Advice Border Collie

mollsnan

Having sadly lost our little dog before Xmas, we have taken another "rehomed" dog in. This time a beutiful border collie, male 2 yrs old, seems well trained (basic) and nice temperment. Initailly my daughter took him in with her other dog, as she knew the owner and didn't like the idea of him going to a stranger. She was hoping we would fall for him, and despite all my protesting of too soon, etc etc. here he is. Freshly washed and groomed by our usual groomer, he is a big fluffy gentle giant. Having previously had a little cross border terrier, he seems quite large in comparison. Forgot he would be able to reach worktops, so have to start pushing stuff back, and putting away!! My daughter tells me he will steal food if left on work top etc. Best way (apart from the obvious don't leave it there in the first place!) of putting a stop to this, any advice. In fact any advice about this breed from personal experience welcomed. We have bought the usual books etc. but noting beats owners advice. Also we shall have to get him insured any advice there as to who to avoid, or what particularly to consider. He will be staying with us from tonight, hope he settles ok as we up at 6.00 in the morning! Daughter lives next door, so he was familiar with us before coming to stay. All advice comments welcome!

Artytarty

Aw lovely!
I have a smooth haired collie cross.i have had dogs all my life and this is without doubt the most loveable , intelligent, sensitive na demanding dog yet.
Normal rules go out the window with a collie. Quick to learn, very quick, but resourceful to a level you wouldn't believe
With weeks ours was opening all the doors to gain free access around the house, after a while even the back door which opens inwards was a doddle.
Just be very firm with verbal commands and I find a pointed wagging finger is sometimes enough.haing said that she has been seen to walk her way round the counters on her hind legs with front paws on the tops.
She has her own chair a the table where she will sit patiently waiting for a handout.
Best advice?...just enjoy him, he will make you smile so much.

Katiehound

Border collies are super intelligent and very energetic since they are bred to run with the sheep all day (and probably would clock up a fair few miles.)
I would say need lots to keep them gainfully 'employed!' Activity toys such as kongs & Buster cubes, and some doggy activity classes such as agility, heelwork to music, obedience, scent work. A friend has a border collie with whom/which she competed at HTM at Crufts.

Pechow

Best advice I could give for a BC owner-a happy Border Collie, is a tired Border Collie! They need a LOT of exercise and mental stimulation, and if they don't get it will find their own entertainment, which might not necessarily be to your liking My lovely BC could chase her ball and run for hours, even when she hit double digits in age. My parents current BC once ate all the chair legs at the dining table in frustration after they weren't able to walk him for a day when he was still in his teenage years. Nowadays he's less destructive, but instead will cry and come in and harass you until you understand that it's time to go out now human, thank you

Kongs with peanut butter and treats are great for keeping him entertained, as are the puzzle toys that you can buy. If you're up to it, going to classes would be very rewarding for the dog and probably yourself-anything from obedience, to flyball, to agility, there's loads of stuff you could do. Training him at home to do tricks will be great too, and he'll learn very fast. You could look into clicker training.

Paradigm

Katiehound wrote: »

Border collies are super intelligent and very energetic since they are bred to run with the sheep all day (and probably would clock up a fair few miles.)
I would say need lots to keep them gainfully 'employed!' Activity toys such as kongs & Buster cubes, and some doggy activity classes such as agility, heelwork to music, obedience, scent work.

I grew up with Collies, my Dad worked on a livestock farm (sheep) & always had them at home. Beautiful dogs!

IMO, unless you have limitless time to exhaust/occupy them, they are not "pets".

As said in the quote they are far too clever, far too hyper to be stuck in a house.... not the ideal pet dog!

ETA: As Katiehound says, lots of mental stimulation is needed but without copious amounts of physical exercise I fear it may be a struggle.

Wellyboots6

If you get child locks for anything, get tough ones!

I bought plastic child locks thinking 'he will never open those'.

It hadn't even crossed my mind that he would just eat the lock rather than trying to open it!!

Think dog, in everything you do

krlyr

Dogs do things that bring rewards. The best way to stop the countersurfing is to make sure it's never rewarding - yes, it means remembering to put the butter away, not leaving food-smeared dinner plates near the sink and so on but a clean kitchen is a lot nicer to look at anyway so think of it as him doing you a favour!
Yes, you can use aversive methods such as rattle tins or spray bottles when he jumps up but not only are these methods not-that-nice but they can be prone to failure too. Bad timing could cause a fear of something that causes big problems - for example, spray the dog just as the household cat wanders past and he may associate the bad thing (spray) with the cat. Also, they'll lack consistancy - there will be occasions where he jumps up and you're not there to use the aversive, and he'll just learn to only countersurf when unsupervised.

Once he's settled, used to your habits and given physical and mental stimulation to meet his needs, the bad habits like that may disappear anyway. Might just be worth keeping an eye on things like his weight and consistancy of his poo just incase it's a health-related issue - perhaps not digesting his food properly, not getting enough, a bit of a vitamin deficiency, worm burden, etc. causing excessive hunger leading to the scavenging, surfing behaviour, but it's not a totally strange thing for a newcomer to the home to have bad habits and push his luck.

http://www.youtube.com/kikopup and
http://www.youtube.com/pamelamarxsen
are both fab places to visit for ideas to keep his mind ticking and wear him out physically and mentally though

phill99

I have 2 BC's. The second was from the Dogs Trust. Came in as a stray so used to stealing food. My first BC has never taken food in all the time I have had her. But Alvin steals food. The dog behaviourist at Dogs Trust said its unlikely that he would grow out of it. It was too much in his nature now. In the first few weeks of having him I occasionally forgot and left food out. He had the lot: bread, scones, curry, defrosting pork, you name it.

Because it was in his nature, it's not appropriate to punish him for his past. Now I just make sure nothing is left out. He was quite stressed when he came here. He was not good in kennels and chased his tail a lot.

3 year son and he is a very confident, very happy and loving dog. He occasionally chases his tail, but very rarely now.

So for all your new dogs traits, he will calm down, loose much of the typical collie nervousness and give you many years of love and affection.

mollsnan

Brilliant! Thank you all for taking time to reply. Much appreciated! First night went well, was worried he wouldn't settle or would bark during night. But all went well let him out for a wee about midnight, and was up as usual at 6.00 and let him out again. No accidents! He looks so big compared to our last wee dog, but is lovely. Postman was able to meet him today. Last dog had a thing about the postman/postwoman, and they were both lovely, but he chased the poor girl out of the drive on one occassion. My husband smokes little stinky cigars, (outside!!!) and is glad to have a companion again to go out with him.
Will have an ultra tidy kitchen whilst he continues to countersurf. Hopefully he will settle, and as I am at home all day, he will have plenty of company.
Any advice re insurance, any do's or don'ts?

krlyr

Do:
- go for a lifetime/continuous policy as opposed to a 12 month limit. Many conditions you'd be more likely to claim for will be ongoing, and once the dog is diagnosed, that's it - no company will provide a new policy to cover an existing condition. Things like hip dysplasia may need a year or two of maintenance treatment, then a big operation, then rehabilitation, checkups etc. so a 12 month policy can be very limiting.

- go for a good amount of cover. For a medium dog, I wouldn't go for less than £4000 but preferably more, as treatment is often priced by dog size/weight. Research issues the breed is prone to and cost of treatment, e.g hip replacements can cost thousands per hip and both might need to be done.

- check their reputation. E&L have an appaling reputation for not paying out by making poor excuses and interpreting fine print/vet notes to their advantage. Whereas Petplan are considered one of the best companies.

- ask your vet. They can share their experience and opinions, but also inform you if there's any particularly company they won't do direct claims with, or whether there's only select few they deal with. If they don't do direct claims, consider how you might pay for treatment - will they do a payment plan? will you need an emergency credit card until the insurance pay out? This may make it especially important to get feedback on companies, and how quickly they pay out

- read the fine print, especially exclusions and limitations. Many companies insist your dog is regularly vaccinated or the policy is void, though some may just exclude claims for conditions that could have been vaccinated against. Some policies may require annual dental checks, failing to do so may void claims relating to emergency dental work (very few policies will cover routine dental work) or the whole policy, so check this too. Some companies restrict claims for certain conditions, e.g. I've seen one that excludes cruciate ligament problems, so check if your breed is prone to any conditions they outright ban or limit

- consider the effects of new customer discounts come renewal time. Cheap in year 1 doesn't mean cheap in year 2. Most premiums will increase a small amount anyway, but factor in that 25% off or 3 months free that you got last year, the renewal may come as a nasty surprise. While you're open to shop around, remember the earlier point about pre-existing conditions, you may find yourself locked in to your current insurers if the dog develops an ongoing condition, or even a one-off problem that might cause future claims to be excluded (e.g. a broken leg might be cause for a new insurer to exclude claims for possibly related conditions, e.g. arthritis in that leg at a later date). Some of the premium insurers may seem more costly at first but tend to be known for not jacking up prices at renewal time.

Am typing on my phone so will take a break there but may add more in a bit!

getthemax

It's absolute nonsense to say that BC's need a lot of exercise. If you do exercise them out a lot then you'll end up with a very clever supercharged athlete.

We've owned 7 BC's over the years and they've all been different apart from being very clever and needing mental stimulation.

Have a look at http://fostbc.org.uk/aboutTheBreed.php - Barbara Sykes knows what she's talking about when it comes to this breed.