Hi everyone,

We are new to this forum and have been watching the Leerburg training videos for a short while.

As the header suggests, we have an 8 week old, male border collie who has now been with us for 4 days. We have done all the research necessary and are very happy with the little fellow.

We are very keen to give this dog the best life possible, so we're being loving, firm and fair. We do have some minor questions that we would like some advice on. So any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

1. As he is adopting us as his new pack, he has started to nip when excited and grab our clothing. Thus far we have been correcting with a stern no and then a distracting with his toys followed by mild praise once he engages with his toy. Is this the right thing to be doing?

2. We fully understand that as a working dog, the collie likes to chase things. This will be dangerous in his later life as we live in an urban area with cats and cars. How can we get him to only chase appropriate things? IE toys.

Thank you in advance,

Dan and Elle

Welcome!! Seems like you are doing great already! Redirecting with the toy is definately the right thing to do. You are seeing that herding behavior coming out with the nipping. A tired puppy is a less pushy puppy. You've got one heck of a job on yourhands to tire out an 8 week old border collie!

The second part will come in time. Alllllll of the hard training you are doing rightnow will help you with the chasing. Until the time comes, keep your pup on a leash or long.line and just practice practice practice your focus work, recalls, and all of the things that will set you up for a safe future. The hope would be that your dog will be focused on you that he won't want to go after the cars and cats. Or if he does, you can break his attention and call him back.

I would absorb everything on Leerburg that has to do with engaging your pup and developing focus.

Congrats on the new puppy and you're off to a great start!

My ACD is now one year old. I joined the forum a year ago.

The crate was best when my pup would enter "complete alligator mode". Other times when he bit, I would remove my hand and stuff something else in his mouth.
Socks rolled into a ball seemed to be his favorite. I didn't have much luck with "no".
As your puppy gets bigger, he can do obedience, agility, tons of things to occupy his need to control and chase.
Sample the Marker training podcast. Thinking helped my puppy to be less of a monster. Marker training created a good bond between me and my pup.
Exercise is great too. Lots of exercise.

Welcome! another BC owner here - I have 3 of the rascals!

Nipping is common with high drive dogs of many breeds and what you're doing sounds like a good way to handle it.

Despite all the horror stories, BCs can learn to chill! Along with exercise, make sure to work down time into his schedule. Crate him with something to chew on so he learns to settle good in his crate.

Do an exercise/training session, then tell him "we're done" and tether him to you while you sit down and do some computer work or something. Let him learn that down time is part of life.

Mental exercise is as important as physical (or maybe more so) so I'd start right in with marker training.

Teach your pup to "wait". If he automatically waits for permission to leave the house or the car it gets him focused on you which sets the right tone for your outside time (ie, he can't chase a car if he automatically focuses on you)

And have fun!

My Bichon Frise is 7.5 mo. SHE CAN RUN! One time she was off leash in our fenced backyard and led me on a merry chase for awhile. She was small enough at that time to have wriggled through the fence bottom at one area if she'd tried. Since then, she's always on a leash or drag line when not in her crate. Recently I dropped the leash when we were outside (front yard, no fence) due to an old wrist injury. I was able to step on the leash before she realized she was free. In the house I use a drag line I fashioned from a cheap nylon leash. I just removed the stitching that held the "handle" together. That way it is less likely to get caught on chair legs and such.

I also have an ex-pen I can put her in when I can't keep my eye on her as closely as I'd like.

Lulu came to me at 8 weeks, also. I really think 12 weeks would have been better, so she'd have had more training from her littermates when it came to nipping. I took the place of a littermate by crying like a pup at even the most gentle mouthing. I still have to do it occasionally, especially since summer is over and I'm wearing socks. I had to realize she was playing too rough with my feet because I wasn't feeling her teeth through the socks. I don't want her playing with my bare feet next summer with the same enthusiasm. She gets it and plays with a closed mouth (until she forgets and I cry again).

Good luck with the puppy, and welcome!

I had a collie mix (mostly collie) and she WOULD RUN like I have never seen before or after. I had to rehome her because I knew she would not last long in our situation. More than high drive, collies seem to be "unleashed" in their running ability. The one thing she did great was protecting my chickens (she was raised with them). I never got to the end of her "mouthing" although I hadn't found this site yet so I might have been able to. I was never able to let her lose for fear she would not come back unlike the dog I have now which comes 80% of the time. Be ready to EXERCISE!

Have fun and good luck!!

Hi everyone, Thank you so much for your great advice. Mac is getting along nicely as far as we can tell.

Some days he is as good as gold, other days his energy goes through the roof and he loves to nip. We're being persistent with our no nipping ploicy and so hopefully he will totally stop in time.

We've also got him used to his collar and today we put his training leash on for the first time. Needless to say he did not like it much. Any advice for getting him used to that? He seems to thrash around when we try to move him around on it.

Is it okay to reward with food some times and praise other times? Now he does most of what we ask, but seeks food as reward.

One final thing, i can see that Mac is going to be a big old dog when he grows up. what exercises (without being cruel) can we do to make him see that we are both above him in terms of Pack position? I foolishloy one night held him on his back as 'punishment' to see how he responded. Needless to say, he thought i was play fighting. I wont be doing that again.

Thanks again for all your comments,

Kind Regards,

Daniel

With all of the training and rules you have in place, you are already asserting yourself over the pup. I believe there isn't any need to do anything "extra" so to speak, but just keep up with what you are doing now. Pups can go through a leash-rebellion at first but soon he'll get used to it. Let him drag it around first. Then hold the end of the leash and lure him around with a treat or toy to get him used to the sensation. He'll settle in no time. And having him on leash in the house is probably the most valuable exercise as far as dominance goes. It won't be long till Mac realizes that you control every aspect of his life.

Daniel, leash and collar are both training tools and you need to teach your puppy how to use them in a separate training session.

It is better to start a puppy on a harness and save the leash pressure on the collar for later. You don't need the leash pressure on the collar to teach basic positions using marker training and it is always better to manage a puppy (lure him away from a distraction, take a different route etc.) than drag him away on a leash.

eta: these articles would be very helpful to you:

Training puppies not to bite
Socializing puppies - especially important with a BC.
Puppy groundwork - as Jessica said, you won't need any additional exercises.
Don't alpha roll the puppy!


Edited by Ana Kozlowsky (11/15/2010 10:49 AM)
Edit reason: eta

 Quote:

One final thing, i can see that Mac is going to be a big old dog when he grows up. what exercises (without being cruel) can we do to make him see that we are both above him in terms of Pack position? I foolishloy one night held him on his back as 'punishment' to see how he responded. Needless to say, he thought i was play fighting. I wont be doing that again

Marker training and NILIF are both very simple, rewarding ways for pup to learn that you are not only in charge, but you are also a fun and rewarding person to be with

You can do a search on this site for Marker Training.

NILIF = Nothing in Life is Free - basically in puppy terms, you ask him to do something before he gets something he wants. Ask him to sit before he gets a meal. Ask him to "wait" at the doorway before you give him permission to go outside. he'll learn that all good things in life come through you which definitely puts you above him in his eyes.