Jake is crooked again. Since OCD at about 9 months we do not seem to go very long without another problem. In July he had an abscess in his paw which meant Xrays and a quick jab with a scaple (Vet not us) and rest and lead walks until he recovered. Thursday when OH got into work (he walks Jake 3 miles in and out) I noticed him limping. Rested him Friday ok, Saturday OH took him and Whistler out for a long walk Jake came beck limping.
I took him to the vet yesterday and its either a hairline fracture or tendenitis, so I have (Not Metcam but like it) for 7 days strict rest and only a 10 minute lead walk for a pee. THen lead for about 15/20 mins next wek and wean him off the metcam like stuff. If he limps again xray.

I have had a barney with OH about taking more care but this pull/fracture was in daylight on a walk I do everyday with Whistler it was frosty so he could have slipped. My question is , a bit long Im sorry. Jake is a fetch addict always after his stick or ball. He is nearly two now a really big collie 23.3KG so not overweight. He cant do agility beacuse of the OCD. What should we be doing? he swims a lot in the spring & summer but its a bit parky now what else?? The vet has advised we cut his food whilst he is not being exercised or we will have him crawling up the walls.

I dont seem to be "breaking" my cocker as often and its heartbreaking for OH and Jake being confined to barraks as it were. He is dearly beloved of my OH but he is getting frustrated at what he is doing wrong. Its upseting him to see (Jake) limping and in pain so any advice welcome.

Oh would a back pack help to get him exercised with carrying a weight or definitley a bad idea?

> Oh would a back pack help to get him exercised with carrying a weight or definitley a bad idea?

I would saying carrying extra weight is the last thing he wants.

I agree at the moment I was woundering if it would help slow him down a bit he's so active when he's out chasing a stick. I was trying to wear him out a bit without having him charge around so much and damaging his feet or shoulder again. Or is it just bad luck?

Are you saying that he's chasing actual sticks?  wooden ones?  if so it's likely that one day you'll have more to worry about than a limping dog ;)  enthusiastic chasers are at risk of getting a stick impaled in their throat ;)

Have to say, every Border Collie I have met has been obsessed by chasing things, be it ball or stick or frisbee.  From what I've been told by their owners the Collies would chase till they literally drop if you let them.  He can only chase if you throw ;)

If yours is like this maybe he needs more brainwork than ball work?  this would still tire him out but would give his body a rest ;)

I have to agree with Dill he will only chase if you throw, so a little less turbo charged and a bit more brain powered for a while. Why not teach him to track? find a nice quiet field and show him you hiding a toy then use a harness on him and "Track " it down, you can get all sorts of books with training tips but if he is a typical collie who loves to fetch his toys it is usually fairly easy to teach a track, then you can let him "Chase" in a controled manner on the harness and still get his reward of his toy.
Lots of other brain powered things to do if you think about it!!
Good luck
Aileen.

No not wooden poles we have a hockey ball and a plastic "stick" thing but he will bring the odd stick if OH forgets his fetches. Because he walks to work via water meadows and about 6:30am Im afraid he damages himself by chasing off in the dark. We have to start at 7:30am and OH gets up early to walk Jake in and out its good for both of them.

Im more a drivre to a walk, walk, drive to work so its lighter when I set off. He has charged around since we had him and he and OH are v. active. Brainwork is something we do at work to keep him busy until he walks home around 6:30pm kongs, puzzles, plastic bottles with crusts or cheese in.
But I dont think he will be satisfied with that as he is active. Currently he's being walked on a lead for 10 minutes and winging and sulking if OH goes out and leaves him. I was in (housework) yesterday and ended up sat on the sofa with him sat over me so i could not move - not that Im complaining I love to sit and read a book but when OH got back he kept bringing his toys in from the garden chucking them on his lap and woofing....

Good idea would you use a smell as well or just a toy? (Im thinking a piece of cheese in a toy (he's got a lion glove puppet he loves off Madagasca!) This would work on a weekend when we can both go out me to hide and him to find, its not so easy in the dark. But I will give that some thought its a good one thanks.

You just need to teach him to use his nose instead of his eyes. Long grass is a great starting point as he knows you have dropped the toy and has to put his head down to find it. Always work into the wind to start with...give him a head start then encourage him to sniff around, a good old smelly well used toy is great to begin untill he learns to sniff then once he has the hang of it anything with your scent on will do. Great game to teach, when you drop your car keys half way round a walk one day you can just get him to "Seek" them out LOL
I used to get all my shepherds to "Seek" not in a formal way, although you can if you wish, but just to use thier noses to find anything with my scent on it. Once he is back to normal it can be great fun to leave dog with OH and run off and hide...watch them use thier senses to track you down... the trick is to get them to use a sense they are only using for thier own pleasure at the moment ie sniffing other dogs,bunnies, etc..to do this you need to walk 20 yards or so (Leave dog tied to fence!)  wave toy like mad...let him see you put it down into long grass then return to dog along the exact same track you made going out, shuffle your feet a good bit as you walk and don't loose track of the piont you hid the toy!! untie dog  put onto longer leash then and give command ie seek and name of toy and he will set of to point at which he last saw toy, then he will put nose down to find it and away you go... Sounds easy dosn't it!!! LOL That is very basic but it will give you some fun I am sure.
Aileen
Good luck.
Aileen

I went on a tracking day in Basingstoke not long ago, if I hear of anymore come up I will let you know as it was a really interesting basic start to tracking - we even had one of my Setters finding people up trees by the end of the day, he loved it :)

With regards to OCD, my friends dog has this and she never throws anything for him to fetch as it really affects it.

Thanks thats great we'll get on that striaght away, could be great fun.

Yes I know try telling my OH but he has come to the conclusion that something has to change and quickly. Im all up for tracking as I have a cocker that could do him as well.

Aileen may I ask why you have to attach a longer tracking lead on if it is only for fun?  I know that is what they do in competitions but is there a reason to do it when training like this? 

I would be tempted to be teaching him tricks to tire his brain.
My boy will run for hours and hours, but a few short thinking sessions has him settling down nicely.

I would be thinking of tricks like how to open the fridge and bring a beer, how to bring a tissue when someone "sneezes" rather then spins and giving paw - imo you need tricks the dog needs to work at, step by step, with or without a clicker.

I have a good book called 101 dog tricks by Kyra Sundance and her weim Chalcy which i'd recommend

Tracking is a good idea too :)

I agree with OwnedbyaBC, tricks are easy to teach and will have him exhausted in no time. It's physically impossible to tire my collies out, even if we go out all day, walking for around 6 hours and they're chasing their ball. Their tongues will be almost touching the ground but they'd never admit to being tired ;-) The minute something interesting happens they're on their feet again.

Obedience, heelwork to music or working their way through a book of tricks, all will help tire him out and also build a great relationship between oh and dog.

My youngest collie who is very active had to have no exercise at all for 4 weeks last year when she had a tendon surgically repaired. I was worried sick about how to keep her calm and how she'd cope but she was absolutely fine. We done lots of calm mental things, like hiding a treat in one upturned cup and mixing it up with two others then she had to find it. Then teaching her to touch a triangle for a treat, then a circle, then having the two together and asking for one etc.

Blimey in a weekend he has learnt to "close" walk perfect every time, hide and seek is a bit more challanging but he will go down right across the other side of the garden by hand signal. I'll try the book asap and get some more ideas. Thanks to you all, another thing he loves is biscuits in a plastic water bottle he chucks it all over the place until it all falls out, a bit more diffecult than a Kong. My cocker just chews the bottom off and eats all the stuff then poohs plastic!! nasty!!.

My BC boy loves doing retrieves, but I could never tire him out enough for him to say stop.  I do need to give him loads of mental stimulation, and I'm sure it's why I've never seen bored collie syndrome!  I have to get more innovative each time though, and make sure that he needs to work out how I got something in there!

Tracking is something that is ideal for the breed.  I honestly can't put it more clearly than Merlot, she's described exactly what my boy enjoys.  They are such clever dogs, and they are great at it.

> Aileen may I ask why you have to attach a longer tracking lead on if it is only for fun?  I know that is what they do in competitions but is there a reason to do it when training like this? 

No reason at all, it's just the way I have always done it, gives a bit of independance if the dog is working ahead of you...has to work it out for himself and makes you less likely to "Help" LOL.

I really must try that - was inspired by the idea of working trials but it is something that has to be on ones own at home - training that is - I went to agility instead because I could go to classes - much better with someone to watch and instruct and keep one motivated.  Shame nobody teaches classes for working trials round here.   Meg would fail on the gunshot section but that is assuming we could get to that level in the first place LOL.