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brady's mom

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  1. Brick is also part basset hound, isn't he? So maybe coming at this like you would with a majority percent border collie rescue mix is not the best idea. I fully believe in researching all aspects of something instead of just taking a single piece and designing an entire protocol something so limited. Maybe you've already done this, and if you have, feel free to ignore me, but I would invest some time in talking to people who experienced with hounds, especially hounds from a rescue background. Because he IS a mix, you can't really treat this situation like you would with a purebred border collie, and I think that is a difference many people are over looking. Different breeds, different behaviors. As for the bathroom thing, crate him. Crate him at night and you will absolutely cut that problem down to almost zero. Essentially, you let the dog out at night right before bed, and the into the crate he goes for the night. Brady wasn't allowed to sleep outside of the crate until he was about 18 months old, because I didn't want to play that game of "Whee, let's go outside!" and also because I didn't fully trust his bladder control. I asked about you being overwhelmed because it sounds like that is what is bleeding into your hesitancy with training the dog. I am glad you are looking into different training techniques, but you also have to have confidence enough to stick with something long enough for it take effect. The more you look for validation from other people, instead of finding something that actually resonates with you and your personal training philosophy, the more you are creating your own brand of chaos. I firmly believe that a person's dogs is a reflection of themselves, and I have totally been in your shoes of being overwhelmed and not quite knowing which way to go. And then, one day, I asked myself what I REALLY wanted out of Brady, and I went from there. I wanted a dog who was well-behaved, trusted me, and who behaved because of our well-formed relationship, not despite it. I have used the term "fur baby" with him and I am not ashamed of it. Sorry, but while he is my dog, he is also close enough to my heart that I have no problem admitting that sometimes, I call him my kid. Personally, at 25 and the beginning of an editing career, I'm glad I have a dog instead of a human child. But over all, I really am glad you found a style that suits you and that resonates with you, because dog ownership is about a partnership between you and the dog, and no partnership should be miserable. I really hope you continue to gain confidence and control in the situation and that you and Brick go on to many happy years together. I am rooting for you!
  2. I wasn't talking about peeing on command for necessity in certain scenarios, because I can understand its use, I was just commenting on deciding when the dog has to go the bathroom all the time (which is how the OP seems to structure it, in my opinion) because of the "power struggle." Brady goes on command, too, for all the reasons you guys mention. I pretty much only use it for when I'll be gone for a long while and right before bed. Otherwise, he gets to let me know when he has to go, not me. I think deciding when a dog has to go to the bathroom outside of certain times, is just...too much. A dog's not trying to manipulate you just to go pee.
  3. I'm just not sure if you're seeking advice on NILIF or if you're seeking validation for what has transpired the last couple interactions with Brick? Over all, in many of your posts about Brick, you seem very overwhelmed and not sure how to handle the situation with the dog. I hope whatever routine you figure out helps you to be more at ease! Dog ownership shouldn't be miserable and I wish you and Brick the best of luck! I do think telling a dog when he has to go the bathroom is a little nonsensical and too militant for my personal tastes. I would rather my dog tell me, because it saves my carpets and also I can judge any immediate change in his behavior (whether it's increasing in frequency or decreasing). Edit: I hope that doesn't come off as rude. That's 100% not my intention!
  4. Those ears!! He's gorgeous. I see collie and ES, but the best way would be to watch how he works and go from there like others have said. Either way, he's adorable. I'm glad you found each other.
  5. Brady does sit up, bow, say your prayers, spin (right), other way (left), go through (comes and sits in between my legs), around (from right to heel position), crawl, back, roll over, find it, individual names of toys, and high five with both paws. Say your prayers is a total party favorite. Every time he does it for people, they are amazed, lol. This isn't a trick, but he also know place, which means to run and down on a blanket or towel and freeze until released. I got it from Control Unleashed to help with his door manners. He loves it so much that if you pull out a towel, he practically jumps on top of it before you're done laying it out!
  6. RemsMom, I believe Musher's Secret helps with hot surfaces as well as ice. I'm not 100% on that, but I'm pretty sure I've skimmed it somewhere. A thing of it is like 17 bucks, but it's supposed to last a while. Plus, if you get it now, you'll already be ready for ice and snow in winter! We just spend a lot of time at the river in the summer. Lots and lots of swimming. I also try to do our walks and hikes early in the morning when the sun's not as hot. For the most part, though, my area doesn't get TOO hot, although I suspect this summer will be horrible due to our lack of snow this year (super weird winter). Because of the relatively temperate temps, I just use common sense: avoid the hottest part of the day, lots of hydrating, keep an eye out for over-heating, shave the belly, etc.
  7. Yea, when I was poking around on that dog genetics page that's floating around on Google, the description made it sound a little scary with what it covers. I think it is, since aren't the flat coat and the golden pretty much the same breed? They were just split back when the golden fanciers couldn't put points on the gold dogs, got pissy, and decided to make them a "new" breed?
  8. I was just browsing the Border Collie Museum site in the coat collies section, and noticed the majority of the dogs (or maybe even all) in the "yellow/australian red" section are all pet or Barbie lines, it seems. Are there no working dogs who are recessive red? Not that I'm interested in one, I'm just curious about whether or not that is pretty much a strictly color breeder thing.
  9. Brady loathes retrievers, and I mean /loathes/. His patience for them is absolutely zero. We avoid dog parks because there's a large population of them in our area and he's pinned 3 of them while screaming in their face like that one guy at the bar who drinks too much and then tries to fight everyone. Even though they're all much larger and thicker than he is? So, we are self-exiled, because I would rather be proactive than reactive. He's only ever tolerated one lab, my best friend's dog, Moose. But I suspect it's because Moose has rocks for brains and I'm pretty sure Brady pities him. He's a real sweet dog, and so full of love, he's just a couple crayons shy of a full set. He's great with herding types, though. Especially other border collies or border collie mixes. The best friend he ever had was another border collie named Mhya. They did everything together and spent hours playing chase games and "king/queen of the couch." They cuddled together and followed one another wherever they went. She also ruled the roost and put him in his place whenever he tried to be a brat. She actually pinned him one time for trying to sneak one of her chews. He never did it again. Unfortunately, her owner and I had a major falling out and so I had to split them up. Broke my heart. Now, he has new girlfriend. Ironically, she's a border collie/lab mix, but he adores her and she understands the chase/tags game rules. Now that someone's mentioned that border collies speak a different kind of language, it makes total sense to me. I would imagine that there are different "dialects" in dog body language just like there are with human languages and bird songs. Now I just want to go sit at the dog park (sans Brady) and watch the different interactions to see. Could be a fun study if someone did it properly!
  10. Oh, it's definitely click bait, there's no doubt about that. My remark was more sarcasm than an actual pondering. I'm just grumpy today, so don't mind me!
  11. Oh! She's beautiful! And my absolute dream dog! I've got a real thing for Black tris, lol. I'm so glad she's adapting and that she picked the perfect home!
  12. Sometimes I wonder if it's just one big marketing campaign to draw more border collie puppy buyers to the AKC.
  13. I've passed this all along to her. It's 100% up to her since he's not my dog and all I can do is make recommendations and try and bend her ear, because at the end of the day the choice is hers, not mine. I hope you don't think I'm irresponsible as a pet owner, I always make sure Brady gets care up front. That's why I've spent as much money as I have in the last few months on knee X-rays, aspirations, etc. Sorry to give that impression!
  14. It's so hard to catch because it happens so quickly. It just happened again tonight when I went to go put him on his bed. I barely touched him and he screeched and shot away from me, shivering. At this point I'm thinking it's definitely a disc issue, but without an X-ray there's not much that can be done. :/ and after spending well over $600 on Brady for various issues the past months, my mom is not too keen on following the same path with Peanut.
  16. I think I tired Brady out ONCE when he was about 10 months-ish. And it was after a day spent in the snow. After that? Never again. At 4 he's a pretty mellow dude, very calm. He naps and chews on things when I'm busy freelancing and then is ready to go, go, go when I say the hallowed word: park. We also hike and go to the River as often as possible. He could fetch a bumper all day if you let him.
  17. Very relieved!! Thank you guys for your advice, it really helped keep me calm.
  18. Got back from his lump being aspirated and it turns out it's folliculitis and nothing bad! Vet said there was no way to get rid of it, Which is kind of a bummer, lol. But! He'll survive.
  19. He has an appointment to get it aspirated and checked out on Friday, because I didn't want to wait. No excuse needed! I wasn't very clear. It's under the skin, very firm to the touch, and static. It seems like it's more on his muscle than on bone, since it's a couple inches away from his spine and not near any bony areas (as far as my untrained self can tell). The skin in that area isn't red like it would be from a cyst, even though I'm still hoping that's what it is.
  20. I just seem to be full of health board topics lately. :/ Sorry guys. This one, unfortunately, IS my little collie dog. I found a small, BB sized lump on Brady's back. I went to part the fur, lost it, and couldn't find it again. I ended up passing it off as just a bunch of hair all bunched up since his fur is really thick and slightly curly. Well, tonight, my mom found it and showed me. It's probably a little larger than pea sized right now, and very hard. It doesn't move under the skin. And I am freaked. I'm trying to be calm about it, considering Brady is only 4 and that seems just...too young? I want to take him into the vet to get things taken care of, but I'm still unemployed as of right now because of the Addison's, but I'm madly searching for something. Thoughts?
  21. So, we went to the vet today. She did a physical on him, and, once again, he decided to be the world's most stoic chihuahua. Even with all the poking, prodding, and twisting, he didn't show much discomfort or pain. His knees were a little bad and his hips a little stiff, but we already knew he had luxating patella and guessed arthritis was setting in since he's an old man. She suggested an x-Ray, but my mom turned it down since there's no real confirmation that he could have a slipped disc or spinal issue. I personally would have gotten the x-Ray, but he's not my dog so not my choice. She did get a blood panel done on him, just in case. So hopefully that yields some results!
  22. Thank you all for your help! He'll hopefully be going in within the next week. I'm hoping it's a disc, spine, or teeth issue. I'll update y'all on the final diagnosis!
  23. I've been kind of dreading that conclusion. He's a sweet little guy when he's normal. He's about 11. We got him from some friends going through a divorce about 5 years ago so we're not too sure about his exact age. He also has horrible breath and bad teeth, we've been wondering if his teeth are part of it as well.
  24. -- This is not about a border collie, so if it should be in Coffee Break, let me know! -- My mom's Chi has been acting weird for the last month. It started around the time of my last hospital visit (bad reaction to some thyroid medication) and has persisted. It was very gradual. Initially, he was becoming a little anti-social, choosing to stay in his crate all day instead of cuddling or playing. He was eating less of his normal food, but ate treats, pumpkin, or rice just fine, and he was drinking less. And then came the shrieking. At random intervals, he would just start screaming in pain. The first time it happened, my dad was going to wipe his feet, and Peanut, as per usual, had already started running to the treat pantry. My dad took a single step towards Peanut, was not touching him or stopping over him, just casually stepping towards him, and Peanut began shrieking in pain, eliminated on the floor, and ran into his kennel. Just to reiterate, there had been no physical contact whatsoever. He was shaking and obviously in panic mode, but he wouldn't let anyone near him, so we just left him be to see if he just needed space. Eventually he came out after I coaxed him with some pumpkin and chicken broth. A few days later, my mom picked him up to snuggle, because he's always been really attached to him, and he did the same thing. He started shrieking and panicking. He peed on her and then took off to his kennel. Nothing she did harmed him, as far as we know. So we scheduled a vet visit because it was such odd behavior, and, by this point, he was struggling to go the bathroom because he hadn't been getting much of anything into his system, despite me trying to bribe him with pumpkin and broth. When we took him in, the vet could fine absolutely nothing wrong with him. She poked and prodded and stretched everything without reaction. He moved just fine, showed no signs of pain. She checked his neck, back, knees, teeth, you name it. It was very frustrating. It was only a physically examination and I still think blood tests or SOMETHING needs to be done, but we really don't have anything to go off of. After that visit, he was still pretty anti-social but he was coming out more often and suddenly became stuck to me like glue (much to my own dog's dismay), when he used to HATE me. He seemed to be general better, not the same as he used to be, but better-ish. Until a couple days ago, when I bent to pick him up, he started shrieking again. He panicked, you could see the whites of his eyes, and he peed on the floor. I hadn't even touched him, just bent over. He's going back to the vet, but I imagine it'll be another dead end. Have you ever had anything like this before?
  25. I train something called the Really Reliable Recall that we learned in obedience class and it's a life saver. I think Leslie Nelson created it, but I'm not sure. You have a toy (or whatever is of really, really high value to your pup) that is ONLY to be used for this "game." You begin at home, then the yard, then the park, then the trail, etc. When your dog is busy and not paying attention to you, you sneakily grab the toy and give your command (or have a different command for this on that means, "Get your butt here right now."), making it as exciting as possible. When they come, you reward with an exciting play session. After the session, you release the dog and the toy goes up. Do that a couple times a day, increasing the criteria, and it becomes automatic. Plus, it's a lot of fun. The downside is that you have to carry said toy with you on trips and such. It does work without the toy, if you use it and don't happen to have the Super Special Reward on you, I just make sure to be really exciting and jump and play with my dog. It's worked for us so far! I can call Pup off of squirrels, birds, balls, etc. I believe it's mostly used for emergencies, but I use it everyday, because it works. Hope that can be of some kind of help!
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