Why does the Border Collie become fixated on one spot in the garden? Border Collie Oscar lives with a young couple who love him dearly. They do everything they can think of to give him the best life. One thing they have been unable to overcome. Fixates. Frozen Oscar, in Read more
When a dog whines, barks and rushes whenever something exciting happens, can teaching calm behaviours work better than simply ignoring the noise? Some dogs, like some people, are more easily excited and more vocal than others! Genetics is involved and in the case of a dog this includes the breed. Read more
Merlin snaps, they feel aggressively, at their teenage son. He snaps at his hands; he chases and snaps at his feet.
It took them a while to discover the connection between his extreme fearfulness and bangs. He can rally during hours of darkness when bird-scarers are banned and during those few months that are quiet, but it’s only a temporary reprieve – false security.
When Patch is ‘on duty’, if he’s sufficiently aroused, scared or worried, the natural escalation from barking is to nip. The barking says Go Away. They don’t go, so he nips them. That does the trick. Now they back off.
Can taking away toys and activities actually make a lively dog more difficult to live with?
In their efforts to get some peace and to calm their one-year-old Border Collie Paddy, they have done the very opposite to what I would do myself.
Like many people do when troubled by their dog, the lovely young couple have cast about, trying all different things. None work.
Misguidedly, they have taken away from him the very things he needs to vent his arousal. He needs much more to do, not less.
Why can constant ball throwing create an obsessive, over-excited dog?
The young couple has a beautiful Border Collie pup called Sabre, soon to be sixth months old.
He greeted me outside the house, pulling hard to get to me. Most of the time I was with them he was flying all over the place or barking at the young man in particular. He barked for him to throw a toy.
The man always complies because the barking goes right through his head.
Why would a friendly dog snarl and show his teeth when someone tried to groom him?
Ollie won’t let anyone groom him. He absolutely hates it. The Border Collie has developed tangles inside his back legs and behind his ears which need to be cut out.
The only way a groomer can work on him is to muzzle him and then use force. The otherwise very friendly dog completely changes personality. He becomes aggressive, snarling and showing his teeth.
His last visit to a groomer was a year ago now.
Within a few minutes of being with them, I discovered two things that may be relevant. He had been jumping at me in a very friendly fashion. When his feet were on the floor I gently put my hand out to touch him behind his ears.
Immediately I saw his teeth. He growled, backing away.
Oh! I didn’t expect that. (more…)
A short while ago the stressful walks came to a head when he saw a smaller dog appear and ‘suddenly’ charged at it.
Border Collie Chasing and Attacking Footballs and Geese Jasper is a wonderful Border Collie. He is beautifully suited to life as a house pet in his particularly lovely home environment. They have a big garden with a stream running through it, lots of lawn with rougher areas, two alpacas and Read more