Our puppy seems a bit sad. Any ideas why?

How much stimulation does she get when you and your husband are home? She needs long leash walks (at least ½ mile or double that). She also needs to run and play in your backyard off leash.

She could probably benefit from a couple of days a week at a doggie day care where she could interact with the other dogs.

Or perhaps playing at an off-leash park?

Border collies are the smartest breed of dog. They were bred as working dogs. They need something to do.

Does she get out for a walk in the morning, before you both go off to work?

@marinelife Our yard is not fenced in (we cannot afford $2000 for a fence right now – working in it) and there are no off-leash parks around here. We sent her to a doggie day care once and she seemed to forget she was potty trained. It took an entire week to retrain her.

We do walk her, but it’s been raining a lot lately and she refuses to go out in the rain.

@glacial We usually walk her in the evening. My husband goes to work at 5AM, so he can’t do it. I suppose I could get up early and walk her, but I figured the evening walks would suffice. She gets to go out to potty, of course, but not a walk.

She has plenty of room in the house to run and play, and she always took advantage of that until now.

I should also point out that she’s a mixed breed. She’s got the border collie color pattern, but she’s not long-haired, so I don’t think she’s got as much border collie in her as we were told by the shelter. I know border collies need A LOT of exercise, but our pup is positively worn out by a ½ mile walk, and always has been. If we take a longer walk, she’ll sometimes plop down in the middle of the road to rest. She quickly tires herself out by pulling on her leash, which we’ve failed to stop even after obedience training. She’s just very excitable outside.

I do think you should be concerned – you’re right, it is way too early for her to calm down.

As the others have suggested, I’m pretty sure she doesn’t get enough exercise. Not even because she’s a Border Collie, but simply because she is a young dog. If she is worn out by a ½ mile walk, that is probably just because she is out of breath, pulling you guys along. Doesn’t mean her body is tired out and, more importantly…her mind isn’t. Far from it. Try 14 miles.

I suggest you get a halti to deal with her pulling. They’re cheap and, quite simply, great.
It would probably also make sense to buy (or make) a flirt pole, for the reasons stated in the link. Most dogs are so enthusiastic about this, they will not look at anything other than you whenever you’re holding it – so that might be a way to tire her out in your yard in the morning, even without fencing it in.

And lastly, maybe you could get someone to check in on her during the day, just to be with her for half an hour? I think you said in another thread that someone is home with her during lunch, but still, she is alone a lot. And even a dog with just a hint of Border Collie should be a highly reactive dog.

@livelaughlove21 Look for some alternatives:

Is there a school with a fenced field? Have her do her business first, and then take her there to run.

Try another Doggie Day Care. She might have been too young for that one at first. Use one that offers a Webcam so you can watch your dog during the day. Make sure she is put in with dogs of her own size.

I think she could use a morning walk for exercise and fun too. You could take her. It’s also good exercise for you.

Put her in the car and drive to an off-leash park or to a trail. We take our dogs to a trail that runs next to a creek almost every weekend.

You got the dog now you have to do what’s best for her.

You could also get a hidey toy in which you can place treats. Leave it with her in the crate. She’ll have to figure out how to get them out.

You could also have a dog walker come in in the middle of the day while you are at work and take her on a ½ hour walk.

I would also recommend two walks a day (they don’t have to be really long but long enough to give her some interest before being left) _especially _ if she spends a lot of time in her crate. Does she have a Kong that she can have to entertain her when you’re not there? Whenever I know I am going to leave my dogs alone for more than an hour I will prepare a Kong with something like corned beef or some kind of paste etc and freeze it (so that it takes them longer to get it out of the Kong). The Kong is great because it is a self directed activity which is very important for puppy to have but also, the licking motion is very calming so if she has any anxieties at all it can help to ease them.

I would also suggest getting a long line for her so that when you are out walking she has a bit more freedom without actually being off the lead.

Has there been any change (no matter how minor) in your/her routine? My Jack Russell used to get depressed when the Christmas tree went up each year! Now I just don’t bother with a tree at all!! She struggles when I move furniture or our normal routine is interrupted and it takes her a little bit of time to get back into her normal, happy self again.

If her “sadness” continues, it may be worth having her checked by a vet. She can’t tell you if she is feeling under the weather so it’s always a good idea to rule out phisical health problems too.

@longgone Thank you for the halti suggestion. I’ll be ordering one today. I didn’t even know those existed. :)

@marinelife You got the dog now you have to do what’s best for her.

I agree. As a precautionary measure, though, I really don’t want this to turn into one of those “if you don’t have time to take care of a dog, give her to someone that can” arguments, so let’s not (not just speaking to you). I am not abusing my animal. I’m not locking her in a cage with no food and water 24 hours a day. I’m not beating her or screaming at her whenever she does something bad. I feed her and play with her and give her more love than she knows what to do with. So does my husband. Doggy daycare is simply not in our means right now, and there are none that I’ve found that are flexible enough to handle our schedule. It’s very common for dogs to be crated while their people are not home. We have to work, or else the puppy doesn’t have food. If I am unable to be home for longer than 6 hours, my husband will come home at lunch to let her potty, but he only gets a 30 minute lunch break and it takes him 10 minutes to get to our house, so he can’t take her on a 30 minute walk. We don’t have family or friends that are able and/or willing to drop by and walk the puppy. We can only do what we are able to do given our work and school schedules.

She is getting to the age where we’d like her to sleep outside of the crate and we’ll be letting her out while we’re at the gym for an our 4 times a week to see how she does alone. She’s just now getting to where we can trust her not to pee or poop in the house. We know she can hold it, because she does it in the crate, but we’re not sure yet how she’ll do without us there watching her. I’d love to let her free in the house all day, but we can’t just jump right into it. As for walks, I’m not going to force her to walk in the rain, and it’s been very rainy this month. Once the weather clears up, I will walk her every day without fail.

This morning, I got up early to walk her but it was raining and she didn’t even want to go out to pee (but I stood out there until she did), so I played fetch/tug-of-war with her for about 15 minutes and then had a short training session before I had to leave. She seemed fine, so I plan on doing that every morning or taking her for a short walk, depending on the weather. This is my full day at my internship, so I asked my husband to go home at lunch. He can’t walk her, but it’ll give her some much needed stimulation.

@Leanne1986 I haven’t gotten her a Kong yet, but we have blankets and a few toys, along with food and water, in the crate when we leave her. I think she sleeps most of the time. I’ll check out the Kong toys, though. They sound messy – are they?

Nope, absolutely no changes in her routine. And I already spoke to the vet about it, but Daisy was so hyper at the vet’s office that she didn’t seem too concerned about it. She probably didn’t believe me.

@livelaughlove21 I have never found the Kongs to be messy. You can get them in different sizes to suite your dog and I tend to just spoon in whatever I am using (be careful to adjust her meal portions accordingly if she has been eating corned beef, paste or cheese from a Kong to make sure she doesn’t put on excess weight), pack it in and then freeze it. No mess at all. My dogs clear out whatever is in there, they certainly don’t leave enough to make a mess!!! I think a Kong would be better than toys as this is something she has to do on her own whereas, you play with her and her toys (tug etc) so whilst they are great comforters because they might smell of you, they’re not always self directed entertainment. When you get to a stage where you can let her have the run of your house you may want to invest in a puzzle feeder. There are all kinds but this type is my dog’s favourite. They basically have to work out how to get the biscuits out. I will quite often give my dogs their whole meals in these so they have to work for it and it lasts for longer than just eating it from a bowl which is healthier for your dog mentally and physically (reduces the risk of digestive problems if they eat their meals slower). The majority of dogs I work with are much less anxious/depressed when they have to work for their meals and it is one of the first things I recommend when dealing with behaviour problems. Alternatively, if you didn’t want to spend money on something like this, you could scatter feed her kibble in your garden (this is especially good if you have grass) so she has to find each piece. Anything that encourages your puppy to use her brain is going to be good for her mental health and if they have that mental stimulation you are much less likely to see any behaviour problems later on in life too.

My girl calmed down a LOT after she got fixed, and the vet told me she would. In a few months she’ll probably be running laps again, mine sure does. :) I’m impressed that you care so much, shows a loving heart.

It does say that the kong should be used for no more than 30 minutes, which means you can’t put it in her crate.

I remember reading that Border Collies have an inbred need to work; It’s not just a matter of physical activity, but a drive to do a job. The article said that they can become depressed if they don’t have an outlet for this “work ethic”.

I haven’t owned a Border Collie, but did have a Sheltie for awhile, another dog bred for herding. She used to herd one of our cats for hours, just steering him around by nudging him this way and that with her shoulder. The cat interpreted it as a sign of affection (since that what that means in cat body language), so they both enjoyed it.

@snowberry Where did you read that? The company I work for sells Kongs and it isn’t on any of their products or the (UK version) of their website as far as I can tell. I see no reason at all why they can’t be used for longer than that so I would be interested to know where you saw that and if it gave a reason.

It says so on the site that @Leanne1986 just gave.

“Do not let the dog bite the Dog Pyramid. Use it only under supervision approximately 15–30 minutes at a time. When the dog has emptied the Dog Pyramid, put it away until next time. Do not throw the Dog Pyramid around.”

@snowberry That warning comes from a retailer that sells the product – perhaps they are making recommendations to maximize your pet’s enthusiasm for the korg? Korg’s own website (I checked the US one as well) has a page-long user guide, and they never say that there should be a time limit. They do recommend that use should be supervised until the owner is confident that the dog can play alone safely with the toy. Possibly they are worried that the pet will become so enthralled that it breaks furniture. ;)

And there is always the dog that’s so good at chewing that it even tears up Kong toys. The danger there is that they could swallow the pieces and get an obstruction. I’ve known a few dogs like that.

@snowberry Sure. Good reason to be vigilant.

@snowberry Sorry, I thought you were talking about the kong, not the pyramid (which is made by a different company). I misunderstood, my bad. Personally, I believe that warning is just the company watching their own back and I see no reason why there should be a time limit, supervision until you know the dog will be ok with it, sure, that’s common sense. I too know dogs that can pull an ordinary Kong to pieces, Bull breeds and Husky types seem to have this gift, there is an extreme kong for these dogs and I have only known one dog destroy that one! All of these things usually come with a manual to help the owner introduce the product to the dog which I recommend following in the early stages but I have always used the kong and pyramid for periods of more than half hour and never had a problem, as have my colleagues and a large number of our customers. Like with all things, common sense is very important. This is my personal opinion from my own experiences though, other people may have different experiences with these things.

@livelaughlove21 That’s great to hear. Be sure to read up on it, though, so you’ll be able to use it correctly. Or ask me, for a slightly biased opinion. ;)
One thing: If you buy a very cheap one, you may have to wash it a couple of times before use, to soften it up.
Also, I agree with @thorninmud. That’s why I suggested a flirt pole, which is exercise and training in one. I should have clarified.
And lastly, I recommend anything by Patricia McConnell. Seriously – anything. She is amazing. And has owned Border Collies for years, so that should be especially interesting to you.

@longgone I love Patricia McConnell!

@Leanne1986 She’s great, isn’t she? Every once in a while, I encounter someone being dense about their dog – I don’t have an example right now, but you’ll know what I mean – and on those days, I’m sure I know everything and could never be as ignorant as that person. Then, I read something by Patricia Mc Connell…and invariably, I come across an idea I’d never have thought of on my own. Gets frustrating.

@longgone I know exactly what you mean! I have watched a few of her seminars on DVD, if she ever comes over here to the UK to talk I will definitely pay to listen to her!

Do you have any family close by who don’t work? My brother and sister-in-law look after their daughter’s dog while she works. They love it. It’s a fur grandbaby. It also means the dog isn’t alone for long periods.

@Bellatrix Nope. Well, my mom doesn’t work, but she’s not a fan of animals. She wouldn’t do it. Everyone else works the same hours we do.

What a pity. Well I hope the new halti, toys and more walks work. :-)