New dog help

my cocker is quite good and things but she gets distracted easily and thats her problem is keeping her focused on one thing, i.e bringing the ball back and not sniffing everything
 
Never had collies but we have a 9month Lab.

Make sure you get a cage. You will be glad you did. Get him/her to use it of his own accord and treat him when he goes in and only when he goes in. Keep using this meathod untill he goes in on his own when you tell him too then you can start to close the door to the cage. This will not be as scary as shutting him in from day one.

Get a whistle and clicker and a BIG bag of treats. Get him used to basic commands like, Sit, Stand, Lay down, Stay, Come here, Down and No. When you tell him to do anyone of these commands reward him with a treat and a click from the clicker ONLY when he COMPLETES the command. Once he gets used to it try him with less treats and use a toy instead, alternate them. Treat in one session and a toy the next.

When you are out walking for the first time be it on the street or park, keep him on a lead and use the commands and treat as needed. The best one to use is the 'come here' whilst on the lead. If hes pulling or trying to get away tell him to 'come here' whilst you are stationary and only treat him when he comes back to you even if it is only a few yards. If you see him sit down or walking towards you even if its at home, reward him and use a clicker while you say the command word. Training doesnt have to be when you say what to do if he does it by himself even better he will get to know doing things like sitting by himself will reap the rewards.

If you are out in a dog walking park and he is on a lead and a dog who seems friendly comes up to him let him off his lead. This is important as dogs tend to be more aggressive when on leads towards other animals. Let him off and they will run around playing, getting exercise and worn out while you stand there chatting to the other dogs owner.. Its all good fun.

Using a whistle for long distance recall is good and that can be started soon as hes off the lead running around the park with other dogs. Dont expect results right away, we started using our whistles about 6 weeks ago just so he gets used to it whilst we are out. Now, 8/10 times he comes back, if he doesnt we say 'see ya' and walk the other way, he soons comes back and as he does we blow the whistle.

Its hard work at first as puppies but it very rewarding when he comes back to you or does what you want him too. Just be patient with him.

Our dog has gained our trust now. We leave him out of the cage at night but still secured in the dinning room and today we left him out whilst we were both at work. He was on hs own, with 2 cats from 2pm till 8:30 tonight and he was completely fine but he is used to being on his own for that ammount of time. Not ideal but that is what he knows and thats what he understands. He has long walks and so should yours they love it.

Dexter 8 (ish) months ago
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Dexter at 7 months ish

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^ hahah yes! Look at that guy.

We should probably be starting a dog thread to shut up all these blinkin cat threads that i've been seeing.

Stupid cats.
 
leoncc said:
We've only ever had border collies, I don't know a lot but they are awesome dogs, very active and fun to play with and extremely intelligent, they do need a lot of exercise, we live next to a park so its ideal.

1-2 hours is perfectly fine, anything over 6 consistently wouldn't be fair on the dog imo.

They are fine with other dogs, but don't be worried when they arch their back when they see a dog and lie on the ground ready to pounce, its just their nature.

All dogs need a lot of training for the rewards and benefits, with regards to the dog running off when you let him off the lead, take him/her for a walk at first where there’s no dogs around and let him/her off with no distractions and gradually build it up.

Also dog classes are very good, we took our dog to them for a couple of years and it did help, she became more obedient with other dogs, though collies are friendly naturally. She learned to sit, use her paw, lay down and come to certain commands.

Try a few different classes though we found some trainers were to strict and could see our dog wasn't enjoying it and getting more angry.

All trial and error really, just make sure he/she knows who’s boss! (mainly the person who feeds him/her and takes him/her walks the most) show the dog lots of love but you’re the master and they make great companions and become very loyal to their master.

Absolutely lovely dogs.
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Spot on advice.

I'd recommend you dont feed your dog on butchers, pedigree chum, bakers or any other dog food you can buy from a super market.

Instead locate your local pet store and request a holistic dog food. If your not sure what holistic dog food is, google it, there are loads of companies.

The difference between the 2 foods, holistic has 50+% meat content, where supermarket dog food has 5% meat and the rest is fur and feathers.
 
Droolinggimp said:
Get a whistle and clicker and a BIG bag of treats. Get him used to basic commands like, Sit, Stand, Lay down, Stay, Come here, Down and No. When you tell him to do anyone of these commands reward him with a treat and a click from the clicker ONLY when he COMPLETES the command. Once he gets used to it try him with less treats and use a toy instead, alternate them. Treat in one session and a toy the next.
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Clickers are great, but if used wrong they can provide a nightmare scenario, the click has to be exactly when the dog does the command.

When you are out walking for the first time be it on the street or park, keep him on a lead and use the commands and treat as needed. The best one to use is the 'come here' whilst on the lead. If hes pulling or trying to get away tell him to 'come here' whilst you are stationary and only treat him when he comes back to you even if it is only a few yards. If you see him sit down or walking towards you even if its at home, reward him and use a clicker while you say the command word. Training doesnt have to be when you say what to do if he does it by himself even better he will get to know doing things like sitting by himself will reap the rewards.
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I actually disagree with keeping the dog on the lead on his first walk, the best thing you can do is go to a small enclosed field and with no dogs around let him off. This way they get used to being off the lead from a young age and reduce the chances of him running off.

When hes older the best thing you can do with him off the lead is to change directions but never call him to follow you, start off just turn around and head back where you came from (not around corners), then add corners and bushes, this way the dog is always checking your there and is not charging on ahead.

If there pulling on the lead the last thing you want to do is pull the lead to you, you need to pull to the side (towards your side) off balancing the dog, pulling the lead to you just makes them more excited. But you need to work in a good heel, otherwise you'll look like them morons in the street being walked by there dog, not the other way around.
 
Teki187 said:
When hes older the best thing you can do with him off the lead is to change directions but never call him to follow you, start off just turn around and head back where you came from (not around corners), then add corners and bushes, this way the dog is always checking your there and is not charging on ahead.
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Basically that's how you teach the "heel" command, but everytime you change direction tell the dog to heel, once learnt when he hears the command it means to stay close to you.

Collies are wonderful dogs but I would be careful if you have young children around your house as they are more likely to nip people and are a lot less tolerant of being grabbed.

w.r.t. Cage, you don't need one but it will speed up the house training if you have a large open plan house, if you have somewhere like a utility room/section of a kitchen where you can enclose the dog in on a night time it will have the same benefit, I don't agree with people who crate their dogs while they go out.

As for grooming I would suggest getting a furminator, I've never seen so muich fur be removed from Max, pretty much once a week a full carrier bag of fur comes off which is almost 10x what I used to get using a shedding comb.

KaHn
 
thanks for the help sofar chaps, ive seen about collies niping kids but we are all adults in the house and none of my friends have small kids so that should be fine. just one quick question, none of my friends have dogs but ive seen on the internet that you should try to socialise the dog at an early age so would just walking on a field with other dogs be ok or would the dog benift from some sort of dog classes? also how hard is a dog to toilet train? say like telling me when it needs to go out rather than poo/peeing on the carpet
 
webmonkeyuk said:
thanks for the help sofar chaps, ive seen about collies niping kids but we are all adults in the house and none of my friends have small kids so that should be fine. just one quick question, none of my friends have dogs but ive seen on the internet that you should try to socialise the dog at an early age so would just walking on a field with other dogs be ok or would the dog benift from some sort of dog classes? also how hard is a dog to toilet train? say like telling me when it needs to go out rather than poo/peeing on the carpet
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w.r.t. getting it used to other dogs you vet will probably do puppy parties and advise you on local puppy training classes, all of these are good for socalising your pup.

As for toilet training it really does depend on how you do it, we let Max have run of the whole kitchen as a pup which meant he got used to the idea of going anywhere in the kitchen which meant on a night time he would sleep one side of the kitchen and poop in the other, which took longer to control than him just pooing anywhere.

Max was around 3month before he stopped weeing/pooing around the house and about 5month before he stopped everything.

KaHn
 
The thing about some collies is that they are taught/have it in their genes to nip, but generally they nip very lightly for encouragement purposes, unless they feel threatened

As for socialisation - join a class. You'll also pick up useful training advice from the person in charge and the other attendees. After a while the dog will get plenty of socialisation out on walks

Clickers are great for training but if you are going to use them, make sure you understand what you are doing and why the dog responds to them

Toilet training - I'd keep the dog in a large cage every night for the first few months with plenty of newspaper in the bottom. Leave the cage up during the day so the dog treats it as their sleeping place and doesn't come to associate it with punishment. You can replace the paper every day no problem. During the day, just keep an eye out for the squatting and somewhat distant look in the eye and take them outside straight away. You can use pads/kitchen roll on the floor which the dog will naturally tend to wee on ...and gradually move it closer to the outside door. Until it's toilet trained you should try and keep it to floors with ceramic tiles/lino etc
 
Good choice. Cats are annoying and boring, dogs are the way forward.

Collies, as has been said are intelligent so be sure to keep them stimulated with interesting things (sudoku, cryptic cross word etc) and walk them regularly. Any ideas on names?
 
Jack Russell's, they have the most character out of any dog and they aren't to much to handle if you dont mind the odd shoe being eaten :p That said they do like to play a lot when younger so you might want to watch your shoes, cushions etc.

Ours passed away a while ago due to developing a disease but it was a dog I will never forget!

Edit- reading back theres a lot of collie mentions. We have one of these which we got from a dogs home, was a stray and was beaten by its owner who was thought to be a farmer.

First time we seen her she would not let any one bar one of the keepers near her, she would get as far away as possible, curl up and growl. Took her for a walk and she was extremely nervous.

For a few months she would not go near any men, but women she wouldn't mind so much but would still be on guard, but after about 6 months and a fair bit of training she is perfect with anyone she meets and will protect you with her life if anyone were to attack, which is a plus :D

Brilliant dogs and extremely loyal with anyone who puts the time in with them, intelligent and friendly with other dogs as well.

Our other dog is a little terrier, so much character and a very loving dog, quite smart as well and always plays with the collie.
 
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Will be looking for a girl dog as i think there more loyal and loving so the name im set on is Jess, open to other names though so if you can think of any to compete with jess then feel free to type away
 
webmonkeyuk said:
Will be looking for a girl dog as i think there more loyal and loving so the name im set on is Jess, open to other names though so if you can think of any to compete with jess then feel free to type away
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Don't go looking for a dog based on opinion, look at a few breeders and pick the best one from them, based on their attitude at the time, you could get a bitch whos temperment isn't right just because you wanted a girl.

KaHn
 
We have always had a girl dog before so i just thought id get another girl as ive never had a problem with them but maybe if the right boy comes along id be open to possibley having a boy
 
webmonkeyuk said:
We have always had a girl dog before so i just thought id get another girl as ive never had a problem with them but maybe if the right boy comes along id be open to possibley having a boy
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All I'm saying is don't set too many constraints when looking for your dog, in a sence you will know which one you want straight away, you may go for the pick (largest pup) or the runt of the litters or one inbetween, you can tell quite a lot about the way the dog is placed in the pack at that age.

With Max we got the pick and as such took the largest boy, he is very sure of him self, nothing is too big and as such he is so out going, some dogs are shy around new people, Max generally runs upto everyone to say hello.

A friend of mine got the runt of a white GSD litter (short haired so not the same parents as Max) her dog is very nervous when on a lead but off she is more obident than Max but she is quite destructive if left alone.

This isn't always the case but I am just trying to give you as much info as I can regarding the delicate process of picking a pup :)

KaHn
 
Well i managed to pick one up last week its a bitch of 12 weeks old, shes seems ok and has settled in apart from the firstnight where she was really unsure of her surroundings which is natural. the person who sold it hadnt give it her vacinations so i got the first set last friday and her second is next week, ive managed to get her to know her name,sit on command and sit for her food ive got her part toilet trained as she whines at the back door when she needs to poo but she just pees when she wants at the moment. what should the poo be like because at first its solid and by night time it gets a bit runny.

I will be enroling her into training classes when her jabs are done but she seems to be getting more rough when i play with her, she starts off by licking and mouthing and then she starts to bit harder and you tell her "No" but she doent take much notice and if you bend down to her she tends to jump up and paw or mouth at you. at first she was fine with shoes and furniture but now she is starting to go for them now, i know shes a pup and its what they do but id like her to take notice of me sometimes :p Ive been trying to get her used to her lead and walk her round the back garden and house but she just stands still and you have to gradualy get her to move a few feet and she stops , any tips for helping with this? Hopefully the training classes will show me the right steps for getting her trained the right way.

All in all a lovely little dog and such a little thing
 
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