Fostering a Heeler - I’m an ACD noob

[dani]

Hi all!

Fostering a 3 month old heeler puppy who was rescued from a puppy mill. Our resident dog is a 2.5 yr old little mix (about 50 lbs).

It’s only been 48 hours, but had a few questions for y’all since she is very different from our resident pup!!

1) whining and squeaking: this gal is VOCAL. If she’s not sleeping, it’s like being haunted by an angry mouse. I know a lot of this is nerves, but anyone have success training more of a quiet disposition? Thus far, we’ve just been ignoring when she’s whining, and loving on her while she’s quiet.

2) Dog aggression? She’s still really young, and sounds like has had positive dog experiences before? But seemed kinda inclined to go at our resident dog? Pittie comes on a little strong, but is very much a lover and hasn’t lunged, or growled, etc. (but some excited barking). She, however, growls, lunges, bites towards his face etc. I’m guessing some of this is genetic/herding disposition? And of course, nerves! But wanted some advice on how to get them to at least cohabitate peacefully! They’ve pretty much been fully separated after their first 20 minute “greeting” outside. We had success getting them to sleep on opposite ends of the couches (both leashed). Mostly looking for advice or similar situations that had a peaceful resolve

Overall, she is SO sweet and affectionate towards humans, so darn cute, and very curious! I know they are VERY high energy, very intelligent, have strong herding tendencies and can be very cautious around new humans/dogs. Hoping for some other insights into these pups to make her stay here positive, and to not drive us too crazy lol

 

[jkeati4]

@dani Velociraptors from 6 months to 2 years. Prepare for the fight of your life.

 

[jdubbs]

@dani

1. Haunted by an angry mouse made me lol. I used to do border collie rescue and all our ACD mix fosters were very vocal. We learned that for us, talking buttons have seemed to help. (I don’t have 30,000 like you see online. Just some basics to cue us in) My dogs seem to want me to understand them just as much as I want them to understand me.
2. Does the pup play bow before this? This sounds like playing to me. We call it “bitey face” and all the herding dogs I have had in my house do it. ACDs seem to play it rougher than border collies, but still the same type of play. My 4m old pup and 2yo BC/ACD/GSD mix go at each other’s faces constantly.

 

[dani]

@jdubbs 1) haha it makes me laugh too, but it’s the best I can describe it!! We are slowing working to teach her basic words, so buttons could absolutely be a resource!

2) not that I saw, no. She’s coming pretty straight on, no bowing, just lunging towards him. Half the time she seemed just curious and excited when attempting to sniff/greet, the other half seemed more aggressive. Keeping an eye out! We plan to take them on a walk together tomorrow since it’s pouring here all day. But, it sounds like they’re okay style is more aggressive as a baseline, so that gives me hope it’s coming from a good place

 

[bubby348]

@dani My 4yr old ACD mix has always had trouble with “appropriate” play cues like bowing etc., from the time he was a puppy, and it took him being corrected by my MiL’s 150lb Leonburger before he really started to learn the “sneeze to disengage”. He still doesn’t play bow, but he will tend to smack with his paws to get dogs to play with him rather than going straight to bitey-mode.

I definitely notice that he’s more mouthy than any other dog I’ve had, and what really helped us was teaching him to “be nice” which essentially means “you are being too rough”. We supervise all his play time with other dogs and are quick to remind him if needed, but he’s now at a point where we rarely have to do so.

ACD puppies are FUN but tough - the smartest puppy I’ve ever had. Also, the vocalness stops with time!

ETA: I will say that my guy can DEFINITELY be a bully with dogs that just run away, not in an “I want to fight you” way, but in an “oh you’re running? I am going to herd you into a corner and keep you there” way. ACDs and herding dogs generally can have this trait - tenacity is important for herding cows especially, though. Just food for thought!

 

[moses123]

@jdubbs Lol my girl will put her face in my boys mouth to start play lol

 

[dani]

@jdubbs Just came here to say: I think you nailed it and she just has a case of “bitey face”!! We finally got them to positively interact and allowed them to play for a few minutes. She is now learning to play bow a bit and has also begun to smack him in the face with her paw to initiate play lol

 

[jdubbs]

@dani Bitey face is a perilous game. Lol. So glad they are getting along and she is learning play language.

 

[rainysunflower]

@dani Get her some toys, and teach her how to fetch as soon as possible!! I traded training treats for little stuffed squeak toys until my ACD mix got it. She eventually destroyed her baby toys and we had to move on to less-destructible toys, but fetch will give her an outlet for all that craziness and smartness.

We also had to start early with “no biting!” And when she licked instead, we’d change tone-of-voice and say, “licking’s good.” That took FOREVER, and now we get licked a lot, but the alternative is so much worse!

 

[rainysunflower]

Also, mine doesn’t whine as much if she has something to chew on. We used the Benebone flavored chews, because we had to give her something- she was chewing everything she could find.

Also, we had a ten-year-old pittie mix who sort of nannied her when she was little - we also had to keep our baby ACD mix separated from our other dogs because she was toooooo much. As soon as she got all her vaccines and kennel cough preventative, we took her to doggie daycare to play with younger dogs, and I think that helped her learn to get along with other dogs. After that is when we let her play more with our older dogs, and the pittie started showing her how to be a better dog citizen.

 

[dani]

@rainysunflower Great comments!! So far, she seems inclined to chew. Of course she only wants our pittie’s toys which are a little too rough for her teeth, but will certainly invest in 1-2 teething appropriate toys for her to combat the squeaking!

Toys as a reward is a GREAT idea too! I know it’s early, but she doesn’t seem very food motivated which is a big difference (our Pittie would happy trade my life for any form of treat).

 

[bhesh]

@rainysunflower Our ACD mix must think "no biting!" is her last name by now. She does not give play cues and just swarms all over our older dog, who is a gentle girl but gets pissed off by the little brat biting her face. Little brat is 18 months old and starting to obey commands, thank heavens.

 

[gmalbertson]

@dani ACD pups are notoriously insane; so happy your girl is being fostered but buckle up! I recommend a highly structured approach at first where she is never really just loose in the house—do some crate training with very frequent trips outside, play sessions, and short training sessions. They do need plenty of attention. To be honest with you I took a week off work when I first got my heeler mix just to manage that intro time! She then graduated to a leash attached to my waist for a while when home, then we had a baby gate so she was within sight of us, THEN she got free range. Despite all that we definitely had our share of accidents, shredded toilet paper and paper towels, chewed socks, etc. They’re just a lot, so prepare yourself to not get frustrated. I feel like “puppy blues” can hit hard with ACDs. It’s just because they have high drive and energy; it’s what makes them so smart and trainable and athletic and awesome!

They def need physical exercise but be careful because they have zero off switch and so can overdo it—have vivid memories of an inadvertently too-long, too-hot walk with my adolescent pup and carrying her home because I was scared overheat/overexert. I doubt she’d have stopped until actual collapse.

Training: any training is great because they are just dying for that mental exercise in addition to physical exercise. Food puzzle toys or using food to train are great for them. (A frozen kong can entertain them for a while but beware, they are toy destroyers.) I recommend teaching her early to chill out on command; learning “place” or “settle” when she goes and lies on her own bed or spot. I used this really structured settle training program for mine that I liked but can’t find it online now—maybe someone else can link a good one.

Re: other dog: keep separated in house at first; try more outdoor exposure starting with walking on leash together (better when you have another human, to control distance at the beginning.) IME when dogs go in walks together they kinda get into this “oh ok these other creatures are my crew” mentality.

They do get less crazy, and less high strung, I swear!

 

[adam247]

@dani Look into it two week shut down; it's strongly recommend when bringing a new dog in so they can decompress and adjust.

Puppy should be tethered or penned/crated if you are not actively watching her.

Puppy Culture program worked wonders on our foster puppies! I'd look into it if you can!

 

[dani]

@adam247 Thank you! Yes, she’s been spending lots of time getting adjusted to her crate and being penned in the kitchen! Appreciate the Puppy Culture suggestion as well will check that out!