Hello!

We're besides ourselves today, and I'm hoping someone can reassure us, or tell us we are for sure in the wrong lol.

Our BC is super anxious--meds, private training, the whole gamut to only minor improvements with lots of reactivity and extreme reactions. One such issue is brushing -- we can use the soft side of a brush for 1 swipe okay, 2 swipes she tries to get away, 3 swipes she pees on the spot (and is a dog that NEVER has accidents).

So, we admittedly don't do much in the way of grooming unless it seems like it is getting bad. The other side of this is that my parents watched her 1.5 years ago and took it on themselves to cut her hair. It was a chop job and the opinions we got from BC owners were to grow it out for a year so we could make sure her coats were even.

We had our annual check up a month ago and got a rec for a fear free groomer. The vet said everything was good, but they made sure to point out that she had some pretty bad ear and undercarriage matting. We knew this and took the opportunity to get their input on a place to call.

We get an appointment, they say they'll block off 3 hours to make sure it all goes well. I drop her off, they call and say they might have to shave down the matting instead of just hand clipping it, and I'm okay with that. The appointment lasts 45 minutes.

I get there, they have me pay, and THEN they bring out our dog. They shaved her completely! In their account notes online, they say we have neglected every aspect of her physical well-being, and that we need to bring her in regularly to avoid these issues (mind you, they said nothing to me in person).

I know she is very hairy, but I've attached the photos to show the before/after (all from this month and today)

First and foremost, is her hair going to be okay? We are really worried her coat is wrecked now.

Second, do we have legs for a bad review? Their online notes seem like pre-posturing, and they seem to have ammo for every 1 star review on google.

My BC puppy hit 19 weeks today and I’ve noticed the last couple of weeks that if I forcefully stop him from doing something, he does know leave it/drop it etc. but he definitely has selective hearing, so sometimes I have to physically move him away from something, either with a quick tug of the lead, ‘this way’, or I have to move his body because he is chewing furniture and will not stop. Today we were in a pub garden for a very quick drink, it was to see how he behaved and introduce him to it, he was chewing the picnic bench I was sat on, he was tethered to me on a short lead, I asked him to leave it but he ignored me so I pulled on his lead and harness to get him off it and he snarled and went to bite my leg.
Do I need a behaviorist at this point? It wasn’t nice and it scared me a bit. He’s done it a few times lately and both times he’s been in unfamiliar surroundings and I’ve been telling him not to do something.
Thoughts?

Hi! So we recently got an 8 month old border collie mix and i’m usually a chihuahua girl so I could use some pointers. So we’ve had her a couple months now and she’s incredibly smart. We’ve already taught her basic commands plus some fun tricks. We also recently started with scent training because she seemed interested in it. My problem is she’s very easily distracted. For lack of a better comparison, this girl‘s got ADHD or something. 😂 What can I do to stop her from focusing so much on the environment and focus more on me when we’re working together around distractions? I’d love to be able to take her everywhere but we need a little refining.

My second question is how do I know when her cat obsession is out of hand? She’s constantly staring at them and will chase them every once in a while. She seems kind of scared of them but curious and I don’t feel like she wants to hurt them. I’m just not really familiar with working breeds so i’m not sure how to differentiate between the body language of herding and hunting or when she’s being too much.

I’d love to learn any new training, exercises, or games that will satisfy her and fill her crazy little border collie needs. If you got to the end, I know it was long so thank you!

I found this little guy on my way home yesterday. He has already been to the vet and has been tested for parvo (negative), dewormed, and is on medication for mange. He is currently quarantined away from all other pets. He is scheduled for shots next week. The vet thinks he is a border collie or border collie mix. I need name recommendations. I am thinking Valor (Val for short), but I would love to hear other recommendations. We live in a beautiful rural area, and we are active, so he will be an adventure dog.

Quality time with Wubbi before walkies....

I get to take Pepper to my work, a retail store. He is our greeter and fetch player. Customers absolutely love him. Pepper would much rather come with me to work than stay home❤️

Is it just my Border Collie, or does anyone else’s suddenly decide to stiffen up and push into you with every ounce of strength they have? Mine will even plant his little grinch paws right on my face 😭😭

My boy

3 years of beautiful crazy

Kodi is five and he’s a brilliant dog. Whip smart, loving and great fun. He gets way too excited around people and other dogs and it’s getting in the way of him being able to socialise. With people he will jump up explosively. I’ll ask him to sit and he will, but you can see him literally shaking with excitement and then he’ll leap at them. With other dogs he fixates on them as they approach, doing the typical collie crouch. In both cases I really struggle to find a threshold. He’s just all out from the second he sees them until they’re no longer visible. I’m struggling with how to manage it. Even when a person or dog shows absolutely no interest in him, he can’t switch off. What would you advise?