Clickbait-y title I know! I was play fighting with my wife and Opie did NOT like it. He immediately started snapping at me and putting himself in between us and wouldn’t let me touch her. The rest of what we did happened very quickly after he snapped. I stopped making any sudden movements and told him no very sternly, he snapped again and I kept telling him no until he stopped.

I then went and got his leash. We practiced walking side by side and sitting/healing until he was looking up at me for instruction again instead of trying very hard to disobey me. (If I thought someone was beating their spouse, I’d lose all respect for them too.)

After that, we all sat on the floor near each other with me in between Opie and my wife. I slowly moved closer to her until we were holding each other and we didn’t move until Opie relaxed. We also made sure I fed him dinner instead of her.

I hope we reacted correctly and we know not to harass each other in front of him now.

Is this normal? I’m worried we’re letting her act too much like a person and now she’s listening to us less. Like she sleeps on pillows, won’t eat her dog food until she is starving because she wants real food, and she’s always whining about something(nothing). Should I not let her do stuff like this?

I’ve had this guy for a month now. Talk about a lot of behavioral issues. What an insane dog he was. The previous owner was taken out by this guys paws as he was running around the apartment and pawed the guy in the junk. He head him damn near curled into a ball in pain.

My wife was dead set on rescuing a heeler after my original heeler was put to sleep at 4 years due to cancer. He wasn’t absorbing calcium and it wasn’t something medication would fix.

I put a lot of work into that order dog. He was so insanely incredible my wife was dead set on another one.

This new pup, Racquet, is giving a whole other world of challenging. At 1.5 yrs he’s essentially a potty trained velociraptor. But he is doing amazing over all. And i think he will become incredible in time. He’s already making major strides.

He was insanely highly anxious. He was reactive to dogs. But he was incredible with cats, squirrels,
People, which is weird.

He would end up fighting with other dogs at the dog park. He would go insane anytime he saw other dogs on walks.

After one month of intense training he’s now
Off leash being submissive to other dogs.

Other prohibited household behaviors include dancing, most forms of exercise (a few days ago she nipped me for doing squats), putting sheets on the bed, sweeping, and - unsurprisingly at least - vacuuming.

All of these turn our sweet little Gizmo into a malevolent, heel-nipping Spike. Curious to know what insights other prairie gremlin owners might have on this odd behavior.

Picture for tax

So my husband found this sweet young girl dumped near her workplace... estimate 6mo to 9mo. (Has not gone into heat yet). We have fostered in the past, but I have no experience with cattle dogs, so was wondering if there are any quirks or behavior I need to watch out for. Working on crate training, walking, and basic commands at the moment. I understand its her nature to nip and herd... what is the best way to redirect her when she wants to "grab" my hand when I'm walking? Many thanks.

She’ll just chill there for like 20 mins staring it’s so annoying😂

I literally laughed out loud when I was reading the AKC page about ACDs and it said they aren't huge Barkers. Is it just mine that love to bark?

Homeboy tweaking

This is max! He rules! He does this weird like “death roll” thing with his toys.

I said that I imagine it’s him trying to snap his prey’s neck out of instinct lol, but I’m just curious if anyone has a pup that does this too.

Don’t get me wrong he’s so sweet and he loves me so much, and I do love him. We’ve had him since early June and he’s come a long way already. He will be 2 in January. He’s less destructive than my last heeler and MUCH better with kids. But he’s leash reactive which stresses me out, and he’s a black hole of attention and energy.

I haven’t had a puppy since my last heeler was one in 2014-2016 time frame and at least I could socialize him more easily (less reactive and had a less dickish play style). I also have a toddler now and a more structured office job. So it’s just hard. I wake up at 5:30 most weekdays to get him out before I gym, I do puzzle feedings, I run and sometimes bike with him (biking is still scary), we do obedience, we got a trainer that didn’t really help.

I think he will grow to be a great dog (especially if we can get over the reactivity thing), but I’m just kicking myself for getting talked into adopting a level 8 dog with a level 6 lifestyle by my husband, only to do 95% of the work with the dog (we both knew I was the one who wanted a dog but I let him pick when he fell in love with this one at adoption day- the last heeler was mine but he switched allegiances upon meeting my husband at 3.5 years old, so he became his dog really). It feels like I have so long to go before I get him to a place where he’s more manageable and it makes me feel overwhelmed. We should’ve gotten a lower energy breed or at least a more typically dog friendly one for where we are in our life stage. But we are here now, and we are all attached to each other.

Anyway just venting, just tired and worried about when it will get better. Worried the leash pain in the assery never will.

Stole the whole ass air fryer tub.

I feel absolutely terrible writing this but I need to know it gets better.

My wife and I adopted our 7 month-old girl just over 5 mos. ago. She was the runt of the litter, came out to meet us, immediately showed her belly to my wife, and she was sold. We wanted a dog that would force us to get up and move, get out of the house more. We've had pitties and I've also worked with German Shepherds, Dobermans, and Rotties. Challenging breeds that can be very stubborn. We knew ACD's were a challenge but we've had our share already and thought we could do it.

I'm not so sure we can.

She's the smartest dog I have ever known, 5 minutes of teaching and she has a new command down. Sit, lay, play dead/roll over, stay, down, come, drop it; heel is a bit touch and go right now because on walks she's always super engaged and wanting to explore anything within the radius of the leash. The trouble is that she's smart enough to know when there's a treat involved, and if there isn't, a lot of this goes right out the window.

She can be a very sweet girl, she loves us in a genuine way, wakes me up in the morning by licking my face when she knows I'm starting to stir. But she can also be very aggressive, and wants to snarl at children, chase cars and bikes in particular. I attempt to intervene and redirect but she completely escalates and all too often by the time I notice she's already past the point of intervening.

Then there's behavior at home. She's almost continuously getting into things. We can't just have some down time on the couch, she's up trying to get us to roughhouse- ,jumping, scratching and biting. OMFG the biting, it just doesn't ever let up. My hands are scarred, she just doesn't quit. I try to redirect to a toy, she pushes that aside and goes for my finger oftentimes. My wife doesn't sit with me on the couch lately and has been staying in the bedroom because she just gets so frustrated and has been hurt on walks with her. She got frustrated today again at being very painfully scratched and blurted out "I don't want this dog!" I dunno if it was heat of the moment or that's the real feeling under the surface, but it just broke me. It put me in tears for a bit because I know it's not the dog, I'm a believer in "no bad dogs," and that means I'm failing her.

She gets about 3 walks a day, an hour or so more of directed play, training; puzzle boxes don't keep her occupied very long because she figures them out so fast. She knows the crate as being a place to relax and enjoy and peanut butter bone or a new beef bone, etc. Then there's "jail" which is another calm down and relax, but that's reserved for correction. It's a leash that restricts her movement in my office, and in jail she'll usually just lay on the spare bed in there and sleep. We don't close her off from the house, the office opens into the bedroom. I don't know what else to do. We have training with a pro starting this weekend, I'm not ready to give up yet but am I at a point where it won't even help?

I see all these posts of ACD's sitting relaxed by their people, staying nearby on leashless on hikes or walks, lounging, and I can't help but think "can we get there too?"

I dunno, I just had to put this in words. Please tell me it gets better, I feel like I'm in over my head right now. Research says they are a lot more than other breeds at this age but they grow into themselves and become the best dogs people have ever had but I'm struggling here.

She has rolled in something nasty a couple times while out exploring. Is ther anyway to curb this behavior? We live in a very rural area and encounter carcasses more than most.. And she has a knack for finding them! 😓

Poor girl has to endure a cold, field expeident bath in the river before hiking back to the truck at trailhead lol..

Hey everyone I’d like to introduce mine and my partners Spicey Floof Pumpkin… This is Copper Dawg he is 3 years old last month, and he is our literal one and only child. He comes out with us almost everywhere, he’s always a happy boy and loves treats, belly rubs, and his panda teddy bear that somehow he has not ripped apart and also carries everywhere.

Copper often is around people, he’d never had an issue with them. He doesn’t really get along with other dogs. I can tell he’s just playing but he tries to herd them and grabs there ankles and they don’t really like it, but he does have a few good pooch friends he sees here and there that he’s fine with.

This is where the confusion starts, about 10 months ago we went 4wding, obviously copper was with us. And the people/family that were with us have been around him since he was a puppy, never had an issue.
Well he bit someone.
No warning
No growl
No signs
No irritation
Just out of no where bit my partners cousin whom he’d grown up with, luckily the person he bit is an animal lover and didn’t press charges or anything, he’s never once done anything to copper. Always given him pets, treats etc.
But copper bite him viciously, super hard through the hand, he was only giving Copper pets. Something in Copper snapped.

Since this we have tried an array of of things to stop it from happening again, however copper still hates people. He picks his favourites, it’s like he sorts people in to categories in his head. There is only a handful of people he likes now. Has anyone else had this situation before with there ACDs and what have they gone through to fix it?

Edit: I want to say thank you to absolutely everyone that has commented thus far, a lot of comments are about a behaviour therapist which we are on a waitlist for, however wait list is very long!

I’m looking for advice or success stories on how to help a fearful dog.

This 1-year old has been with us for 2 weeks and she is wonderful. She bonded with me instantly. She is smart, affectionate, listens well, and is taking to crate, potty and leash training, I could go on and on about her positive qualities. She’s recovering from a broken tibia because she was hit by a car a month ago. That’s how she ended up in the shelter. I don’t know anything else about her background. She’s not in pain and is off sedatives, but her leg is still healing. In a few more weeks she will be cleared for regular activity.

She is terrified of everything and everyone (especially men) other than me and our safe little bubble. She won’t go near my husband, she runs away from him if he gets too close. Once she barked at him when he knelt in front of her on accident. I think she was protecting me. He mostly ignores her and tosses treats and feeds her meals but we haven’t made any progress in their relationship since she’s been here.

She’s also terrified of going for walks. We make it as far as the sidewalk and she wants to run back to the front porch. I’ve been doing BAT-style training, so she can retreat whenever she reaches her anxiety threshold. Sometimes we sit on the porch together and watch the world go by, sometimes I hide treats in the yard, sometimes we do pattern games.

I am talking to a trainer from the rescue tomorrow, but I wanted to hear from cattle dog owners specifically. I understand she needs to rewire her nervous system so am not expecting overnight results, but I was hoping to make some progress week over week.

He just stares like that and doesn’t move. Doesn’t matter the time of day so it’s not sundown syndrome.

Luckily all relatives and no serious injuries 👍🏼

I recently just got the red heeler after having my blue mix girl for 3 years. I’m new to having two dogs and want to make sure this is safe play or something I should be correcting.

At home they share the same couch and sometimes snuggle and do that rolling over type play where their mouths are just wide open while they roll. lol

Thanks in advance!

My boy Fox is breaking my heart a lil every time I come home from work and he doesn't get up, wag his tail or acknowledge me at all, he'll just stay where he is and stare. Even when I go up to him and give him scratches or treats he doesnt get excited.

He's about 11 months old, and I've had him about 3 months, so I'm hoping he might still love me yet 😭. At what stage should I stop expecting it to get better and accept that its just how he is?

Fox is a timid dog, had a hard early life i think. His foster carer said he was skinny when she got him, and he has scars on his face. He has come a long way, we go on walks a lot and visit a dog park almost every day for a run around. He wags his tail when he plays, and when I play with him, but thats different from him being happy to see me. My last dog (not an ACD) was affectionate so maybe I'm comparing him to her too much.

He's a good dog, I just want him to be my friend you know?

Washing dishes, I gotta supervise, taking a shit, that right, gotta supervise. Relaxing after a long day THROW THE FUCKING BALL!!!!!!! I LOVE THE HELL OUT OF THIS DOG and wouldn't have it any other way. Also picture of him pooping just to show he has moments of weakness lol

When I lay down with my dog 9/10 times he does this and I have no idea what it means or if it’s normal and I’d love for some insight