Sengablu BCs

20/10/2024

Very happy with these two.
Erin and Bernie both have just obtained new titles in rally last night and we finally have Berns flyball certificate to claim his next title.
🥰
Erin gained her Rally Novice, she adds this to her list of titles and will be known as: BIDGEESRUN CALLS ME FOXY LADY TK.N. SD. AD. JDX. FMX. SPDX. GDX. RN.

Bern has gained his Rally Excellent title and Flyball Dog Excellent, he will be known as: SENGABLU AGENT IN THE DARK RE. FDX. TK.N.

We also congratulate Zac, Berns sire on his Rally Master Title. ☺️

26/08/2024

Happy International Dog Day. 🥰

12/05/2024

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers/mums no matter how you fill the role. ❤️

28/03/2024

Bernie and the rest of us wish all our followers a Happy Easter.

21/01/2024

Very proud of young boy Bernie, earning his Rally Novice title last night.
Pending title application he will be know as Sengablu Agent In the Dark TK.S RN
Pictured here with housemate Charlie who got his final Rally Excellent Pass and title ribbon.

30/12/2023

I cannot believe that Erin is Five already!
We had a huge year in flyball and agility and look forward to the 2024 dog sport season.

21/12/2023

Santa’s Little Helper is checking the Nice List - and is wondering should you really be on it? 😂
Merry Christmas All.

18/12/2023

It’s been a while but we are still here and looking forward to a relaxing Christmas and New Year.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all our followers.

05/08/2023

Where does the time go!
The Martini’s are One Year Old! 🎉🎉
This time last year we welcomed Erins first litter.
It has been a joy to watch them grow and develop. And look forward to many more years.

And to little Dot, I haven’t forgotten you! 🥰

06/06/2023

Happy 10 Months Puppies.
Can’t believe they are 10 months old!! 🥹🥰
Some update photos of the boys!. 😁

15/02/2023

So very true.
At the moment I have this with Bernie, if I don’t have the goods I don’t have his attention.
Whilst training (and everyday/moment can have a training opportunity) ensure you have rewards, if you don’t then don’t try to train or you could undo previous work.

12/02/2023

Bernie had a super first day at school, in a group class. A little hyped initially but settled in well.
I forgot to get pics of him, damn it.
Ohsa (Fury) and Barcode are also in our class. Ohsa did well. Poor Barcode found it a bit over arousing, I hope next week is easier for him.
After class I taught my flyball class before getting Bern out from some of this own training, we are only working ball retrieve to tug, restrained recalls and working on calm whilst watching the higher trainees work (he likes to yell at other dogs 😅, which we are working on)
After that session he got to make a new friend with Moët, who is a few weeks younger. Great to see him make yet another friend and do so with ease after a big hot day. 🥰

07/02/2023

Happy 6mo to our Erin/Zac litter.
Where has the time gone!!!!!
Bernie has had a good day. Made a new friend and a wrestle with a sprinkler (surprise me) 😂

06/02/2023

A very good read about BCs. ☺️

GOT A DOG WHO NEVER ‘WINDS DOWN’? Today our breed expert looks at the common problem of mental over-arousal in collies:

FINDING THE ‘OFF’ SWITCH IN A BORDER COLLIE

A common concern owners can have about their collies is that they appear to have no ‘off’ switch and find it very difficult to settle or wind down for any length of time, despite having had “loads of exercise”. So I am going to look at this issue in more detail in this feature, as well as what might be done to give people calmer dogs to live with.

CHRONIC HYPER-STIMULATION
First, often what owners may label a ‘crazy’ or ‘hyper’ collie is just a dog who is being more chronically over-stimulated. It is important to understand that Border collies are dogs with exceptionally sensitive arousal mechanisms. Meaning it takes very little in the way of external sensory stimulation – particularly sound and movement, but also light – to trigger more active physical responses in them, which will then continue as long as the stimulation sources exist.

This level of sensitivity, in turn, is part and parcel of their whole inner wiring as sheepdogs, where they constantly need to be one step ahead, physically and mentally, of the livestock they control; always trying to out-think or outmanoeuvre them or anticipate what their next move might be, in order to counter-balance it well in advance with the right response of their own.

However, sometimes owners will read this ongoing responsiveness to any surrounding sensory stimulation as the sign of a dog, instead, who needs far more exercise to wear them out. So they then try to give them even more physical/mental stimulation in the way of exercise or ball games only to find that at the end of it their dog is even more ‘buzzed’ than before. Because what the dog actually needs is LESS sensory/physical stimulation in order to better wind down and not MORE. (More on this a bit later).

ADDICTED TO AROUSAL
It is also important to understand how quickly collies can become addicted to the state of higher mental arousal, because of all the feelgood neurochemicals that accompany this. So you may find yourself with a dog who is constantly trying to prompt you into giving them more physical/mental stimulation to better maintain this state of arousal.

A typical example of this may be a dog who comes back with you from a long walk, then goes straight to get a toy and wants you to keep throwing it for them. You may read this as a dog who is not yet tired enough, whereas I would read it as a dog trying maintain their higher state of mental arousal.

Conversely, some dogs may become more hardened self-stimulators; constantly seeking out different sources of sensory stimulation for themselves. Which is how many more obsessive patterns of behaviour – like constantly eyeing/chasing anything that might move – take off in them, and can then become increasingly more addictive or compulsive.

BREAKING THE AROUSAL HABIT CYCLE
If you are to have a dog with a better ‘off’ switch then several things need to happen. The first is improved training which teaches your dog to not only exert better control over their own emotional states/arousal levels, but to also find a more controlled mental state – as opposed to a more aroused one - far more rewarding.

The kind of training you need to do with your dog to achieve this – Focus and Impulse Control training and other basic Control exercises – are outlined in my book on training collies at the end of this feature.

For if you cannot get your dog to do basic things like lie down and stay down when asked, or go to their bed when asked, or stop doing whatever it is they are doing when asked, or be quiet when asked – instead of barking/whining etc. – you will always struggle to own a calmer dog.

ROUTINE AND ‘UP’ AND ‘DOWN’ TIME
Another crucial factor in owning a calmer collie is establishing a more set routine of ‘up’ and ‘down’ times during the day. For if your dog learns that at roughly the same times every day there will be physical/mental exercise on offer (e.g., walks, training, play) and at other times there will not, this makes it that much easier for them to train their minds to rest during the non-activity times.

Conversely, greater unpredictably and uncertainty about what will happen and when in their lives makes dogs more restless and stressed, and thus far less likely to settle.

Also get out of arousal-prolonging habits like throwing toys for your dog during periods – such as after a walk, or during the evening – when you really need them to settle instead.

THE STRESS FACTOR
Some collies are less able to settle because they are carrying particularly high stress loads, which can be common in rescue dogs, or suffering from greater sensory overloading. The same factors can also make many collies far more phobic or reactive in their daily behaviour. They may also be more likely to indulge in increasingly obsessive behaviour patterns as a coping mechanism.

Dogs like these may need greater time to return their minds to better balance, and dogs suffering from greater stress/sensory overloading may also benefit from a special Sensory Detox programme I have devised for collies with such issues.

Meanwhile, all you need to know about training collies – including focus, impulse control training and wider control training – appears in BOOK TWO of my BREED APART trilogy – ESSENTIAL LIFE SKILLS & LEARNING, and the Sensory Detox programme appears in BOOK THREE in the trilogy on BEHAVIOUR: https://performancedog.co.uk/product-category/books-and-dvds/authors/carol-price/ In the USA from https://www.dogwise.com/ # and https://www.cleanrun.com/product/border_collies_a_breed_apart_book_1_secrets_of_the_working_mind/index.cfm In Canada from https://www.4mymerles.com/product-category/books/ And in Australia from: https://gameondogs.com.au/
All text © Carol Price 2023

28/01/2023

Such a wonderful catch up today with my puppies and their wonderful families.
I’m so proud and pleased with how they are all turning out! It was great to see how each one is developing, they were all so similar in size and development.

16/01/2023

Bernie doing some flat dead ball retrieves and return to a tug at flyball. (Which I didn’t get in shot due to miss guessing my position for the camera)
For non flyballers - Dead ball retrieve is where we toss a ball a short distance wait for it to stop moving and send the dog out to retrieve, it is harder for a dog to retrieve a stationary ball so this is how we teach them to do it. It also helps us work out which way the dog will turn. (As he is a puppy I do not do this often, only a couple of reps maybe twice a week, we do more recall to tug to build that value with out the stop and turns)

07/01/2023

Happy 5 months to the puppies. 🥰

03/01/2023

One lucky girl, Indi (formerly Peggy) is a paddle board co-rider. Look at that view! 🥰
I’m just a wee bit jealous of her.