?
Our dog was very attached before we moved, now we have room to have her crate in a room we use less often thrugh the day so she spends less time next to us, she is alot calmer.


Sorry my answer isn't as good as I would have liked, I'm tired was just off to bed and noticed your post- hope this helps and I'm sure someone else will be along shortly

x

__________________

Teething toys

Stuffed kongs
damp frozen knotted tea towels
raw carrots (you can freeze first too)
ice cubes (flavoured with stock or plain)


As for the herding, well it is his natural behaviour - can you do some form of excercise with him that exploits his intelligence? It could be obedience training, agility, flyball, heelwork to music etc. Games at home could be - find the food, putting his toys away (learning them by name), target training etc. Target training is a nice thing to do with a collie. They can help you load the washing machine, close doors, retrieve post, turn telly on etc!

I would echo the advice about a crate, and also add that it sounds like he has hit the teenage kevin age. He will be challenging his position in the pack both with you as his leader and his doggy friend.

IMHO he needs tough love now and to be taught he cannot get away with the behaviour. If he is agressive or just downright naughty, split him up and then make you and your other dog turn your backs on him and ignore him (baby gates are good to seperate), i wouldnt put him in his crate when you are doing this as the crate is his den and shouldnt be a punishment. Make him aware that his behaviour is not accetable. Other things I have been told to re-inforce ack positions are to feed yourself first, then the next down dog (your older one) and then him last. This should only last a little while, they do grow out of being kevins eventually.

I just want to say though, I am still a novice dog keeper, and I am sure someone with more experience will be along to help... xxx

I agree with all of the above.

Behaviourists are great but don't KNOW the dog like you do.

I might be wrong but it sounds like a bit of an over reaction to a stage of puppyhood but i am not an expert either.

Oscar is 4 months and has started barking at me for attention and nipping my legs if i walk away.

The trainer we go to (who is very "old school" in his approach but gentle) recommended isolating him until he calms down (not in his crate as Billy Boys Mum said). When he has settled and is calm let him out tell him calmly good boy and if he starts the behaviour again do it again.

This teached him that this behaviour gets him no where.

I too would suggest finding a class to channel his natural instinct and intelligence.

Talking about the kevin stage, I have just found billy raiding the kitchen cupboard and helping himself to cheese straws . He has been severely reprimanded as i caught him in the act, water gun works wonders! He knows he's done wrong too, and has sloped off looking very sad to sulk!

Now you just have to wait for the fallout

I have a 4 month old collie who loves to herd me and her ball when we are on the field!! But she is not vocal when we are out but sometimes barks at home when she sees things out of the window. Have you tried the 'corrector spray' for when she is too vocal?? Worked brilliantly for Cassie's biting on the lead and biting us. I also used it to stop her going upstairs-only needed it x2 and she now sits at the bottom of the stairs waiting for me.

GRRR well he's been to the toilet and i think i caught him with the first one (it was the packet rattling that got my attention!) so he cant have had much!

I have been execting it and the kevins have definatly decended. He decided selective deafness was the order of the day while out walking. He's on a longline so ive always got controll - but the little bugger refused to come back when there were other dogs to play with! Whistle and calling did nothing! I gave up and went to fetch him.... not sure if that was the right idea but we were running late for school at this point! On the way back he took excpetion to a couple of teenagers chucking rocks into the river (well so did i) and her barked for the first time ever!!!!! He really gave em a good telling off, trouble is its not acceptable behaviour from him (even if i agree with him).

He's sulking too as he' only had a small breakfast, he's off to the groomers soon and i dont want him to be sick or anything if he's scared. She is having some of his food and treats to give him there to make him feel more comfortable.


Oh well onward and upward lol, I'll keep doing what I'm doing in the knowledge that he hasnt forgotton it, he's just being awkward! And that eventually he will grow out of it!

If op is watching this - at least you know your not alone in the kevins

You have just described Oscar to a tee

I am treating it like a phase and just training through it.

He has been off lead up until now but i am considering putting him back on a line so i don't have to start re call training all over again if he loses it completely.

My trainer advised keep them on the line for the same amount of time again as it took them to learn the recall, so if it took 6 weeks keep them on line for another 6 weeks.

Yep our trainer said that too. She also gave me a fab tip - when your ready to go offlead buy a really cheapy poundland lead, cut it down so there is about 6-10in left and tie a knot in the end (or in billys case about 4in as he's so tiny). Clip it to the collar when out walking and when offlead - the dog still thinks they are on a longline lead as they can feel it against their shoulder. Do this for double the amount of time you left them on the longline after they had learned recall. It hels with the transition from no line to offline completly. So with your example:

6 weeks online learning recall
6 weeks still on line recall learned
12 weeks on "fake" line.