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SuesSheltie524

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Hi,
I have always had Labs. After having my last one put down, I got Mikey. Mikey is a Sheltie and is 7 months old. He has been wonderful. I knew going into this that he is a herding dog, but HOW do I train him not to herd us up and down the stairs? He barks very high pitch and loudly and bites at our ankles both up and down stairs. He doesn't do it any other time. :)
He just got neutered ten days ago.
I was also wondering...while in pet store today, a man behind me in line had a Sheltie and he was ten yrs old and 21 lbs. He went on and on telling me this was his sixth Sheltie and that Mikey is way too big at just over 6 months and the breeders are doing this and it is detrimental to the breed, on and on.
Mikey is 24.3 lbs.
Any feedback would be greatly appreciated, especially about this little herding issue.
Thanks!
Sue
 
Tell the guy who cares about size?
If you wanted a Pomeranian you would have got one ahahahha
(Just because I have a big beast of a Sheltie...)

Welcome to Sheltie Nation Forums :biggrin2:

ok, as to the chasing... make sure he is not rewarded for doing it anymore... when he is herding you up the stairs, STOP!

Stand still, do not move, do not make eye contact and say nothing, wait for him, when he steps away to look at you (like, what is wrong with you... why aren't you moving?) and he is quiet (even for a little moment) say YES, give him a treat (I recommend for a little while always have tiny treat in pocket when ya going upstairs, lol) after saying Yes, give a treat fast AWAY from feet.

Second try also tell him something you want him to do, aka sit/stay on bottom of stairs, then do recall up the stairs, big fusss...
But this is hard with a very stimulated puppy, IF he doesn't know sit/stay all that well yet... Before you do that you may wanna get him tired outside first, and do this in short, little intervals throughout the day no more than a few minutes (not longer than ten) at a time!

U will be amazed how fast shelties pick up on this
 
Herding

Thanks for the suggestion, I AM going to try it starting tomorrow morning!
Down two flights of stairs. ugh I've washed tons of treats in my pockets in the washing machine already! He knows sit and wait. Not quite a "stay"...yet. :)
Get him tired first? ha ha
Thanks again, I'm looking forward to trying this...getting dangerous on the stairs, barking at top of his lungs, running up two, down one...all while nipping my ankles. So much fun at 7am
Sue
 
haha
sounds like a case of a typical sheltie pup, haahha

to be honest, NOW is the time you have to really be careful, he has been rewarding himself with this behaviour, it will take lots of extra time to get him out of it now
His joy is in the chase, you may want to keep him in the crate if you have to go up and down a lot and fast, otherwise it will get worse
 
Oh boy. Hopefully I'll be able to work with him and get this stopped.
He sleeps in his crate in my bedroom on second floor. Morning, I open crate and he BOLTS out and immediately barks at top of his lungs non stop as we make our way down flight #1. I've tried ignoring him and telling him "no". Yelling doesn't help either. So am going to try your idea with the treats. He is definitely food motivated. He could care less what the vet did while taking out his sutures because I held a treat for him to lick. Thank you so much. Sue
 
SuesSheltie524 said:
Oh boy. Hopefully I'll be able to work with him and get this stopped.
He sleeps in his crate in my bedroom on second floor. Morning, I open crate and he BOLTS out and immediately barks at top of his lungs non stop as we make our way down flight #1. I've tried ignoring him and telling him "no". Yelling doesn't help either. So am going to try your idea with the treats. He is definitely food motivated. He could care less what the vet did while taking out his sutures because I held a treat for him to lick. Thank you so much. Sue
Click to expand...

Work on making him wait to come out of his crate...Its something I work on here because with taking them to shows I can not have them rushing the door trying to make a break for it at without having a leash on them. Make him sit before you open the door. All mine who cant contain themselves standing know this and will sit and wait patiently. I also have one who even with sitting as soon as the door is open and I step away he thinks my house is the Indy 500 track and must beat every dog up and out of the house. He is now leashed and walked up the stairs to the door(which teaching him to sit allows me to slip the leash on without a struggle), I use the slip leashes that vet offices have to get him up and out without the craziness or running and trying to kill each other..
 
Toffee's Mom has given you good advice. One other thing--it sounds like Mikey is already keyed up coming out of his crate. If you start with him in a less excited state, training will go better.

If he looks like he is going to charge out of his crate, wait until he settles. You can even train him to sit and (even after you open the door) wait for a signal from you before coming out. My pup was not much of a charger so we didn't really train for this--others may be able to give you more detailed advice on how to train for this.
 
Don't worry about that man. Breeders aren't intentionally breeding for oversize Shelties. The breed is still relatively new still, and there is a lot of variance in size. It is not uncommon for there to be under and oversize pups in a litter.
I would put him on a leash when you get him out of the crate. He doesn't get to act like a nut going up and down the stairs. I'm sure by him getting to run around and bark it just makes him even more keyed up. When you get him out, insist on a sit and quiet. Praise him for good behavior that you want. As you walk him, stop and ask for a sit and quiet any time he gets out of hand.
He sounds smart, very active, and motivated to do things. Have you thought about a future in a performance event for him?
 
You hear this kind of thing by the uninformed about every breed of dog out there. My daughter has 2 shelties. A female that is 13 1/2 " and weighs about 14 lbs and a male that is 15" and weighs in about 22 lbs. My little rescue is 15" and weighs 23.6. Even if your dog is oversized, as someone mentioned it is common to the breed and I think he was rude to make the comment that he did so chalk it up to bad manners. Enjoy the little rascal.
 
First, I wish you would have had a treat for that guy, stuck it in his mouth, and said SHHHHHH, down, your hurting my sheltie's feelings.

I like the leash training, I had setters and now with shelties the leash worked out well for me. We use that leash in the yard, house, steps, etc. Lil' Lady had to learn to do steps, and the leash came out.

Takes a bit of time, but they finally catch on.
 
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