It's been a while since I was on here last, and I've been flat out.
Yesterday, I had a major breakthrough with my Border Collie girl and wanted to a) let you know, and b) ask a little advice.
Peppa is a now 2 year old entire female Border Collie. I bought her as a prospective working dog to help my male out on our (then) particularly bolshy sheep. Although from fantastic bloodlines, and having a little instinct, she will never make a working dog, at least, not with me anyway. She has, however, turned into a fantastic family pet of sorts.
She has a few issues. Actually, I have a few issues with her behaviour. She probably thinks that her behaviour is perfectly acceptible.
I'm going to list these "issues" in no particular order.
1. Obsessive chewing when stressed. Bark, wood, toys, towels - stress level goes up, chew the HELL out of everything within reach.
2. Permanently ready for the next command. Lightning fast with everything, too fast at times.
3. Barking, growling and backing away whenever strangers (or perceived strangers) are within eyesight. (Long nosed dog, long range eyesight, LOTS of strangers).
4. Hyperactivity (or just breed specific energy level).
5. Very little (if any) dog etiquette.
Now, it wasn't until about 3 weeks after buying Peppa as a nine week old puppy that I found out her upbringing. She was born and raised outside in a pack of 11 dogs. Her owner/breeder wasn't home when she was born, and only put in a showing once a week to give the neighbor food to feed the dogs. Peppa didn't know what people were until she landed in our large family.
We didn't "click" at all, when I got her. She much preferred my husband than me, and could con ANYTHING out of him, and did.
Anyway, so she has these things. Since we've moved, and I'm not confined to a wheelchair anywhere near as much, I've been putting a LOT of time into her. Not long sessions, but a lot of short sessions every day.
Peppa now knows how to:
Sit
Drop
Stay (out of sight stay for anywhere up to half an hour - wont move until I call her - in house only)
Walk nicely on leash
Shake hands (I don't teach this as a conventional trick. I teach shake hands to get feet used to being handled).
Touch (anywhere my hand goes, she touches it with her nose, or feet if she can't reach).
Leave & Wait (food mainly).
Back (move backwards in the direction I point).
Pick it up and drop it (especially handy because I can't bend down at the moment).
Wear a muzzle. (This had a side effect I didn't count on. I put it on her so that any visitors were protected from a bite in case she was too quick for me. She's never shown an attempt to bite, but she has teeth, so I'm not taking any chances. She'll run and hide, but she'll have a lot to say about it whilst she's running and hiding. She has come to rely on her muzzle. It seems to give her security. Is this possible?)
And a few other bits and pieces as well.
She's also learning how to "play" with another dog. Instead of constantly trying to grab my male around his neck and appear to try and strangle him, she's actually play bowing and they play chase around the yard.
Anyway, that isn't the biggest thing.
The biggest thing is, that she no-longer barks and growls when our boundary fence grows a head. It doesn't technically grow a head, but our neighbor often sticks his head up and we chat for an hour or so, every couple of days.
When this first happened, Peppa looked like a hound from hell. All hackles, teeth, noise, the usual.
I've never condoned it, and when I can't shift her focus, I send her away. After a few minutes, I call her back. I've been doing this religiously all hours of the day and night, and don't let up.
Well, it's paying off. Last night, I was in the middle of a chat with our neighbour. I whistled Peppa out to me, she came in a flash and sat in front of me. I gave her a pat, told her to drop and then went on with my chat. She saw our neighbor. Looked at him, then me, then him again. Within 5 minutes, she was on her side sound asleep! She has never, ever, ever done this before.
Today, whilst on a very short 'use your nose' exercise (she has never really used her nose, until recently when I've started laying scents for her), our neighbour was out the front. She saw him, raised her hackles and went to growl. I turned and walked the opposite direction. She seemed to like that, so when she settled again, i headed back in his direction. We ended up standing there and chatting with Peppa by my side for about half an hour - about ten feet apart. Peppa was sitting, beside me. No growling, no raised hackles etc. She wasn't exactly comfortable though.
We are a very, very long way off letting anyone touch her, but how's that for progress? I'm so proud of her. I just wish I'd done right by her long ago and realised that she wasn't just high drive, but also high stress. Her anxiety levels have been through the roof. I firmly believe that they are coming down though.
As I type this, she is sound asleep on my daughters old toddler bed. If I say stay, she'll stay there until I tell her otherwise.
I know we've got a miles to go, but the dog I had feared would never accept another human is getting there. Now all i've got to do is stay a couple of steps ahead of her!
Wish me luck.
Jenna
PS. Again: She has come to rely on her muzzle. It seems to give her security and she's almost more relaxed with it on than off. Is this possible?
