Studebaker

Hi, We have two 6 month old German Coolies desexed females (and a big 2 1/2 yr old entire male). I have had the devil of a time house training as they get busy, forget where they are and almost go on the run! We now have the daytime toilets pretty well sorted as they wait by the back door (no noises, barking or scratching- they just stand there in the hope I will notice). The night time toilets are another thing. They go outside at 10-11pm and do what they need to do, go off to bed and I usually wake up again around 3am to let them out again. One of them has learnt that they can wake me up and I will let them out and she goes outside to pee. The other one will piddle inside and then come and wake me up. I praise her for coming to tell me (and then find the puddle next to her bed ) So how do I tell her off or get her to realise that she needs to ask first and then go? PS. They are regular with their pooping so haven't had a problem inside for quite a while (except if they have a small tummy upset)

PS. They are great agility dogs - they seem to thrive on this. It might be worth considering this as a hobby

Hi Jigsaw, I have a Coolie too (he is now almost 2) and am waiting for 2 more pups to age a little so I can add them to the household What you have to remember with coolies is that although they are working dogs they can be quite soft in personality. I have found that if you tell them off they never forget it - they can hold a grudge but they also get quite upset if you get angry at them. Water pistols may not work as coolies are renowned for loving water (my boy used to play up just to get squirted, I am sure). It sounds as though your pup may already be exhibiting signs of wanting to work. It sounds as though she needs to be kept occupied and interested. As the others said firm growling works but if that doesn't then try what I did.... every time my boy nibbled I squealed in pain - loudly, high pitched and as if I was dying! He only did it a few times and then stopped. Has never nibbled since. As soon as she can comfortably be exercised then get her out and about. Take her everywhere with you. They are extremely intelligent dogs and although they can spend an afternoon on the couch quite happily they need their brain exercised. She really sounds as if she is trying to work you so also try to distract her with a ball or a toy. They can get very focused and yes, they can get very annoying at times!

I bought one recently and we are in the beginning stages of training. In the right hands with K9's manual they are great - in the wrong hands they could be terrible. My boy is a working dog and it was imperative for his own safety that we have control off leash. His preyinstint is so high that he blaocks out all exterior noise and sounds. He can only concentrate on his 'prey' at the time. I have noticed in the short time that I have had it that he has learnt to stop and listen to a command. It will take a bit more time but the are definite improvements. We also had to get the expensive one due to paddock work (needed 800 m to 1km of range) but for the extra cost I also bought the training lessons as I didnt want to damage the dogin any way.

Hi, After much thought and discussiOn we decided to go down the route of the ECollar for one of our dogs. I was told that we needed vet authority to be able to purchase one (we are in NSW). Does anyone know what this involves? We have a vet appointment on Friday anyway but the vet has never been requested this before and would like to see a copy of the legislation and details on the collar (he also wanted to know what other vets tend to write ) Can I get a copy of the legislation online? This dog has already injured himself a couple of times by trying to throw himself at a barbed wire fence (hence the vet appointment on Friday)

Thanks for aking the question Erin - now I have a solution too!

Well here is a very unlikely update..... After I wrote the above we got a foster dog. Beautifully behaved Staffy x. Banjo and he hit it off and are great friends BUT the staffy is dominant. They play but the Staffy does lie across his back after a while. He comes when called and pays attention to the human at all times. Since getting him Banjo has been attention seeking - placing the focus on me (or whoever else is around). One whistle will bring him running. The foster dog goes to his forever home later this week so the problems may reappear but I am hoping to consolidate what he has learnt in the meantime. I never thought of putting him with a mature, well behaved dog. i was always afraid that he would give the other dog bad ideas. I might have to look into getting an older, farmwise, obedient rescue dog to help out.....

The first thing is - DONT PANIC!! We have a male pup we got at 8 weeks of age....he was terrible to toilet train. I spent hours in the freezing cold backyard at night waiting for him to 'hurry up'. As soon as he went inside he would pee. I got to the point I thought he was doing it deliberatly (to get attention?) He eventually learnt to pee on command - but would still come inside and pee straight after peeing outside. I had shares in the paper towel factory.... The neighbours heard me say "hurry up" a thousand times.. I honestly can't say how we solved it. It just happened one day. He decided he wanted to go out and cried at the back door. He has had only one accident since then. It was almost as if it clicked inside his head. He is only 6 months now, doesn't pee or poop inside but I still take him out after a sleep or eating as he still doesn't ask to go out. He just sniffs around. It does get better - my little 4 month old has hardly had any accidents (I cant remember the last one).

I shouldn't laugh!

I forgot to say that this boy has been one of those dogs that is mature beyond his years. I sometimes forget that he is only 6 months old......and still very much a baby. As this is his only problem I suppose i shouldn't worry too much!

He is a really promising worker Persephone! (I think he may be a little too hard, though) I will try the horses lunge line on him again. I was worried about him not getting enough exercise and getting bored on the chain too much. He is not interested in toys very much (never has been) so distracting him can be a little difficult. Trust me - when he was younger we did consider giving him to a home where he would be constantly worked (rather than the twice or 3 times a week we can give him) - but unfortunatly we fell in love with him My OH has had Koolies all his life but has never come across one that is so 'dedicated' to the job. He is learning to heel when off the lead - it is getting his initial attention which is the problem. I think we tried a lot of things when he was younger and haven't tried them again now that he has settled down a little. We did try the foot in the collar trick but he runs as fast with it in as with it free! I might just go back to the drawing board and try from the beginning again now that he is a little older. Starting with the lunge line and moving on from there. (His pet sheep are arriving in a couple of weeks - what dog do you know who gets his own sheep to practice on? And no bad comments - we are going to sheep dog training school as well)

We have a 6 month old Koolie pup. Beautiful boy but I am sure he suffers from ADHD! Anyway, we have tried teaching him to come once he is off the lead - sometimes he will but most of the time he gets distracted and chases birds (and I mean chases - straight down a 50 acre paddock, head in the air) He doesn't seem to hear commands when he is in "run & chase" mode. If I am near the car I can honk the horn to get his attention but it doesn't guarantee he will come back. We have tried whistles and even a long rope - when on the long rope he does whatever we want him to. I know he is a working dog and chasing is his life - we live on 500 acres but he is also a jumper and escape artist and I am concerned that he will be injured one day. He has already got in with the cows a couple of times and run himself almost until he was sick (lucky he was not kicked).....he just rounds them up and tries to move them towards gateways. We have considered getting a training collar for him but I am concerned because he does swim in the dam when he is out with us and it may get wet. (Obviously he would only wear it at certain times). We do have a 4 month old female who does whatever she is told...always heels when we walk and doesn't chase anything (which could mean that she will be hopeless with stock ) Does anyone have any ideas or recommendations for brands of collars?

Thanks for the responses. Unfortunately she never digs in the same place twice which leads me to believe it is to keep cool. I will give the sandpit a try and she how she goes.

This is killing me! We have a 6 month old German Coolie Male and a 4 monrth old German Coolie Female. The female is making the backyard look like a waste zone.....We tell her off but she ignores us completely. We had tried filling the holes with her poo and it works for a short time but she just digs another hole next to it. The older dog growls at her when she digs and walks away. He has no interest in digging at all. Any ideas for what can be done?