Housebreaking a male Border Collie!!!!!! Update pg 6.

[chele]

Yes. Male. Border. Collie. ARGH!!!!!

I'm the first to admit Border Collies are too much for me. I prefer a laid back dog. But, our 11 week old puppy, Patches, is hubby's dog. He was devastated over the passing of his 14 y/o BC mix, Skeeter. When we met Patches he walked right up to hubby, threw himself down and onto his back for a belly rub. That was it, he was sold.

The breeder told us Patches is an aggressive dog, but went on to say at feeding time with the other pups. He's a good pup. The intelligence just shines out if his eyes. Very sweet and very charming. Very high energy. He is ADHD on speed. He plays with ALL of his toys, he has about 20.

We have only had him a week. He holds his bladder all night. We take him out about every thirty minutes, or when he acts like he needs to go. He has gotten good at going on the command, "go pee". Then he will pee the minute we bring him back in the house. Never in the same place twice. I use white vinegar to clean with.

The dogs were in the back yard while we went to Church. He peed (on command) before we brought him in. In the past hour and a half he has peed in the house twice, been taken out twice where he peed once. We have him blocked into the livingroom so we can keep a close eye on him.

To me it seems like he's ADHD. Just playing then without a thought he pees. We urgently tell him " no" and most the time he stops then we tell him "need outside?" and out we go. One of us takes the dog, the other cleans up the carpet. IF we ever get him housebroke I will shampoo the carpet.

Is he marking?? At 11 weeks?

If he had a UTI wouldn't he pee at night?

Help? I just don't remember it being this hard to housenreak a puppy! I don't want to have him ruin the camper so I really want him housebroke before we go camping the first weekend of June.

[chele]

Stichinsue, I've had a oot of people recommemd clicker training. I'm not sure if hubby would try that or not. He is frustrated because Patch doesn't pay any attention to his voice so maybe now is a good time to bring it up.

If hubby didn't take him to work at the ranch with him everyday I would have strenuously resisted a BC! My first husband had a BC that he dumped off on me after I left him. She dug up every mole, vole, mouse, gopher, and rabbit tunnel she could find. She found a lot. It was back breaking fixing the damage. She was neurotic or something too. Just not quite right. I would never recommend a BC to anyone that can't keep them busy!

[BCSnob]

Border Collies do not bark while working.

They will bark when they uncertain or are playing (flushing livestock off a fence). You can tell by their tails if they are serious or not. The tails on Border Collies that are serious are down to tucked up under their belly; when their tails are up high they are uncertain or playing.

Try to break the bad habit of what we call "fence rage"; barking and racing along a fence line to get a reaction (or to flush off the fence) animals on the other side of the fence. We use "that'll do" or "leave it" when they are paying inappropriate attention to something followed by a redirection of their attention to something appropriate.

[stitchinsue]

I have an Australian Shepherd. The best thing I did was to clicker train him. Best thing ever, and it is so so so easy. When you have a chance, read about Karen Pryor, and even better, watch the youtube channel of Kikopup. She is an amazing clicker trainer. My dog will ignore a hot dog left on a table, at his level, because of the training I did with him. For the first couple of weeks we had him (I brought him home when he was 6 weeks), I hand fed him. My boys (2 and 7 at the time) also sat by his food bowl, dipped their hands into his bowl and fed him from their hands. It's fantastic that he will be on a ranch! Lucky dog!

[chele]

Things are starting to work. Finally. I think. Fingers crossed it's not just a fluke. Again!
We are getting better at reading him. The bell is gone. I couldn't take it anymore. Patches is pretty subtle in his cue to go out. We've had luck most evenings. Tonight has been a breakthrough, I hope.

Working livestock. Ohhhhhh boy. Are BC's supposed to bark when they work? So far all he has done is bark at my horse. Which I detest. I don't want him to bark when working either.

Thanks Brett!

[Brett_K]

I love BCs. We dogsit one often and she is so much fun. We currently have a mini Aussie and she is 2 now and a great pet. Yes, she herds the kids. But, my kids need to be herded once in a while. lol

Have you put a fence in. It may not be necessary. Radio fence worked great for our dog and the BC we watch. She figured out the boundaries in a few minutes and we don't even use the collar except once or twice a month as a refresher.

It sounds like you are the perfect home for a BC to me. Keep up the good work!

[BCSnob]

chele wrote:
He can squat and pee faster than I can yell "No!"

Time to learn to reconize their thoughts about doing something not just the beginning of their actions. Once they have decided to do something it can be difficult to stop it since they can be very focused and fast.

We find this especially true when teaching them to work livestock. They will telegraph their intentions but the cues may be subtle (frequently in their eyes) and we have had to learn to look for these cues.

Your pup is going through motions right before he pees. Learn to reconize what these motions are and time your response (suggestion to go out and eventially a correction to not go inside) while he is still thinking about peeing.

Learn to out think your dog.

[BCSnob]

chele wrote:
He found out how much fun it is to ring the bell

I've been waiting for this post.
First they learn to signal when they need to go out then they realize that if they signal they get to go out.

You may find that a good brushing with fine toothed comb/brush will remove most of the dirt. Brushing will not help with the dampness; our first Border Collie had a heavy rough coat such that when he got wet frequently he would mildew.

[chele]

Lifting at 7 weeks?? Wow. Patches is 12; such an underacheiver!

A little backsliding on the house breaking. 1. He found out how much fun it is to ring the bell and watch the fat old lady jump out of her chair. 2. He can squat and pee faster than I can yell "No!" I was lucky enough to already be up and catch him in the act during his first accident yesterday so I applied the "3 second rule" and then took him outside where he completed his business on command and was praised.

He is filthy, he may get his first bath tomorrow. His dampness + dirt = grey instead of white.

[BCSnob]

We do love our smooth coats (faster drying, dirt falls off faster, and cockleburs are easier to remove).

Happy to hear you're having more success with house breaking.


We've noticed my Lee has been lifting his leg while peeing (7 weeks old).

[chele]

Deb and Ed M wrote:

chele wrote:
Deb and Ed he is using his bell! I hung it on the door then used cat kibble to teach him to ring it. Then when he did, we took him outside. He's only had one "false alarm" so far!

Awesome!!!

I love the picture of him sleeping on a boot - that's SO "herder" ("Gotta be as close as possible to my people"). Ike (Aussie) always used my tennis shoes for a pillow, whether my feet were in them or not...LOL!! He finally learned to untie them, and pull them off my feet - THEN take a nap....

Awwwwwwwwwww how cute! They have their ways, don't they?

Today he discovered how much fun it is to play in the big water bowl/tank outside! Then he learned how long it takes to air dry outside. And then he got his first brushing to get the dried mud off! Busy day; he's sleeping it off now.

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

chele wrote:
Deb and Ed he is using his bell! I hung it on the door then used cat kibble to teach him to ring it. Then when he did, we took him outside. He's only had one "false alarm" so far!

Awesome!!!

I love the picture of him sleeping on a boot - that's SO "herder" ("Gotta be as close as possible to my people"). Ike (Aussie) always used my tennis shoes for a pillow, whether my feet were in them or not...LOL!! He finally learned to untie them, and pull them off my feet - THEN take a nap....

[chele]

Deb and Ed he is using his bell! I hung it on the door then used cat kibble to teach him to ring it. Then when he did, we took him outside. He's only had one "false alarm" so far!

[chele]

We're getting there! We had no accidents at all yesterday.

We got the fencing up last night so Patches was able to be out for a while. It was very nice to have a break.

Hubby now has him sitting before throwing a toy for fetch. Smart puppy!

[chele]

I bought him a Kong type toy and put kibble in it. Getting harder ones would be fun! He goes to work at the ranch with hubby everyday, keeps him busy. The evenings are toughest because he runs out of things to do. Last night we took both dogs for a walk. When we got home I picked up all his toys and played with him with each one. It really had him playing hard! He is getting good at fetch (the ADHD thing gets in the way a bit) and learning to "give". He'll learn all kinds of things as they become age/attention span appropriate. NOT a fan of him finding me, hubby wore me thin on that with his previous dog. Patches does seem to have a great nose though. I used to be an EMT and would love to do Search and Rescue or even have a Cadaver dog. Who knows.

[xteacher]

He's a cutie! I'd get him in puppy kindergarten ASAP! Mental exercise will wear an intelligent dog out much faster than physical exercise. Boxers (used to have them) are much like these dogs - super intelligent and easily bored; almost impossible to wear out, physically. Training sessions should be short (10 minutes) while young, especially for an intelligent breed, to avoid boredom, resulting in refusal to comply.

Is he food driven? Play hide and seek games. Hide pieces of kibble (only one piece per hiding place) around the house. Start out easy (a piece by a chair where he can see it), progressing up to pieces hidden in hard to find places. Teach the "find it" command. At first, lead him to the "prize", saying "find it". He's so smart, it shouldn't take too long for him to catch on. Obviously, don't let him see you hiding the pieces of kibble (kennel him or have DH take him outside while you hide the treats). Remember to take out the amount of kibble used at meal time for such games to avoid your dog gaining too much weight.

You can also hide yourself in increasingly hard places (DH needs to help you hold him while you hide), and let him find you. You can say, "find me". This is also good for having the dog always be aware of where you are and is helpful if he gets loose and you want him to come to you. Making it a game comes in handy when this happens.

Another option is to get some dog puzzles that have kibble put in them. The dog has to figure out how to get the kibble out. These puzzles come in varying levels of difficulty. This could be a way of feeding your dog and mentally exercising him at the same time.