for janice

[Magz]

did dale go through a phase of going down all the time when out walks, every time anything is about to go by Kiera lies down and then walks normally when it passes. Plus she has found her voice and some how talks to us and generally anyone not paying her attention with a sort of howlly funny noise. she does it in the morning when we wake up, or when she wants out the back or anytime she wants attention. will need to video her doing it as she is soo adorable when she is talkative.

[John Thomson]

[Magz]

yip starts of slowing down, full body gradually lowers then a full down. very natural instinct but can she come out of this, only just started this any ideas?

[Janice]

It sounds as if she's 'eyeing' things . Collies use their eye to make sheep move the way they want. Then they may creep forwards, chase very quickly or nip as required. When they see cars, bike joggers etc. it triggers the same reaction. They can think they're making the traffic move
Dale was terrible for a while with joggers bikes and cars. I got him to sit and 'watch me' until they passed. It meant avoiding busy roads if at all possible. It was the one thing i used lead corrections for when he younger. He was eyeing cars on his first walk at 12 weeks.' Eyeing' leads to chasing and if its traffic......
Now I don't really have any worries with bikes, horse riders or joggers. He's even started sitting on the canal tow path when he sees a cyclist coming. Its just cars that I still have to watch him with.
Try to stop her focusing on things. Make her look at you or physically turn round if you have to. If she's only starting now she may not have as strong drives as Dale so she may be easier to stop. Just make sure she doesn't discover that chasing joggers , cars etc. is fun. Its much harder to stop them chasing once they start.
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Janice and Dale

[Magz]

Thanks Janice, makes me feel better that someone else has been in the same situation and that she can come through it with training

[Janice]

Margaret

I had one other thought. Most collies like balls and toys, so if you can get her really keen on a pocket sized toy she should be so focused on it and you if you're carrying it that she just won't notice the other distractions. :You may have to build up her focus on it first. Dale will ignore most things for his plastic ring or a tennis ball. This might be a good thing to try first. The trouble I had was that Dale lunged as things went past. He didn't just eye them so I had to turn him away and correct him.
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Janice and Dale

[Magz]

Sound like a good idea as she is obsessed in the house with her toys, she is always dropping them at our feet for us to throw, I take her to the pitch most days to have a good run and throw sticks which she would probably do all day