dog acting weird and other stuff

[puttycat2k]

Hi everyone,
My puppy seems to be acting a little weird. Here some info on her. She is a black lab mixed with collie, 5 and half months. when we are gone she is either in her crate or the kitchen, its all the same area. I have noticed she sleeps in her crate.
I use the crate for timeouts when she is being mean to the cats. She would normally bark to get out. now she just lays down. Usually she has bones to chew on but we ran out two days ago and need to get more. She is eating ok and going potty ok. She doesnt spend time outside unless i am with her cause she broke her chain and i have to pick up a stronger one.
Any thoughts on what might be up with her.

While i am at it potty training is going ok. She doenst go if i am looking but when she would get out of the kitchen by knocking the gate down when not home she will go. Should i still give her a treat when she goes outside. She doesnt ever tell me she has to go but i take her out. How do i go about so she can let me know.

Lastly about what age will she go into heat, we havent gotten her fixed yet and might not have the money till do it right away. What are the signs so i can be extra careful for her not to get away from me.
Thanks.
Cristy

[Canislupess]

You didn't clearly define the first problem. Could you explain a little better? You said she goes Potty ok then went on to give the impression she has a problem but you didn't say exactly what it was.
Is she going in the house still?

Also, you don't mention exercise. How often do you take her out?

As for seasons, this varies greatly from bitch to bitch. My current two didn't come into season until 11 months old but some come into season as young as 6 months old although it is normally a little longer. You'll just have to keep a look out because there is no way of saying when you bitch will have her first season.
When in season, they produce a red discharge from the vulva like blood. This turns a straw colour after about 12 days which signals their readiness to mate which is from about 12-15 days but again, it varies. The vulva itself will swell up too. It is the leaf shaped fleshy part where they pee from. If you lightly press the area above the vulva but below the anus with your finger (Don't worry, they have hair on this bit), discharge will drip out of the vulva and you can see what colour it is if it doesn't happen to be showing when you first look. The whole season lasts about 21 days.
She might show more determination to get out during this time and might whine and get excited when she sees another dog so be careful with her. I know mine are real tarts when they come in season whining and whinging when they see another dog.

[puttycat2k]

But acting strange i just mean the laying in the cage and not barking to get out, and sometimes outside she just lays in the grass. By going potty ok i mean no diahreah or anything.
She wont go on the floor if i am around but if she would find a way out of the kitchen she would go on the floor when not home, but right now i have out smarted her. Could it be that she is just getting used to her cage and dont mind it as much.
I take her potty several times a day and walk her two to 3 times a day, about for 15 mins each. Should i walk her more?
Off this topic but i just wanted to share. I took her to where we bought her from to show her off and she is bigger than her mom, and her mom didnt like her. Do dogs not remember their puppies? Blue seemed to be ok with her and normally dont like girl dogs, plus she didnt bark at the owner who took took care of her. she is a barker at strangers. It was kinda cute that it seems as she remembered them.
Thanks for all the advice. I am going to install a chain lock to keep my younger son from letting her out and having her at risk for puppies or a car. She loves to chase the cats out the door.
Cristy

[Canislupess]

A lab mixed with collie will probably require a good amount of exercise. Try lenghtening one of the 3 walks to 45 minutes. My two elderly bitches get that now and used to get more than that but mine are full Border Collies which are one of the most energetic breeds around.
Too much exercise can be bad for growing pups but once they have reached their maximum height, around 9 months for a Border collie, longer for bigger dogs, they can be taken for more exercise without it affecting them.
Having half collie in her, you dog will probably be quite energy demanding too. The lab half will curb it to a certain extent but the collie's high energy seems to have quite a strong influence and many collie crosses are as energy demanding as their purebred collie parent.
When it comes to Border Collies, you can't exercise them enough. The more they get, the better. They are bred for herding sheep over vast areas for hours on end and don't like to have nothing to do.

As for your pup being quiet in her crate, this isn't strange, is it not what you have been working towards? She has accepted it as her safe haven where she can go rest without being disturbed.

The reason she might go in other parts of the house is because she is naturally training herself to go as far away from her sleeping area and where she is fed so the kitchen has become a nono from her point of view. Other rooms are still acceptable though so she needs to learn that they are no more acceptabel than the kitchen. Teaching some bowel and bladder control will help to stop her from needing to go at times other than when she is supposed to.
My dogs went out at 9.10am today then I went to see to them again when I got home from work at about 3pm and they hadn't done anything in the run. They'll go out again for about an hour at 7pmish.
At 5 months, your pup should be fine on two meals a day and I'd keep her on that rather than going to one big one.
If she had runs, her diet might have been playing up with her. This is a sign they haven't digested their food properly and it needs investigating if it happens a lot.

Bitches don't remember their pups after they have left them. Your pup will have an entirely new scent to her now that she has been living with you so her mother will no longer recognize her for that reason.
The mother will still smell the same to your pup though which is why she remembers them.

One thing about barking at strangers. If she does this while out, it is probably her going through a stage lots of pups go through known as the fear stage. Before this, pups will happily go up to anything and not be actually frightened even though they might be submissive. They might show fear if they have had bad experiences but for most, "Fear" doesn't hit them until they get a little older and they suddenly start running up to people and dogs while out and bark. They normally don't go right up and even though they bark, they also show a fear of what they are barking at, holding their tails between their legs etc....
They normally grow out of this as long as you don't make a fuss and make it worse. Shouting at them just further convinces them that strangers and other dogs are bad news and they will get worse. Destracting them from such things with a favourite toy is usually the most effective way of stopping it.
Just some additional information should you ever need it.
:angel4: :angel4: