Hi, Y'all From Chloe & Jody

jodetoad

Active Member
Last spring both my dogs died, and my husband thought we could try living without a dog, or any animals, so we could travel, since we are older. Ha. Most of my life I have had many animals, horses, birds, you name it, but ALWAYS dogs. I could only take it a couple months, it was sooo lonely. I don't even like to travel. He got pretty lonely too, so when a neighboring rancher had a litter of working dogs, we got Chloe.

She is obviously mostly Border Collie, but they weren't sure she's a purebred. I don't care. I call her a Kern Valley Cow Dog, we see them working cattle here all the time.

She is extremely smart, athletic, hyperactive and high-strung, so it was obvious that she needed training. I never knew about clicker training before, but it makes great sense, so we have both been learning, and I'm amazed at what clicker training can do. Had to list her 'tricks' to be sure we practice them all from time to time, because I can't remember them all. Has 43 things right now, some are just little small behaviors like standing her front end on a book and spinning both directions, and she's not great at all of them.

In this photo she's 8 months old, she just turned 9 months old.

Wanted to train her for search & rescue, it's looking like she's too timid and hyperactive for that, but we'll see. She's afraid of new things and places. Meanwhile, I'm still teaching her things toward SAR, most are valuable anyway (scent, searching, obedience, etc.). Biggest training problem is being so rural that it's hard to expose her to people. Some neighbors let their dogs run loose, they are pretty wild, so exposure to other dogs is a bit of a problem too.

Chloe loves new tricks, and I already got new ideas from reading posts here. Look forward to posting new things she learns. Though trying to do videos while working with her is kind of over my head... pretty lousy so far.

Wish I could video her 'helping' me weed. Yanking weeds and tossing them in a pile looked pretty attractive to her, so she started pitching in. Teeth aren't the greatest garden tools, but she makes up for it with enthusiasm.
 

Dogster

Honored Member
WELCOME!!!!! What an ADORABLE puppy!!!!:LOL::love: WOW, 43???? that's A LOT!!!! :eek: This site is a GREAT place if you're looking for any trick ideas to teach your GORGEOUS puppy, or if you have any questions or comments. I hope you LOVE this site as much as we do!!!!:D
 

jodetoad

Active Member
Thanks. And she KNOWS she's cute. I'm prejudiced, I think she's beautiful.

I like the site very much. I tried another one that had great info, but people seemed kind of snooty to non-professional trainers. I'm always looking for tricks, cuz she learns them so fast, she loves to learn. Couple days ago I taught her 'play dead' ("Bang!") in 10 minutes, I thought the next day we'd have to pretty much start over, but she had it, and still does. Smartest dog I ever had.

The trick I'm proudest of is that she'll heel forwards, backwards, and side to side. But at her age she can't do it very long. Right now I'm trying to teach her to circle around me backwards. It's weird to have to plan verbal cues ahead of time, so as not to duplicate - never had that problem before! If I can train her well enough, she could turn out to be an incredible dog.

Of course, she also jumps up on us, tries to nail a local cat, nips heels, races around the house like a maniac, tears up her toys, ...
 

dogcrazy

Experienced Member
Welcome to DTA!!!! Your dog is adorable!!! I love border collies!!!! She sounds like a smart puppy!!!!!!
 

jodetoad

Active Member
Thanks for the welcome, everybody.

Dogster, do you have tips on backwards circles? Because I don't know what I'm doing, right now I wall us off in a small place and lure her backwards. She knows "back", but circles are different. Haven't figured out a command yet...

It is so fun to find a site where puppy pics are welcome! I love puppy pics. Here's a favorite, Chloe and husband Jim:

You may have figured from my avatar that I'm a pianist. Just saw a video of a dog playing piano (and howling), so we started that trick too. With her markings looking like a tuxedo, it should be pretty cool. Right now she jumps on the piano bench, next is -> face the keyboard. She can target with a paw, I may try that and see if it works as a shortcut. The sound may scare her. If we ever get it down, will post image, or video if I can make one.
 

Anneke

Honored Member
Hi and welcome!!
I just love your dogs markings!!! And she sounds like a little dream!

I would use back circle for this trick. It is on my to do list, we are still working on back up in a straight line.
 

Anneke

Honored Member
:D I know that stage... All I can say is... it will pass;)

Yes, they are best friends. But the picture isn't up to date anymore. The little one is all grown up now, two years old next month. In this picture she was only 8 weeks and Cooper had not really decided if he liked her that much... :D
 

tigerlily46514

Honored Member
What a cute dog!! Just adorable!! What a great story!! and wow, 43 is very great list for so young of a dog!! You are doing something right!!
Enjoy that new pup!
 

jodetoad

Active Member
Thanks, Dogster, found a real good YouTube video!

I'm trying to enjoy even the terrible 2's, they are puppies such a short time. She is testing boundaries these days. Patience.

I'm at an in-between place in my life, so taking time to train her has been good for me. That's why she knows that much, we spend almost all our time together.
 

tigerlily46514

Honored Member
I love "KIKOPUP' on youtube, she is GREAT trainer, who specializes in behavior issues. Not *all* youtube dog trainers are good.:rolleyes:

Which issue or behavior are you working on?
or you mean a video about backwards U turns?
 

jodetoad

Active Member
The backward circle. I was started on it, but wasn't sure how to do it - it never hurts to see if somebody has a better way. Kikopup's dogs are so good it's sickening. I love her too.

Aside from being a bit timid and hyperactive, Chloe doesn't have behavior issues, except the usual half-grown puppy stuff. So we do new places and experiences slowly. They're all different... If you don't like what she's doing, all you have to do is clap your hands or make a weird noise and off she goes, racing around the house.
 
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