wings Posted March 27, 2011 Share Posted March 27, 2011 Okay, I hate dumping an issue like this on a forum but I have a rather large problem that I need outside perspective on, I and my family are too close to the whole thing! I have a nearly twelve month old farm bred kelpie pup that I was given three months ago. When I got her my aim was to build her up for herding, even getting a small flock of sheep for us to work (I live rurally.) Combining that with a walk and some off lead rambling and I figured I’d have that kelpie energy well managed. However, like all plans it seems, there is now a major hiccup. Just recently I was diagnosed with a potential knee problem. Currently I have minor pain when doing anything strenuous and this includes walking my own dog! At this point we have no idea of the long term effects of this but in the short term my doctor wants me to cut anything that causes pain. This includes walking my dog. I’ve had a few hiccups in her training which have meant she can’t go off lead, she has no recall and wants to chase my horses above all other things on the property. My two options are: Get a treadmill for my dog to work off her energy, continue to persevere through our training issues in the hope of getting her off lead and when her obedience has reached the required level start taking her fortnightly to a near-ish herding centre. Contact the farmer who bred her and see if, as he has always said he would, he can take her back and try and find her a more suitable home. Further info: She is an outside dog and not kept with other dogs, I had hoped to get her a friend but that option has been taken off the table now thanks to my knee. As mentioned above training progress has been slow as she is very easily distracted and shows no interest in food as a bribe. Do not misunderstand me, I love this dog. Despite her training issues she is a sweet dog and I really, truly love her. It is because of this that I wonder if this will be the right home for her? I’m trying to be as honest as possible because I need some honest advice on what is right for her. Please do not flame me, I already feel awful and should put my name up for the ‘cruddiest dog owner ever’ for considering this. So what should I do? What would you do? What is right for her? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clyde Posted March 27, 2011 Share Posted March 27, 2011 Contact the farmer who bred her and see if, as he has always said he would, he can take her back and try and find her a more suitable home. I would do this today just to see whether or not this is credible option for you or not. I think it's best to know exactly what your options are rather than going over possibilities. Good luck either way - no shame in rehoming a dog if you can longer provide them with what they need (provided you are honest to any potential homes) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christina Posted March 27, 2011 Share Posted March 27, 2011 You are being honest not horrid. Rehome her to a place more suitable for her needs, she will be happier. Sooner the better before she gets into more bad habits through boredom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiesha09 Posted March 27, 2011 Share Posted March 27, 2011 Do you or could you have a motor bike? You could run her on lead alongside this at a slow pace for her exercise just like a bike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiesha09 Posted March 27, 2011 Share Posted March 27, 2011 Do you or could you have a motor bike? You could run her on lead alongside this at a slow pace for her exercise just like a bike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bundyburger Posted March 27, 2011 Share Posted March 27, 2011 Contact the farmer who bred her and see if, as he has always said he would, he can take her back and try and find her a more suitable home. I would do this today just to see whether or not this is credible option for you or not. I think it's best to know exactly what your options are rather than going over possibilities. Good luck either way - no shame in rehoming a dog if you can longer provide them with what they need (provided you are honest to any potential homes) Yep... i agree. I also don't think you are 'horrid'. You can't help your chance in circumstances, you didn't know you'd end up injured! Good luck finding her a suitable home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wuffles Posted March 27, 2011 Share Posted March 27, 2011 I don't think that anyone here can tell you what the right thing to do would be, just give suggestions on what types of things could help. I had knee surgery last year so I know that sucks. At the time my Aussie was a very energetic 6 month old! I will admit that I sacrificed my recovery a little bit for meeting her needs. I told my physio/surgeon that I needed to do some walking/training with my dogs and we worked around that. My OH also helped out by giving her short daily walks (he's not into training though). Do you have family or friends that could help you out? We did lots of training indoors including learning lots of tricks and basic behaviours (eg. stays). I'd drive to the local oval (well... once I could drive again) and practice recalls with her as well as simple attention/focus work. We also met up with friends and their dogs for play sessions. If she's not interested in food you need to find something that interests her for training. Toys, ball, tug, praise, etc. Is there the option of joining a dog training club Good luck with your decision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenGirl85 Posted March 27, 2011 Share Posted March 27, 2011 So sad If you want to look into handing him over to a rescue organisation try the Australian Working Dog Rescue, I know a few people who foster with them and they do a lot of good work for working breeds, they dont rehome to pet homes, only sporting or working homes and only to people who are knowledgable about working breeds Good luck with your decision Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JulesP Posted March 27, 2011 Share Posted March 27, 2011 Do you want to keep this dog? I've had heaps of physical issues (due to horse riding accidents) and at no stage have i considered rehoming the dogs. BUT my dogs do have a good recall and I have just hobbled out into my paddock and let them run around. That combined with obedience work has kept my border collies happy when I haven't been able to walk far. What is the long term prognosis for your knee? If it is going to be on going I would rethink the herding. You are likely to get the sheep running into you, especially at the beginning, if you use dogged sheep. They like being close to the human. If you got the dog just to do herding I would rehome. There is an inspirational lady in Victoria that does agility with her kelpie. She can't walk well and basically stands in the middle of the agility course and directs that kelpie around. It is super to watch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wings Posted March 27, 2011 Author Share Posted March 27, 2011 Thanks for the replies kiesha I tested walking her with me on the tractor (very very small one!) but she kept getting too close to the wheels so we stopped that pretty quick. Jules to be totaly honest it is a hard question to answer. Do I want to keep her? My first response is with my heart which is a yes! But my first committment to her is to give her a life that fulfills her needs. When it was just training difficulties I never thought about rehoming her, I was comitted to working through them towards our goals. My knee is a big unknown at the moment, I have to do a few months of physio and if there is no improvment in that time frame (or if it gets worse) then I have to look at getting it MRIed and other treatment options that the doctor hasn't ruled out as going as far as a replacment. Really hard to work with an issue that doesn't have clear boundries but obviously I can't put off whatever choice I make for my pup until I know for sure what is going on with my knee. I worry that I cannot offer her a life that properly challenges her mind even if I can work off the energy. GoldenGirl thankyou, I will keep that in mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wuffles Posted March 27, 2011 Share Posted March 27, 2011 (edited) I know this is knee advice and not dog advice but if I were you I would push for an MRI on your knee ASAP I have fiddled around with physio in the past when it would have just been better to get an MRI straight up. I had my ACL reconstructed last May, was back walking the dogs 4 weeks later, and started playing sport again 9 months post-op. It was a LOT of hard work but I am glad I did it as quickly as possible. My OH is now going through the same process and has moved even faster than me in getting surgery booked in. ETA: I know there are other people on this forum who have had similar experiences and at least one I talked to who had a total knee replacement and a young energetic dog... so you are not alone Edited March 27, 2011 by wuffles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monah Posted March 27, 2011 Share Posted March 27, 2011 That's a shame. I understand what it is like to have a plan and then it goes awry. I had 'plans' for 2 dogs of mine (in the past) and one had big health issues and one temp issues so plans out the window... I don't think you are horrid at all. It's completely up to how your knee is and if you are able to manage the dog in other ways. None of us know what is around the corner. I do have friends who do obedience and do very well and the woman is in an electric chair!! Also have a paraplegic frined who breeds min ponies and rare parrots and does whale photography as a job. really anything is possible, it's just finding a way to suit you. I too have had health issues in the past and had to care for crazy, exuberant gun dogs.. and not been able to walk etc.. imagination comes into play in these circumstances I'm sure you will find the right course of action that is best ffor both you and the dog. Good luck with it all, a very hard time for you.xxxxxx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newfsie Posted March 27, 2011 Share Posted March 27, 2011 I know this is knee advice and not dog advice but if I were you I would push for an MRI on your knee ASAP I have fiddled around with physio in the past when it would have just been better to get an MRI straight up. I had my ACL reconstructed last May, was back walking the dogs 4 weeks later, and started playing sport again 9 months post-op. It was a LOT of hard work but I am glad I did it as quickly as possible. My OH is now going through the same process and has moved even faster than me in getting surgery booked in.ETA: I know there are other people on this forum who have had similar experiences and at least one I talked to who had a total knee replacement and a young energetic dog... so you are not alone Ditto go and see a specialist. I work in A Radiology Department and the amount of months people have wasted in a wait and see situation is incredible. get it seen to. know what is wrong and deal with the problem. MRI's do no harm and will give nearly always the answer. Or at least have an ultrasound to get the ball rolling. I have also had multiple injuries from horse related accidents or just bad luck. We also had kelpies. my dogs have just had to slow down and do a lot of stuff that was high energy and a little more confined. you can start on some long lead recalls with in your yard and make them perfect and on to some recalls within the yard to make them perfect. if you still have to pass on your dog, you will give a dog with a great recall to someone else. There are so many training and tricks you can teach that require limited movement on your behalf. Try to think laterally and find different ways to do things. Make it fun for both of you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jumabaar Posted March 27, 2011 Share Posted March 27, 2011 Wow you are in a really difficult position!! I don't think it would be impossible to keep your dog, if that is what you want to do, but you should not feel pressured to do so. Re homing responsibly certainly will not be frowned on in this case!! Just a few suggestions- I have just had an ankle reconstruction so my dogs really have not been exercised for the past month, and even before then they were not being walked much because I kept spraining my ankle. It seems like focus is currently an issue- perhaps by rectifying this you would have more control and be able to do more with her without needing to move around as much. This is a really difficult age- they think they are invincible, but can be incredibly dumb and smart at the same time. I would look at the triangle of temptation posted in the training thread, and also perhaps look at crate games (you can search on the net and it is a program on DVD). Both these will bet your pup to look at you, which is the first step in training a recall. Even if you do decide to rehome, beginning on creating focus will only help her. There are a number of other programs that can be suggested that will dramatically build focus, but dont require you to move around much. I found this tired my dogs out enough to keep them sane, and have just tried to give them opportunities to run around by throwing the ball. I hope this has helped a little. I think you are doing the right thing by taking a step back and considering the situation carefully. If you do decide to keep her feel free to pop into the training section to ask about focus training! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wings Posted March 27, 2011 Author Share Posted March 27, 2011 Thanks everyone, you're making me feel less horrid! I'll talk to the doc about speeding up somthing like an MRI for my knee and hopefully it all ends out less serious then it could be. As for my pup I'll make some enquiries on both my options, maybe one of them will suddenly and clearly become the best option once I get a bit further into it (I can hope right?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelpiekaye Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 I had a simular situation once when I had a head on car accident on the way to work. Both of my dogs were in the car with me but thats another story. My kelpie Bo was 1year old and full of beans. I was very lucky my boss at the orchard I worked on looked after her for about a month until I was well and able enough to take her to a local dog freindly beach where I could just let her go and run herself out. Maybe the farmer that gave her to you could look after your kelpie for a while or maybe foster somewhere suitable. Good Luck. You are not a bad owner and what ever you do will be for the right reasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spanky Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 If the dog isn't into food when training does she have a prey drive? Maybe your using the wrong motivation for training. Duck into the training section of the forum and investigate Training in Drive. My frenchie has a high prey drive and works for her tug, food does nothing for her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wings Posted March 28, 2011 Author Share Posted March 28, 2011 I think if I tied one of the cats onto a stick I could catch her attention pretty easily! She is obssessed with them! Drive has been a constant issue for us, we've tried an array of different treats starting with dried things to raw, to lightly cooked to increadibly smelly. We've tried toys with not much success either. Best results have come from lots of attention when she gets it right, she really responds to a good rub and a "good girl!" I'll definetly keep working on her training while I'm making this choice, no matter what happens I want her to have the best life possible, she deserves it. "they think they are invincible, but can be incredibly dumb and smart at the same time." Woofen that sums up her current mind set so well! I'll go lurk in the training section for a few ideas to try with her to keep her brain occupied. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perry's Mum Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 She sounds as though she might be the kind of dog who would like balls - I managed to hurt both my back and knee badly when I first got Perry who was a very active young Koolie - we got through it by teaching her to play fetch - gives her lots of exercise and she still (7 years later) prefers that to walks. I started with throwing a ball backwards and forwards with a friend and then we purposely dropped it and rewarded her when she brought it back - she got the idea very quickly and then throwing the ball for her to fetch became its own reward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr.mister Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 (edited) You don't sound horrid at all, you sound concerned about your dog's wellbeing. Have you considered teaching her tricks and jobs to keep her brain occupied? Kelpies are very active dogs but like other working breeds are also highly intelligent and enjoy a mental work out just as much as a physical one. You can probably teach her tonnes of things around the house and can give her a set of 'chores' to do as a daily workout. You never know, you might end up with one helpful dog. I was going to post that video up from a DOLer of a dog that does the laundry, but couldn't find it. If anyone can post it up that would be awesome. :D eta: My old BC had unbelievably high drive, and he was obsessed with tennis balls. We used it as a reward after a training session. Edited March 28, 2011 by mr.mister Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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