Guest Marigold Posted October 27, 2008 Report Share Posted October 27, 2008 Greetings, everyone! My name is Marigold, and I'm very happy to have found this board! I grew up with a Border Collie, Frisky, and shared two precious years with her brother, Laddie, who we had to put to sleep after he suddenly bit my younger brother. After four years of being Border Collie less, things worked out in my life to have another dog ( my family also has a shepherd/lab mix, Comet) and now I have a Border Collie again!! A few questions: How do you train a puppy to herd? We never trained our other Border Collies to herd, but I would love to teach my Border Collie puppy, Skye, to and perhaps compete in trials. I don't have access to any sheep, but have a few chickens, geese, and turkeys and have a neighbor who might let me practice with his cows. How long is it okay for a young puppy to be in his crate, and how do I get him to enjoy it when there's times he HAS to be it? All our previous puppies were outside dogs and I'm new to training a puppy house manners. What types of events can you compete in with an ABCA registered puppy? Skye is registered with the ABCA, and I couldn't find out from their website what all events I could compete in and what benefits came with registration. Thanks for your help! Marigold ( and Skye) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vanillalove Posted October 27, 2008 Report Share Posted October 27, 2008 Hi there, and welcome! There are tons of people on these boards who participate actively in herding and competitive trials. They will know more about how to start and get into herding than I will. As well, as provide you with any necessary resources. I can however chime in on your crate advice! It's not only just okay to crate a young pup but I think it's pretty important. It helps in an abundance of situations. First, it definitely helps in house breaking your pup. When you can't keep an active eye on your pup or at night, you can crate him as she most likely won't eliminate in there. I'll second my point about not being able to keep an active eye on him, if you're busy or need to take care of some things around the house, you can crate him with some appropriate toys to keep her busy for a while. This also teaches him to respect in house down time and teaches him to be okay with just hanging out. He'll learn to love it in time! And will probably go in voluntarily when she is sleepy. Most importantly, post some pictures! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afrancis Posted October 27, 2008 Report Share Posted October 27, 2008 I'm sorry Marigold. You'll have to change the name of your puppy. There is already at least one Skye here. Welcome. Teaching your puppy to herd is a big question. Since you have no access to sheep, only stock and fowl, I would think this might be difficult. But, in the meantime, I would do some reading up. Go to the other section on this site for Working Dogs and read as much as you can. This will give you an idea of what people actually do, many on a day to day basis, with their working dogs. From what I hear, teaching your dog to herd is much like teaching your dog to do anything -- it's more about teaching yourself. Good luck and I'm sorry for your bc that needed euthanizing for biting your brother. That sounds very tragic. Ailsa & Skye-dog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Marigold Posted October 28, 2008 Report Share Posted October 28, 2008 Thanks for the welcomes! I do keep Skye crated at night, in the evening when I'm at work, and other times I can't keep a close eye on him or he's acting up like he's tired. He hates his crate and puts up a big fuss when I put him in it. I try not to leave him in it for more than four hours at a time since he's so young, but there's events coming up where I'll have to be gone longer. Would it be best to confine him in small room then? Yes, it was tragic to have to have Laddie put to sleep. He and I were close. Thankfully, his bite to my younger brother wasn't severe and the experience helped me grow as a person. I would love to post pictures of Skye but am not sure how to. It's neat that there's another Skye on the board...my family dislikes the name and I can't figure out why! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samantha J Posted October 28, 2008 Report Share Posted October 28, 2008 Would it be best to confine him in small room then? Welcome Marigold, I have two BC's and have had them both from puppies. Although i have had a cage for them i have never left them shut in when i haven't been home. For Holly i gated off our hallway and she stayed in there with her cage open. For Zac he had the kitchen with a dog gate on the door. (I did have to shut the door with Zac as a young pup sometimes whilst i was at home with him but only because he had a poorly foot and i was trying to keep him off it as much as possible). Anyway this worked for us, i didn't leave much in the rooms with them and so they couldn't do much damage. The floor was tiled or wood flooring and so any clean ups could be cleaned up easy but to be honest i didn't get many times when they went while i was out. I used to have a play session with them first and that helped i think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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