Greetings All!! I live in Angus, Ontario, Canada and I have a 6 week old Border Collie named Rufus. He is adapting well, I've only had him for a week now. He is learning/starting to go pee on the paper or outside and the same with poo. I have never had a Border Collie. The last dog I had was a Teddy Bear Poodle named Maxx. I have also had a Roti named Damien. Here is the problem, Rufus cries/whimpers at night and even when he is eating, exploring, riding in the truck. Is this normal? He also nips at the heals of my parents and starts this crying in the crate at 6:00am. Is this nipping thing normal and especially the crying? He has gone to the Vet for his first shot and he is very healthy, teeth are comming in normal and the bite is normal. Help me please!!

Greg.

Hi Greg,
Six weeks old and you have already had him a week,
I think that is the problem,the crying at night/early morning is because he is missing his litter mates.He was probably just gaining confidence and enjoying the company of his brothers and sisters when he was whisked away to a strange unfamiliar place.The nipping is normal for teething pups and had he been left with his litter mates for another couple of weeks
would have learned the consequences of using his teeth on them too much!You can hardly treat him like wise by biting him back but you can distract him when he starts and always make sure he has something safe to gnaw on whilst he is teething.The early rising he will grow out of you will just have to be patient, he may just be telling you he wants to toilet, just make sure he is warm and cozy and has something to snuggle up to just like he would have had with his litter mates,a teddy bear or even a rolled up blanket.
Wishing you happy puppy training.

Hi Tiggey. Thanks for sending a post back. Yes, he was born on Feb. 14 and his mother Sarah would not feed him anymore because of his bite! When we were at the Vet he saw one of his sisters that happened to be there too. I'm not sure if that was good or bad. He sure knew her though! When he cries at night/early morning, should I respond or just ignore the plea until "wake-up" time? You know, the answers that you gave me, I kinda knew, but it REALLY helps coming from someone else. As I said, I have never had a Border Collie before, so all the advice you can share is great! Thanks alot!!

Greg.

It is normal for bitches to refuse to feed their pups at around 5 weeks of age, this is the weaning process, and they can seem quite mean for a few days, as they are causing the milk flow to subside by restricting the pups access. Usually if left to ther own devices after a few days Mum will again allow the pups to suckle occasionally, but only when she says so. This is the time that the Mother along with the siblings really teaches them about being a dog,a nd what the correct canine social conventions are. This is why pups should stay with their Mum to 7 or 8 weeks to gain these canine social skills.

This is the reason that pups used as Guide dogs and that help the disabled are put in puppy walker homes at 6 weeks, as they are fully weaned but not imprinted too much on other dogs. this is a spedcial case, and most dogs that are to be pets, especially if there are no other dogs in their home, need this grounding in being a dog. We see lots of pups that have been taken too young from their mothers at training class, where the owners are having inter dog aggression problems. It is very important that this pup gets to have lots of postive experiences with other dogs as he has been deprived of this interaction with his canine family.

This is often a problem faced with p-uppy farmed pups, as thy are often taiken ilegaly young from thei Mums so they can be sold while cute, or to fit in with when the dealker has room, is making his collections. Not only have these pups not had sufficient human contac t whilst tiny, but are deprived of the canine interaction as well, and unless the owners put a lot of work in this rarely gets made up and is one of the reasons for a maladjusted dog.

The dog is a complex social creature, expected to fit into a toatally alien world and o7ur hunan social structure. It is amazing how often they manage it despite their humans, lol :D

Hi Greg
It sounds as though you have a really normal puppy there so I don`t think you need be unduly worried but if you can I would take him along to a puppy creche/class so he can experience some canine play/interaction.Forgot last time to answer your question on is it normal for him to cry when feeding,
as in affect you are weaning him you are doing what the breeder should have done, getting him on solid
food, I`m just weaning puppies myself for the first time this morning and yes sometimes they do have a good old moan!
With respect to going to him when he crys during the night,you have to remember why he is doing this, he is missing his litter mates and look at it from he`s point of view, I bet he gets loads of attention during the day as he gets to know you then when night falls he is suddenly left alone again and this is bound to upset him. As the next few days pass and he builds more confidance in you I think he will settle at night and as long as you make sure he is warm and well fed before you leave him for the night I think he will soon settle.Again let me stress socialisation with other dogs , people and animals is as important as getting his diet right!

Hi Greg-
Don't forget that Border Collies are herding dogs. He may be practicing on you. My Aussies have all tried to herd various family members by nipping and then biting when the dogs were still puppies. Now, they just gently push us "back to the herd" if we move away from where they think we should be. For instance, if the phone rings while we are all sitting together in the family room, Maggie will try to come between the phone and the person trying to answer it. She seems to be trying to tell us that we shouldn't be straying from our assigned places. You are lucky to have a border collie because they are such smart dogs. Best wishes to the new member of your family.

5 weeks is very young for a puppy to leave it’s mother Greg but so saying, My first dog, many years ago was that same age and he lived a happy life until 16 years old so in it’s self it is only a problem in as far as you must be very careful around such a young puppy.

As Aussiemom says, the ankle biting is an inherited herding instinct. Be careful not to allow it to go to far or you will be giving the impression that he is higher up the pecking order than you and that you are relinquishing the leadership of the family pack to him. A firm “No” and give him a toy to play with is the approach to use.

Regards, John