Getting collie pup to play

L1985

Hi guys. So I've a lovely 10month old pup along with an 11year old lab. We have her around 4months and her home life before wasn't the best. She was v nervy and cringed whenever we picked up a stick (live on a farm so we would have one in our hands fairly often to guide livestock or hit away nettles etc-obviously would never touch her with it)it's taken until now for her to approach me happily if I'm carrying one. Have worked a lot on her socialising skills and she's great with ppl now v affectionate .the thing is she is a ball of energy runs around during the day(isn't locked in and is with my parents) and I also bring her for a walk in the evenings but she's wired in the evenings even after a walk. What I would love to do is train her to play some games run after a stick or a toy or pull on a rope or something that'll help tire her. She likes her toys but if I take them off her and try play she just looks at me sadly and makes me feel guilty!!shes so gentle would neve snap food from you. Any ideas of how to get her involved? Or is it something she just isn't into!!

deadlybuzzman

A real handy one you can do is play ball with him but with 2 tennis balls. He'll forget about his one if he sees another one bouncing alot.
It worked for us anyway!

tk123

deadlybuzzman wrote: »

A real handy one you can do is play ball with him but with 2 tennis balls. He'll forget about his one if he sees another one bouncing alot.
It worked for us anyway!

Yeah I was about to suggest the same thing! Lucy is the same - she wants whatever I (or poor Bailey) has lol - "MINE!!" So even if the pup isn't brining it back yet you can still have them running around.
Have you tried a squeaky tennis ball - the best of both worlds

VonVix

L1985 wrote: »

Hi guys. So I've a lovely 10month old pup along with an 11year old lab. We have her around 4months and her home life before wasn't the best. She was v nervy and cringed whenever we picked up a stick (live on a farm so we would have one in our hands fairly often to guide livestock or hit away nettles etc-obviously would never touch her with it)it's taken until now for her to approach me happily if I'm carrying one. Have worked a lot on her socialising skills and she's great with ppl now v affectionate .the thing is she is a ball of energy runs around during the day(isn't locked in and is with my parents) and I also bring her for a walk in the evenings but she's wired in the evenings even after a walk. What I would love to do is train her to play some games run after a stick or a toy or pull on a rope or something that'll help tire her. She likes her toys but if I take them off her and try play she just looks at me sadly and makes me feel guilty!!shes so gentle would neve snap food from you. Any ideas of how to get her involved? Or is it something she just isn't into!!

One of my Sheepdogs used to be scared of the ball, now he is starting to figure out how to bring it back to me. I would start with a ball on a rope, so you can drag it along the ground in front of her to get her interest (she's a herding dog, it's likely her instinct to chase!) play lots of "keep away" (drag it around in front of her, then run away with the toy) it should encourage her to want what you have, make her think what you have is the most awesome thing ever. Dogs know if you're lying if you're only acting half-interested, so you HAVE to be enthusiastic!

A little word of warning though, some Collies can develop obsessive behaviours with the ball and not want to stop playing. They'll do whatever they can to get a ball, or pester you to play with them whenever they have a ball.

Another thing, put all toys away! Don't leave toys out. Toys left out are boring. My German Shepherd has a toybox out the back, he gets super excited when we go to it, because it means playtime. If I left his toys out all the time, they would be shredded and he would be looking for something else (naughty!) to do.

What about getting a Boomer Ball? They sell them in Maxizoo. They are a large hard plastic ball, herding dogs often love them as well as other breeds! Keeps them occupied by themselves. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZdL8jBXw98

Even do some basic training with her, you will be amazed how tired your dog will be by simply learning a few new tricks, Kikopup is one of the better Youtubers out there who make videos on how to train your dog to do various things: https://www.youtube.com/user/kikopup - She may even have videos on this very subject!

tk123

Oh what about a flirt pole? Now I have to admit cringe when I see people with dogs doing back flips after them but she might chase it around? Here's a link but you could just do a diy job ?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Squishy-Face-Studio-24-Inch-Exercise/dp/B00HFFXHO4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1476088457&sr=8-2&keywords=flirt+pole

dashoonage

VonVix wrote: »

What about getting a Boomer Ball? They sell them in Maxizoo. They are a large hard plastic ball, herding dogs often love them as well as other breeds! Keeps them occupied by themselves. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZdL8jBXw98

Sigh......off to maxi zoo at lunch i go. :P

tk123

dashoonage wrote: »

Sigh......off to maxi zoo at lunch i go. :P

:pac::pac:

https://www.livingsocial.ie/deal/dublin-south/1001516/12-20-voucher-spend-pet-products-maxi-zoo

VonVix

tk123 wrote: »

Oh what about a flirt pole? Now I have to admit cringe when I see people with dogs doing back flips after them but she might chase it around? Here's a link but you could just do a diy job ?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Squishy-Face-Studio-24-Inch-Exercise/dp/B00HFFXHO4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1476088457&sr=8-2&keywords=flirt+pole

I would have suggested a flirt pole myself, but you need a solid "drop" before being able to really use it and enjoy it without the dog trying to tear off the toy on the end or run away with it... at least that's how I feel about them.

In case anyone is interested, I bought a lunge whip from an Irish equestrian website for €20, the size of the box it came in was hilarious... I used it with my German Shepherd, the lunge whip is brilliantly strong and long enough that he can gain good ground running about me.

dashoonage

I has boomer.....is it 17:30 yet....

Choc Chip

VonVix wrote: »

I would have suggested a flirt pole myself, but you need a solid "drop" before being able to really use it and enjoy it without the dog trying to tear off the toy on the end or run away with it... at least that's how I feel about them.

In case anyone is interested, I bought a lunge whip from an Irish equestrian website for €20, the size of the box it came in was hilarious... I used it with my German Shepherd, the lunge whip is brilliantly strong and long enough that he can gain good ground running about me.

The first time I saw you mention this I thought you were lunging the GSD. It took me a minute to cop on to what you meant...

VonVix

Choc Chip wrote: »

The first time I saw you mention this I thought you were lunging the GSD. It took me a minute to cop on to what you meant...

Haha I remember that. :pac:

L1985

Hey everyone thanks for all those ideas. I like the rope on the ball idea as she doesn't seem to interested in balls at the moment. I think she would follow it on the rope thou-if only to keep the cars away from it!! However the pillow she grabbed from the shed was successfully disembowelled and murdered today so that's a new trick I'm not too keen on lol!
The big bounce ball looks good as well actually! I can see her chasing that-she likes chasing things!! The flirt pole I can't see working as it's too similar to a stick and she's still slightly nervy around them.i hit her with it once by accident(was aiming for a nettle and she got clipped in the backswing)and it set her back a month id say!! Thanks for the ideas everyone. Might be going to maxizoo soon me thinks!!

sillysmiles

My dog has no interest in playing with balls or toys are such - he just wants to play with us. So, he'll chase the ball but only so tat we can't get it, and then the game is for us to chase him. Equally he loves chasing us. He has a squeaky hedgehog that he refused to go to bed without one night, but otherwise is again really only interested in toys as a mechanism to play with us.

Will she chase you?

L1985

Sort of-when she gets really hyper she will run around with me and kinda let me chase her and chase me back but she is only starting to do that lately. everyone is saying squeaky toys so I must get her one;the squeaking in the evening in front of the tv was putting me off lol and I'm not mad in her taking toys outside as the other fella robs them and buries them!!
Will be taking a trip to maxizoo and see how we get on.

Bells21

I went to buy some food for the dogs last week and came out with a new toy for them as well, as always. It's a Kong plush toy with what I can only describe as a plastic bottle inside it and then rice/beads which make noise. Dogs were thrilled with it because it made a different sound and was trickier to pick up though one was completely confused because the first thing he does with any new toy is search for the squeak. It's small enough so doubt it would suit a collie but Kong usually have a few different sizes.

L1985

Might have a look. It's lovely to see her happy with a new toy-it's just so fricking hard to get one she will play with. She prefers shoes and cushions!!Ah she's a small thin collie we are still waiting for her to grow into her collar!!

VonVix

L1985 wrote: »

Might have a look. It's lovely to see her happy with a new toy-it's just so fricking hard to get one she will play with. She prefers shoes and cushions!!Ah she's a small thin collie we are still waiting for her to grow into her collar!!

As she isn't really familiar with toys, soft toys may be the way to go. My boys (they weren't really taught to play with things when they were puppies, because back then I had little involvement in their upbringing ) only really like to hold soft things in their mouths. Even look at soft balls as well, but be mindful if she is in anyway a shredder, don't leave her with them unsupervised.

L1985

She is deff a shredder!!! She loves a bone we got her with a filling-gnaws on it for hours. The other toys a rubber ring and a chew thing that looks like a dodie are ignored. It's more getting her to chase things and interact with toys that I'd like. Just to wear her out!! The older dogs fit to kill her some evenings as every time he goes to sleep she jumps on him.all is quiet this evening anyway I'll do a trip to maxi zoo and see what they have.will deff try out the ball on the rope!

tk123

Why don't you take the pup along with you and see of he likes any of the toys? It's also great for socialisation and they'll make fuss of him. My boy isn't really into toys except his plush football and is only interested in the pick and mix at the pet shop... but my girl always wants to investigate all the toys and play with them. She even tried to take a cat toy they had hanging up in the vets lol! Also if you're near water - river/lake/sea etc you could try throwing a ball in and see if he'll go for it - both of mine love taking a ball from the water and having me throw it again - on land my girl just wants to keep it lol! Obviously just use a tennis ball in case he's not bothered - don't send your new boomer ball out to sea!! :pac:

L1985

Not a bad plan actually re taking her in there. Might stop spending money in toys she ignores! No to the water as she will go up to her elbows then retreat. She gives our lab a dirty look as he happily splashes around in our river. I think if we had had her younger she might have got more into the water! God they are worse then children aren't they?lol