dancinbcs

A lot of smooth coated dogs seem to hate the rain but are much happier with a decent coat on. Get a good weatherproof coat like a Weatherbeeta Landa and make them go outside. A good shove from behind will sent them out and do not let them back in until they have toiletted, no matter how wet they get. Persistance pays off and you can assure the dog it won't shrink in the rain. :laugh:

I only just noticed this paragraph from the original post. How old is Hugo? If you are not going to keep him are you prepared to pts? I know that sounds harsh but it is reality that you cannot expect to pass on a dog with problems to someone else to fix. Dogs don't understand what they can and cannot chew unless you teach them. Some dogs chew a lot more than others but they are all normal dogs and coping with it is part of being a dog owner. I don't even consider this a behavioural problem, just an untrained dog with too much freedom before he has earned the right to that freedom. If the dog is not allowed in the house unless he is in a crate or muzzled then so be it. Dogs cannot destroy what they have no access to. I have had dogs that could not be trusted in the house without direct supervision until they were 3 years old. Others are fine as puppies. When you take on an active breed you have to be prepared for many possibilities and work around them.

This is pretty much what I did with 'hurricane Weez' when I first brought him home. Although I didn't bother reprimanding him for 'bad chew', I just took it away and replaced it with a 'good chew' then praised him for chewing the new item. But then I was working from home and started working on the behaviour straight away, if the dog has an established habit I can see it might be necessary to use both the carrot and the stick. I also tried to increase the value of the 'good chew' items by playing tug with them, throwing them about or using food-stuffed toys. It is hard to entertain a dog with stitches (I recently had this problem with a young active kelpie!) but you've just got to get their brain tired out. Lots of little trick or obedience training sessions can really make a difference to their level of restlessness! For an ordinary puppy the reprimands are not usually needed much more that a little "aarh" sound but for a really compulsive chewer it is s different matter. Exercise and other mental stimulation makes no difference to a dog that is born a compulsive chewer. They are going to chew no matter what and will chew anything they can get their teeth into so you need to be very firm in setting out the rules and providing lots of stuff they can chew. I have had 3 destructo dogs over the years, 2 BCs and now the JS but I have also had dogs closely related to those BCs that hardly chewed anything other than the puppy toys they were given and never even thought about touching furniture, door frames or anything else they shouldn't.

All of the above are great suggestions. Also try Vicks Vapourub on things like wooden furniture and door frames and anything that smells awful to a dog on soft furnishing. Sometimes perfume will deter them. With outdoor wooden furniture Crip Stop works. Most important though is to train the dog about what it can and cannot chew. To a dog one piece of fabric, paper, timber, plastic, etc is the same as any other. I always keep a toy basket in the house full of toys and stuff they can chew up including some hard chews like nylabones, sections of tree boughs or deer antlers. To learn about the toy basket they must be constantly supervised when not crated or muzzled so no mistakes occur. Give the dog something from the basket and encourage them to chew it, praising generously. Every time they go to the basket praise so they know that is their stuff to do with as they like. They will make a huge mess chewing everything up but it is easier to pick up toy stuffing, shredded cardboard, etc than replacing furniture. Every time they even look like chewing something not from the basket, reprimand in a very angry growly voice. I use the command "leave" then when they look away from whatever they were going to munch on, I praise immediately. The idea is to teach them that they own the stuff in the toy basket and you own everything else and they must not touch. If the growly voice doesn't work use a throw chain as well to startle them as you give the command. Throw it near the feet, not at the dog. Most dogs only need a few goes with the chain to get the message that you mean business. After that just clicking the chain will make them take notice if they are ignoring you. The praise once they leave the forbidden object is a very important part of the process. My toy basket has survived several BCs but my new little JS puppy has managed to eat most of the basket as well. He has averaged at least 5-6 hours a day of constant chewing. Never mind I can always get another basket and now at 10 months he pretty much has the run of the house all the time when we are home and his only real vice is sock and tissue stealing if he gets a chance. If we all go out he goes in a puppy pen just make sure he doesn't relapse to trying to eat the house.

Or fight to the death with no chance of separating two dogs with that much power. I sure wouldn't risk an entire male of either of those breeds with any other entire male. The risk is just too great if they have a disagreement. I would be very surprised at anyone that would sell you a second male.

Yep, they are all classed as large breeds, anything bigger like a Dane or St Bernard is a giant breed. Border Collie size is medium, Sheltie size is small, Papillons, etc are toy size.

That is pretty large at about the same height as Rotties plus the coat. The Rottie height for males is 24"-26".

I don't get what the problem is The dog catcher should pick up any dog that is outside it's owner's property. If the owners want it back they need to pay a fine. It makes no difference if the dog is friendly or not, big or small, it should not be roaming loose. The dog catcher cannot be everywhere at once so they rely on people calling to let them know about dogs at large.

Blue Border Collies are generally fine except a lot have very little hair on the ear tips as puppies. It grows in as they get older though and is normal in adults.

As hard as it has been, I am glad you returned the puppy and hope it is a better fit in it's next home. You mentioned 30 years experience with the breed but have you ever raised a puppy before or just had adult dogs? I am not trying to blame you for the problem just trying to work out what went wrong so it never happens to you again. Some puppies are just a bad fit with some owners and nothing other than rehoming them to where they do fit in will fix the problem. It is no one's fault, just something that happens sometimes. I have seen dogs with seemingly impossible behavioural problems just magically improve in a different home. Not a better home just a different situation. BTW, I didn't say anyone hurled "abuse" at the breeder I said "accusations" and by telling them to not breed the parents again, that is in fact accusing them of bad breeding and something that a lot of breeders would take offence at. The breeders may in fact be jerks or the whole thing could have been wrong dog in the wrong home and a lot of misunderstanding. There is no way for us to know with only one side of the story but I do hope you are able to find the right dog for you in the future, whether it be a baby puppy or an older dog.

I agree it is probably all bad luck and I have no idea how anyone could be advising the breeder what or how to breed in future. The breeder's attitude is very disappointing but I would like to know exactly how these problems were put to them. Anyone can get their back up if you hurl accusations at them. No one sets out to breed unhealthy or unstable puppies especially if they are breeding show dogs. Some of those just churning out constant pet litters don't give a damn but you cannot breed show dogs without regard to health and temperament. One off bizarre things can happen to anyone with temperament/neuro problems and it doesn't have to be hereditary. Coccidia can also happen to any breeder but the right thing to do with any puppy that is clearly ill or having major issues is to get it back asap and work out what the problem is. Either refund the purchase price or offer it back to the buyer once the issue is resolved. 99% of puppy problems can be solved by a phone call to the breeder for advice but when they can't be resolved the puppy needs to be returned.

I find it easier to toilet train a baby on a set routine but as the meals decrease with age I mix up the times so they don't get stuck on specific feeding times. Oh, and puppies should never be fed or played with as soon sa you get up or they will wake earlier and earlier because you are rewarding them for waking.

If you took your 2kg 8 week old puppy out at 1am to go to the toilet and was presented with a very large amount of blood in their poo, I would imagine you would take it to the only vet that was open at that time of night, regardless of the cost. I didn't care about how much it cost, I was concerned that my dog might die. All specialists were very consistent with their training suggestions so there wasn't a vast range of methods. My judgement may be clouded because I have a vet that is available on call 24 hours to regular clients to make sure I don't have to use a specialist centre just because it is night time. This is vital to breeders. If the breeder was advised the puppy was that ill at 8 weeks they should have requested it be returned the next day for them to deal with at their own vet. I really am shocked too that the breeder didn't ask for the puppy back to assess it for herself re the behaviour as soon as they were advised there was a problem. Have you requested that they take the puppy back and refund the purchase price due to the puppy not being suitable to being an only dog?

When you are working it is usually better to feed sooner after you get home and then later before bed to space the meals out more evenly if possible.

I give breakfast at a time that suits me and last meal about an hour or two before you go to bed. Then fit in 1 or 2 meals evenly spaced in between depending on how hungry the puppy is. If the puppy isn't very hungry stick to 3 meals, if it is very hungry you can make it 4 meals. I usually make the first and last meals the same with something like a chicken wing or just dry food in between. Feeding the last meal late allows the puppy to poop afterwards and then he shouldn't need to go again for another 9 hours or so.

To buy a MR bitch from a breeder suitable to be a mentor demands a certain amount of knowledge in the first place. A newbie is unlikely to have that. The more likely scenario is that they buy from one of the not so good breeders and are not mentored in anyway. The breeder suitable to be a mentor is also unlikely to sell a MR pup to a newbie. It might not even occur to a newbie to contact the breeder as they might not realise that is the done thing. Or they have a totally unregistered bitch. Or they have a bitch on LR and not realise they can't breed it. Anyway we have lost the chance to educate this person as some of the responses were IMO too harsh. I had 3 people in my last puppy class that thought it would be nice be breed their oodles. After a descriptive narration from me of what happened when I nearly lost my beloved bitch having pups they all went and got their dogs desexed. Every breeder I have known in the breed has been started off by either breeder of their bitch, the owner of the sire or a breeder who has allowed them to use their dog. The breeders most likely to act as mentors are in fact the ones most likely to sell a MR bitch but these days it is more usual to do it in dual names to start with. I have mentored several breeders over the years and am always happy to help new people to the breed but the basics of Main Registration and Health Testing come first before anything further can be discussed. I don't think my post was too harsh, I was simply asking the most basic questions anyone that already owns a main registered bitch, should be able to answer. 20 years ago things were very different but a 4 year old bitch should have been sold with all the required information. If they had come back with answers, even just that she is main registered, I would be happy to help from there. mr.mister asked some very interesting questions on here a couple of years ago as she was doing advance research, well before buying a puppy. I contacted her, have put her in contact with some other breeders I trust and together we will help her get off to the right start when her life allows her to show and breed Border Collies. I am currently in contact with several new or yet to be breeders who regularly ask questions of me and some of the other older breeders.

Coccidia is something most breeders would never have encountered and many would never have heard of it. If your puppy contracted it from the breeder's property they would also have other dogs infected. They don't require direct contact with birds to get it as it can be in soil. The symptoms should show within the first couple of weeks and are made worse by the stress of the puppy changing homes. Coccidia is not a sign of bad breeding practice, just bad luck. Even for SASH, that seems a ridiculous amount to diagnose and treat coccidia. A normal vet could probably have done the same thing for less than $200. It is not the breeders fault that you chose the most expensive vets in Sydney and were charged that amount. The separation anxiety would not be evident to the breeder. It is something that shows when the puppy is taken from the litter. If the puppy was reacting that badly after the first couple of days you should have called the breeder then for advice. I do wonder if consulting "so many specialists" has caused the problem to escalate if you are trying all different methods? As you have now tried many remedies there is no way of knowing why the puppy is so stressed. It may have a neuro problem of some sort or might just be completely confused. I suggest you call the breeder in a completely non-confrontational way and ask for help. If you have already made accusations, apologise first, then see if maybe they can take the puppy back for a couple of days to observe it's behaviour themselves. If they truly are uncaring breeders then I am not sure what to recommend. What is the puppy's routine? Where does it sleep? How long is it left alone? How long have you had the puppy and was it there a major problem from day one?

At some stage they would have had no mentor and had done no research. :) I would have thought that a question like this is the first step in being properly educated. Your mentor is usually the person who sells you a puppy suitable for show/breeding or the one who helps you source the right dog to start with, so you should have a mentor right from the start if you buy a main registered puppy. Before the main/limit register and all the health testing came in we sometimes had people looking for stud dogs for registered pet bitches and their mentor would be the breeder who thought the bitch was worth breeding and suited one of their dogs. We used to usually get them to bring the bitch to a show so several of us could have a look at her and decide if she was good enough to breed. These days though the registration and health tests all come first and any well bred main register bitch would have been sold with all the details about the health tests. etc, along with the papers. If someone that doesn't yet have a bitch asks "how do I become a breeder" that is when you start from scratch educating them. If they already have the bitch then they should at least know the basics and the question should be "I have a main registered bitch who has had all her health tests, where do I find a stud dog?"

Whilst i agree with what you are saying thundercat, it is not just BYB's dogs who end up in the pound. Recently an absolutely beautiful little 4 month old fella has come to our park and he was from the pound. Original buyers decided he was too much work so dumped him there. Pound called registered breeder from which this pup came not more then 2 months previous and guess what? Registered breeder didn't want to know abt it, they had their money. Luckily for this beautiful little boy he is now with a wonderful family who love him dearly. Yes puppy farms and byb are a problem with offloading to whoever, but it annoys me when ppl say that ONLY byb dogs end up there. This is exactly why you should never buy from anyone that claims they breed great family pets as opposed to show or performance dogs. Those churning out lots of litters purely for the pet market are less likley to take a puppy back because it cuts into their profit. Those breeding for a purpose, not to make money, will take a puppy back with no hesitation because it is never about the money. There are many breeders listed on DOL, especially in Qld that have litter after litter of coloured puppies seemingly available all year round and their ads all claim they breed great pets. The breeders you should be looking at, breed 1-3 litters per year on average and breed good Border Collies for a purpose. With show breeders most litters produce one or two show puppies, the rest go as high quality pets and are much better dogs than those "bred to be pets".

This all sounds very weird. What did the paperwork with the puppy state about how often it was wormed and with what? Why did it need to go to SASH for worms and what sort of worms? How long after you took the puppy home did you leave it to call the breeder and tell them you were having problems? If you take a new puppy home and there is a problem the FIRST thing to do is call the breeder. If there is a health problem that isn't an accident then the FIRST thing to do is call the breeder. If you let behavioural problems go on for weeks or run up a huge vet bill without consulting the breeder you are likely to get a hostile reaction if you call to complain after the event. Having said that, lots of puppies hate to be away from the new owner but that level of anxiety is not normal. We would need to know exactly how the situation was handled from day one in your care to know if you added to the problem or if the puppy really does have issues. As to the worm problem the last time I heard of a vet diagnosing worms in a very ill puppy and accusing the breeder of not worming it, the puppy turned out to have an undiagnosed liver shunt, not worms at all. You would hope that SASH would know the difference but I suppose it depends on the vet.

This post is 3 months old and I think they got lots of recommendations back in March. There are a lot of lovely litters around at the moment from many of the top show breeders that breed for health, temperament and quality rather than colour and just to produce pets. Just saw the post from Gia-Altinock. First question. Is she main registered? If she is you need to speak to her breeder. Second question. What is her DNA status for CL, TNS and CEA and what are her Hip and Elbow scores? No Border Collie should ever be bred without all these tests being done. If you let us know the answers to these questions then we may be able to help you.

That full set of adult teeth means he was at least 6-7 months old in the RSPCA photo. Probably at least 7 months because the baby canines often don't fall out until right on 6 months and it takes a few weeks for the adult canines to grow fully into place. Once the teeth are fully though it is hard to guess exact age. He actually looks more like a Stumpy in build and ears but an ACD in colour. He could also be ACD crossed with something smaller.

Height wise they can stop growing anywhere from 6-18 months but it is usually around 10-12 months. I have definitely seen BCs that have stopped at 6 months though. They are often very big babies that look like they will be huge and then they just stop.

You might have missed the earlier subtle signs but the surgery and pain would be adding to her confusion. As espinay2 said it is very normal for bitches to have phantoms. All my BC girls have had them with every season to varying degrees. The last one used to put on weight, dig dens and get milk but often not until a couple of weeks after her phantom babies would have been due.

The only time I have ever used any KC vaccine is a few years ago when I went on a road trip and thought I may have to kennel them somewhere for a day. I had the nasal spray given to them and they were fine. I stopped using C5 over 20 years ago after a dog had a really bad reaction to the KC component and then got KC 3 months later anyway. Dogs that socialise a lot, say at shows, tend to build up a lot of natural resistance. The ones at risk are the pets that stay at home then suddenly have to go to a kennel.