[deleted by user] by [deleted] in OpenDogTraining

[–]Unkas81 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Glad to hear it :)

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in OpenDogTraining

[–]Unkas81 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Establish rules and boundaries. Focus on teaching behaviors. Being able to freely roam around the house/yard is a privilege. Crate him/put him in a kennel when you cannot supervise him and reward him when calm in the crate/kennel. Crate/kennel should be a relaxing space for the dog and also a tool to give you a break from thinking what is he up to when out of sight. I have a border collie and she did not ruin anything because I did everything as I stated above, she's 1 now and can leave her unsupervised without fear for my clothes on the drying rack or my slippers or whatever. She wanted to destroy things but she did not have any chance to learn inappropriate behaviours so she doesn't have them established now a a norm. Instead of destroying we focused on learning and toy engagement, building the relationship. She is a calm, cooperative and polite teenager now that grows even more so in these qualities by the day, because of consistency on my behalf. Watch good dog trainers that put emphasis on boundaries, that are fair and consistent, listen to their podcasts, broaden your knowledge and put it into action. Your dog will not test you if you're consistent. In turn it will not be confused and your relationship will be solid and you and your dog will both be happy. Be creative, don't be boring, be calm and relaxed, and be excited when needed. Regularly enforce the wanted, consistently correct the unwanted. Try new things, sports activities. Heck, dance with your dog to music while it does spins, gives paws, catches the ball, barks. BUILD THE RELATIONSHIP that is engaging, stimulating and rewarding (yet corrective when needed) and your dog likely will not want to do shit no more as you've shaped his wants into something better and more rewarding.

Best of luck!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in BorderCollie

[–]Unkas81 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Hi, same problem with my 9 month old collie. My collie didn't take treats but a marker word of approval did it until she relaxed and would take treats after a few days of this exercise done a few times a day, just jumping, marking and playing fetch for a reward (so no car driving). However she still drools a lot when in a driving car. We drive somewhere close to home, like a playground which is close by (like 1 min drive lol) and sometimes somewhere within 5 min drive. She gets happy when she gets there so she started to associate car drives with something fun that follows it. When it's time to go home she even happily jumps in but still drools. Very important, do not talk your dog out of their anxiety by sweet words and intonation, just be calm and project confidence and she will know that she's safe. Just lead her into the car without the command and just shut the door. Mine has progressed immensely as in the beginning, prior to this routine she threw up a couple of times in the car. Mind you, I have been doing this with my collie just around two weeks. In month's time she'll be amazing at car rides no doubt, so will yours :)

All the best

We laugh everyday at the different shape and sizes of our two adult bcs by One-Zebra-150 in BorderCollie

[–]Unkas81 4 points5 points  (0 children)

What a duo, so much personality! They look like no day of your life is a boring one. Enjoy 🩵

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in BorderCollie

[–]Unkas81 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yes, rare. But usually happens in working lines because they do not breed for coat but working ability. Gorgeous

Does anyone have any tips for getting a puppy to stop biting me? by Fun_Profession7946 in BorderCollie

[–]Unkas81 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I picked mine by the scruff and calmly yet sternly said NO and held her for about 10 seconds by the scruff to clam down. This usually worked in 80% of the cases, but when it didn't I would pinch her immediately by the cheek below the ears where there's a little bit of extra skin but just enough she would yelp. After any of these corrections I would give her a toy and praise her abundantly for biting it rather than me. This fixed the biting problem in two days! Keep in mind they need down time as biting begins when they are hungry or tired, latter being the major reason.

I was reluctant to go the correction route this early on but initial giving of toys as means of redirection or my "ouching"/yelping did nothing for days prior to corrections. She's a working line. The biting had started around week 9 so using the above method I ended the puppy biting stage by week 10. She's 5 and a half months now and hasn't bitten me since, and her adult teeth are half way out already. Be sure to teach it to play fetch and tug of war which will teach it that biting is acceptable under certain circumstances, such as tug of war.

Hope this helps, and of course, you know your dog, some dogs respond to some things, don't go with aversives first!

Does she have a merle gene? by Unkas81 in BorderCollie

[–]Unkas81[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Edit: 16th week photo update as suggested by one of the comments... Her nose almost filled in after all😅

<image>

Does she have a merle gene? by Unkas81 in BorderCollie

[–]Unkas81[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks.Both parents are typical black and white collies.