males in training?
 

I saw the messages concerning raising puppies of the same sex and age together and I have a question. I have my puppy in training and he is in the same class as our neighbour's puppy who is the same sex, breed and 2 wks older than mine. They have spent considerable time playing together in both my house and my neighbour's since they were frst brought home. My problem is that we have horrible trouble keeping them focused, as well as the fact that my puppy seems to become more aggressive as class goes on and then after class. Is this normal behaviour? :(

Hi there

Have u discussed what is going on with the trainer?

Your dog maybe see's this as play time instead of learn time, not sure myself....interesting question

Luba

Hey Luba!

I talked to her about how he won't settle in class but all she said was I could try to have more play time for them during the week and if that didn't work then to seperate them and enroll one of them in a different class. I would have gotten to the aggression part but her next class was in and she didn't have time. She also expressed a concern over the fact that our puppies really only play with each other during the social part of class and not with the other puppies, especially my Murphy.

It's been atleast 13 yrs since I've had a puppy. It's like starting over. :D

It sure is and you know maybe it is all play.
Afterall isn't that what dogs wanna do when they get together!

:)

Does anybody else have a border collie or know of a board for them?

Yes..my Border is thirteen now. She is a red and white with pedigree AMBA ( American Border Collie Ass.) BC's can take a long time to mature :-)

Marrielle -

I continued this discussion from the other thread. For everybody else I thought I would attach a picture of my Murphy. I am so glad that I found all of you. It's nice knowing there is somewhere to turn!

THANKS! :D

Murph's mom, he is adorable. How old is he now? I know what you mean about starting over...my youngest dog is almost three, and it had been 13 years since I'd had a puppy when I got him too. I really had to re-educate myself about puppy stuff.

My mother has had working BCs for many years. She lives in Scotland and has sheep. :) They are fabulous, smart dogs, but oy vey! So energetic!

The aggression talked about in the other thread was really about dogs who have reached sexual maturity, not pups like Murph. I'm guessing his aggression is really frustration at not being able to play with his buddy...? Frustration and aggression can look very similar, in dogs. Well actually in people too. :D I think your trainer is right; if you can't keep them apart and focussed while in class, seperate classes might do the trick.

Is Murph a little wild in class generally? Maybe you can have a vigorous playtime beforehand, so he'll be a little less rambunctious. My Cooper was such a mellow puppy people kidded me that I kept him doped up on Valium. :) Many Rottweilers are like that, even as puppies, it's part of their aloof "wait and see" attitude. I think a BC would have me keeled over with a heart attack within a year. You are a brave woman. :)

They do AMAZING at agility and flyball though. Have you ever watched flyball? It's a blast.

Carina, he's 12 1/2 weeks and a handful. High energy certainly is an understatement!:D

Murph is hard to control during the talk time of class mostly because he is trying to get to my neighbours pup, toby. When it's his turn to perform he does well, except for maybe coming when called during play time - not so good. The longer it goes on the loner it takes him to respond. I never even thought about it being frustration. I'll have to pay more attention and see what I think.

You are right about flyball - it is amazing. We were going to do it with Murph but my husband has decided he would rather do agility. That way he can be more involved. The training school that we attend offers an agility preschool so we are going to start that shortly. I figure either way it's good for Murph. I mentioned on my other thread that I also have two young children so they help tire him out for me.

It's good to know you can re-educate yourself and come out shining even after years off from it. I figure I'll take one day at a time and ask lots of questions.;)

Oh my god.Murph is adorable.My sister has a 7 year old Border Collie.Abagail.She is a pretty smart dog to.You say smiley face to her and she smiles.She had no problems with her at all when she was a pup.And she also has 3 Siberian Huskies.She loves to heard the cows.They are a very inteligent breed.

Thanks, mona b!!:)

There a few times I have wished I had cows or sheep that needed herding! He can't start agility training until he's 18 weeks so were are doing everything we can to keep him challenged, lots of outdoor play and chase, we make food obstacles for him to figure out, so far so good.

Murphy's aggression at puppy class appears to be just with our neighbour's dog. We seperated Murph into another class and all went well. And you are right he is a quick learner. If I'm not careful I think I will be the one being trained!!:D

I guess he just doesn't like the neighbours dog.Well i'm glad to hear he is doing better in puppy class.Yes he just may train you.Be careful.Hahaha.Just keeping him active will make him happy.Oh and they will also try to heard kids.If that made sense.Haha.All the best with Murph.