Izzysdad Posted May 26, 2009 Report Share Posted May 26, 2009 Hi All, My first post here and I'm glad I found such a great place to find information on border collies! A week ago Sat. my fiance and I adopted a 3 month old mix from a shelter. So far she's a dream, every where we take her people just love her and she gives it right back! I do have a couple questions: 1. Yesterday the soon-to-be in-laws came over with their 5 month old sheltie Maggie. Izzy (my pup) and Maggie met last week at our house and they played for quite a well and played very nicely together. Yesterday, Izzy got a bit rough with nipping at her ankles and she even knocked her down by doing so. I understand that this is border collie coming out. I did seperate them for a bit so they could both calm down. Maggie likes to be chased and Izzy is more than happy to do so! Is there a way to have her stop the nipping? 2.I built a set of weave poles and last night on lead she ran down the middle (they're adjustable)! Is she too young to start to learn the weave? I am very aware that it will take months to get her to weave but I don't want to rush it, is she still to young to start to learn? See image of the pretty below! Thanks all!!! Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlasl Posted May 26, 2009 Report Share Posted May 26, 2009 Congratulations! She is very very cute. There are a lot of different opinions on starting things with a pup. My personal feelings (being a relative newbie to agility also). Is that I would spend the first 8-9months just developing a relationship with my dog. Get a solid recall, work on healing on both sides, I like clicker training so I recommend it. teach your dog to work for food and for toys equally, most poeple want their agility dogs to love tugging and use it as a motivator and a reinforcer. Be sure EVERYTHING is fun if it isn't fun back off and go more slowly. Target training to a CD has been helpful to our training, that is fun and easy to do and is something you can do now. I would also train a solid wait and a solid stay. I wish I had worked more with Skye on foundation stuff when she was younger, I didn't really know that much about it and thought that classes would give me all that I need, but I am finding out now that there are a lot of things (mainly foundation stuff) that we could have done when she was younger that would make it easier today. Now specifically about the weaves. My concern with starting this young is that you may burn her out out them before you can even start to close them. With her at this age you wouldn't even start to close them at all. You can teach her to drive through at this age. For my dogs I won't start closing channels until they are a year old and wouldn't ask them to really start weaving until they were 16-18mo old (especially if she has lab in her). So yes as long as the channels are fully open you can work them, but I think getting foundation stuff down and just enjoying your puppy and developing a good relationship with her is the most important thing As far as the nipping goes, stop the play...if it gets too rough then you need to step in and say no more. She'll get the idea. Does maggie let her know when she gets too rough? Sometimes other dogs do a better job of letting a young one know they are out of line, but if they don't it is the owners job to step in and say that is enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Izzysdad Posted May 26, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 26, 2009 Congratulations! She is very very cute. There are a lot of different opinions on starting things with a pup. My personal feelings (being a relative newbie to agility also). Is that I would spend the first 8-9months just developing a relationship with my dog. Get a solid recall, work on healing on both sides, I like clicker training so I recommend it. teach your dog to work for food and for toys equally, most poeple want their agility dogs to love tugging and use it as a motivator and a reinforcer. Be sure EVERYTHING is fun if it isn't fun back off and go more slowly. Target training to a CD has been helpful to our training, that is fun and easy to do and is something you can do now. I would also train a solid wait and a solid stay. I wish I had worked more with Skye on foundation stuff when she was younger, I didn't really know that much about it and thought that classes would give me all that I need, but I am finding out now that there are a lot of things (mainly foundation stuff) that we could have done when she was younger that would make it easier today. Now specifically about the weaves. My concern with starting this young is that you may burn her out out them before you can even start to close them. With her at this age you wouldn't even start to close them at all. You can teach her to drive through at this age. For my dogs I won't start closing channels until they are a year old and wouldn't ask them to really start weaving until they were 16-18mo old (especially if she has lab in her). So yes as long as the channels are fully open you can work them, but I think getting foundation stuff down and just enjoying your puppy and developing a good relationship with her is the most important thing As far as the nipping goes, stop the play...if it gets too rough then you need to step in and say no more. She'll get the idea. Does maggie let her know when she gets too rough? Sometimes other dogs do a better job of letting a young one know they are out of line, but if they don't it is the owners job to step in and say that is enough. Thanks for the quick reply! I knew she was too young to really get into agility, but I'm glad to know that it'll be much further down the road. Maggie did not let her know, because I'm not sure Maggie knew where the nips came from! After the were seperate a couple times it calmed down and they could play more gently. Thanks for the help! Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrRipley Posted May 28, 2009 Report Share Posted May 28, 2009 I agree about the weaves. Hold off until she is old enough. If you are going to train using the channel method you don't want to keep them wide open for too long when training. However, have you considered using the 2x2 method? I used to use channels, but since trying 2x2's I'll never use channels again! You could probably start working with her on weave pole entries using 2x2's at an earlier age. 3 months is still really young though -- for now stick to the basics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Izzysdad Posted May 28, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 28, 2009 I going to. I thought she was a bit young. I got ahead of myself last week because she learned several commands so quickly, but this week it's slowed a bit. I fenced in my back yard today so she'll be able to run when not on a lead which is nice! We're having trouble learning to come when called when we're not in the house Someone has selective hearing, and it's not me! hahaha Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlasl Posted May 29, 2009 Report Share Posted May 29, 2009 I going to. I thought she was a bit young. I got ahead of myself last week because she learned several commands so quickly, but this week it's slowed a bit. I fenced in my back yard today so she'll be able to run when not on a lead which is nice! We're having trouble learning to come when called when we're not in the house Someone has selective hearing, and it's not me! hahaha Tim I am not sure how you are teaching her to come, but IMO this is one if not THE most important things to have 100% if at all possible, the best time to train is now and it should be a situation where when you say come the dog always comes. If she is in a situation where you cannot make her come (she should not be off lead when you are training come for a LONG time). Then do not use the command you want to use for come, use another word like "lets go" or something like that. There are tons and tons of ways to teach a recall. Generally with a pup I will keep them on a long lead, ALWAYS have good treats when you are teaching come, if they don't come when you say the command then you reel them in (not mean always happy) and give TONS of treats when they get to you. When I have a pup I am a treat machine, always have kibble or treats in my pockets. I think the most important thing is that when you use your command for recall, pick one word and be sure that you only use that word when you can have 100% success, you don't want the dog to ever know that not coming is an option. Be sure when they get to you that you make that choice the BEST CHOICE IN THE WORLD, lots of treats praise and games (tug is a good one). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Izzysdad Posted May 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 30, 2009 She comes anytime she is called in the house. I need to get a long lead to work with her outside. Thanks for the tips on having her learn to come. I know it's the most important thing, and I take it very seriously. Tomorrow we'll have plenty of time to work on that! If I can keep her from chewing EVERYTHING in my living room that would be awesome too. Hahahahaha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jumpin Boots Posted May 30, 2009 Report Share Posted May 30, 2009 If I can keep her from chewing EVERYTHING in my living room that would be awesome too. Hahahahaha. Do you have dog appropriate toys for her to chew on. Stuffed kongs work really well and it rarely takes our new dogs very long to learn what is ok to chw. Not that they can always be trusted wen home alone, but they all know when we are there what is dog appropriate and what is not. BTW, our Boots is bc/lab mix, I adopted him at 10 months old, he was the perfect intro into the bc breed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Izzysdad Posted May 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 30, 2009 Do you have dog appropriate toys for her to chew on. Stuffed kongs work really well and it rarely takes our new dogs very long to learn what is ok to chw. Not that they can always be trusted wen home alone, but they all know when we are there what is dog appropriate and what is not. BTW, our Boots is bc/lab mix, I adopted him at 10 months old, he was the perfect intro into the bc breed. She's learning. Today marks the say I've had her two weeks. She likes to chew the ottoman while looking at me with the "I wonder how long I can get away with this" face. She LOVES ice cubes and frozen carrotts. I stuff a kong with peanut butter and that works well too. We just got back from Lowes, one of her favorite trips so she's very tired from all the attention she got! Does Boots act more lab or BC? I think Izzy is more BC...but I could just be wanting more BC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PSmitty Posted May 30, 2009 Report Share Posted May 30, 2009 Sounds like she's just acting like a puppy! LOL Do you have more pictures of her? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Izzysdad Posted May 31, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2009 The poles I built. A very fun project! Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jumpin Boots Posted May 31, 2009 Report Share Posted May 31, 2009 Does Boots act more lab or BC? I think Izzy is more BC...but I could just be wanting more BC Boots acts far more border collie or field lab than your general everyday, obnoxious lab. The only thing that physically appears more lab is his coat, it's a little thicker than a smooth coat bc, which seems more 'labbish.' Personality wise he is more bc. He is a low intensity, relaxed bc, but that doesn't mean that he can't turn it up when needed, he just isn't as intense as some. He doesn't have a huge herding instinct, but will hold gates and open sections of pasture while we are working with the sheep. He loves water, we've recently tried out dock dogs which was a blast, but I'm not sure that the water interest is lab or just dog instinct. We have been competing in agility for 4 years and he loves it, I'm sure Izzy will too. She is adorable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freeman 101 Posted May 31, 2009 Report Share Posted May 31, 2009 What a cute puppy! Don't fret about the lab portion of your puppy; I see a lot of slender, long-legged labs doing exceptionally well in agility. I'm also a lab owner, and my lab is every bit as driven as my border collie. Just a quick Youtube search: (Just love that start-line dance). About what to teach your puppy: spend these early months building foundation skills. I know it's tempting to start running the pup through equipment, but bad habits are easily learned this way. Greg Derrett's foundation video is popular: http://www.cleanrun.com/index.cfm?fuseacti...;product_id=824 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Izzysdad Posted May 31, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2009 What a cute puppy! Don't fret about the lab portion of your puppy; I see a lot of slender, long-legged labs doing exceptionally well in agility. I'm also a lab owner, and my lab is every bit as driven as my border collie. Just a quick Youtube search: (Just love that start-line dance). About what to teach your puppy: spend these early months building foundation skills. I know it's tempting to start running the pup through equipment, but bad habits are easily learned this way. Greg Derrett's foundation video is popular: http://www.cleanrun.com/index.cfm?fuseacti...;product_id=824 Very tempting indeed! I'm going to hold off for quite a while about using equipment, I was like the proverberal dog with a bone in building the poles hahaha. Thanks for the links! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PSmitty Posted June 1, 2009 Report Share Posted June 1, 2009 Thanks for the pics! She's really cute. I can definitely see the border collie in her. She might start to look more or less BCish as she gets bigger...it's hard to say. I think BC/lab would be a great mix, so hopefully she got the best of both breeeds! Taryn, I know Keiki (sp?) the dog in the video you posted. Coz (handler) runs agility in my area. He also had an older MACH+ lab that is super fast and driven. Keiki is hysterical to watch. That dog has more drive than most the Border Collies I know, and I'm not exaggerating! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freeman 101 Posted June 2, 2009 Report Share Posted June 2, 2009 That dog has more drive than most the Border Collies I know, and I'm not exaggerating! ============== The only thing I would add to that video is the Lone Ranger Theme! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sailor Posted June 5, 2009 Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 What a cutie!!! She looks like she will be very athletic, it will be fun to see her grow up And, the CD for a target is such a great idea! I would never of thought of that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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