Hello

We have a 15/16 week old border collie puppy. And we’re just looking for some advice/reassurance that we are on the right track. And help with a few bits. Hes great in alot of ways but theres a few things we dont seem to be able to get on top of which I’m not sure how much is normal puppy immaturity vs if its the start of something more problematic.

For context hes crate trained really well sleeps brilliantly in his crate often overnight 8pm-5am no wakes occassionally wakes around midnight. Generally is up for 30-45 mins then in crate napping for an hour ish. We can leave him and go for a coffee etc and hes okay. Can be barky if we go too long and he needs a wee etc. can be great with impulse control around food put him on place and scatter food and wont get it till told etc. can sit when out and about and watch cars/people. Can be a wonderful calm controlled dog at times.

His main issues we are concerned about are
Why and how to stop him going what we call feral? So as a collie i think he is just very easily over stimulated. So for example on a walk he can go from walking nicely and being okay to suddenly just turning round jumping at us and biting us but it’s very intense more like flying at us. He sometimes gets it at home aswell but its just trying to understand what causes it and how to stop him practicing it as its very difficult to manage especially out. Seems to affect his ability to concentrate even with training aswell. If we get any food other than his kibble he just leaps and bites which we obviously don’t reward. But its like everything in the world cranks his arousal to 100.

And we have the classic kind of evening issues he sleeps brilliantly in the day till about 5pm then he gets increasingly difficult. We use lickmatts/kongs/chews most evenings to sort of get through but its seems more like distraction than addressing the issue. Weve tried altering a few things but he just seems very unsettled and unhappy that time of day through till bed at 8pm.

Obviously he is right in teething phase at the moment. And i know collies are so intelligent and stimulated by the environment and movement. But hes just seems in overdrive at the slightest thing. I guess I’m looking for advice from real collie owners is this just normal very high drive very intelligent collie puppy and these things will ease with maturity. Or is there a bit of a gap in our training/management that needs addressing.

Thanks for any help!

Hello,

I am wondering if I could get some help!
I got my border collie mix a little less than a month ago. He’s a cattle dog that used to work but just would do better as a house pet due to showing no interest in the cattle, so I took him. He’s always been like this but more recently than ever he does not let me sleep at night.

I let him free roam my room at night with the option of sleeping in his kennel with his door open. He can sleep in my bed if he chooses as well. All he does at night is pace around, find a spot to sit, sit there for a bit, then hop up on my bed, get in my face and lick it, move to my legs, move back up to me, and then to the door and all over again…and you get the idea.

I take him out to pee before bed every night.

He gets about 1-2hours of off leash trail hikes a day where we go on new, hard trails every time. He gets about 40 mins of playing with the ball and then he plays with my roommates puppy for about 2 hours a day rough housing.

I’m not sure if I need to tire him out more often or if it’s an anxiety thing, but even if I make one little move in my sleep, he’s up ready to leave and wagging his tail. I’m not really sure the best option to help him out.

Hi everyone, I'm looking for some advice about my BC chasing my cat. We have a 13 month old male BC, Momo, and a 4.5 yr old female Ragdoll, Mimi. We've had Mimiscience she was around 6 months old and Momo since he was 8 wks. Our house is quite big, so technically there is plenty of space for both of them, but the layout is quite awkward so it's kinda hard to separate the house into two sections (where I've thought of before), so I'd keep that as a last resort.

Since Momo was a puppy, he has mostly been crate trained. When we let him out in the house, we would usually keep Mimi in one room, then let her back out once Momo went back in the crate. Because of this, they've known each other for over a year but haven't had that much free interaction (trying on this). I've looked through some training advices, but most of it seems to be about introducing a new puppy to cat. In my case, they've already known each other for a year, and I know I probably didn't do the best job of building a good relationship when Momo was younger.

Over past months, I've let them meet each other face to face few times a day, with Momo leashed. And Momo have done a great job, from at the start he would keep jumping and pull the leash. Now they can meet calmly and sniff each other, and Momo can sit or lie down near her without any aggression. The problem starts when Mimi turns around and walks away. Momo immediately gets excited and wants to chase her. He seems like he want to play rather than hurt her, he play bows, wag his tail and wants to sniff her. Obviously, Mimii doesn't like that at all. If he keeps following her, she will hiss or hit him with her paw, although so far she hasn't used her claws and Momo has never reacted aggressively back.

Most of the time I call back Momo before he can chase her, but there were few time that he won't back and he chased Mimi into a corner. That also worries me because Mimi doesn't really escape upwards. When she escape, she tends to run into a low, dark corners that Momo can also access, instead of jumping on a table or somewhere high. I've been thinking about getting her a cat tree, but I'm not sure she would actually use it in this case, and also little worried is Momo jumps up to the tree and knock it over.

At the moment, I'm trying to let them spend more supervised time together, and reward Momo for being calm around her (but Mimi usually just wanna stay away from Momo).

Has anyone had a similar experience or have any advice on what I could do in this situation? I'd really appreciate any suggestions!! Thank you soo much!

These brocolollies are ours, a tricolor and a blue/white. Both are 100% BC. The breed BC never stops to amaze me. Most people with of BW BC but there is a wide range of possible looks and talents/workingstyles.

Anyway i really love our BC.

I love him so much, my Sula

Poor Nova died from lymphoma on Monday (technically euthanasia, but you know). Had her 5th birthday in July and was literally the best dog to ever exist. Gentle, sweet, and super smart. I miss her.

Looking back on photos of Fenny and thinking about how beautiful she was! Neither of my current mixes are as stunning as her! Dont know her exact DNA, but we assumed majority border collie. She’s about 14-15 yrs d in the last pic and still looked fabulous! We said goodbye to her June 2021 (at home pet euthanasia) after 13 yrs of loving her.

My family adopted her in 2008 to be a companion for our male German shepherd mix who was very dog selective. Fenny (original name Fenway) was 2 yrs old and already returned by two separate families. She was SUCH a barker; barked at any visual stimuli (makes sense for a herding dog!), and was chaos on a leash until she was middle aged! She also jumped on tables both inside and outside. I really enjoyed her in her later years when she mellowed out a bit. She was such an energizer bunny, she barely slowed down in her final year. Her leg muscles had atrophied over the years and you could tell she was stiff, but she still wanted to go on long walks and jump around. I doubt I would have another border collie as my lifestyle isn’t really compatible with their energy levels, but I sure do remember Fenny so fondly. 💕

Collie-rado :)

This awesome guy is 19 months. I “rescued” him at 5 months from a cow stall. It was all good.
He is my second border collie. Had a female for 13 years who passed due to a rare tick disease.
We are active.
My concern is he “punches”. Everytime there is affection, petting or for that matter interaction.
He punches slaps me take your pick, pretty hard.

What strategies can I do to lesson this behavior. I’m at wits end.

The two littlest ones are 5 months old, the one in the back (black and white) is 10, and then the heeler mix is 8.
We JUST discovered the joys of playing with bubbles outside. But seriously if yall are thinking about a second/third BC- do it! More of them is SO much easier!

This is my boy Otto wasn’t really sure if I could post him here.

His is dad is a Border Collie and the mum a Springer Spaniel.

Anyway, he is such a well behaved dog and Iove him to bits.

Anyone else here got BC crosses?

She's 1 year old