cellomommy
Forums Novice
5 mo. old female sheltie. Since we got her, she has learned not to jump on people so much (still does but so much better than before), and to not mouth us. She has learned to sit and down and walks fairly well on a leash except she is afraid of cars. She is still chewing a lot and is not 100% potty trained, so she is confined to two tiled rooms. I am attempting to teach her to use a bell since she seems to not be interested in telling us in any other way that she needs to go out.
She seems bright but pretty high strung. Sometimes the only way we can calm her down is to pick her up. She gets very upset when anyone leaves the house. She loves to play fetch, and we play outside at least twice a day, with a weekly visit to the dog park and a couple of walks a week. Obedience classes do not start until June.
I think this dog is bored. She would like a job. Sheep are not available. She wants to herd the children or at least get them up in the morning, but then she peed in their rooms, so that job had to end. Now she just barks from downstairs until they get up. No fun for the person downstairs with her. She is not in the least bit interested in chasing squirrels or birds, which is what kept our last Sheltie sane. She destroys any ball given to her within a day. I am trying to figure out something to make her life more interesting - there is someone home with her almost all the time, but she is still spending a lot of time locked in the kitchen with nothing to do. I was warned not to use light or lazer toys with Shelties. She has a food cube that she gets part of her daily calories from but that takes her about 10 minutes. She has lots of chew toys and dental treats to help with the gnawing. I know her life (and mine) will get better when we have the housebreaking/chewing stage done, but that seems months away.
What keeps your dog busy if they are an only dog?
She seems bright but pretty high strung. Sometimes the only way we can calm her down is to pick her up. She gets very upset when anyone leaves the house. She loves to play fetch, and we play outside at least twice a day, with a weekly visit to the dog park and a couple of walks a week. Obedience classes do not start until June.
I think this dog is bored. She would like a job. Sheep are not available. She wants to herd the children or at least get them up in the morning, but then she peed in their rooms, so that job had to end. Now she just barks from downstairs until they get up. No fun for the person downstairs with her. She is not in the least bit interested in chasing squirrels or birds, which is what kept our last Sheltie sane. She destroys any ball given to her within a day. I am trying to figure out something to make her life more interesting - there is someone home with her almost all the time, but she is still spending a lot of time locked in the kitchen with nothing to do. I was warned not to use light or lazer toys with Shelties. She has a food cube that she gets part of her daily calories from but that takes her about 10 minutes. She has lots of chew toys and dental treats to help with the gnawing. I know her life (and mine) will get better when we have the housebreaking/chewing stage done, but that seems months away.
What keeps your dog busy if they are an only dog?
