Boarding Kennel

[Runry]

Hi everyone,

 

A couple of questions regarding my 21 month old girl Scout. I am thinking about taking her in to a boarding kennel for a day sometime soon just to see if she likes it and to get her used to it if we ever need to go away for a could of days. There is only one kennel in our area and I got a good vibe from the place when I visited last week. The dogs can run around for an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon but other than that they are in their cages. My girl has been with me ever since i picked her up at 8 weeks and has never spent time alone or in any kind of cage or enclosure (i have 4 acres fenced in that she spends her time in). She loves other people and other dogs so that par of it will be fun for her but i am worried about how it will effect her if she gets upset or lonely during her downtime. The owner said she will be so tired she will sleep the whole time she's alone but she's an active girl who has a good nap through the day but doesn't laze around. I just don't want to give her a bad experience that could stay with her and make her clingy or sulky. Do border collies cope well in kennels?

 

The other question I have is regarding electric fences, all of mine are at chest height because they are only for the cows and I don't want her getting zapped. But the other day she had a run in with a low lying tape fence at our neighbours place, it actually got caught around her legs as she ran away crying. Luckily I was far enough away that she didn't think it was something I had done, it was awful but she seemed to be fine within a couple of hours and hasn't been deterred from walking around there. What is a good way of teaching her to be careful of fences? maybe she just will be from now on but I really don't want her getting another zap. I'm so paranoid about her getting a bad experience from something that will make her have one of those quirks i am always reading about because right now she is a gorgeous sweet girl.

 

And lastly, I was reading a post yesterday about a family who want to get themselves a border collie and it was mentioned a number of times that they are not always kid friendly and I have definitely noticed that Scout prefers adults. She doesn't mind kids , but she is as impressed with loud, bad mannered children that get in her face as much as I am.

I am due to have a baby in 4 months and I want her to have a wonderful relationship with the kid, do you have any tips on how to get them off to a good start? There's all kinds of advice on this subject on the parenting sites but they are talking about dogs in general and these border collies aren't just regular dogs

 

That's it for now, thanks very much for reading.

 

Angela

[aschlemm]

Hi,

In regards to the boarding kennel, if she is to be crated for a while during the day and she's never been crated I would get a crate similar to the one the boarding kennel uses and train her to like her crate. Feed her in her crate at first, then when she is tired shut her in her crate for short periods of time with a toy or a Kong with food in it so that she likes the crate and will go in it on command.

As far as the electric fence, I would imagine since she got on it and got shocked and tangled in it she won't go near one again. I've had four Border Collies and three out of the four got shocked one time and that was it. The fourth Border Collie has never been shocked as she just seems to know it's not to be messed with. I've always hated them getting shocked but they all were warned first and decided to cross the fence anyway and then got shocked so it just ended up being a good lesson. (Mom says "No" better listen or something bad will happen.)

Congratulations on your baby!!!! None of my four Borders lived with children so perhaps other people will have more advice than I do. All four of mine like children but none of them appreciate loud, in your face, children. In all honesty I've never had an issue with mannerly children raised with dogs. They can play with my dogs and have a good time.

I work as a Vet Tech and what I've seen is that most dogs are ok with infants and with children that are walking and talking but there is a stage when the baby is crawling and grabbing things and babbling and some dogs are bad with that. They don't yet recognized them as small people and the baby is right at their level, in their face, grabbing them and their toys. It is best to do lots of supervising at that stage, never leave them alone unattended and monitor!! A crate would be nice for your girl so that she can have a "quiet place" to go to if she is stressed and your child grows up with rules to leave her be when she is in her crate.

I was so proud of my male Border Collie at a show some years ago. He is a very high drive dog. Doesn't really like to be petted much and hates to be hugged. He had been in the obedience ring and was done for the day. It was lunch time and we were in line for food. I was leaning over trying to see the menu and he was sitting at my side. Someone in the line ahead of me had a small, active boy who I think was somewhat developmentally delayed. The boy zoomed away from Mom and wrapped both arms around my dogs neck! I looked over in horror and so did the Mom. She said "Johnny, you are supposed to ask permission first!" Johnny (with both arms still wrapped around Logan's neck) said, "may I pet your dog?" I said, "yes, you may pet him but he doesn't like hugs." In the meantime Logan was very gently licking the boys face. The boy left go, patted Logan briefly, then zoomed away. A woman standing behind me said "I hope you are buying him a hamburger after that, my dogs never would have tolerated that." I said "you bet I am!" As dog owners we love our dogs and don't like to think they would ever bite a child but we need to realize that they are dogs and see things differently than we do. Logan did well in his obedience class that day and was second place, I think, but my pride in him is due to my wild and crazy boy dog being calm and gentle with a child!

[medic09]

An alternative once the baby comes is to crate the baby, and/or leave him/her at the kennel a day or two a week. That's what I advised my daughter when my grandson was recently born. It might even speed up potty training.

 

I hate restricting a good dog.