Calm him down!!

[CymruAmByth]

I've only had Harvey a week and already the bond between us is strong which I'm happy about. Just to recap he's an 18 month old healthy RSPCA rescue dog. My intention is to get him to come along on some of my 8 to 10 mile runs but I need to get his obendience training up to speed first.

 

My issue is in the meantime: naturally he's very energetic, scatter-brained and quite 'ADHD' which is fine, I knew this as I researched his breed before I took him but I was hoping for advice on how to 'calm him down' if those are the right words.

 

I have a medium-sized garden which he seems happy enough but I know that alone will never be enough for him. I'll take him out for a decent length walk, sometimes off the lead if it's safe to do so for him to stretch his legs but after we come in or randomly throughout the day he'll have what I call a "funny 5 minutes" or "mad half-hour" where he's on the prowl looking for something fun to do. Obviously I give him as much of my time as I can and I've got him lots of toys to chew and play with but none of it seems enough and I feel so guilty when he looks up at me with the brown eyes, sometimes giving a gentle groan of boredom.

 

I'm guessing I'm doing something wrong but don't know what.

 

Any ideas or suggestions guys?

 

TIA

[Sue R]

This section is for training dogs on livestock. You will probably get more response if you post it in the "General" section. I'm sure folks will give you some good advice there.

[rufftie]

try training some new tricks. practice obedience in your home. do sit stays. comes. light heel work. low jumps if you have the room. you can build something cheaply with pvc or just use 2 chairs and a broom. get that mind working and he'll tire out. when twitch, my older dog had leg surgery and had to give up agility for a year, we practiced rally around the yard and house. kept him active and he got to earn treats like everyone else.

[Camden's Mom]

My (albeit limited) experience with this breed is that a yard means nothing. Border collies are far more interested in doing something with *you* and rarely entertain themselves or "self exercise". Usually, put out in a yard, they will wait by the door for you to come out and play or find other ways to amuse themselves that you may not like (digging holes, barking, etc.). It seems clear from this post and others that you aren't the type of owner who is going to throw him out in the backyard for the entire day and expect him to be fine... I just wanted to let you know that, yard or no yard, this dog is going to need one on one time with you.

 

You've got a youngster and they are seemingly impossible to wear out physically. As rufftie said, exhaust the brain! You've mentioned that Harvey really needs to bone up on his obedience skills, so I'd focus on that first. You can do multiple short training sessions throughout the day, wearing out his brain AND improving his obedience skills so he can get out there running with you!

 

 

I'll take him out for a decent length walk, sometimes off the lead if it's safe to do so for him to stretch his legs but after we come in or randomly throughout the day he'll have what I call a "funny 5 minutes" or "mad half-hour" where he's on the prowl looking for something fun to do.

 

I'm reading two completely different situations in this one sentence, so let me address them separately.

 

1. You've just returned form a long wall where Harvey got to run off leash and play. However, when you go in the house he'll still want to keep going - This is a behavior you really don't want to encourage. Remember, these dogs were bred to gogogo all day and they will if we allow them. In this situation, after returning from a walk, I'd encourage him to just calm down and relax, either with you or on his own. He needs to learn that sometimes life is boring (bummer, I know) and he just has to "settle". If you do a search on these forums for teaching a dog how to settle you'll get tons of reading material. Teaching a good "settle" is one of the keys to living peacefully with a border collie.

 

2. When the madness is happening "randomly throughout the day" that's a very different scenario. I'd actually use these crazy moments to do an impromptu training session with him. He might just be bored and need some interaction/stimulation, which is completely normal for a young dog of any breed. I'd channel that energy into something productive so that he doesn't start having "mad half hours" trying to get you to play with him. That could turn into pestering behavior pretty quickly.

 

If you are providing Harvey with plenty of mental stimulation and physical activity don't let him make you feel bad that you have other things (like life in general) to attend to besides him. BTW, I really love the shot of him in your profile pic. He looks like a very handsome dog... you should post more pics of Harvey when you get a chance!!! I'd love to see more of him!

[Flamincomet]

Great advice so far. I have a very active, high drive boy, so I'll share some of the things I do to keep him busy. He is 4 years old now, so a lot calmer than when he was younger. Honestly sometimes you just have to wait the young ones out, they will calm down eventually. I really feel the most important thing you can do is use a crate to teach him how to have down time. I've been doing this since my guy was a puppy, and it's really paid off. While he's ready to go in a heartbeat, when we're at home he mostly just naps at my feet. We do training sessions every day, he has at least one high energy outlet every day (frisbee usually, unless the weather is bad, but luckily we have a treadmill), regular walks, and treat dispensing puzzle toys if he's getting ancy (plus he always gets his dinner from a puzzle toy, unless we've used all his dinner for training sessions). I'm working on my own cardio so I can start going jogging with him instead of relying on the treadmill for conditioning. We also are taking agility classes once a week, and go to practice sessions 1-2 more times a week for about an hour each time. Once I get driving my boyfriend's manual car down, we'll be going to herding lessons at least monthly, and hopefully one of my friends close by will be getting sheep this spring/summer so we can work more often. My guy is also my service dog, so he works every day for a couple hours at least. If he didn't have that job I'd probably step up our obedience and agility training sessions, and I think he'd be fine. But again, I think the most important thing to do in this case would be to make sure you're teaching how to take down time. The best way to do that IMO is to use a crate. Stuff and freeze a kong, or some other puzzle toy, to put in the crate with him, and make sure he's getting regular down time. Don't give in to his demands for attention if you are giving him adequate mental and physical stimulation, or you might end up with a dog that is constantly pestering you. Remember to keep training sessions short, and end them on a happy note. Try to remember to speak softly and don't rev him up, it sounds like he doesn't need it (that's been one of the hardest things for me). This is what works for us, but remember that each dog is an individual, you'll need to work things out on your own to see what routine works best for you guys. Hope that made sense and helps, and thank you for rescuing