Louis came to live with us one cold rainy Saturday afternoon. He came from working parents, born on a farm. I wanted to choose an easily accessible pup, from somewhere the average collie-wanting family might go to.
I have always wanted to have a dog called Louis, so the name was chosen even before I saw him. Fortunately it suited him very well. Truth be told he was most likely to be the runt of the litter, he was tiny and the last one left, and my first impression was that of a scrawny, timid pup. Instinct told me that a pup like this one might become fear aggressive, however after thinking it through, and watching him play with the adults, I decided that he wasn’t as frightened as I first thought.
There is big a difference between fear and submission – the latter being desirable in a workable border collie. Both his parents were actually quite nice specimens, dirty - as they were working stock, but appeared healthy, weren’t too young, and didn’t appear to be hyper (but then I am used to seeing collies raised in pet homes - this pairwere mentally satisfied - working dogs). I made the decision to take him.
He was happy enough curled up on my lap on the drive home, but then got the fright of his life being dumped in the shower (well he was from a farm!)
Meeting the rest of the pack he seemed a little overwhelmed, but soon got the idea. Within 4 hours on that rainy Saturday he had learned his name. It was a good start.
Books will tell you to not take a pup into your bedroom as they will become dependent blah blah blah. However at a young age pups scream, not because they are satanic little creatures that want your attention now now now, but because of an inbuilt mechanism that tells their brain to scream when alone so that a parent will be able to find them and know something is wrong. So to me, taking a pup from its home, mother and familiar surroundings and dumping it in cold isolation (like your kitchen) is downright cruelty. Especially on the first night. What I prefer to do instead is crate the pup right next to the bed, and when the pup screams, I don’t say a word, but my fingers go down there for comfort. You might find they settle alot quicker this way, all they want is reassurance that you are there.
I have always wanted to have a dog called Louis, so the name was chosen even before I saw him. Fortunately it suited him very well. Truth be told he was most likely to be the runt of the litter, he was tiny and the last one left, and my first impression was that of a scrawny, timid pup. Instinct told me that a pup like this one might become fear aggressive, however after thinking it through, and watching him play with the adults, I decided that he wasn’t as frightened as I first thought.
There is big a difference between fear and submission – the latter being desirable in a workable border collie. Both his parents were actually quite nice specimens, dirty - as they were working stock, but appeared healthy, weren’t too young, and didn’t appear to be hyper (but then I am used to seeing collies raised in pet homes - this pairwere mentally satisfied - working dogs). I made the decision to take him.
He was happy enough curled up on my lap on the drive home, but then got the fright of his life being dumped in the shower (well he was from a farm!)
Meeting the rest of the pack he seemed a little overwhelmed, but soon got the idea. Within 4 hours on that rainy Saturday he had learned his name. It was a good start.
Books will tell you to not take a pup into your bedroom as they will become dependent blah blah blah. However at a young age pups scream, not because they are satanic little creatures that want your attention now now now, but because of an inbuilt mechanism that tells their brain to scream when alone so that a parent will be able to find them and know something is wrong. So to me, taking a pup from its home, mother and familiar surroundings and dumping it in cold isolation (like your kitchen) is downright cruelty. Especially on the first night. What I prefer to do instead is crate the pup right next to the bed, and when the pup screams, I don’t say a word, but my fingers go down there for comfort. You might find they settle alot quicker this way, all they want is reassurance that you are there.
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