Just in love with my collie

[Pixanna]

hi everyone!
We have adopted a gorgeous border collie boy named Spot. He is around 1 year and 4 months old. As he wasn’t a working dog no one seemed to have wanted him. He is a bit timid (we believe he was mistreated) but around us he is a loving boy full of cuddles and appreciation.
While there’s a lot we still need to learn about him and as he’s my first doggo I want to get it right.

 

[JoanneF]

Lovely! Collies are very sensitive so he may not have been mistreated as such - firm handling rather than gentle persuasion can affect them badly. They do respond better to the proverbial carrot than stick. Some photos would be lovely.

 

[Pixanna]

Lovely! Collies are very sensitive so he may not have been mistreated as such - firm handling rather than gentle persuasion can affect them badly. They do respond better to the proverbial carrot than stick. Some photos would be lovely.

Yes,sorry. Was going to put pictures up but couldn’t figure out how. I’ll have a go now.
Also when we got Spot he was very dirty and smelly but that’s because he came from a farm. Now his coat is shiny and soft although we are still trying to get rid of horrid mats in his hair. He doesn’t like the noise of clippers and the looks of scissors so today we managed to distract him a bit and I managed to get rid of the worst knots he had.

 

[JoanneF]

How gorgeous is he!

 

[Whippylove]

Welcome! Spot is gorgeous I had a border for 13yrs and absolutely adored him.
Good luck with him.

 

[Josie]

Welcome! Lovely gorgeous spot

 

[JudyN]

Welcome!

 

[JoanneF]

we managed to distract him a bit and I managed to get rid of the worst knots he had

I should have said last night but we have found the best thing for distraction is squeezy cheese in a tube. One person delivers just enough to keep the dog licking the tube while the other person gets on with whatever needs to be done.

 

[Mad Murphy]

Collies are lovely and so quick and bright... It can take time for a dog to settle but Im sure you are going to have great times together.

 

[Pixanna]

Thank you everyone for replies.
I’ll have to have a look at toys for Spot. At the moment he’s into squeaky soft toys and tennis balls which he loves to throw in the air and then catch in his mouth.
When we got Spot we were told he is fine left on his own (I work part time while my son is at school) but whenever we leave him for 15 minute school run, it turns out he is pacing, howling and barking. Does anyone have any idea how to get him used to being on his own? We got toys but he doesn’t seem to be interested in them when he’s home alone. He won’t even eat unless we are in the kitchen too. We have been thinking of joining training classes but we are doing some research for now.
At least now I know not to trust people when buying a pet off them. While Spot is lovely and cuddles is something he adores, he isn’t what the previous owner said he is. We managed to train him the basics like sit, stay, down. He has learnt to walk on the lead nicely although sometimes he still pulls. He’s an angel off the lead, always comes back when called. He was very scared of cars when we got him but he is now fine with them. He was raised with other dogs (so we were told) but he doesn’t seem to know how to behave around them. He either lunges, barks or lies down sometimes exposing his belly. Sometimes he just stares. He seems to be the most scared of small dogs. Any person he sees he always hopes they’ll stop to give him fuss. He’s really good with my 8 year old.
At the moment my husband is at home but soon he’ll be back at work and I’m super scared of how Spot will handle being on his own while I’m at work. Any advice would be much appreciated. Thank you everyone.

 

[Mad Murphy]

Being raised with dogs doesnt mean youre going to like them, I live among people but Im not that keen on them!
Take the previous owners comments with a pinch of salt. If people sell a car they dont say its a rusty shack on wheels they say older but good runner, always starts ( they dont mention thats with the help of the AA) and so when people get rid of a dog they tell stories or only tell the good bits.

Getting him used to being alone is more training starting with being alone while you hang out laundry or go into another room then while you go outside for 5 minutes , 10 minutes etc. Some dogs like music or a talk show to be left playing while alone so that they dont feel too lonely , have you tried that?
Kongs and other reward toys are quite good at keeping dogs happy too..

Good luck with his training.

 

[JoanneF]

@JudyN has a good piece on separation anxiety that I am sure she will link.

Regarding the other dogs, he seems anxious - the exposing his tummy is a submissive gesture and the lunging and barking is very likely him taking an 'attack is the best form of defence' approach. Being on lead, he can't get away so has to put on an even bigger display of 'I'm big and scary, don't mess with me'.

He will have an invisible radius of space around him where he feels secure . Find out what that is and keep him far enough away from other dogs that he is relaxed. Reward his calm behaviour. Gradually, over weeks and months, not days, work on reducing the distance. This may mean you have to be selective where you walk - choose places with good visibility so you can give other dogs a wide berth, or where you can turn and walk away easily. But - be aware that if your dog has had a stressful episode the stress hormone can stay in the body for up to 48 hours so a distance he was comfortable with the day before might be too close that day. So the safe distance can change, watch his body language.

Trainers describe behaviour like this with reference to the three Ds. Distance, as above but also be aware of Duration (your dog might be tolerant for 10 seconds, but not 15) and Distraction - how distracting the stimulus is; a calm dog might not trigger any reaction at a given distance but a bouncy one might.

Alongside that you could train a 'watch me'. As your dog looks at you, mark and reward the behaviour. Ask for longer periods of watching. Then if a dog approaches, after you have worked on the distance issue, you can get your dog to focus on you and not the other dog. BUT - some dogs find this scary as they cannot see the thing they are anxious about so you need to judge your dog.

 

[Pixanna]

Being raised with dogs doesnt mean youre going to like them, I live among people but Im not that keen on them!
Take the previous owners comments with a pinch of salt. If people sell a car they dont say its a rusty shack on wheels they say older but good runner, always starts ( they dont mention thats with the help of the AA) and so when people get rid of a dog they tell stories or only tell the good bits.

Getting him used to being alone is more training starting with being alone while you hang out laundry or go into another room then while you go outside for 5 minutes , 10 minutes etc. Some dogs like music or a talk show to be left playing while alone so that they dont feel too lonely , have you tried that?
Kongs and other reward toys are quite good at keeping dogs happy too..

Good luck with his training.

I get that I should take everything people say with pinch of salt but this is a living being we are talking about. Didn’t think someone would talk bs just to get rid of them. I think it’s disgusting. Never mind that though.
I haven’t tried music/podcast yet but I am going to try it today. I tried leaving Spot on his own while I do dishes or have a shower but he just paces around and whines. He also learnt how to open doors so he opens kitchen door and roams around the house howling and barking.
I’ll be off to Pets at home in a minute with Spot so we will definitely pick up more treats and toys which will occupy him for more than 20 minutes.
I get what you say about him being raised with other dogs. I just need to find a way to help him ignore them so he can enjoy his walks 100%. At the moment I take him out before work (6:30-7am) and then when back from work and later in the evening when it’s quiet and less likely for us to see other dogs.

 

[JudyN]

@JudyN has a good piece on separation anxiety that I am sure she will link.

Here you go Separation anxiety - Positively | Victoria Stilwell | Forum

How long will he need to be left alone for when you are both back at work? You might need to investigate dog sitters/walkers/day care, at least for the short term - it's unlikely that a dog left to cry for 15 minutes will simply adapt to being left for that amount of time or longer... you need to start from a point where he's comfortable and work from there.

It's probably mentioned in the link I posted, but an excellent guide is Patricia McConnell's 'I'll Be Home Soon'.

 

[Pixanna]

Here you go Separation anxiety - Positively | Victoria Stilwell | Forum

How long will he need to be left alone for when you are both back at work? You might need to investigate dog sitters/walkers/day care, at least for the short term - it's unlikely that a dog left to cry for 15 minutes will simply adapt to being left for that amount of time or longer... you need to start from a point where he's comfortable and work from there.

It's probably mentioned in the link I posted, but an excellent guide is Patricia McConnell's 'I'll Be Home Soon'.

6 hours from the moment I leave till I come back. I’ll have a look at the link. Thank you.

 

[JudyN]

That's quite a long time to be left - but of course you were told he was fine being left Good luck!

 

[Pixanna]

That's quite a long time to be left - but of course you were told he was fine being left Good luck!

Is it? I work with people who do 9-10 hour shifts and their dogs are fine on their own. I thought 6 hours wasn’t long at all.

 

[JudyN]

Is it? I work with people who do 9-10 hour shifts and their dogs are fine on their own. I thought 6 hours wasn’t long at all.

It's a matter of opinion and, of course, it's different for different dogs. Many organisations, e.g. the Dogs Trust, recommend that dogs aren't left for more than 4 hours, and many rescues wouldn't let you have a dog if you work full time. But of course many dogs are left for longer and are apparently fine. I say apparently, because some studies have shown that even when a dog left alone looks fine, they can have raised cortisol levels - though this doesn't of course mean that this applies to all of them.

There's also the risk that a 1-year-old collie would become bored with no stimulation for such a long time, and as well as this being stressful in itself, he could develop some obsessive habits (which are common in collies).

But I'm looking at the negatives just because my dog had separation anxiety and it was difficult to fix.Hopefully this won't be your experience at all, and Spot will be fine

 

[JoanneF]

I agree that's quite a long stretch but of course every dog is different and as long as he is coping, fair enough. But I think 10 to 12 hours is definitely too long. Dogs are social animals so add 8 hours sleeping to that time and they hardly would have any interaction with their owners. And it's a long time to hold their toilet, and have no stimulation.