Goin' to the Dogs!

[heirloomgal]

@heirloom girls said ,”My dog has Hound syndrome…interesting.
My border collies have ‘Can’t sit still syndrome’. always begging to play frisbee, ball, . I got them interactive toys thought I could get a rest. Well they insists I play with the interactive toys with them .
Maybe the borders have , ‘Separation Syndrome ‘ .
Next I’m thinking about ordering an obstacle course to keep them busy.

Have you tried doing scent detection with them @Shades-of-Oregon ? They may really like the mental challenge of it, I just took a class to be able to teach my dog. You start off with wintergreen essential oil and little plastic totes with holes drilled in the tops. The learning process of it is SUPER challenging if they're athletes, because most pet dogs get challenged physically only, this requires them to psychologically work to figure out what the heck you're asking them to do. It's an enjoyable process for us too, seeing that little brain ticking. Right now my dog is hung up on going to each tote, sniffing the hole, looking at us, checking if this is 'it', then going to the next one if it isn't, over and over. It's hilarious right now because he thinks 'the trick' is just to sniff each of the boxes. He hasn't figured out just yet why sometimes one of those box sniffs magically gets him mozzarella.

Border collies are so smart, they do really well with riddles like this. The high drive dogs usually start whacking the boxes all over the place constantly with their paws when they get the gist of 'this is about these boxes somehow', like the boxes are treat dispensers. It's so funny. My goal is to eventually fade out the winter green and instead train him to scent out my car keys, and my wallet.

 

[Shades-of-Oregon]

@heirloomgal I like that idea to teach them scent detecting. It is interesting to watch their brains ticking . Once they figure anything out they want to learn more. Always need a task or something to do. Maybe I’ll teach them to do some of the scented plants in the garden. Then let them to smell a sample plant in my hand and ask her to show me where they are?

We have those talking buttons.. gets a bit annoying after awhile. ‘I want a cookie”, potty outside, Water, Hungary. Play ball… UHG.

They are runners and run circles around the pastures. They have followed scat trails for the bobcat , quail .. squirrels.. .and coyotes. Finds the active gopher tunnels too.
Thanks for the idea for scent training.

 

[Marie2020]

@heirloomgal I like that idea to teach them scent detecting. It is interesting to watch their brains ticking . Once they figure anything out they want to learn more. Always need a task or something to do. Maybe I’ll teach them to do some of the scented plants in the garden. Then let them to smell a sample plant in my hand and ask her to show me where they are?

We have those talking buttons.. gets a bit annoying after awhile. ‘I want a cookie”, potty outside, Water, Hungary. Play ball… UHG.

I'd love to see them using the talking buttons

They are runners and run circles around the pastures. They have followed scat trails for the bobcat , quail .. squirrels.. .and coyotes. Finds the active gopher tunnels too.
Thanks for the idea for scent training.

 

[SPedigrees]

Border collies are so smart, they do really well with riddles like this. The high drive dogs usually start whacking the boxes all over the place constantly with their paws when they get the gist of 'this is about these boxes somehow', like the boxes are treat dispensers. It's so funny.

My sheltie would love this.

 

[Shades-of-Oregon]

My sheltie would love this.

I love Shelties had several in the past . They are very smart and great herding dogs. My boys each had a sheltie growing up . Attended 4-H obedience school / obstacle course involved with state and national competitions. Blue merle, tri-color. Some people thought the shelties were collie puppies because we have collies too.

I seem to have inherited most of my dogs for one reason or another from friends that couldn’t keep them.
Since most were working dogs they kept us all busy. My friend used to have ducks - dozens and sheep we would practice herding on her farm. She had Australian cattle dogs which were state champion herding dogs at the time. My dogs learned from her dogs. Amazing to watch the transition.

 

[heirloomgal]

My sheltie would love this.

I went to a dog show this weekend, there was a lot of shelties. In a setting like that with so many hundred dogs you can really see temperment differences. The shelties seem so sweet. It's definitely a dog I would consider getting in the future, I find the size about perfect too. Not too small to be fragile, not too big to take over the car. I'm guessing they are really good with trick training since so many herders are.

 

[digitS']

4-H obedience school

I did this also as a kid. The lady who was the instructor then hired me, as a 14 year old, to look after her Shelties . She had a kennel with about a dozen. And, 2 collies ... who helped me with the Shelties while the lady was on a vacation. Her brother showed up to stay the nights.

I don't remember how I knew her but Dad had a State Vet friend and we had family friends who raised Cairns and Bichons . I had a Border Collie and that was my only involvement with 4H. We moved off the farm when I was 14 with me thinking that I wanted to be a vet.

Steve, wow, it sounds like i am making this up but it was the limit of my association with those breeds, many decades ago (except Garbanzo the Dog is cairn and poodle, a terripoo).

 

[Shades-of-Oregon]

Great story @digitS’ sometimes it’s the memories revisited that make us think how diverse we were growing up without computers.

 

[SPedigrees]

I love Shelties had several in the past . They are very smart and great herding dogs. My boys each had a sheltie growing up . Attended 4-H obedience school / obstacle course involved with state and national competitions. Blue merle, tri-color. Some people thought the shelties were collie puppies because we have collies too.

I seem to have inherited most of my dogs for one reason or another from friends that couldn’t keep them.
Since most were working dogs they kept us all busy. My friend used to have ducks - dozens and sheep we would practice herding on her farm. She had Australian cattle dogs which were state champion herding dogs at the time. My dogs learned from her dogs. Amazing to watch the transition.

We also had collies, a sequence of 4 over the years, and I added a sheltie at one point (Mabel's predecessor). I got that a lot, people asking if little Tippi was a puppy or a grown-up mini version of her collie cohort. Looking over old videos I was reminded how many tricks Tippi knew; she had a whole routine.

I've really failed Mabel by comparison. I took her to puppy classes long ago and then to an "introduction to agility" class. Timid by nature, I feared Mabel might fear the agility equipment, but she *loved* it! Scurried up and down the roof thingie, conquered the teeter-totter, and made friends with every apparatus. (I didn't allow her to learn about jumping over a bar, given that my fence at home is not that high in places, and at her young age, she could have sailed over it easily if she knew she possessed the ability!) You mention dogs learning from watching other dogs, and Mabel certainly was fascinated by her classmates, and couldn't wait to have a go at it herself. Unfortunately I wasn't about to go to agility matches with my arthritic joints, so there was nowhere to go from there. Her life now could use some enrichment, especially since the loss of her chihuahua housemate.

 

[heirloomgal]

We also had collies, a sequence of 4 over the years, and I added a sheltie at one point (Mabel's predecessor). I got that a lot, people asking if little Tippi was a puppy or a mini version of her collie cohort. Looking over old videos I was reminded how many tricks Tippi knew; she had a whole routine.
View attachment 69205

I've really failed Mabel by comparison. I took her to puppy classes long ago and then to an "introduction to agility" class. Timid by nature, I feared Mabel might fear the agility equipment, but she *loved* it! Scurried up and down the roof thingie, conquered the teeter-totter, and made friends with every apparatus. (I didn't allow her to learn about jumping over a bar, given that my fence at home is not that high in places, and at her young age, she could have sailed over it easily if she knew she possessed the ability!) You mention dogs learning from watching other dogs, and Mabel certainly was fascinated by her classmates, and couldn't wait to have a go at it herself. Unfortunately I wasn't about to go to agility matches with my arthritic joints, so there was nowhere to go from there. Her life now could use some enrichment, especially since the loss of her chihuahua housemate.

Beautiful dogs. I don't know my collie types well, but I guess being so clever and also physically capable as herders, agility is a natural sport for them. Are there smooth coated collies?