Author Topic: A visit to Dog Trust  (Read 31993 times)

Re: A visit to Dog Trust
« Reply #25 on: 01 September, 2013, 07:15:09 pm »
She looks like a lovely dog (although the pictures don't say a lot about her temperament).  I assumed that at 6 months old she'd grow a bit more, but from what you say, she's about as big as she'll get.  I'm assuming you're sticking with just a dog, but if a cat was ever likely to occur, now's the time to do it, and get them used to each other whilst they're young.

Good luck with her, and obviously keep us informed (with pictures!)

I'd like to own a dog, but work all day, so it's just not reasonable.  The cats can look after themselves pretty well, and have the cat flap, but that sort of thing doesn't really work with a dog.
Actually, it is rocket science.
 

Re: A visit to Dog Trust
« Reply #26 on: 01 September, 2013, 07:30:47 pm »
Her temperament seems good: very gentle indeed, happy, friendly with no behavioural issues other than being boisterous and uncoordinated, which hopefully we can settle with lots of training. She met a couple of other dogs today while on the lead with us and did well: lots of sniffing about but no aggression whatsoever. She's not bitey or licky, gives cuddles willingly and enjoys a good ear/head/anywhere scratch.

She goes crazy on the lead as she's young, cooped up, and a Collie! She hops along on her hind legs, pulling like mad and regularly toppling over in her excitement. The staff at the centre say she's exuberant but trainable and has never shown aggression.  The only command she's learned seems to be 'Sit!' which she does biddably, as long as you can get her attention.

No cats for us in this house. This dog - and Mum's cat - is going to keep us busy enough.  :o

woollypigs

  • Mr Peli
    • woollypigs
Re: A visit to Dog Trust
« Reply #27 on: 01 September, 2013, 07:36:29 pm »
Yes it was very refreshing to see her with other dogs today. When two little terries growled at her, she was about 3 metres away and very keen, she just turned away and looked for someone else to play with.
Current mood: AARRRGGGGHHHHH !!! #bollockstobrexit

Re: A visit to Dog Trust
« Reply #28 on: 01 September, 2013, 10:33:15 pm »
We just did a 30 minute "evening walk" with our imaginary dog. We thought it best to start to get into the routine! We've discovered that our local recreation ground has a sizeable enclosed dog run, so that will be handy for training and helping Crappy work off some energy.

I stopped short of getting Woolly to fetch a stick.

Regulator

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Re: A visit to Dog Trust
« Reply #29 on: 02 September, 2013, 07:15:26 am »
Top tip from my dog-owning elder sister....

"Just remember who is chief wolf.  And make sure that your dog remembers it too!"

Yep.

It may sound a bit "woo-woo" but one of our friends, who is a proper academic animal behaviourist at the University of Cambridge, strongly recommends the Jan Fennell books.

Jack was a rescue dog (from Wood Green in Cambridge) and even Mr R now admits he was a better choice than some inbred pedigree dog...
Quote from: clarion
I completely agree with Reg.

Green Party Councillor

woollypigs

  • Mr Peli
    • woollypigs
Re: A visit to Dog Trust
« Reply #30 on: 02 September, 2013, 09:11:50 am »
Yup we know about the pack. Might do the drink lots of tea/beer and pee around the garden trick. My big brother had to do this to get his pack of five dogs to calm down and tell who was the boss.

Last night we watched a DVD from the dogs trust about training and the lady there was also a behaviorist.
Current mood: AARRRGGGGHHHHH !!! #bollockstobrexit

Riggers

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Re: A visit to Dog Trust
« Reply #31 on: 02 September, 2013, 09:46:03 am »
Those little ginger eyebrows will be so expressive. We have a friend who has a collie-cross with, so the Welsh farmer assures them, a German-Shepherd. Lovely do. Lovely temperament. And he loves nothing more than running … and running.

I give you Archie:

Certainly never seen cycling south of Sussex

Re: A visit to Dog Trust
« Reply #32 on: 02 September, 2013, 10:00:49 am »
I grew up with border collies (working dogs).

They are by far the most intelligent breed, which brings its own issues.

Some tips.

Border collies have an instinct to herd. They tend to either be 'eye dogs' or 'nippers'. Eye dogs will stare at an animal and flank it; fix animal with eye, dash round, stop and crouch down, stare again, etc. 'Nippers' dash in an nip at ankles.
You'll quickly work out which one your dog is. If she's a nipper, clamp down hard on it, or she'll nip every kid, visitor or postman who comes to your house.

Be the boss. Never respond immediately when she dashes up, only give her a pat and a stroke after she's obeyed a command.

Border collies tend to fix on one person as Teh Boss. Decide if it will be wp or pelly and stick to it. You can both be 'boss' over the dog, but one must be the Alpha as far as the dog is concerned.

Don't be afraid of  being very firm, but border collies don't (usually) need shouting at. A stern glare can be very effective.

Although people say border collies need lots of exercise, if they have open space they are self-exercising. Be aware that they can run themselves into the ground.
<i>Marmite slave</i>

Re: A visit to Dog Trust
« Reply #33 on: 02 September, 2013, 10:49:37 am »
Archie is very handsome, Riggers.  :D

mrcharly, thanks for the great tips, which are really helpful. I'd read about the different kinds of border collie personality but we are certainly not experts.

The Dog's Trust recommended reward-based training with no punishment. When we have our pre-adoption talk on Saturday I'll ask their behaviourist about how to deal with any nipping.

I've known a few border collies, including one called Toby who made friends with us while at a friend's place in Brisbane. Toby insisted on having his stick thrown, and being a mug, I threw it for him. And again. And again. And again, until the stick was a mere splinter lying on the edge of Toby's tongue. You get the picture. This resulted in a painful arm condition which we now know as Toby Arm.  Talk about running Peli into the ground.  :-[

We're very committed to setting ground rules for Scrappy-not-Crappy from the moment we collect her, but we're expecting the process to be hard work.

We're trying to decide who will be Teh Boss. Woolly has more experience with dogs, and clearly took on that role with the couple of dogs we looked after while in Portland last year. But, I'll be at home with her all day and will be taking her for her afternoon walk (probably the longest one of the day - we'll be walking her x3 each day).

If you consider that she's probably never been allowed to run naturally in her short life, it's understandable that she's a bit wild and just wants to run, run and run.

Re: A visit to Dog Trust
« Reply #34 on: 02 September, 2013, 10:56:00 am »

Re: A visit to Dog Trust
« Reply #35 on: 02 September, 2013, 11:19:04 am »
she's a bit wild and just wants to run, run and run.
That's just border collies. They have no restraint and will run themselves to the point of collapse. I still have painful memories of taking Dad's border collie on a hike. I ended up carrying her home (she wasn't small).

All border collies of all personality types respond to eye contact (not in an aggressive way; some dog breeds take eye contact as a threat).

names?  how about 'Spokey' as in she looks small and useful.
<i>Marmite slave</i>

Re: A visit to Dog Trust
« Reply #36 on: 02 September, 2013, 11:53:21 am »
No need to work out who is chief boss, the dog will do that, all you need to be is equally firm on matters of import. There will be plenty of dog to go around.

Re: A visit to Dog Trust
« Reply #37 on: 02 September, 2013, 12:58:23 pm »
Thanks, Ham.

I'm about to buy a crate for her. Any ideas what size I should go for? She's quite small as you can see from the pictures and video. I see from several suppliers' sites that a 106cm x 71cm x 77cm crate is recommended for Border Collies (as well as these breeds: Bearded Collie, Boxer, Dalmatian, Golden Retriever, Labrador Retriever, Vizsla). The next one down is 91cm x 60cm x 66cm which is recommended for the following breeds: Beagle, Brittany Spaniel, Cocker Spaniel, English Setter, English Springer Spaniel, Welsh Corgi, Whippet.

I suspect the 106cm will be too big, but we don't really know how big she will grow. Any advice?


tiermat

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Re: A visit to Dog Trust
« Reply #38 on: 02 September, 2013, 02:51:00 pm »
Go for the bigger one, then you won't have to buy another if she does out grow the first one.

For our cats we had the choice of getting small, kitten ones, then buying larger ones later, or just saying "sod it" and buying the ones for adult cats.

You will, probably, only use it once or twice whilst she is small (taking her to the vets for shots, bringing her back from the shelter), but you can guarantee, if you go for the smaller one, the one time you need to take her to the vets is the time you find out she is too big for the one you have :)
I feel like Captain Kirk, on a brand new planet every day, a little like King Kong on top of the Empire State

Re: A visit to Dog Trust
« Reply #39 on: 02 September, 2013, 02:53:23 pm »
I suspect the 106cm will be too big, but we don't really know how big she will grow. Any advice?

What size fits in the car?

As long as it is big enough for her to stand up in fully and to lie down on her side, that's enough, and if it is going to be used for housetraining purposes it shouldn't be much bigger than that. We've never needed to keep any dog in a crate in the house but it seems to be what some people do. 

I don't think she grow more than a couple of inches higher than she is now, at 6 months, but I could be wrong.

Re: A visit to Dog Trust
« Reply #40 on: 02 September, 2013, 02:56:01 pm »
I don't think she grow more than a couple of inches higher than she is now, at 6 months, but I could be wrong.
It's funny you should say that. I just showed a few pictures of her to the man in the pet shop (who seems knowledgeable, but who knows?) and he reckons she's crossed with a GERMAN SHEPHERD and could end up really rather big!  :o

Re: A visit to Dog Trust
« Reply #41 on: 02 September, 2013, 03:07:56 pm »
Certainly more plausible than a dachshund, as I'd have thought a collie would be more likely to be in the vicinity of alsatian types rather than sausages, but I'd have thought that she'd be much more rangy at 6 months if that were the case?

She could be younger than 6 months of course, but it sounds about right, as best as can be judged from here.

Re: A visit to Dog Trust
« Reply #42 on: 02 September, 2013, 03:10:52 pm »
I don't think she grow more than a couple of inches higher than she is now, at 6 months, but I could be wrong.
It's funny you should say that. I just showed a few pictures of her to the man in the pet shop (who seems knowledgeable, but who knows?) and he reckons she's crossed with a GERMAN SHEPHERD and could end up really rather big!  :o

Check the paws and / or tail. If they need growing into, she will be big.

woollypigs

  • Mr Peli
    • woollypigs
Re: A visit to Dog Trust
« Reply #43 on: 02 September, 2013, 03:12:49 pm »
Car not a problem as it is a van.

Paws and tail are not too big for her.
Current mood: AARRRGGGGHHHHH !!! #bollockstobrexit

Re: A visit to Dog Trust
« Reply #44 on: 02 September, 2013, 03:22:12 pm »
I'd have a modest wager that she won't get huge.

Don't get the biggest crate you can get, you want it to be something that she'll make a bed in rather than having room to walk about, but still tall enough for her to stand up in without having to lower her head.

Re: A visit to Dog Trust
« Reply #45 on: 02 September, 2013, 03:26:26 pm »
Yes, her paws didn't seem noticeably out of proportion to her body, but I'm not an expert. They are quite narrow and slender, not wide and beefy. I'd say she's about 40-45cm at her withers at the moment. And every time we asked the staff at the centre about her adult size they thought she'd grown "another couple of inches" at most.

I know, I'll call the centre and see what size crate they suggest.

Re: A visit to Dog Trust
« Reply #46 on: 02 September, 2013, 03:40:14 pm »
I just spoke to the lovely people at Dog's Trust and Scrappy's carer thinks she would be best in a medium sized crate, and that she'll grow roughly another inch and that's it.

They do loan out crates for a £50 deposit for the purposes of taking the dog home for the first time, but as we're about 1h40 from Darlington and won't be passing in the very near future, it's better for us to buy our own.

clarion

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Re: A visit to Dog Trust
« Reply #47 on: 02 September, 2013, 03:48:36 pm »
We just did a 30 minute "evening walk" with our imaginary dog. We thought it best to start to get into the routine! We've discovered that our local recreation ground has a sizeable enclosed dog run, so that will be handy for training and helping Crappy work off some energy.

I stopped short of getting Woolly to fetch a stick.

What a fine looking dog you have there!

I do like the idea of a practice walk with an imaginary dog.  ;D  Perhaps more non-dog owners should give that a go.  But well worth finding out what's in your area from the perspective of having a dog.

Good idea to have a dog with a bit of collie in where you're living, as there's some fine walking to be had, and collies have loads of energy.  A greyhound wouldn't get up the first rise before wanting to be carried home ::-)

It hardly needs saying, but please keep her on a lead on the fells.  Those are the hills where, as a kid, I saw sheep which had been attacked by pet dogs.  So sad.

ETA: Well done for getting a rescue dog.  I've had a few, and it's very rewarding.  I can't really understand anyone not doing.
Getting there...

Re: A visit to Dog Trust
« Reply #48 on: 02 September, 2013, 04:00:28 pm »
Absolutely, she will be on a lead when we go into the hills. I've seen enough photos on local Facebook groups of sheep and lambs with their faces chewed off to thoroughly convince me not to slack in that regard.  >:(

We're going to start with a six-foot training lead in an attempt to get her not to pull and will not be letting her off for at least a year. (We will however see if it's safe to let her off in the enclosed dog run in the local park once we are confident with her recall.)

And I did my afternoon walk with imaginary dog this lunchtime, via the vet's to register the Scrapster.  There are lovely local short walks in and around Skipton, not to mention the vast expanses of beautiful wilderness around. Scrappy will hopefully enjoy herself. 

clarion

  • Tyke
Re: A visit to Dog Trust
« Reply #49 on: 02 September, 2013, 04:05:23 pm »
Sorry, re-reading my post makes it sounds as if you need telling about dogs & sheep.  I didn't mean to suggest that you, Pennines born & bred, would be so irresponsible. :-[
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