Celeste McFarlane

Hi Naomi, I live in Brisbane, inner city and have two border collies, (mind, one is a 13 week old pup!) but have never had a problem. They are alot of work, but I think the thing that people seem to not mention is, that the 'lot of work' is very rewarding and very enjoyable. I love my dogs, and couldn't imagine life with out them, even though 6 months ago I was living a border collie free existance!

Inu, I also have a 12-13 week little girl, who sounds like she is alot like your 'little angel' .. she conveniently 'forgets' the rules and all we've taught her, but we reinforce and reinforce and hopefully, she will come good. She's a little devil, thats for sure. Our 8 month old boy is such a good boy, its actually a shock to our systems to have a little brat on our hands nah, we love her to bits and wouldn't have her any other way. We just know its going to take persistence with her, but hey, it'll be worth it. Alot of the time she refuses to sit for her food etc, we just take the food away and walk off. After 5 minutes we try again and she suddenly remembers! So you see, its just about persistance and letting her know that you are the boss and that 'forgetting' will not be acceptable.

True. Leo also gets discolouration on his front legs due to chewing the bones.. it always washes of in the bath though, or wears off fairly quickly.

Yes indeed our baby is 12 weeks old!! Well he is due for his 12 week shots in two days, so almost!! The reflection in the mirror? Yes he wasnt keen on that, but I dont think that was too much of a problem because he was very keen on playing with other puppies at puppy pre-school.

Sorry, yes, he's 12 weeks old. We've had him since he was 6 and a half weeks so almost six weeks hes been living with us, however, we've known him since the day he was born, so basically we've spent time with him from a very early age. The major reason for my concern was there was such a turn around in behaviour very quickly... we've been spending alot of time trying to re-establish his training and obediance however, improvments seem very small and far between, as he has no willingness to co-operate with us. We havent used any punishments with him at all, other then a warning 'argp!' or the occasional 'time out' in the bathroom, and there is plenty of positive reinforcement .. so I guess patience and perserverence is probably the answer.

Greetings, I'm Callum's other half and Leo's mum. Leo essentially is an angel, and we've had very few problems with him over the past weeks - only the usual puppy problems that pop up and are quickly solved, but over the last two days, he's done a complete turn around, and decided no he wont sit, or come or do anything that we've trained him to do. I'm not sure what triggered this, but it was first noted on Leo's first day of puppy preschool when he refused to come, then furthermore BIT me very hard in order to get away from me and play with the other puppies. Now Leo has nipped before but never bitten!! Anyway, since Saturday he's been an absolute horror... and we can't figure what the problem could be, we've tried extra attention, trips to the park, treats. We also went through some small training sessions with him again several times. The problem is Leo isnt fussed on food rewards and isnt all that enthused with our positive reinforcements either.... Any suggestions? My parents have been breeding BCs for years, and we've never encountered a turn around like this. Its upsetting me very much, as I love Leo dearly, and he seems to have become a completely different boy!!!