[tyffpostlethwait]

This is my first time posting on this board so let me know if I'm in the wrong place.

My family and I just adopted a 7 month old border collie a few days ago. From the minute we picked up him, he's been attached to me, my husband and our 2 year old son. He doesn't seem to show any anxieties and even had no problem getting used to our five year old chihuahuas. So my point is, he seems to at least for the most part, be settled in.

My situation is, it will still be a month or so before our yard gets fenced in so in the mean time, I'm trying to work on his basic training. I read and read and watched a zillion 'how to train' videos on youtube to prepare myself. I was so ready for this exhuberant, eager little pup to WANT to train and learn. So I got my nice stinky treat ready, got rid of all distractions and...it lasted all of five MAYBE ten minutes before he was tired. Keep in mind, he'd been napping before we started - he wasn't playing before it or anything.

So my question, is this normal for him to still be in the puppy mode where he exerts energy for a little bit then naps for a good while? If so, about at what age will he gain longer periods of activity?

Also, we eventually want to train Stewie (the dog) to do agility and frisbee. At what age is it okay to start teaching him agility things - for instance, I think I had heard not to teach jumps for them until they were over a year? And something about them being too big to get them to roll over more than once?

So there it is, if you stuck around for the whole post, I thank you greatly, lol. Anyways, any help or information you can offer would be most appreciated. Thanks in advance,
Tiffany

....Also, just to introduce, here is a pic of my new baby!

 

[Cracker]

Well, you've only had him a few days so be ready to accept that he may "change" a bit over the first couple of months..or not..

It's been a couple of crazy, exhilirating, stimulating days. He's Pooped. Not surprising. It's very similar to kids...they have a good time and then are out cold, or they have a good time and are wired for hours after..lol. He's still growing, especially his brain and that takes a lot out of a puppy.

Give him some time to settle in before doing any extensive training. Five minutes a couple of times a day for now is best.

He looks like a beautiful boy (as is your two legged one!) but please be sure to be careful and not leave him alone or unsupervised with your son. No dog should EVER be and your new boy is an unknown quantity as you are to him as well.

As for agility. Most places say not until after a year for jumps and stuff but you can certainly work on basic obedience (especially sit stays and down stays), learning to weave, target etc..stuff that works that border collie brain and will come in handy when you do start agility classes.

Good luck!

 

[tyffpostlethwait]

Thank you! Yes, as I said I have two five year old chihuahuas so I've always had to be extra vigilant about supervising my son and our little bitty dogs, lol.

I did as you said and kept it to five minute sessions. Just from having the one earlier that I referred to and two additional five minute sessions - Stewie has a pretty good hold on 'sit' and 'lay'! I'm so proud. Now 'stay' is...well, that's a whole other ball game

But thanks again for your help,
Tiffany

 

[melgrj7]

If he tires out at 10 minutes, keep the sessions more at 5 minutes. He will probably "perk up" more in a couple of weeks. He is getting used to a new house, new rules, new people, another dog, lots of new smells and sights, so he may be a bit tired just from taking all that in!

For agility, you shouldn't have him jumping over jumps, but he can walk over very low ones, or bars on the ground. You can also put a blank of wood that is the same width as the dog walk a few inches up off the ground to get him used to walking across a narrow board. He can learn the tunnel and you can start with weaves. I wouldn't do real weaves as bending like that might not be good for him. But, you set up some that are far enough apart he doesn't have to bend a lot and get him used to going in the right way and the idea of going back forth between them. You can teach him the table, but use it (or something) low to the ground so he doesn't have to jump up high (just a few inches). Putting a long board over a small rock or something (in the middle of the board) so it wobbles a bit and teach him to walk over that will prepare him for the teeter, again just a couple inches off the ground. Teach him to work off both your left and right side and how to follow the direction of your shoulders.

Some training places will have a "pre agility" type class where you work on things like focus and other things that will help when you actually start agility.

 

[tyffpostlethwait]

If he tires out at 10 minutes, keep the sessions more at 5 minutes. He will probably "perk up" more in a couple of weeks. He is getting used to a new house, new rules, new people, another dog, lots of new smells and sights, so he may be a bit tired just from taking all that in!

For agility, you shouldn't have him jumping over jumps, but he can walk over very low ones, or bars on the ground. You can also put a blank of wood that is the same width as the dog walk a few inches up off the ground to get him used to walking across a narrow board. He can learn the tunnel and you can start with weaves. I wouldn't do real weaves as bending like that might not be good for him. But, you set up some that are far enough apart he doesn't have to bend a lot and get him used to going in the right way and the idea of going back forth between them. You can teach him the table, but use it (or something) low to the ground so he doesn't have to jump up high (just a few inches). Putting a long board over a small rock or something (in the middle of the board) so it wobbles a bit and teach him to walk over that will prepare him for the teeter, again just a couple inches off the ground. Teach him to work off both your left and right side and how to follow the direction of your shoulders.

Some training places will have a "pre agility" type class where you work on things like focus and other things that will help when you actually start agility.

Thanks for all the ideas for the pre-agility training! The five minute sessions are working much better! Thanks for your help!

 

[Elana55]

When Atka was very young and I did clicker sessions iwth her it was 5 minutes or less per session interspersed with 5 minute breaks with a game of tug etc.

If you are using Positive Reinforcement and training with a clicker and free shaping your dog, 5 minutes is all they can take at any given time. I did 30 minutes total traning session at night (total actual training minutes were 15) with the clicker and a shorter session in the morning when my dog was 7-8 months old. I still follow this but it is different now with training while on walks etc.

We did Intro to Agility class when she was 18 months old.