Ankle biter!

[duzasp]

Hello,
We have a brand new border collie pup (just 7 weeks old). She is so smart, very few accidents in the house, sleeps through the night in her crate, etc. The problem is.....she is bred to herd sheep and her instinct is very strong that she wants to chase our feet! She loves to tug on our pantlegs and bark at our toes. She's adorable now, but it won't be so cute when she's 30 or 40 pounds! Any suggestions?

[doggy lover]

Welcome to the world of BC's, saying ouch in a loud voice when she grabs your legs and teaching her to leave it could help you out. I use the command to leave it on many things that I don't want Tucker to do, like herding cats, and other animals, nipping at them or me. It works great on things that he is not to touch. I started by giving him a treat and when he went to get it I'd say leave it and wait. Then when I decided he could have it, I'd say take it. I'd leave the time short between giving it to him at first then worked up the amount of time I would make him wait. As he got that I started using it on other things and say the same command leave it and wait. Another one I have used with him alot is "that will do" when he gets up to or into things, or is playing and I want him to stop I use this command on him.

Border collies are alot of work and you'll have to keep them busy as they get bored very easy and find things to get up to that you might not want her to do. But I have found that nipping (lol) things in the bud is the best way to go, if you don't want her to do it stop it now. Like you said it won't be cute when she gets bigger. My Tucker being a larger male weighs in at about 53lbs. Good luck and get some pic's ready we would love to see them.

[PetFriendly]

If it helps any, my little pom/shih tzu mix loved chasing feet and pant legs and we were able to teach him to stop within weeks by standing still if he started and saying NO in a loud voice.
Granted you have a herding dog, which might make it harder, but keep at it, its possible.

[LianneCatherine]

I also had the same problem with my teacup yorkie - the trainer I go to said to stand still and just wait for her to stop, but that didn't work. She would just go to town on my pant leg for like 15 minutes! So, what I did was just clap loudly when her mouth touched my pant leg, and after a few times, she hasn't done it since! Good luck!

[duzasp]

Thanks for all the great advice everyone, it has really helped.....we're working on the "leave it" command and I already see great progress..trying to get some good pics of her to post, but all the ones I seem to get are blurry (cause she doesn't stay still ) or she's sleeping! Hopefully can get them posted today.