furbubbas

Hi Heston, Just my 2 cents worth...from an owner of a BC who was a very shy puppy, and now displays elements of fear aggression (I have since discovered the breeder used a sire who was known to have temperament issues, so am dealing with his fear as a long term possibility). I completely agree with what others have said - your approach of introducing them to everything and anything in the world is the right way to go. I'm very thankful I did this earlier on as I can only imagine how he'd be otherwise. And a good trainer is priceless. Provided you're doing those things, you're doing the very best for that pup.

Oooh thank you for the link for deer antlers - I'd been wondering the same thing after seeing them mentioned so many times on here. Just wondering, has anyone had any experience with the Nina Ottosson toys? They look fantastic and I have a very curious border collie I think would love one, yet would hate to put in a second order at clean run ( my first is already on its way to me), to have him walk away with zero interest!

I ordered one of these yet was very hesitant as to how they'd stand up to our chewing extraordinaire - I'm very glad to hear you've managed to keep them for so long!

Hello! I'm a newbie too.. it's a lot of fun (and rather addictive!)

Hmm well it's still definitely a 'work in progress'... The crate has very minimal bedding so minimal creation of heat (just enough for comfort, as otherwise he'd chew them anyway) yet now we've ditched the cover completely and just tried to make the room as dark as possible... so it's cooler there than ever and I don't think that's such an issue at the moment as we've had quite cool nights but I'm certainly keeping an eye on it. He was quiet for one night, then two nights barked like crazy but even earlier like 3am so I am slightly concerned it's a pesky possum causing the issue (there's whole families of possums living in our trees etc)... He's always been very much a guard dog, barks at everything etc but perhaps this is also just a stage he's going through when he's a bit more protective/reactive than usual? We'd love to have him not in the crate (as we'd originally planned) yet he also chews everything/gets in mischief like crazy... I will certainly think of it as an option if he continues - we'd previously tried to have him sleep in our room on his bed and he either chases the cat the entire night or even if she's hiding just jumps on us etc and doesn't get the less than subtle hint it's bedtime and not playtime! (despite being exhausted himself!) ... he also clearly loves his crate, cuddles in instantly when put to bed, and if left in the kitchen at night just hides under the coffee table or barks at every tiny sound (thus why we started the crate - we figured he'd like the sense of security). In saying that, he was perfect last night! I had the newspaper ready for Stitch's suggestion (just to use on the wall no-where in sight of him as I know any closer to the crate and it is definitely a reward for the barking as I figured out earlier) so I just hope that continues! He's heading to QLD this weekend for a month with my OH which I know he'll love, I'm just praying he gets a break from the possums and sleeps without a problem, although I guess it wont be my sleep being disturbed for once!

Definitely agree with the Vetbasics comment - Our border collie had a white nose for AGES after I applied it... gave me a huge fright at first when trying to wash it off! Will definitely be looking at the alternatives mentioned.

What an awful situation. Those poor owners and those poor beautiful dogs.

ha ha yes I don't think that'd be a problem

(waves hand) me! me! This is definitely the most fun I've had with christmas shopping! Finally convinced myself to place my order I've been adding to for days... especially since I could always place a follow-up with anything I desperately need but forget in the first!

yes any final 'must haves' I would not have realized until after I click the Checkout button? (although I think I have more than enough in the cart at the moment )

ha ha I'm glad I'm not the only one spending a small fortune on absolutely nothing I 'need'... I was originally showing my partner in excitement all the great things I was adding to my cart.. now north of $100 I think it's in my interest to keep my finds and my total to myself!

Thanks Sky! Was just about to order one of these this week so am very glad to hear another success story! (hope it works for us too!)

I am going to get these but tossing up between regular and large. I have Labs but leaning towards the smaller one as it still take 1 cup of food which is more than enough (I think!) What size do you have experience with? Any idea if the hole where the food comes out is the same size in both sizes? We've got two of the large size ones - our pup is only 11 months yet is apparently close to fully grown (just over 20kg) for a border collie... we actually got the larger one thinking he might grow a little more but also as the large is too big to fit in his mouth so although they've got a few tooth marks etc there's no way he could actually get a grip on it enough to destroy it (unlike the rest of his toys!). I barely put anywhere near a cup in ours, and often use just a few pieces of things that smell good to him but he's going to take ages to get them out on the right angle.. it keeps him going for hours and hours and I can quite happily leave him alone with it and not worry what condition it'll be when I come back! (was a saviour for puppy 'witching hour'). Hope that helps... I cant remember the size of the food opening from memory...

ooh I'll have to try this with our pup (he loves sardines)... but is it ok to give them something with tomato as a base? i thought tomato was a no-no? (or have I got my wires crossed?)

aww how cute! wonder if she let that find go easily! (mine wouldn't!)

I agree it certainly sounds like normal cat behaviour... we've been lucky and none of ours have really had much of a strong prey drive (they're too lazy, only really after toy prey!) but i've certainly seen many cats bringing in huge & varied 'gifts' for their owners (while the owners scream from on-top of the coffee table at the sight of dead rats etc...)

ooh isqeaks ... i didnt even notice those! i'm definitely trying another kong wubba.. although ours eventually lost its 'tails' but it lasted thru his entire puppy chewing phase (although who am i kidding that phase is still continuing!) and the kong wobbler is fantastic ... durable and entertaining for hours. my bank account is certainly going to get a workout... I keep adding more and more to the cart (oh the toys!) then culling a few... then going back for more a few hours later!

ooh thank you! Hadn't come across this site as yet but it has quite a few things i'd been trying to track down online without paying HUGE shipping... free is even better! thanks!

Wow puppybella that sounds remarkably similar! It seems the older they get the cheekier they become with new habits like these! (i wasn't sure whether to put this in the puppy or adult dog section.. so might head across to your topic now actually) Lad was a little better last night (with only a strip of thin fabric draped over only half the crate and didn't bark quite as long, but yes the interrupted sleep certainly still takes its toll on us... hopefully it's all resolved soon!

Thank you! great suggestions! I'd whipped up a makeshift sheet that fits over the crate a little while ago and was just not wanting to 'upset the balance' any further, but may try that tonight - definitely worth a try at this point in time!

Hi All, We have an 11 month old border collie who has been a perfect angel sleeping at night in his crate up until about a month ago. Since that point he'd scratch to get out of his crate, bite a hole in the crate door (!) and bitten bedding etc (We have one of those fabric type crates in our room), and just generally carry on with absolutely no reason. We have been ignoring him from advice evident on other posts in this forum, and have actually moved him out of our room into another room in the house so there is no chance of us just 'caving in' and going to him (we can still hear him, just not quite so loud!) and he's settled a bit except for a random stint of barking always somewhere in the early hours of the morning (very early, i.e 4am or 5am). He's well toilet trained and can certainly last all night etc so we're confident it's not that. Any suggestions on how to ditch the 5am barking? we've got a cover on three sides of his crate. There certainly could be possums etc around outside although those sounds would occur all through the night and actually have usually decreased by this hour. When we go in at a more reasonable hour to get him, he's still very sleepy half the time so I don't think he's just awake and ready to play... more just wakes suddenly and starts barking? We're happy to continue the ignoring method (now we've stamped out him eating his crate and bedding!) however we're unsure the barking is actually improving so perhaps there's something different we should be doing? Thanks in advance.