Roova

Thanks guys! I would have been happy with casual walking and just having fun at home but I'd like to do more with her one day. I figure if I go down the obedience or agility road we'll have to be working as a team so I can't give up at the first frustration. I do a bit of NILF every day but not for every single thing... yet. Sheena thanks for the suggestion on LAT and treats I'll check them out. I just did 10 or so minutes with her then and she was brilliant in the back yard and when I moved to the front yard she was walking at an angle across my knee to watch someone walking down the road. Instead of sitting when we stopped she stood staring, lost in her own little world lol. I'm thinking I'll stick with the house area only for a while, keep cementing good behaviour and delay distractions for a bit. Now I'm off to read about LAT!

Thanks for your responses. Ok for the answers.... What does she get to see normally? Does she come with you in the car ? Walk around shops etc ..sit in a park & watch/listen to the world ? If she doesn't do it now - did she as a little pup? Since eight weeks we've gone somewhere different at least once a week. She's been held by different people and met cats, other dogs, and chooks etc (in controlled situations). She flew from Melbourne to the Gold Coast and is a great traveller in the car (in a crate). She's been held by people or just hung out near us when talking and has been a pretty cruisy little dog. She's been to the local supermarket and shops just to sit and watch and she would have gone to every person walking past even if they paid her no attention. Expect for random people when she was between 8 and 16 weeks I haven't really encouraged interaction with other people more aiming for just accepting them being around. Maybe the holding and cuddles when she was younger set her up for wanting the attention? During our (loose leash) walks if she wants to stare or sniff at something I've let her take as long as she wants (maybe another part of the problem?). You say you are using tiny pieces of chicken neck as rewards. I am just trying to get a picture of just how tiny it would be able to get a piece of chicken neck :) If the pieces are about the size of a dried pea & able to be consumed very quickly then fine. Yes they're tiny, well as tiny as I can chop them. Ive been using secateurs because they're hard little suckers to cut. These only come out when Im really wanting her attention on me, normally I use tiny chopped up pieces of dehydrated meat like chicken, beef, fish etc. I use raw at times but its pretty messy. I use cheese at well but Im a bit wary of too much dairy. I've tried different pet loaves but she refuses them. The dehydrated treats smell pretty full on and she normally loves them but obviously they and me are too boring compared to the world out there. Are you using a clicker??? No, I've been using yes then treat. She picks up new things well but I start everything inside with no distractions and then we move to back yard, front yard and then out on walks. When she's focussed on me she'll do everything but not on walks if she's staring at something. I normally make kissy noises to get her attention and she mostly refocusses on me but not always. I've been practicing eye contact and pretty much every single night since she was little some form of recall which might be her in a stay and me going out of sight then she comes find me when I say Poppy come. I practice on a long line if outside the house because I have no doubt she would be straight across the road if she saw a person or dog in the distance! I practice lots of her chasing me games with her too, not sure if that's a good idea or not? Ill run calling her name and drop a treat at my foot. While she's eating it Im off running and calling her name again. She normally gets really excited with this one. Possibly I just have to accept she's a Terrier and not a Border Collie but I feel she has so much potential if I could see what I was doing wrong.

My Border Terrier Poppy is now seven months old and there's some changes in behaviour I'm a bit unsure how to deal with. I've been ready and waiting for the teenage 'tude but now its here I feel a bit unsure best way to approach it. She's a great little dog with a good repertoire of tricks and behaviour Im really happy with but Im only self taught from either here, the web or YouTube so very inexperienced. We only have short sessions, I use tiny treats to reward and we've learnt most things by shaping. We don't do dog parks and I think I would have a lot of trouble with group dog obedience with her focus as it is at the moment. So, my biggest problems I'd love to address are: Creeping forward in the down position. Up until a month ago she would drop nicely from a stand\sit with either voice or signal and if I was close, at a distance or out of sight. About a month ago after teaching 'crawl' she's starting to army crawl forward in the drop. She doesn't go far but enough I don't know whether to start teaching her to down again or whether I should be growling at her and returning her to start position with no reward? Ignoring a command: Mostly if we're working on tricks or behaviour she has a quick response but at times she has selective deafness. If I say or give the sit sign she might look at me but do nothing. Am I meant to growl and ask her again, grown and push her bottom down or try original command again until she does it? Heel work going out the window: We seem to have lost our groove of her walking at my side. She's now creeping forward or just so completely distracted by what's happening around her I might as well not be there. When we practice at home with fast or slow walks and random stops (with no distractions) she's perfect of course. As soon as we step onto the street, even if its just to walk back and forth out the front everything in the world is more interesting than me. Its probably made worse by the fact we haven't had any decent walks while Im focussed on getting heel back. I don't ask her to heel on casual walks but don't want two conflicting types of walk happening if that makes sense. I treat and praise for walking at my side and if she's been good she gets a 'free' moment to sniff and look around. Previously when I stopped she would instantly sit but now its sideways or not at all if she's staring at something. I've tried stopping, growling and what seems like a harsh check but I don't get much of a reaction. I really want to stick with positive rewards but even with her favourite treat of all, tiny pieces of chicken neck its not enough. I use a training collar or half check collar, not sure of its right name. Everything but me is a distraction: Contributing to my above problem she is absolutely enthralled with any person, kid, dog or event she sees when we're walking. I don't recall any dog I've had in the past having such a fascination with the world! If I spot one of the neighbours kids on the street by themselves I get them to be a statue while I practice heeling. Even at opposite ends of the street her head is swivelling to the child or she's belly crawling if we get closer. Gawd, how did this get so long?! I would really appreciate any hints or tips on how to work through the above. Edited to say I've backed off some privileges in the house to see if it helps so she no longer has free reign of my bedroom\bathroom etc. There's lots of fun and cuddles too so I hope the above doesn't read like life is nothing but seriousness.

That picture of Cuddles could be a smooth coated Smoke! (Hope that makes sense).

Awwww that face. Those paws!

All the bubbas are gorgeous! Not sure I can get this to work on my phone, here goes. Here's my little fuzz bucket six months ago:

Awww cute!

That's really sad news, I'm sorry you've lost your Micha.

Wow, great action shots. Legs flying everywhere!

What a gorgeous boy and lovely photos.

All fantastic photos but I particularly love the one of the young girl hugging her dog. Very cute! Out of interest do you just move around with your camera, being confident and shooting away as scenes catch your interest or do you ask permission if faces are involved? I'm never quite sure what the protocol is..

Street dogs of South Central is pretty interesting. It follows the story of one dog as she raises puppies on the street.

That was touching and sad but so very sweet.

Beautiful angles on that first shot. Makes her look so majestic!

A dehydrator is pretty cool to have if you want to stick with healthy treats and save money. Every couple of weeks I dehydrate liver, heart,chicken, silverside or whatever meat I've found on special and can slice thinly. I've found a medium bag of dehydrated treats could be $9 - $16 and I've saved sooo much money. I chop them into tiny pieces and they're great for pockets or treat bags and the dogs love them. I also sell smaller bags of mixed treats at my work so it's a win all round!

Awww so quiet and peaceful when they're asleep lol.

What a gorgeous old girl.

Love that bottom photo!

That is adorable!

Very nice. I especially love the one of the dust kicked up behind the cow/bull. :)

Awww great photos. Girlie looks like she's bursting with love to give. I hope they find their person.

Where have all the puppies gone? Everyone's babies look so grown up. SW66 I love reading your updates on Laiken. Cutting nails freaks me out too. Airedaler, Spice looks absolutely gorgeous, good luck at the show! Alvse, Calli is a cutie, love the crazy eyes in the last photo. My border terrier Poppy is doing well too. She's five and a bit months old and weighs a whole 7kg. She's a little cracker and loves learning new tricks. We're working on beg at the moment and its kind of adorable when she loses her balance and topples to the side or backward. Does it make me a bad dog Mum if I giggle when it happens?

Good socialisation definitely is a great thing to have happen but there needs to be some control or thought involved to avoid scary situations which can affect a puppy too. Off lead dogs giving puppy a fright, loud or rough people or kids bowling a puppy over etc. It can be tough monitoring what one puppy is getting up to let alone keeping an eye on five animals! If the owner was assuming all interaction was good interaction then I guess that's why he took everyone down the beach at once?

When you say minced meat do you mean pet mince which has bone mixed through? If not is she getting edible bone/calcium another way? This might affect the consistency of her stools too.

Sounds like you did well biting your tongue. Sitting in a high traffic area he was probably hoping someone would want a puppy and that's one less to take home! If we're going for dodgy breeder awards I have one too. Yesterday when walking the dogs I ran in to someone with what looked like a beagle cross. In conversation I asked where they got him from and they said they answered an ad. When they got to the address there was about 20 dogs which all looked the same in a large enclosure, puppies included. Apparently the 'breeder' feeds them by throwing chickens over the fence! In my head I was thinking I hope he means chicken carcasses and how could anyone think that was a great place to buy a puppy from??