Hi, First of all, I just wanted to say how happy I am to find an active forum with experienced ACD owners! I’ve been reading plenty of articles about the breed and have watched my fair share of training videos, but I also love the idea of being able to communicate directly with other ACD owners. A little over a week ago, I brought my red heeler home (he will be 8 weeks old tomorrow). His dad is a blue heeler, and mom is a red. My sister works at the vet’s office that the parents are treated at, and both are known to be lovely dogs. They were raised (and live on a farm), are good with small animals, and people. I’m only noting this because I know it’s important to know what the pups parents are like. Our little boy (Kai) will not be raised on a farm (though I’m pretty sure he figures the house is a barn!), we have cats, and no small children (3 adults in home). Our hope is for Kai to be sociable (able to go out into the community for walks, etc). Now, my current (biggest) concern, he’s taken to trying to herd us and our cats. With the cats, he both plays with them and chases the about (biting at heels and legs). Any one else that owns cats as well, what do you/have you done about this? I’m not sure I can curb him playing with the cats, but should I stringly discourage the herding behaviour with them? As for us, he is his worst when loose in the backyard (which I understand makes sense). I will be rolling his ball around (a large ball to try and focus his herding behaviour on that) and then he decides to go after my heels. Now, I have read to allow them to bite at the heel, etc while standing perfectly still, and not reacting. I have done this, and he’ll often go for the shin (which I react to) or he will let up. I have also read to scruff him, and pin him down like a mother dog would do. I did this twice because he was being extremly persistent but I am afraid of having him try to match any ‘aggression’ I show. Essentially, please, please, please, tell me what has worked for you? I realize that this breed is a handful and needs a lot of time, energy, and love. I very much want to raise Kai the right way, ans just want to make sure I am doing the right things/teaching him in an effective manner. Any help would be thoroughly appreciated! P.S. he will be attending a puppy obedience course (puppy kindergarten!).
HimJess & welcome to the group It’s great you are asking for advice, it shows you are dedicated to Kai and are keen for him to fit into your family life I can’t actually offer any useful advice, but, I remember in the past someone having similar problems with their dog and there were several people on here offering advice. I’m sure someone will come along What I do know is that before you can train a dog to do anything you need to be able to control your dog, until you can do that he will think it is all one big game ! When I say control I mean basic commands Sit, stop, come.......... So, until someone more helpful comes along work hard on the basics I’ll follow you progress with interest Philippa
Hi Philippa, Thanks for your reply. Your advice is actually very helpful, and luckily I have already started working away at some basic commands. He pretty much has sit down pat now, and will even do so knowing that I don’t have treats on me. As for the other commands, he’s less crazy about those, unless he knows I have treats. Lol. I’ve read about the importance of “leave it” in various situations, so I’ve been working heavily on that considering his current mouthy phase. He’s doing ok with that. I’ve also worked away at a few other commands and am trying to break down fetch for him (teach him to take the ball and give it). Anyways, thanks again for replying!
Hello Jess and Kai - welcome to Breedia from Tikva and me I cannot give you any advice about herding as I have never had a herding breed, but I found that the first command, ie teaching the dog its name and "come" to be the most important. For me, the second two were "mind" - get out of the way, and "move" - slightly different to get out of the way. But the two latter were for my personal benefit. Other commands came as they were needed.
