We have a 1 year old border collie we got in December from a breeder. Though it was a rough start for everyone, we survived and he hasn't had any accidents since Feb, until recently.
We also picked up an Aussie in March as a rescue and he was the perfect dog til a few weeks ago when he figured out how to get out of the fence. Since then, he would trash the house, trash the yard, pretty much anything he came in contact with. We resorted to putting him on a chain when he was outside. He still figured out how to get off of it and would either go under the fence or just tear the **** thing up. He also learned how to open doors on his own, which opened a whole new realm of issues. The Aussie started crapping all over the place, including on our bed. He was caught in the act (had been outside for awhile too just prior.) He had the runs, which was nice. Before that, we had discussed him with a few behaviourlists and decided it would be best to place him in rescue, as his issues stemmed largely from the typical Aussie stubbornness, he left a lack of leadership and a few other things we decided were beyond our ability (and patience) to work with, plus I'm sure of realm of hidden history the people we got him from didn't care to mention (though they did mention his escape antics, but not to the degree he was doing it.)
Now lets go back to the Border Collie... 3 weeks after we parted ways with the Aussie, our Border Collie is starting some of the same stuff, including a poop marathon across our house last night, resulting in pitching some nice clothes for our girls (he's been doing that some, but not to the degree of last night.) He isn't attempting to get out of the fence (yet), but is starting up the destructive behavior. He started some of it prior to the Aussie, which we know is due to we can't give him 24/7 attention (we both work and have 2 small kids, yeah not the most desirable situation for either breed.) Some of his other behavior includes excessive barking, destroying things, starting to not listen to commands (some typical bored border collie behavior.)
We can make more time to spend with him, but we are honestly wondering if its in the dog's best interest. My wife is already loosing patience with him (as am I to a lesser degree.) We didn't mind parting with the Aussie much because our original intent was to rescue him from an abusive environment and put him in a regular rescue program but decided to keep him when he appeared to be a great dog. The Border Collie is our pet and family member. Any ideas? I need to go and will post more his normal routine and schedule later.
We also picked up an Aussie in March as a rescue and he was the perfect dog til a few weeks ago when he figured out how to get out of the fence. Since then, he would trash the house, trash the yard, pretty much anything he came in contact with. We resorted to putting him on a chain when he was outside. He still figured out how to get off of it and would either go under the fence or just tear the **** thing up. He also learned how to open doors on his own, which opened a whole new realm of issues. The Aussie started crapping all over the place, including on our bed. He was caught in the act (had been outside for awhile too just prior.) He had the runs, which was nice. Before that, we had discussed him with a few behaviourlists and decided it would be best to place him in rescue, as his issues stemmed largely from the typical Aussie stubbornness, he left a lack of leadership and a few other things we decided were beyond our ability (and patience) to work with, plus I'm sure of realm of hidden history the people we got him from didn't care to mention (though they did mention his escape antics, but not to the degree he was doing it.)
Now lets go back to the Border Collie... 3 weeks after we parted ways with the Aussie, our Border Collie is starting some of the same stuff, including a poop marathon across our house last night, resulting in pitching some nice clothes for our girls (he's been doing that some, but not to the degree of last night.) He isn't attempting to get out of the fence (yet), but is starting up the destructive behavior. He started some of it prior to the Aussie, which we know is due to we can't give him 24/7 attention (we both work and have 2 small kids, yeah not the most desirable situation for either breed.) Some of his other behavior includes excessive barking, destroying things, starting to not listen to commands (some typical bored border collie behavior.)
We can make more time to spend with him, but we are honestly wondering if its in the dog's best interest. My wife is already loosing patience with him (as am I to a lesser degree.) We didn't mind parting with the Aussie much because our original intent was to rescue him from an abusive environment and put him in a regular rescue program but decided to keep him when he appeared to be a great dog. The Border Collie is our pet and family member. Any ideas? I need to go and will post more his normal routine and schedule later.
