The off switch, or off mode

[TaliC2007]

A few of you have said if my new puppy doesn't have an "off" switch, or an "off" mode then I will need to teach him. I am assuming (we all know what that does) that it means you teach them how to be calm and relaxed in the house. If that is wrong, then someone please explain to me what it is, and then how do you teach this to a 6 month old.

 

thanks in advance for your help.

Tammy

[Pippin's person]

A few of you have said if my new puppy doesn't have an "off" switch, or an "off" mode then I will need to teach him. I am assuming (we all know what that does) that it means you teach them how to be calm and relaxed in the house. If that is wrong, then someone please explain to me what it is, and then how do you teach this to a 6 month old.

 

thanks in advance for your help.

Tammy

 

That is how I understand the "off swich". Depending on how you are training him, there are different ways to teach him to have one. Putting him in a crate for 20 or 30 mintues with a chew toy or a stuffed Kong while you go about your business (luring the behavior). Praising him when he's lying quietly (capturing the behavior). Once you have a reasonable down on him, start asking for longer and longer downs (or teach "settle") (molding the behavior). Like with much dog training, it's a matter of imagining what *you* want the off switch to look like and then training your pup to do that.

 

We've used a crate to train this--giving them plenty to keep them occupied and not leaving them there for too long at a time. Also, train him that you're the one who decides when it's time to play and when it's time to stop--basically control the things that he wants--and ask him to "earn" his fun and treats (for instance, by staying in a down for 10 seconds, 20 seconds, 1 minute, etc.). By starting small and raising your expectations in small, incremental steps, you should have an off switch by the time he's more adult. Pippin had what I might call a reliable off switch by the time she was about 18 mos old; the younger boys all had one much earlier.

 

You can't train this if the pup hasn't already had a chance to burn plenty of energy first. If he's alone all day while everyone is at work/school/whatever, then it'll be really hard (and probably an unrealistic expectation) to ask him to turn "off" until he's really been exercised mentally and physically.

 

Good luck

[BustopherJones]

If Border Collies actually do have an "off" switch, I still haven't found it after 3 years.

[TaliC2007]

If Border Collies actually do have an "off" switch, I still haven't found it after 3 years.

 

heh ,that is why I was asking exactly what it was.

 

Thank you Pippin's person for going into so much detail. That is exactly what I needed. I actually did look in the search, and looked online, and found nothing on this subject. That doesn't mean there isn't something there, I just couldnt' find it. This is very much appreciated and will be very helpful to me.

 

Tammy

[BCFan]

Ours learned this (or was it us that learned it?) much later than 6 mo. We have two releases:

 

1. "That'll do" - he is done with whatever game he is playing, and comes to us for praise. When given this command after playing fetch for example, you can clearly see his body relax to the waggy mode. He learned this by us connecting it with a COME and some praise. Maybe also kneel down.

 

2. "All Done" - We give this command then look away and do not engage him. He turns around, walks to a nice spot and deliberately flops down in disappointment. If you look at him or engage in any way, he switches back on, his eyebrows raise wondering if it's time to start again. He understand this command to mean that the humans are done engaging him.

[TaliC2007]

Thanks BC Fan. Some more great information.

 

Ours learned this (or was it us that learned it?) much later than 6 mo.

 

Are you saying I shouldn't expect too much at 6 months? That is actually good to know. So maybe I should start out with the "All done" command and only look away for a few seconds and then gradually build up the time as he gets older? I will be wearing him out every night too. Ok, maybe I won't, but that is the plan. We will be going to obedience training shortly after I get him and then, when he is ready, we will be going to beginning agility training, plus there is a dog park at a lake less than a mile from my house with part of the lake quartered off just for the dogs, so we will be going there a lot too. I have been taking my Aussie's there everyday since it opened and it is a really great place for the dogs. Anyway, he should be tired by the time I am ready to go to bed and he is already crate trained.

 

BTW, with all of the great information and advice I have gotten from this board, I might turn out with the greatest Border Collie who ever lived!

[sandra s.]

I might turn out with the greatest Border Collie who ever lived!

 

Nooo way, she's all mine .

 

Kessie and Kyla relax if I do. They don't need an off switch, or artificial "down time", just a calm environment.

They've taught me to really enjoy my own "downtime" - to yawn my head off like they do, stretch as far as I can, and sigh contentedly if the bed is warm . If I'm calm, they see no reason to run around nervously- and if I'm nervously running around, I see no reason why they should be calm.

As far as bringing toys is concerned, they give up pretty quickly if I really don't want to play. If I only THINK that I don't want to play, then more power to them if they know better .

[shelb'smum]

^^^^^ What she said

 

Shelby will lay down if I lay down, sit down if I sit down and so on.... so if i'm energetic, so is she if I'm not (and she's had a least a little exercise that day) she's not either. I never trained it into her. its just how she is

 

But If i'm cleaning..... CRAZY DOG!! I mean WOW

[TaliC2007]

Were all of your dogs like that from puppyhood? Did they just kind of figure you out as they grew and learned to follow your behavior?

 

But If i'm cleaning..... CRAZY DOG!! I mean WOW

To bad you can't teach Shelby to push a vacuum or scrub a bathtub! Who knows, maybe you can.

[shelb'smum]

To bad you can't teach Shelby to push a vacuum or scrub a bathtub! Who knows, maybe you can.

 

I'll just make booties into a mop of some sort.... her feet are just so small though...

I can't really say if Shelby has always been like that, I started fostering when she was 4? months old, the ended up adopting, then adopted him out... (all for the better, he is MUCH happier now) but since he's been gone, thats what she does. I love my lil girl! I would train her to pick up her toys.... but she really doesn't have many. just the damn squeaky balls.... death to the squeaky balls!

[BCFan]

I am not saying 6 mo. is too early. I am not an expert trainer so I do not know. But these commands work for us. When we watch TV, the all done command works well to at least temporarily stop him from dropping balls in our laps or on the couch. Often, he will wait and watch the ball in my lap for VERY long periods of time to see if it moves.

[sandra s.]

Were all of your dogs like that from puppyhood? Did they just kind of figure you out as they grew and learned to follow your behavior?

 

Kessie and Kyla are rescues, both adopted at roughly seven months old. They quickly figured out how things are in their new pack. At first, they were careful anyway (as anyone would be). By the time they got bolder, they had already understood how things work here (no routine at all, but enough walks/games/food for everybody).

 

Kyla (the comparative "newbie") seems to follow Kessie's behaviour, too, in a lot of matters.

[Shetlander]

Ah, yes, the famed "off switch" I heard do much about when I was preparing to become a Border Collie owner. I remember wondering where the heck the off switch was on my puppy when I first got Quinn. I looked all over for it. Then I realized that 1. A BC's off switch doesn't generally come installed, at least not in a puppy, so you have to do it yourself. And 2. it's really more an "Idle Switch" in the sense a BC is always ready to go at a moment's notice.

 

Quinn did get an off switch pretty early on, by 5 or 6 months but I think that was due at least partly to the fact that he had a fair number of periods where he had no choice but to idle. I had to crate him on and off during the day, even when he came to work with me. Another method I found by accident was when I groomed him in the evenings, I'd put him on my lap. By the time I was working on Side 2, he'd be asleep. Sometimes when he couldn't settle down I'd take him and a toy and have him chew it on my lap until he fell asleep. This did help him learn to settle in the evenings.

 

And I agree that it is very important that the puppy gets enough physical and mental exercise, before expecting him to be able to learn how to be quiet and calm. It took me a month to find a schedule (play, meals, walks, naps, training, etc.) that worked for Quinn and me. Once we did, that went a long way to installing the off switch.

 

Oh, another thing I did was not give Quinn free access to his fetch toys. Those only came out when it was time to play and were put away at the end of the game. This is still the case today. Otherwise, I'm sure he'd constantly be pushing toys at me to play with him. So that was one cue for him that he needed to chill. The really exciting toys were put away so he then needed to find a different activity, such as chewing on a Nylabone, lounging on a chair looking out the window or even catching a few Z's.

[Beth G]

I begin by teaching my two when they were young, that after playing or a run we have quiet time. They would return home tired, and automatically lie down and I would then say " Good pups, quiet time". They caught on in no time.

 

Now they know what it means. They also know "Night night" and "Lie down" and "Take a break" are variations of that.

[Pia]

Ours learned this (or was it us that learned it?) much later than 6 mo. We have two releases:

 

1. "That'll do" - he is done with whatever game he is playing, and comes to us for praise. When given this command after playing fetch for example, you can clearly see his body relax to the waggy mode. He learned this by us connecting it with a COME and some praise. Maybe also kneel down.

 

2. "All Done" - We give this command then look away and do not engage him. He turns around, walks to a nice spot and deliberately flops down in disappointment. If you look at him or engage in any way, he switches back on, his eyebrows raise wondering if it's time to start again. He understand this command to mean that the humans are done engaging him.

 

I like those ideas, I could have used them a year ago! But because our puppy spent most of the day alone, nites were very much ON mode, it did not start to change until about 7 months when he would finally settle later at nite when I got on the computer he would stop bringing his toys and lay down. Then I had a trainer teach him the down & relax command when he was almost a year. She did this as an alternative bahavior for when he started the tail chasing we were trying to discourage. He picked it up in 20 minutes. She also said when he does it on his own, walk over praise him & give treats. I use this now all the time, not just with the tail chasing which has improved, but also at Agility class when he was barking at the other dogs, when we are out and he is to meet new people. He has done it so well people actually commented they were impressed.

I loved the comment about "INSTALLING" the OFF switch LOL

Pia

[Shetlander]

I had a trainer teach him the down & relax command when he was almost a year. She did this as an alternative bahavior for when he started the tail chasing we were trying to discourage. He picked it up in 20 minutes. She also said when he does it on his own, walk over praise him & give treats. I use this now all the time, not just with the tail chasing which has improved, but also at Agility class when he was barking at the other dogs, when we are out and he is to meet new people. He has done it so well people actually commented they were impressed.

 

Do you ever worry that maybe you did too good a job and people get the wrong idea about the breed? I've had people comment on how calm and well behaved Quinn is and they would just love a dog like that. My first response is to cringe in horror because they are not true Dog People (obviously, or they wouldn't be making such a comment about a BC ). I'm very quick to tell them how much training and exercise goes into a calm, well-behaved Border Collie, but they never look like they believe me!

[Pia]

Do you ever worry that maybe you did too good a job and people get the wrong idea about the breed? I've had people comment on how calm and well behaved Quinn is and they would just love a dog like that. My first response is to cringe in horror because they are not true Dog People (obviously, or they wouldn't be making such a comment about a BC ). I'm very quick to tell them how much training and exercise goes into a calm, well-behaved Border Collie, but they never look like they believe me!

[/quote

 

LOL no cause I use this exercise right after he barks his head off or tries to jump up to greet people. Calm wont be associated with him for a long time, he is too much puppy yet!

I wish he would do better with the OFF command, he is not too bad with me but gets way too excited and forgets when he sees others. i guess maturity will help, it took about a year to break my last non BC rescue of the habit.

Pia