Rescued Collie

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mitz

Rescued Collie

Post by mitz »

No, got her from someone I knew - she got her from someone who had advertised her. She has had six owners and we have now had her just over six months. My hubby does the agility and I take her to obedience. We have had weight/pooh and feeding issues but she is now eating Butchers in jelly so hopefully she will start to put on weight. She also had serious worms when we first got her so she has been a bit of a task since getting her. I have spoken to one collie rescue and they seem to think she is perfectly "normal". We don't feed her after us, we feed her at normal times. She does wait for us to go through doors etc. She sits at roads but she does still pull on her lead but her training is "coming together" now. Perhaps the "nipping" is the least of my worries based on what we have had to cope with up to now. She has now been sick two mornings on the trot so that is something else we have to watch.
leigh
Posts: 64
Joined: Sat Oct 07, 2006 1:55 am

Post by leigh »

I've heard that cooked pumpkin is good for diarrhoea and constipation (yep, both!) - anyone else heard that?
And when my bub is sick my vet always tells me to give her plain rice and boiled chicken, and it seems to settle her.
Patch
Posts: 6
Joined: Tue Oct 17, 2006 7:19 pm

Post by Patch »

Hi Mitz, if you have`nt already, do contact Sarah at Wiccaweys, she should be able to help not just on the behaviour but on diet as well :wink:
She is very busy running the rescue but if you google Wiccaweys and go to the contact page, give her a ring and leave a message and she`ll get back to you.

Yes she does sound like a very normal collie. I would get her to the vet about the sickness as its been more than 24 hours. How fast did you change her food over btw - it should be over at least 7 to 10 days or can cause digestive problems.

Interesting that you do the Obedience and OH does the agility and a bit of a clue there - which one is more fun for her, faster paced, more exhuberant - what might she be saying she would like to be doing with you too in terms of fun activity or makingher Obedience more fun orientated at home :wink:

If she is doing well in Obedience, when she starts getting hyper and gripping, [ a collie worky trait as she does sound typically worky - its not the same as just nipping randomly, sounds like she is just wanting to work for you and getting frustrated hence gripping ], pick some of her most reliable Obedience elements, [ sit / down / stay etc etc ], to help her focus and give her someting to do, and reward her greatly with praise particularly if she does a nice wait / stay, then release, then another cue if she immediately gets hyper again. It should help her to learn that calmness brings the reward of being able to work for you no matter how basic an element so long as its reliable.

There are so many games you can do with her which could enable her to concentrate and focus so that she stops feeling the need to keep trying to rally you to play.

For an example, which you would have to decide may or may not be right for her, [ as I can`t see her to assess in person ! ] :
If you can work on a down stay and build up the time span, [ positively ! ], its gives endless possibilities, like doing a few minutes obedience, build up to the down stay, do the washing up or whatever she tends to interupt, then release from the down stay, offer a couple more obedience elements, the praise like mad for successful completion of a sequence of elements.
That way, even when she is just laying down, she will feel like she is still working, [ as it would ideally seem to be just part of a longer sequence of elements ], and therefore to her, interacting with you the whole time.

Of course you know yourself what her Obedience mode and level of achievement is so far, and whether or not the above may be suited to the situation. I can`t do an assessment online obviously so the above is pretty general to the average typical worky collie but each has their own personality and quirks, so the above is general guidence only, and with the advice of getting someone collie-savvy near you wherever you live, to see one to one what her most positive traits are which you can use to her, [ and your ! ], benefit.
mitz

Rescued Collie

Post by mitz »

Unfortunately I had to swap the food over quickly as she was not eating. We boiled up chicken and rice for her and then put her onto Butchers. Not ideal and I should have taken longer to change her diet but the little bugger is so fussy although I can report that she is eating the Butchers fantastically and her pooh has settled down to "normal". If she is sick again in the morning I shall take her back to vets armed with urine sample too. We have had to "remodel" the garden following on from her digging and eating foray and this has taken up so much time but we have now finished this so from tomorrow I shall have so much time to dedicate to her and I will do my utmost to make her life more fun. Her obedience is not going so well. Whilst I know she can present and finish; sit and stay, down, wait etc., once she gets into the class she is a dog possessed! One big playtime! As she is only a year old, obviously she wants to play. Her agility only started three weeks ago as she had to be over one to do this because of her joints. Our dog training group is excellent! We will do out utmost to get her well and give her a happy life and I am not one to give in lightly. I have spoken to Wiccaways and they were helpful but having to ring the mobile number ended up quite expensive. I am sure we will get there at some point - she is only a baby still and I think she is making up for the first six months of her life where she was passed about so much.
Patch
Posts: 6
Joined: Tue Oct 17, 2006 7:19 pm

Post by Patch »

I have pm`d you but want to say on here, I wish there were more dedicated people like you out there, it sounds like you are putting in a sterling effort for her :D
mitz

Rescued Collie

Post by mitz »

I previously rescued a poodle who lived til she was almost 18 and we lost her April 2005 to kidney failure. Prior to that we had two rescue Scotties and my last "purchased puppy" was in 1986 as after that we tended to rescue. Our collie is obviously harder work to my old girls but it is so satisfying to see the change - which will come, I am sure. My previous note said that she was being sick - well there was no sick this morning. She has started to eat three meals a day so hopefully she will put on the 10lb that she is underweight by. Her pooh is "normal" too. However, after taking her for her walk this morning playing ball, she came home and promptly started the "nip" and chasing around. I do understand it is a collie thing but now I will concentrate on her 100% as her safe garden is now complete. All your advice has been taken and I will continue to do my best by her and rest assured, if I have any further problems, I will be in touch!!!! Many thanks to you all.
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