Enter Flash

A few days ago, on the 26th, I was given a pure bred border collie puppy, or so I was told. They got rid of mama before the pups were even 6 weeks old. I took the last puppy then. Found out later there were a handful of lies.

1. Lady said no fleas. The puppy has flea dirt near her tail and around her scruff, along with a tick on her neck that I removed.
2. In the ad she said the puppies had first shots and were wormed. She told me they didn't have first shots but were wormed. Though puppy still is very wormy.
3. Said she was 5 weeks old, then said born on December 26th, making her only 4 weeks at pick-up. 
4. Possibly not purebred. She's too scruffy and small (an x-small collar fit her neck). Also her tail curls over her back. Not a collie trait. 

Other than that she's a complete doll. I paid $100 for her which i'm upset at but I love her. EVERYONE DOES. My family, who usually dislikes mutts, are completely in love. They always want to touch her, look at her, hold her, etc. She is a cutie, though She loves to tug as most pups do. She's eating hard food mixed with water, and wet food. I bought her a pink collar and ID tag today. Monday is her vet visit.

Ticks and Training

Everytime I let Holly out she comes back in with a new tick. I guess the preventative only works for fleas. I have an appointment at the vet Monday at 2 PM to get her rabies shot. Also going to buy some preventative.  Maybe theirs will work better. They have reasonable prices at the vet thank goodness.

I got the rest of my dog haul off of ebay.com. Below is the whole lot together.

1. Dog treat jar

2. Freeze Dried Chicken Breast Treats for Dogs and Cats

3. Bandana that doesn't fit

4. 2 dog training books

5. Clik Stik (clicker and target stick in one)

6. 15 ft leash tie out (not pictured)

I love Holly so much. She's such an awesome dog. For cheese she'll lay down automatically. I now have to teach her what word and hand signal goes with lay down. Food lures aren't out yet :)

Random Holly stuff.

1. Holly prefers cheese instead of hotdog as treats
2. She watches you when you eat but if you look at her she turns away
3. The bandana didn't fit :( Need to get a size bigger.
4. She's getting very good on her lay down.
5. She wants my ice cream i'm eating.

Package Arrived

I finished a $88 commission so I bough some stuff off of ebay. My haul:

1) Treat Jar (I filled it with milkbones for medium dogs)

2) Dog Tricks & Agility for Dummies

3) Dog Tricks for Dummies

4) A pink peace and flowers bandana for dogs

I still need to get 4 more things in the mail but it should be here by tomorrow or at least the beginning of February. I am hoping these books will help with the training. Holly is a stubborn one. 

Holly still reeks. Like swimming water. I asked a friend and dog groomer of mine but she hasn't responded yet. I'm hoping she can help with this. This is the ONLY thing that my family doesn't like about her. 

On a random note; I think Holly is part Cocker Spaniel. She has the fur for it. 

Cats can be trained too!

I want to show you that cats can be trained just as well as dogs. Kali is almost two and very smart. In this video she is doing her "sit pretty" trick. Her cue to do this trick is I wave at her.

 Kali has been missing for 19 days now though so if you live in Texas and see her please tell me :(

Slow Down

Well the training has slowed a bit. I've been trying to study more and finish up my commissions but i'm still training her every day at least a little. She will almost always sit for me but her touch isn't all the way there. I've started teaching "lay down" and if I work it a bit she lays down quickly but I always have to use a food lure or she won't. Oh well, practice makes perfect.

I found some obedience classes only 15 minutes from me called South Paw Training School. I want to train her in basic obedience, which is $80. Very cheap compared to Petco/Petsmart's training classes. As soon as I round up enough commissions to pay for the class i'm going to try and sign up :)

Holly got away from the yard yesterday. Our back door swings open sometimes so she runs for it. I was warned about this. Border collies are known to roam in new situations. Their chase drive can take over and Holly has a high chase drive. Rabbits, squirrels, you name it. I've had to give her two baths in the past two days. I don't like to bathe her often because with cats their skin becomes irritated. I don't know if it's the same with dogs but don't want to take the chance. Her skin was irritated when I adopted her. She has sores on her rump, near her tail, and on the base of her tail. She bites the sores so they bleed. It's horrible. I'm thinking of buying her a cone to stop it. Up till now i've tied cloth around her tail to hide the wound. It always comes off though.

As soon as my next check comes she goes in for her rabies shot as well :)

Question for my followers: How do you get your dog to smell nice? I've given her multiple baths since I adopted her and she still smells strongly of...well, dog. I've been bathing her in an oatmeal and vanilla shampoo and spritzing her with doggy cologne. Still my family complains of her smell. I don't mind animal smells as much as them but I don't want her to be miss stinky either. Any help would be terrific.

Goals

Training with Holly is going well. She is learning better on Touch and Sit every day. She is housetrained except in the laundry room where I put her when I leave for long periods of time, since I haven't aquired a crate yet.

My goals for her are
Basic Adult Obedience Class I
Basic Adult Obedience Class II
AKC Training Class

I want her to get her AKC Obedience Title and Trick Dog Title. I need to read up more on this as I don't know how to go about this.

Introduction

I started this blog to keep track of what happens with Holly in my life. She is my first dog that is completely mine. She is also a rescue. Holly is a two-year-old border collie mix that is already house trained. This blog will be about her training, classes, and anything else about her. She is such a wonderful dog and deserves to be told about. I already took her to the vet and besides having fleas and sores from biting at fleas, she was good to go. I gave her heartworm and flea preventative. The fleas went away almost over night and now i'm just trying to clean up the sores. She will be so gorgeous once she's all healed up. She's a beautiful, thick-set black and white dog with fluffy ears and tail with curly fur over it.

Currently she knows:
-Housetrained (unknown)
-Touch (taught by me)-incomplete
-Sit (taught by me)
-Give your paw ( unknown)

Every week I will try and teach her a new trick. She learned touch and sit in a matter of sessions so I think she's a pretty smart canine so far. I can't wait to see what else she can do. I plan on taking her to obedience class. It's around $80. I plan to do this after I get her rabies shot done.