Odd Behavior

[beachdogz]

I got my BC girl about 10 months ago at the age of 1 ½ yrs. It took longer than I expected for her to adjust to us and her new home (over the years, I've had dogs come in and adjust in days or weeks), but we are very close now to her feeling like she is totally ours.

 

Then...this weekend. Been watching way too much HGTV and got the urge to redecorate. So I switched two rooms of furniture. I moved my rattan furniture currently in my living room to my spare room, and brought my old living room furniture from the spare room back to the living room. It's a domino effect, as you probably know, and in the process I was disassembling other pieces of furniture, moving things out to the dining room for a few hours before putting them in the basement.

 

Part of this time, my dogs were out in the yard. Part of the time they were in the house. I could tell that Kylie did not like what was going on.

 

Now let me say that sometimes I wonder when I read these boards about the kind of border collie I have. She can be energetic and loves to play ball, but she is not hyper, overly active, or wild and crazy. I read about some of the antics people here have with their dogs, and mine is pretty laid back compared to theirs. She had some quirks when she first came here, but many have simply gone away and so I attribute them to re-homing and adjusting. She IS very much a routine dog. She has her own little routines for going to bed and getting up in the morning...which are fascinating to watch.

 

So last night, my husband takes the dogs out for the last potty of the night...and she won't come in. She refuses to come in the house! She is acting weird and skitterish and he's outside with a light on, trying to coax her to come in. She's just running away from him acting weird, then doubling back and standing there. Wouldn't come in when I called her, either. Really wasn't much of a problem...I just went out and did a happy dance that signals playtime; she ran to me; I told her come in for a cookie; she came in. She got her cookie and then skirted around some out-of-place furniture sitting in the DR that was waiting to go to the basement, eyeing it as she went past it...grizzlies, I'm sure. Went upstairs to bed and she was back to normal. My husband moved that stuff to the basement before he came to bed. She was also back to normal this morning.

 

I know it was the furniture being moved around and I find this fascinating. She does not like any kind of change in her routine. Anyone have an similar kinds of incidents? I'd be curious to know.

[desertranger]

I did move a couch a few weeks ago. The one Mookie sleeps on, it took her a few days before she would get back on it.

[Tommy Coyote]

The border collies I have had have all been real creatures of habit. They like to have the same schedule and they like for things to stay the same. But that is also how I am so maybe they got it from me.

[bc4ever]

Not only does Scooter not like anything being changed in the house, he gets weird if there's something new or in a different place in the neighbor's yard!

 

I think it could be a breed thing--they're naturally observant. It's what they do. They keep a sharp eye on things. Part of their charm.

[Tommy Coyote]

Did you know that dogs look at pictures on the wall and actually know what they are? I never would have guessed that in a million years. But I had one of my dogs at the Vet one day and we could hear a cat. So I said," Tay, where are the cats?" And she ran over to the wall and stood up and pointed to a picture on the wall of a cat. I was gobsmacked.

 

That same dog completed freaked out one day when I brought in a sheepskin and put it over the couch. She flipped out. Ran down the hall and hid in the bathroom and then just kind of peeked around the corner to see if it was safe. She then sneaked up on the sheepskin and would run in and nip it and then run back down the hall and hide. She was the funnist dog.

[Jedismom]

Did you know that dogs look at pictures on the wall and actually know what they are?

 

I have a border collie calendar hung up in my office. Well, when I flipped the calendar to April, Jedi came in and started growling at the dog in the picture!

[beachdogz]

Did you know that dogs look at pictures on the wall and actually know what they are? I never would have guessed that in a million years. But I had one of my dogs at the Vet one day and we could hear a cat. So I said," Tay, where are the cats?" And she ran over to the wall and stood up and pointed to a picture on the wall of a cat. I was gobsmacked.

 

That same dog completed freaked out one day when I brought in a sheepskin and put it over the couch. She flipped out. Ran down the hall and hid in the bathroom and then just kind of peeked around the corner to see if it was safe. She then sneaked up on the sheepskin and would run in and nip it and then run back down the hall and hide. She was the funnist dog.

 

Oh, I knew that I was gonna love posting the OP. This is my favorite part of this forum...when everyone shares their stories about this breed. More...more...I want to hear more. It's soooo entertaining!

[Tommy Coyote]

I have a border collie calendar hung up in my office. Well, when I flipped the calendar to April, Jedi came in and started growling at the dog in the picture!

See. It wasn't just mine. How cool.

 

How did he react to TV?

 

First time Tommy saw TV she thought it was real strangers in our house and barked at them.

 

Now she doesn't pay any attention. But she might if there were dogs or birds or something on.

 

One of my rescues saw sheep on TV and then ran around to look at the back of the TV to see if they were there. Nothing back there so she lost interest.

[Lewie'sMom]

Odd behavior, you ask? Isn’t that “normal” for BCs?

 

Earlier this spring, Lewie’s doggie day-care mounted some plastic owls to keep the birds away. The story I got from the employees is that when Lewie saw these new and odd looking objects he barked and wouldn’t go near them. I can only imagine what else he did. He is now affectionately referred to at day-care as, Screwy Lewie.

 

Now, fast-forward to just last week at home. We’ve had the same bedtime ritual since he was a 9-week old pup and he is 21-months now. I tell him it’s time for “ni-ni”, remove his collar and he goes in his crate and hunkers down for the night. Last Tuesday at bedtime he’d not have any of it. When I told him it was time for bed he just looked at me. When I moved, instead of heading for the bedroom he did his VERY annoying backwards tap dance. He wouldn’t let me come near him, in fact he hid behind the furniture peeking out at me. I’m sure there wasn’t anything wrong nor was he afraid, it seemed he’d just decided he didn’t want to sleep in his crate. So, I relented and let him sleep where ever he wanted to. I didn’t make a big deal out of it and now I just tell him it's time for ni-ni and let him do his own thing while I go to bed. I’ve left his crate open every night and he’s started coming in the bedroom and sleeping in it of his own accord.

 

Odd behavior? Yeah, that’s just normal for our lovable Border collies!

[bcnewe2]

They are amazing aren't they

We play ball in the house sometimes, I threw the ball and it went under the entertainment center that was on the wall, Dew ran up to the entertainment, tried to look behind it, then ran out the door and went in the bedroom that was behind the wall. ITMT I got the ball out and rolled it to her, she had a stunned look on her face!

 

Mine will watch an occasional tv show but onlyif it's something they want to watch. Otherwise it's competion for my attention if it's on!

 

I was camping way back when Jazz was young, and the kids all lived at home. My DD was sleeping in a different tent. Jazz got up I told her to go get Kate, she ran over to the little tent and knocked it down. Needless to say Kate got up!

[Cody & Duchess]

Cody does not like you to change anything. He goes out one gate to go for a walk and another to go in the car. Try make him go out the walk gate and then get in the car - might not happen- he is really upset. Goes to bed at 8:45 - with or without us. I thought it was because he came from rescue ( at about year and half) - but reading the above posts seems normal. When he comes in the kitchen - circles in by the stove and around to his spot - a big sweeping entry. Never directly to his dinner spot. Also - dinner must be at 6:15 for dinner. Really gets worried if it is late. He is a dog of ritual.

[TrishD]

Tessie insists on walking under our computer desk when she passes through the kitchen. There is PLENTY of room to walk through the kitchen, but she's decided the computer desk is her own personal dog tunnel and she always does it!

[Elizabeth77]

Meg has developed a new quirk. When I hit the ball for her she now gets it and drops it behind a particular bush. I have no idea why! It is quite hard to get it out but I just let her do it as she must have some reason.

 

It is amazing to see her develop; she started to 'paw' me for attention but I had read here not to encourage that.

Her funniest behaviour is the silent barking or trying to bark with a ball in her mouth, hilarious.

She has started her sheepdog crouch when she sees people, previously it was only when she saw other dogs.

Again I am trying to call her when she does that as it could be intimidating for the target people.

She still will only paddle in the sea but does put her head in to find a stone. I do hope she will swim maybe when / if it is ever warm enough for me to get in.

Meg is a great dog and I am so lucky she came into my life.

[sweet_ceana]

I have a border collie calendar hung up in my office. Well, when I flipped the calendar to April, Jedi came in and started growling at the dog in the picture!

 

Ceana & Poke had an issue with Mr. February on our calendar one day. The Calander dog got barked and snarked at, and ever since that one day, the calendar dogs are alright in their book.

 

This weekend there was a sale on solar powered lantern/lights. I bought a few and placed them in the back yard to light up the frisbee area so that the dogs can play at night when it gets REALLY hot. Ceana trotted around "helping," me place them through out the yard. As dusk turned to evening the lights came on and Ceana started barking madly at the back door. I knew she was barking at the lights, so I opened the door to let her inspect these now haunted things. She had her hackles up and tip toed so slowly to go and sniff the first light. Once she realized these glowing objects wouldn't harm her they disapeared into oblivion and she no longer notices them.

[Nellie's Dad]

DW wanted to get a new french door refrigerator, and since the old one still worked I said absolutely not. Well when they deliver the new fridge, it was too big to fit in the space vacated by the old fridge so it had to set in the middle of the kitchen floor until we could figure out a way to make it work. Nellie refused to walk by the fridge while in the middle of the floor and after it made its way to the proper space, she still would not go near it for at least a week and would sprint past it looking scared.

 

She also will not walk down the hallway when either going upstairs or coming down, she has to take the trip through the living room, kitchen, then dining room to get to the door to go out. She will look at you like you are some type of alien when you stand in the kitchen in front of her when she was in front of you coming down the steps.

[bc4ever]

When we're eating dinner, Scooter takes the same path--to the small desk where he looks up and sniffs at the little buttons on the side, then he looks inside the basket next to it (there's never anything in there--never has been!), then into the bathroom, where he knows he isn't supposed to be in. I think he does it go get our attention--especially the bathroom thing.

[Guest maya's mom]

I am SO relieved to have read this thread right now. Maya is in the middle of one of these little "episodes" right now. She has had the same crate since we got her spayed around 5 months old. (She is now 16 months.) It's a fairly large crate that is supposed to hold a 70lb dog. (Maya is 38lb.) We have NEVER had any crate issues with her......she is crated while we are gone and at night. She always walks in on her own accord and has no problems. Well I thought it would be nice to get her an even bigger crate just so that in my guilty mind, I could feel like she was even more comfortable. So we got this crate, the exact same kind just the next size up, and she is now deathly afraid of it. She will not go near it at any time of the day, and she looks so scared and sad when she is in it. It's been 3 days of this, so last night, I put her old one back up. She still didn't want to go in, and seemed weirded out this morning, but so far tonight, she is acting more like herself. I am really anxious for tonight and hope that she goes in like her old self. I really want this to be over b/c I feel so bad. I tried to do something nice!! I am glad that there are many others who are as "whacked out" as Maya is!

[beachdogz]

I am SO relieved to have read this thread right now. Maya is in the middle of one of these little "episodes" right now. She has had the same crate since we got her spayed around 5 months old. (She is now 16 months.) It's a fairly large crate that is supposed to hold a 70lb dog. (Maya is 38lb.) We have NEVER had any crate issues with her......she is crated while we are gone and at night. She always walks in on her own accord and has no problems. Well I thought it would be nice to get her an even bigger crate just so that in my guilty mind, I could feel like she was even more comfortable. So we got this crate, the exact same kind just the next size up, and she is now deathly afraid of it. She will not go near it at any time of the day, and she looks so scared and sad when she is in it. It's been 3 days of this, so last night, I put her old one back up. She still didn't want to go in, and seemed weirded out this morning, but so far tonight, she is acting more like herself. I am really anxious for tonight and hope that she goes in like her old self. I really want this to be over b/c I feel so bad. I tried to do something nice!! I am glad that there are many others who are as "whacked out" as Maya is!

 

Oh, this one really made me laugh. EXACT same story, here!!!

 

When we got Kylie, I had my medium GSD size crate in my bedroom, which she took to immediately. A few months down the road, I decided to be nice and get out the super large crate I had for my biggest GSDs. HA! She wouldn't go near it!! No matter what I did. Same story as yours....the exact same brand/same crate...just bigger. So, I put the giant crate away and got the regular sized one out again. It took her a little while to go back into it, but she did rather quickly and....happy Border Collie. So that is the crate we have kept out. Of course, she's old enough that the door is always open, but she still likes to go sleep in it at night.

 

Maybe she and Maya are related....or just Border Collies!

[Guest maya's mom]

That is funny! You didn't get her in Ohio did you...........??

Maya still did not go in the crate willingly last night or this morning. I am hoping that Maya, like your Kylie, will get over this soon. I feel so bad leaving for work now b/c she used to see me getting her Kong ready, and she'd walk right back there, almost with a smile on her face. I do the same thing now, but it doesn't matter!

 

I also have a new one to add. We watch TV in our family room every night, and my husband and I finally sit down around 8pm, after our last play session with Maya. She will come down with us, and usually chews on a bully stick, before hoping on the couch to fall asleep before we go to bed. For the past two nights though, she has been looking at the ceiling, looking all scared and pathetic, like something is up there. We can distract her with playing, but then she'll start looking up again. The she will go lay under an end table or something. It is so weird! We had been jsut ignoring it, but last night, when I caught her looking up, I actually got up and said something to the effect of "oh, what's up there? Let me check it out. OK, everything looks good, thanks for telling me Maya." I was really positive in tone, etc. It seemed to help a little, but she went back to doing it again today. I have no idea what this could be. We spend all of our time in this room, and nothing has ever happened in there...............I am just so upset that both of these things are happenening at the same time! Maybe they are related........but I can not figure it out and I don't know what else to do other than just wait it out. Any suggestions.........???

[bc4ever]

For the past two nights though, she has been looking at the ceiling, looking all scared and pathetic, like something is up there. We can distract her with playing, but then she'll start looking up again. The she will go lay under an end table or something. It is so weird! We had been jsut ignoring it, but last night, when I caught her looking up, I actually got up and said something to the effect of "oh, what's up there? Let me check it out. OK, everything looks good, thanks for telling me Maya." I was really positive in tone, etc. It seemed to help a little, but she went back to doing it again today. I have no idea what this could be. We spend all of our time in this room, and nothing has ever happened in there...............I am just so upset that both of these things are happenening at the same time! Maybe they are related........but I can not figure it out and I don't know what else to do other than just wait it out. Any suggestions.........???

Do you have a ceiling fan in your family room? Scooter has a thing for our ceiling fan. Also, maybe she's hearing or seeing a bug of some sort. It is that time of year--the creepy crawlies are starting to emerge. Scooter won't settle down till we catch the offending insect, and he usually tries to "help." The minute he sees us get the fly swatter out, he's in full hunting mode!

[beachdogz]

That is funny! You didn't get her in Ohio did you...........??

Maya still did not go in the crate willingly last night or this morning. I am hoping that Maya, like your Kylie, will get over this soon. I feel so bad leaving for work now b/c she used to see me getting her Kong ready, and she'd walk right back there, almost with a smile on her face. I do the same thing now, but it doesn't matter!

 

LOL ...no, she's from Virginia! The way I got her to get back to going in her crate was to do quick repetitions with her of going in her crate with the door open. I would tell her kennel and throw a treat in. She'd go in, get the treat, I'd happy dance and she'd come out and then I'd throw the ball for her. I might have done that a couple times in a row; and then four or five times periodically during the evening. I didn't make a big deal out of it, and it seemed to go away quickly.

 

she has been looking at the ceiling, looking all scared and pathetic, like something is up there.

 

We went through this, too...twice. Once it was the ceiling fan. It's like all of a sudden it was there and she never noticed it before. When she would obsess on it (she would bark and back up), I changed her focus to something else, and it went away.

 

The other time, (I think I posted this once before) she stood barking and backing up, looking up at a wall. I couldn't see anything there...but she was convinced. I truly started to believe she was seeing a ghost (literally). Then, this little creepy, crawly bug came crawling across the ceiling. She had spotted it before I ever saw it. And then she had a little bit of a fix on that ceiling. I honestly never make much of this stuff and usually divert her atttention and the behavior usually goes away. I guess I've just learned to accept it as part of the quirky behavior thing.

 

I guess the way I've learned to handle her personality is for me to not obsess on the obsession. I do try to work through it, but in a positive, playful way. If the ball goes behind a chair and she's afraid to go get it (she will come and bark at me to get it for her), I take her over there and work with her to get it herself and then give her tons of happy dance praise. I feel I am building confidence in her by doing that. I must admit that I am thoroughly enjoying this new journey with such a unique breed of dog.

[TrishD]

I just got Cobi a few days ago, so we're still learning his quirks. But I took him to the beach yesterday and every time a boat went past, he got very excited/agitated. He wanted to run out into the water and "get" it...until he reached swimming depth and decided he didn't want the boat THAT bad!