Hey all, We are new members. We have a lil Border Collie, who is 14 weeks old. This is a new experience for us and to make things harder we have two Tonkinese cats (1-year-old). Along with the persistent biting, we are finding it really challenging getting him to rest in the living room when we know he is tired. We'll play with him or come back from a walk, then do a restful yet stimulating activity like chewing a tripe stick or find the treats, but after it's done, he'll just go on the crazy jumping, biting frenzy (that really hurts). We've had a wonderful puppy trainer help us, who seems to work her magic on him at the time but as soon as she's gone... the crazy mode begins again and we put in the kitchen to allow him to sleep. We've run out of ideas and not knowing where to go next. We've tried all the tricks in the book as well as tips we've seen in the super useful forum.
If the trainer is able to help curb your puppies problematic behaviors I would suggest continuing with her. What she is doing is not magic, she just understands how to communicate with your pup. I would say what’s not happening is either she is not teaching you what she’s doing very well or you’re not picking up on it, but very possibly you are expecting too much too soon. You are the ones who need to be trained to pick up on your dogs cues. It’s possible that she can communicate well with your dog but she’s not communicating well with you. Talk to her about your concerns. Generally dog training is more about teaching the humans (training you), then actually training the dog, IMO. This can be a hard concept for some people. Also how long have you been working with her? Understanding dogs, especially if this is your first one, takes time and patience, it’s not going to happen with a few training sessions. Also a border collie is an active breed who need a job to do. They may not be happy and fulfilled with a walk and treat games. A few years ago I was working for a homeowner remodeling the exterior of his house and putting on a new roof with a new roofline. I got to watch their border collie in action for 6 months, and she was always busy with their two small horses, one bigger horse and a lama. She was constantly trying to interact with them, herd them, very busy. busy, busy. She created a job for herself. She was very intelligent and understood the property lines. There was fencing to keep the large animals in but she could easily go through it, yet didn’t. Sometimes trainers can get a dog to alter its behavior yet aren’t good at communicating how to do this to the owners. I have two Akitas now, who I take into any store that allows me to. I’m very often told how well behaved they are, yet I’m not sure I could communicate well how I’ve achieved this. I struggled with my first Akita for his first two plus years, and I tell people he caused me my first grey hairs. Eventually we worked things out and he became a very loyal protective dog. He was incredibly intelligent. So what I’m trying to say is changing your dog’s behaviors and understanding them takes much time , it’s a process. At 14 weeks he’s still just a baby. Think about how human babies learn. You need to have realistic expectations. As far as the biting goes I taught my dogs the word kisses. Any time they licked my hand a would repeat the word. So when they would try and bite I would gently say kisses, and soon I was rewarded with a lick. This takes some time, and the amount of time will vary. When the puppy bites I would suggest saying a sharp ouch, and remove your hand. He should eventually pick up on these cues if you remain calm and consistent. When you say ouch and when you say kisses is something you will need to figure out. I would say always reward for the kisses. I hope this is helpful and good luck
Thank you, that is very helpful. I do think my expectations are too high, but I think that's more because I want the best for him. He is licking more, but the biting isn't just on my hand but my legs and if I'm walking away, my bum (not the easiest thing to stay calm at) I will speak with our trainer on the points you mentioned and I'm going to think of some ideas on really working his smart brain. Any suggestions on activities? GsdSlave - We've only had two proper sessions & bumped into on a walk but she told us about the food-finding game for inside and outside, gave us a good education on the food we give him and a few things to look for.
Biting is normal, best to teach bite inhabitation rather than trying to stop it. As for sleeping id put his bed in another area that can be fenced off with baby gate, and give a stuffed kong to keep him occupied. There are lots of things one can do other than just walking. Indoor/outdoor short training sessions, make it fun. Food Puzzle toys, Tug of war game, cup game,ect: Outside I hide ball/toy in long grass and tell them to find it. Hide and seek. Tracking Flirt pole He is not too young to go to training classes.
