Heston1

aww... this thread is sad Heston's best friend is a boxer girl around 3 years old, who was a rescue and is absolutley scared of people but loves other dogs. They have played since Heston was really little, perhaps it's not the dogs approach, but the owner? If the owner is putting off weird vibes sometimes that can cause a stir with the dogs as well? Our trainer always says that if on lead the leads need to be really loose so that the dogs have room etc. So many times I see owners tighten the lead and then see the dog get uptight. I hope she gets a playdate soon :)

Umm - Heston is 6 months old, pure bred BC, and has humped since the day we got him. He only ever humps when he is over excited from play, and generally it is my 9 year old. Who hilariously thought that Heston loved him so much he was giving him a big cuddle! He gets off when he knows he is in trouble for doing it, but other then reactively doing something about it there is not much more you can do?!? Interestingly, Heston quite often gets humped by other dogs at the dog park!

We watched it and enjoyed it until the poor cat was nearly ripped apart by the dogs after which I had a catatonic 9 year old on my hands!! Was great to see the working dogs doing their thing though,! So clever.

My gorgeous boy not only plays with his poo - he rolls in and plays with all types of poo, horse, cow, other dogs! It's a gross dog thing... we've learnt to keep baby wipes on hand to wash him down when we least expect we would need to!

A quick update for everyone. We took the advice and got a professional out to assess Heston. @doglifetraining reached out to me on here and came to visit our boy. She gave us some wonderful tips on dealing with him and helping him overcome some of his concerns and fear. Although we are not by any means fixed, I am happy to report that when I dropped Heston off to the Vet this morning to be castrated (poor baby) he ran straight in and up on the scales! lol He is turning a corner and the fearful puppy I had weeks ago is slowly being replaced by a more confident albeit a little more boisterous boy! We take him to the dog park every day so that he can socialise and have a play. He has even started to insitgate some of the interaction, although does come running straight back if he gets a little fright for some reassurance. So - thanks again for everyones advice - I took it on board and cannot be more happy with the results we are getting. It will be a life time commitment to ensure that he does not revert back to this, but we are seeing some progress :D

Yes - Agreed, I guess I was looking for some reassurance that it was going to be ok - that seems to be what other people use this forum for. Perhaps I was wrong. But, perhaps this post will also help others out there unsure of whether to ask or not what to do. He already has been at Puppy Kinder and I asked the trainer there what she thought last night (she is also a vet nurse at the same vet) She seemed to think that yes he is a shy pup, but that he came around after a few hours of being there and was happy to have cuddles. We will take him down to the vet regularly and walk him through without him having any treatment so that he can feel comfortable there. We are going to continue to work with her one on one for training for a few more weeks to see how he goes and use all the techniques she has provided us with, including getting him out and about as much as possible to try new things in a supportive way. The simple fact is that he will never be the outgoing puppy that has an abundance of confidence, but he is so easy to train and responds really well when I ask him to do things, I'm happy with that and I just love working with him - he has perfected shaking hands last night!

Thank You everyone! I also thought it was a bit much for her to expect him to be running up to her whilst in the crate at the vets! After all, he had his paw shaved, blood taken, his temp taken, I don't think I would be too happy with the person that was doing that to me! I sort of liked the fact that he was reserved, he only has eyes for me and we are going so well in his training! Sit, stay and his recall is great, even when we are outside the house and I've let him off lead (in a well fenced area) he comes back and is very eager to please. My concern is with the vet telling me that "someone" needs to be alpha or he will get distressed?!? I kind of thought he already thought I was the alpha? lol! Having said all this, today I took him to pick my son up from school and he was more than happy to let all the kids pat him and not once did he show fear. As opposed to last week when he sat between my feet observing! Thanks DancinBC - that was really lovely to hear. It's awesome to hear how even shy dogs can be perfectly healthy, normal and even be champions! We will keep taking him everywhere with us (we have pet friendly holidays booked! lol) but make sure we are giving him enough encouragement and love to make him comfortable. Laughing at him sounds like a great idea when he is being timid! Will definitley try that one. One step at a time I guess - and try not to get too upset with what the vet has insinuated!

Hi All, So our little Heston had to have an emergency admittance to the vet early last Thursday morning due to severe vomiting and diarrhea. He spent the day at the vet and was home that night still a little unwell but mostly back to normal. Whilst I was at the vet she mentioned that Heston was extremely shy when in his crate there and would cower at the back when they went to get him. We crate train him and he loves his space i there, so I know it was not the crate that he was scared of. She is now telling me that I need to be extremely careful that our sweet little Heston doesn't end up an aggressive dog in the fugu out of fear. He has always been shy with new things and new people and we have been doing our best to take him with us everywhere and try new things and I was mostly happy that he was a bit quieter and reserved than other puppy's jumping on everyone. Now I'm terrified that I'm going to end up with an aggressive dog, and that I've somehow done something wrong along the way Can anyone offer some advise on helping our gorgeous boy be more confident so that we can reduce any likelihood of him being fear aggressive? He is a 4 month old border collie and I know that they can be reclusive at times, is this a breed thing or a Heston thing? *sigh* I thought we were all doing so well Thanks

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So glad I stumbled on this page! We are up there for Christmas this year and will be taking our BC Heston, who will be around 7 months old then up with us. Will keep an eye out for you BC Crazy! This will be our first holiday with our fur baby :) Any hints on traveling with dogs for long car drives?

Ahaa... Good point! We shall try and find another vice! :)

Thanks all for your advise! We had a great day yesterday and everyone is correct, consistency was the key. I think I've found his weak spot, a good game of chase after he goes toilet, he loves it! And we've got much better at taking him out more frequently. He hasn't toileted in the crate again, but we definitely learnt a very valuable lesson - he cannot come in until he goes toilet, take him more often then we think is necessary and we have been waking up twice over night to take him out. So we are being much better trained! I think we should treat ourselves as well :) Thanks luvsdogs - he is the sweetest little thing, and just such a delight to have in our family Thanks all for your help, :)

Morning All, Hoping for some advise regarding utilising treats as part of training. After having a few bad days with toilet training our little BC ball of fluff Pup, Heston, poos and wees in his crate(not his fault, ours really we had some problems with consistency!) I decided to start using treats when taking him outside to pee, this seems to be working and we are now on a very strict regime of crate, toilet, play! My question is, are treats worth using as part of training or is it better to reward Heston with our "happy" voices? Do BC pups respond better to training with treats or are there better ways of rewarding Heston?

HI All, I have an 8 week old BC puppy that we got a few days ago, everythings going really well and he is being such a treat to us all with his good behaviour :) He even took himself off to his crate for a sleep this afternoon, very proud Mumma here! Anyways, the only thing I am unable to get him to do for me is to take his heartworm medication. Everytime I try he spits it out and wants to roll in it! I've tried hiding it in his food, but even then he picks it out and rolls on top of it?! Any suggestions to help me get him to take these chews? Thanks!

Hi All, Today we finally get to pick up our little choc and white BC pup from the airport! Trying to send my 9 year old off to school this morning was a nightmare and after pinky swearing that I would pick him up from school as soon as we left the airport I pushed him out the door! I'm just about to leave and I think I have everything ready and prepared for our little pup to arrive. Now to prepare my two Burmese kitties of the arrival of their new brother! Life will change forever for them. Anyone have any hints or tips on introducing them all? This forum has been so good for the whole family to read to help prepare us for pups arrival. The only thing left is to talk my partner into letting out little BC sleep inside the first few nights! heheehe.. I'm sure he'll cave :)