The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Pets & Working Animals => Dogs => Topic started by: in the hills on December 30, 2012, 09:50:45 pm
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We have a collie pup ...... our special little Meg. :excited:
Hoping we have made the right decision and that we can give her the best home possible :fc: . Please keep :fc: for us.
She was bred by a good friend of our collie training neighbour and is an ISDS pup .... eye but not HD tested. She is from good working lines. We explained exactly the kind of home she needed to fit into and asked to see mum and dad before looking at the pups because temperament was so important. Mum and dad were friendly and mum in particular seemed pleased to be petted by the children and appeared to be a well balanced bitch ..... not nervy or shy. Her owner said that both parents were sweet- natured. :fc:
We have read the B. Sykes book cover to cover, sent for some training DVD's and watched lots of material about agility, obedience and so on.
Little Meg only seems concerned with fussing the children, fighting the over joyed Flattie and avoiding the hissing cat. At not quite 8 weeks she has managed to open the kitchen cupboards twice :o ;D . Our Flat-coat can open ALL house doors ..... we have to lock them with a key to keep him in and now the collie can open cupboards ::) ;D . Oh, what fun to come ..... :dog: :dog: :dog:
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:wave: Arhhhhhhhhh, how sweet not much better than a pup asleep at your feet..not sure about them blue fur boots!!!! only enviouse as they look so cosy and just my thing!!!!! look forward to the antics!!
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:thumbsup: She looks so adorable laying there as if butter wouldn't melt in her mouth. I hope she settles well into the family without too much damage. Perhaps some childproof cupboard locks might help. That's if I don't steal her first. :innocent:
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She is gorgeous. I love border collies.
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Congratulations, she looks lovely. :love: :dog:
I'm looking forward to hearing and seeing more about her as she settles in :)
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:love: :love:
If I hadn't got one of my own recently I'd have to get one now
She is adorable
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Congratulations ITH. Im sure all your researching has led you to the perfect little collie pup :love: :love:
She looks adorable and looks like she fits in just fine :thumbsup:
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best breed in the world!
hope you have a long and happy relationship with her :dog:
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Congratulations! If she turns out to be half as nice as our Meg, she'll be a lovely dog.
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She looks lovely, very relaxed, you've done all the right things in choosing her, I am sure you will have a lot of fun over the years.
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Hi,
Meg is absolutely fabulous :thumbsup: looks like you made a great choice, she looks so sleek and shiney.
Regards
Sue
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Beautiful! Love collies!
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Thanks everyone we are all smitten :love: and we are really enjoying watching our Flattie interacting with another doggy friend. He is still a big pup himself and loves playing.
I should have said thank you to everyone who advised me and listened to my collie ramblings. Will probably need to ask lots more questions as time goes on so I apologize in advance.
Would normally not take pups far until vaccinated but after reading B. Sykes book suggesting that you are not too precious and get collies out to socialize in the first 12 weeks, we took Meg and Alf to my parents in Shropshire today. She got to meet my parents and my sister and her family and dad's 2 labs (they don't walk where other dogs have been). Dad couldn't believe how brave she was compared to lab pups ..... more inquisitive and very outgoing with people and his dogs. He says that he can tell she will be very clever and a handful .... very knowing eyes and expression. ;D
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She is adorable. The vaccine program finishes too late for a pup's main learning bracket so get her out now. There is a very good book called 'The Perfect Puppy' by Gwen Bailey. She gives a good list in the back of all the things she thinks a pup should meet BEFORE 16 weeks and advises carrying them to meet these people and items. It's a good read for beginners and experienced owners alike.
You are experienced so can adapt the advice. Such as socialising around farm machinery and livestock.
An odd thing occurred with our new pup which I have not experienced. We socialise all the pups we acquire with horses in the local fields, shouting them over to meet the pups from 6 wks old.
This one. ( Obi ) is totally confidentand relaxed, he is 15 months now. In august we met our first horse and rider. I called Obi to sit nice as we do at the horse fields. He suddenly took fright. It turns out he cannot understand what is on a horse's back ( the rider ) so I've been working on this for a few months but finding riders when you want them is dire!q
Just thought I'd mention my situation when I thought I'd covered most angles of socialising for our lifestyle, but Obi thought out of the box ::).
She is a behaviourist and very good in her field ;) .
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Awwww - she looks lovely :love: My first ever dog as a child, Nemo, was a tricolour collie :love:
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So you grew up with collies Jaykay ..... well I shall consider you the font of all collie knowledge. ;D
My daughter is 11 and adores her and Meg seems to love her back. She is a very quiet girl and is very sensitive to animals and yet deals in a really practical and confident way with them ..... wants to be a farm vet. It is her furry boots that Meg is sleeping on. We talked a lot as a family about collies and there needs and she is trying so hard to do everything right. Bless her .... hope Meg grows up to be her best friend. Alf is her brothers best play mate .... proper boy's dog ... boisterous and up for any stupid behaviour that's going ::)
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Meg and your daughter sound made for each other :thumbsup:
I have confided in our various collies all through my childhood - they heard all my plans, boyfriend worries etc.
Still now, if I am stressed and need comforting, to bury my face in my dog's thick coat instantly calms me down :)
Yes, i've lived with collies all my life. I wouldn't count me as the font of all knowledge but I do get on with them well - we seem to know how each other ticks somehow.
Edited cos I can't spell!
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Thank you to all those who suggested using a crate :thumbsup: . Must admit, I wasn't that keen but thought I would give it a go ...... know all you folks are brill!!!! Thought at least she would be safe from being bounded on by Alf in the mornings ::)
Meg cried on night 1 and wee and poo in her crate :'( . Night 2 and 3, just a sad whimper but settled quickly and only a small wee on both mornings. The last 4 nights, she has got down in her crate straight away after her last trip outside, no crying and clean and dry in the mornings :o :o :o :trophy: :trophy: :trophy: . She is having one or two wee accidents each day ...... when the children are supervising ::) but that is all.
So pleased with her ..... only just over 8 wks now.
In the day, she is taking herself into her crate to sleep and seems quite content in there.
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Brilliant, well done you!
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That's great news :thumbsup: remember to crate her during the day when you are around too. Give her a nice chewy treat in her crate and once she has finished it you can let her back out. This associates the crate with nice treat times as well as bedtime. It also stops her being clingy around people, teaching her to settle in her own space when people are around and not attached to people's legs. Makes for a more confident dog.
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Thanks Mammyshaz, I'll do that. She "collects" things to take in there ..... like her empty bowl. She's asleep in there now. Later on I'll pop her in with a bit of plain biscuit.
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Lovely long legs, very pretty, good luck with her :thumbsup:
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Hi ITH
How old is your flattie?
Ours is now 5, met my brothers collie pup when he was 4 and she was about 5 months and still very nippy. He doesn't bark or growl and whenever she played around his face he just sat still and moved his head a bit....but no real playing at that time, although in retrospect we did reign him in a bit due to the size difference, and worry if he did get a bit exuberant. Both are older now and still dont actually 'play' together (brother and collie spent Christmas with us and dogs settled into routine inc snuggling after a couple of days).
I am not sure if it is his age (Flattie not my brother) although, as you know, FCR not well known for 'aging'), or because we urged restraint in the past, but it make me wonder if he would enjoy another dog to hang out with at home.
We would like to get another dog now we are out of the caravan. FCR puppy would be preferable, as they are so fab, but funds not up to that so we are considering a rescue dog...not sure if that is a good idea either??
Meg looks like a darling. My 11 year old DD would love her also!
Jo
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Hi Jo. Our Flattie is 7 but as you know they are forever pups. We knew that he would enjoy the company of other dogs because he loves my fathers labs when he comes here to stay and also a neighbours lab that I look after here .... and any other dog that he meets ::) .
Alf has been really good with Meg. They wrestle for long periods .... he lies down and mouths her while Meg jumps all over him! He gives a low warning growl if she gets too rough but only as her mum might do. They sleep together in the utility room at night but Meg is crated at the moment .... for training as people on here advised and also thought Alf might accidentally land on her in the mornings as he is a little lively then ::) .
In general Flatties enjoy the company of other dogs but I suppose there are exceptions.
I don't know how much Flatties go for now .... lost touch with that a bit. I love them and we thought about having a Flattie bitch but the incidence of cancer in the breed has put us off.
Do you mean a rescue Flattie? We enquired at the Flattie rescue before buying Alf because we liked the idea of helping a Flat. We were told that we would not be suitable as we had young children ( youngest 3 at the time) and that most of the rescues tended to be young unruly males that would be too boisterous around young children and difficult to handle in a family situation. I don't know what your lad is like but I did understand their point because although I love them they can be a handful. Might be different if your children are older.
Let us know how you get on. ;D
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Aw she's gorgeous, tricolour collie.......better not let my son see that, he's always wanted one.
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Thanks DS. She is very sweet when she's asleep :roflanim: .
My children have wanted a collie for a couple of years but held off until they were a bit older because not sure how good they would be with younger children. OH grew up with a collie X but they are new to me.
She is a real live wire now and grown so much in 2 weeks. Hard to believe. Good job when she's had her last injection because she'll be too big to carry around soon ..... having to take her to the village and school in my arms as we don't see many people or cars where we are.
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So what did Meg think of this snow? ( presuming you also had some :fc: ). And where are the piccies of her in it? :eyelashes: :innocent:
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We have snow now Mammyshaz ::) Plenty of it.
Meg wasn't sure at first but has the hang of it now ...... led by the nutty Flat-coat.
Did you know Flatties can roll their own snowballs .... by reversing and shovelling with their front legs as they go? They then deliver them to hand and if you are daft enough to throw them, they search the whole garden to return the same lump of frozen stuff back to hand ::) . Okay for the first ten minutes.
The collie actually prefers the log burner, radiator or any other heat source. Perhaps she'll get hardier or maybe she's just smarter than the Flat. :roflanim:
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:roflanim: sounds like you have a couple of bright sprks there ( and they've got their owner trained well ;) )
I love the expressions of puppies when they first meet snow ;D
So where are your piccies? :innocent:
I'll try to put one on of our two tomorrow, It's not straight forward with an iPad ::) and they are nowhere near as cute as meg :D