Recently I've had a young Border Collie staying with me, who if truth be told, proved to be quite a challenge - and I couldn''t understand why.
Arriving for residential training, Teddie just wasn't as receptive as most dogs are. She was a rather anxious dog to say the least, and I wondered if I would ever be able to allow her off the long line without seeing her run into the distance, oblivious to my commands.
As Paul said, "she's a difficult one to figure out".
On contacting her owner, I discovered that she'd been taken from her mother at FOUR weeks and taken at five. As any good breeder will tell you, you can collect your pup when he/she is two months old.
This information put a new light on things and, with this information in the back of my mind, had a rethink of the most appropriate way to train this lovely young animal.
Adopting a variety of methods improved things greatly and, as you can see, Teddie did advance to walking off lead on the Fells - and enjoying herself !
In truth I was sad to see her leave as, despite the problems I encountered early on, I'd managed to solve them and ended up with a very loving dog who would do anything for me.
My latest challenge ( and I mean challenge !) is Tilly, an 8 month old Dalmatian who, on arrival, could be seen before she could be heard !
Tilly has been a real handful for her owners and I really respect them for not taking the easy root and rehoming her. Her selfish ways have not endeared her to them anymore than the general whining and howling for attention did to me. But those were the early days and now, over two weeks since she arrived, Tilly is turning a corner. Her manners have improved greatly and when told to sit she does - until told to do otherwise.
But as the photograph below shows, all this training can be a little taxing - especially if there's a nice warm Aga close by !
Janet
Arriving for residential training, Teddie just wasn't as receptive as most dogs are. She was a rather anxious dog to say the least, and I wondered if I would ever be able to allow her off the long line without seeing her run into the distance, oblivious to my commands.
As Paul said, "she's a difficult one to figure out".
On contacting her owner, I discovered that she'd been taken from her mother at FOUR weeks and taken at five. As any good breeder will tell you, you can collect your pup when he/she is two months old.
This information put a new light on things and, with this information in the back of my mind, had a rethink of the most appropriate way to train this lovely young animal.
Adopting a variety of methods improved things greatly and, as you can see, Teddie did advance to walking off lead on the Fells - and enjoying herself !
In truth I was sad to see her leave as, despite the problems I encountered early on, I'd managed to solve them and ended up with a very loving dog who would do anything for me.
 |
| Teddie - NO lead and returning to my recall ---- brilliant ! |
Tilly has been a real handful for her owners and I really respect them for not taking the easy root and rehoming her. Her selfish ways have not endeared her to them anymore than the general whining and howling for attention did to me. But those were the early days and now, over two weeks since she arrived, Tilly is turning a corner. Her manners have improved greatly and when told to sit she does - until told to do otherwise.
But as the photograph below shows, all this training can be a little taxing - especially if there's a nice warm Aga close by !
 |
| "Don't get too comfortable Tilly, we're not done yet!" |
Janet
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