Serious dog help needed!

[mekasmom]

She needs to be rehomed where she can work with cows or else be in agility. She needs a job to do. It's the breed. You can't change her instinct.
She would "herd" your baby in toddlerhood, so you could expect nips. She isn't mean, it's just the herding instinct. Unfortunately, we don't have enough jobs for these types of breeds that use to be so useful. Not that many working ranches around anymore and too many dogs that need them.

Some would disagree, but honestly, it would be kinder to euthanize this dog than it would be to keep her on a chain or confined with noting to do. She needs a home that can use her unique skill set. Without that, she will be "jailed" and unhappy for her whole life. She needs an outlet for that energy and drive to be happy.

 

[morelcabin]

I would be *very* worried about that prey drive mixing with a baby. Dogs don't know whether a newborn is prey or human, they really don't...even my ever docile boxer COULD NOT figure out what my grandaughter was when she first came home...and she has no prey instinct at all. I woulod definitely get rid of that dog before the baby comes home. Not sure where I read it, but a few weeks ago I read that a police officer lost his baby to thier dog at a few days old. The dog went into the crib and took the newborn right out of it and brought it to the backyard to make a meal of it. This is very serious. I know a vet here in town that does the more henious autopsys from all over Canada and the cases he has worked on regarding babies (taking thier body parts out of dogs) has really taught me alot about how much you really can't trust alot of family dogs when it comes to babies.
Anyway, seriuosly, get rid of the dog, and never ever leave your baby alone in a room with ANY dog as a newborn infant.

 

[BarbK]

WARNING before rehoming look at your contract with the shelter. The shelter I volunteer for says that the animal HAS to come back to them if your situation changes. If you rehome and they find out you could be looking at charges!!!!

Second what people said about exercise... Dogs NEED daily heavy excersice. After she is excercised then you work on training.

Third how does she act around children? That should give you an idea how she is gonna act around the baby.

You could also find a trainer to come to your house to work with her. Try calling the shelter and find out if they know of any good trainers. The dog needs a professional trainer at this point.

Good luck

 

[anngili]

I agree with Sammimom. I've got a high energy Border Collie. I needed training to train her correctly. She's a working sheepdog and even as a senior dog requires LOTS of mental and physical exercise, much of which needs to mental exercise. Your situation is just not what she needs and, with a baby on the way and the time it would take for you to learn how to train, her learn to obey you, and the high prey drive which can make her unpredictable around children, you need to find her a home where she can be the dog she's meant to be.

Children also make noises at times that say "prey" to dogs and that's bad news with a dog with a high prey drive. Border Collies and labs both tend to have high prey drives; it's what they're bred for. I think keeping her in your situation would just be asking for trouble especially since your Border Collie is about 9 mo. old. It's not fair to you or her if you try to keep her. She needs to go somewhere where she'll get the life she's bred for.

If she's as intense as my dog, a shock collar is not going to stop her. I dropped a cheeseburger (her favorite treat) on my dog while herding, literally on my dog's nose, and all she did was look up and give me a dirty look for interrupting the herding. She's only 40 lbs. but she demolished a dog run and broke a fang just to get to something she wanted to herd and she's never tasted blood on anything she herds. Your dog is intense and has already tasted blood so chickens mean "food" to her and it will take a lot of training and exercise to overcome that. I'm talking about 4+ hours per day minimum for many months!

My dog is very well trained to know that she can herd but never, ever bite animals hard enough to draw blood, but I still don't trust that with chickens or around a child without my personal supervision. She recognized me as pack leader but she doesn't do so with anyone else and will not obey them if she really wants to do something. You're obviously not the pack leader in your dog's mind so you'd also need to win her respect.

I very, very strongly recommend rehoming for your dog and I don't usually recommend it. I wish I could take her for you but I'm limited to one dog in my lease. Try a Border Collie rescue group if you possibly can. They're experienced with the special needs that BCs and BC mixes need and will find the dog the right home for it. That way you can rest assured that you're doing the right thing for both you and the dog.

Best of luck with whatever you decide to do!

Ann

 

[ninny]

Quote:
Thats the bad part i just reread the contract and she has to go back. There is no way on God's green earth im taking her back there!! She would just be adopted out to the first person to come along and just be ruined.

As for the excercise im working on get something worked out to keep her fit. She loves to swim so that helps as i have a pond to take her to. That and shes not big on fetch but she will chase the lab for hours if i throw a toy. Then obedience training. Gotta find her sport. She has the toys that she has to work to get food out off. Gonna get some different ones to rotate through.

As for kids she is just awesome around them. She loves kids like crazy. Thats one reason id like to keep her. I wanted to use her as a kids therapy dog.

Im never ever leaveing my baby alone with any of my dogs. The dogs are babygated in one room of the house as well.

I just found her weakness after 5 months of living with her. Its hotdogs!! Wow! She did everything i asked for a piece of that thing.

They are whistle trained so im going to try adding a long loud blast as a leave it command instead of a e collar. I really don't want to get one if i don't have to.

Im gonna see if she would like tracking then i could hide scented toys everywhere for her to find this winter.

Im gonna give her a little bit longer as she is maturing a little quicker now. But i've got to get her to stop nipping. I hate giving up on a dog and now that i've seen what a hot dog will do i may have a chance with her.

I guess it came through some how that im not the pack leader and yes i am. She knows when shes naughty i just point and she will show me her belly. Its just getting her through this stage.

Thank you everybody for your comments. Its great to know people are willing to give advice and help me through this. My next question would be what are some games do you do with your collies?

 

[Pupsnpullets]

I used to hide toys and send my bc off to find them. I started out easy hiding them in the house, then moved to having the dog wait inside while I hid it outside. If I hid it good enough I got up to half an hour to read the paper and have a cup of coffee while the dog went into overdrive. My dog was never stumped!! She always found the toy and wouldn't quit til she did.

 

[PortageGirl]

Well, Border Collies aren't usually big on scent... but with the Lab in there, who knows! If she idolizes you're other dog and that dog obeys, maybe it will help you. I had a friend who kept his crazy young dog on a leash, and had the well behaved one do 'fun' stuff like fetch a ball a couple or three times for praise and treats, then snapped a leash on the 'good' dog, and showed the 'fun ball' to the youngster, tried to get her to fetch it, but if she wouldn't, he snapped the leash back on the youngster and had the older dog 'Go get it!' and kept doing that till the youngster emulated.

One way BCs learn to herd is by being paired with a well trained dog, who gets praised for his good behaviour while the youngster gets ignored, but rarely reprimanded. They're often quite sensitive to being verbally spanked, and they're smart enough to retaliate or sulk by not 'helping out'. My male could handle, heh, actually needed some gruff reprimands, but a little female I had for a while needed encouragement more than reprimands.

Is there a local dog club that does any agility training? I know you're not in any shape to start this NOW, lol, but maybe they'd have some tips for laying some groundwork for her for a later date.

Not sure any of this helps, just some observations that might give some ideas.

 

[BarbK]

I have always had hunting dogs or herding dogs. We used to (snif sniff) have shelties and I started finding little jobs for them to do. Like when we wanted to give someone else across the room something we had Lasey come get it then take it to them or if we dropped something she would pick it up. She always had to work to get her food till her seizures got to bad. I would hide her daily allowance of food around the house.

Now my pup goes out and helps put the goats up after milking in the am and pm and helps get the chicks up. He also gets to chase the coyotes outta here so he gets plenty of excercise on top of playing with the kitties and child.

 

[jojo@rolling acres farm]

Dogs like this need a ton of exercise and they also need a job. I would re-home her to some one that can give her both. Also, a dog at 9 months is getting into the stage of development where they want/have to chase - everything!

Good Luck finding her a new home...I do understand about you not wanting to make your lab unhappy...its a bummer. You need to think about your nine month old dog and the impending birth of your baby.

Take care of yourself and your baby - best wishes!

 

[Sammimom]

You can contact local agility groups to find out what group training activities are avalable in your area, one of my friends used to take her dog to these duck herding classes. The dog lived for the days he got to go to duck herding classes!

I think one of the biggest challenges with herding dogs is their intellegence. If she is smart enough to know you are alpha, and yet engage in "forbidden" activities when you are not around (i.e. killing chickens) it might be really tough to always keep an eye on her when you're watching little ones.

There is nothing like a squealing, running little kid to get a dog to bite--my Dad's dog just jumped and ripped a piece out of my 5-year-old son's shirt (up by his neck) when he was chasing his brother on our camping trip last week. I have been arguing with my dad about this dog for the last 4 years, saying she would bite eventually (she growls and everything) and he just blows it off. In my parents' case they have all the time in the world to work with this dog and she would likely be fine (she for sure doesn't respect them, won't come when called, won't "leave it", etc.) but your post just worries me, I can't imagine having a dog like my folks' dog, with a herding instinct, here in my house full time with my kids. I don't see how I could have kept them seperate enough to prevent a bite. Mom and Dad's dog is a Heeler/Lab cross, who they've had since she was about 9 weeks old.