Im posting for mt daughters friend. She is 17 and as wanted a pup all her life her mother waited untill she was old enough for the responsability.
Anyway her pup a border collie is 5 months old and badly behaved. It messes everywhere in the house accept the girls bedroom(thats where it sleeps). It destroys everything in sight when left alone. He does have alot of walks and isnt alone for long. He plays very rough nips all the time for attention.
I know the problem here is lack of training. The pup was spoilt as the girl was left to it(so to speak) obviously he as never been told when he's behaved badly.
Now the girls mother is getting fed up and as threatened if he doesnt improve he as to go.
It would be such a shame the girl loves him to bits and I know would be broken hearted not to mention the fate of the poor pup.
Any ideas how this pup can be trained.
Thankyou

How about recommending she takes it to a reputable training class :)

Lucy
xx

One word , Crate train! You won't believe how much of a difference it makes. My max will now go in it on command and whenever he sleeps and whenever i am not home. You (your friend) should never leave a pup unsupervised in an area and the crate will work great. If he soils the crate ( chances are he wont ) then go get him checked for a UTI, urinary tract infection if hes peeing more then normal. Do some basic training on your own (sit,stay,down,recall) these are very easy and if they don't know how they're are many websites that teach these basics. He seems like a normal messy puppy to me , except when he nips you must correct him sternly, "NO!" and gently hold his muzzle shut or cross your arms and walk away. Hope i helped!

mannymax - interested to hear how you have sucessfully crated trained your dog. I have a crate with a divider which is kept in the lounge where we all sit. It is too cumbersome to carry upstairs at night so I have bought a carrier (aircraft approved type) which is kept in my bedroom. My pup has always slept through the night with no accidents in it. However I am having difficulty getting him to accept the crate. If he is sleepy we can put him in the crate and after some token whining he will sleep but as soon as he is awake he is barking to be let out. We are trying to encourage him with treats to get used to his crate - I can say "in your crate" and he will leap in and wait for the treats. We can close the door and he doesnt object. However as soon as we leave the room he is barking. We are trying to increase the time we leave him in the crate without us in the room but can only manage 2 mins. We dont react to his barking and when we go back into the room we pretend to do something else first before letting him out. He has had a few accidents in the crate when he has got to the barking stage. Rory is twelve weeks old and I have only had him for 2 weeks. In September I have to go back to work and my mother will come in during the day to take him out for walks but he will need to be alone for 2-3 hours. Besides he needs to get used to being on his own even if I wasnt working because I can't take him to the supermarket! If you have any other ideas I could try I would be grateful.

This sounds like my pup who is 18 weeks, he sleeps in a crate upstairs in our bedroom, but if I try to leave him alone he panics and poos everywhere even though he is clean in the house normally.

June
Some dogs just would rather be with you no matter what! My eldest never really liked his crate and always had to have a reward for going in there. You just need to be firm and persist and get in plenty of practice at being left alone for increasing periods of time. Perhaps with something like a 'loaded' kong to take his mind off of the fact that he is alone. I know if is difficult but dont go back to him until he is quiet and he will get the hang of what is expected.

My second pup started to worry me because when she was tired she would take herself off and curl up in her crate. Just a different personality!

*

Another thing i forgot to add , for the first week(s) your puppy WILL cry and howl through the night in its crate , IGNORE HIM! He is just trying to get your attention. My Max cried for the first 2 nights , now only cries when he has to go out to pee. And tell them to get a crate with a divider or small enough that it can only turn around and stand up or it will pee in the corner of the crate and sleep on the other corner.

I think the daughter needs training as well as the pup ;)

If she contacts the APDT she can find details of reputable training classes near her, where she and the pup can learn together.
:)

I agree; modern training classes are great fun and who knows, after some training maybe she will want to go on and do some dog activities with her BC.

A helpful "bible" is Gwen Bailey's "The Perfect Puppy" - takes the owner into adolescence and beyond :)

Lindsay
x

JuneH , if you are still interested on my expierences with crate training then here....

I got a crate with a divider and made it just big enough for him. The first night i had to lift him in there, i then closed the door gave him a treat and a "good crate". I proceeded to walk off for the night and into bed. I could hear him downstairs howling and crying sooo bad but i knew i had to deal with this. After 30 minutes he calmed down and just went to sleep. This pattern continued for 2 nights and then on the 4th night he went in by himself at exactly 9 (bed time). Now he will go in on command and stay until he is released even if i have the door open. Crying is just a part of the training , like a step. Of course a puppy will cry, he is not used to being away from its mother or loved ones for such a long period of time, but trust me he will get used to it.

Just remember to only leave him in his crate when you cannot supervise him , if you are home and available just let him sit by you while you do your work or whatever.

TIP: Once your puppy accepts his crate , leave his toys and towels in there. He will decide what he wants in his home on his own. My recent boy did not like anything in his crate when it was time to go to sleep , he would drag everything out then lay down.

Again with the disagreements, and how many people will tell you this is WRONG. I do it but do it if you wish ;
Take his water away only at NIGHT when it is time to go to sleep in his crate. I take my boys water away 1-2 hours before bedtime , then take him out to pee so i know he is empty. If you crate during the day it is Ok to leave a bit of water in the crate if he's only going to be in there for a short time. The only way to humanely and effieciently stop his nightly accidents besides waking up at 2am and 4am, we work! ( if hes still having them accidents) This is the suggestion you asked for so don't anyone flame me!

Just in case you did not read the other recent thread on the subject, SharonB, if you deprive a dog of water for many hours overnight the bladder will not remain empty, the kidneys will continue to produce urine and the bladder will still fill further more as the urine becomes more concentrated as dehydration sets in it will become more of an irritant and the pup is even less likely to be able to hold it.  The only thing that stops the kidneys working is when the dog becomes so dehydrated that the blood volume drops sufficiently to reduce the pressure of blood passing throught the kidneys ie severe dehydration at which point the kidneys are in danger of damage.
I don't get up to my pups in the night either but would not dream of subjecting them to thirst.

Wasn't directed to sharonB, it was to JuneH , but whatever butt in.

As you say, whatever, JuneH's dog's kidneys will be just as busy during the night :)

Let's just hope that whoever reads this particular advice treats it with the contempt it deserves.  Incidentally it is a public forum - so anyone can comment without "butting in" - and better that those who know what they're talking about and who put the animal's interests first take every opportunity to ensure that inappropriate advice is countered  ;)

Teri

Interesting what you say but my dogs NEVER drink at night, they have access to it if they want it but from the time we all go to bed till the time we get up in the morning they simply dont wish to drink. Trust me I would know if they did because they are totally incapable of drinking without slobbering all over the floor and I alwyas put a clean bowl down at night. The only times they drink are after excercise and food, unless it is really hot and they ahve been sun bathing or there is a particually interesting muddy puddle!