Kim 1 year!

When Kim closed in on his first year of age, he entered a new "period" where he really pushed the limits, even more than in his last one (the sexual maturity). He has actually been worse than all of my previous dogs, even the Foxterrier! All of a sudden he is the only one that counts all the time - the minute we pet another dog he is there, pushing it away to steal the attention. At some occations he also showed aggressiveness when he didn't succeed. This behaviour, to physically boor and push his way to my attention, I really did not appreciate, but in the same time I didn't know what to do about it.

Outdoors he started to sneak off to hunt, both prey and cars, but also people! His attention towards me was down at zero, something that I felt I couldn't accept. On the other hand I couldn't get hold of him, because the minute he noticed I was upset/angry, he ran away looking afraid of getting thrashed before I even got close to him. That kind of communication I do not want with my dogs. My goal is to get them to teamwork without having to get angry at them!

Kim with the long line that disables him to sneak off.

The last problem we by solved using a long line attached to the collar. With that I could stop Kims rampaging without him feeling threatened. I could get him to listen again when he had calmed down without having to get angry. The line had a length of 20 meters and trailed through the terrain without tangling up. I never used it as punishment, but only to stop Kim when he ran off. Then I just stood on the line waiting until he turned his attention to me, that is when I called him and praised. Sometimes I said "no" when the line stopped him, but that was depending on the situation. In this simple way the outdoor problems were solved.

But he continued to fight his way into the centrepoint, I started to look at him as a huge egoist! It was Ingrid Johansen at Imajan Shelties who came up with the solution: to simply ignore him totally, and by that dispatch him behind the Poodles in status where he belongs. What we have made wrong to get this problem, is that we have greeted Kim first when we come home, simply because he is bouncing around in the hallway in such a manner that the Poodles have decided to wait in the background. They don't want to be stepped on by this exaggerated Sheltie!

Now we switched tactics. When we came home, we went in without taking any notice about Kim. Then we greeted Tintin and Nikki, they are both a lot older than Kim. When Kim tried to tackle his way into the middle, I stared at him and growled, showing him to back off with my bodylanguage. That simple tactic worked!

We have always had the "pecking order" in mind earlier when it comes to other things, like giving Kim his food after the Poodles, candy treats after them, letting him out last, jumping out of the car last and so on. But this was not enough when he got to greet us first of all! Now he has seen the end of that habit and by that, the harmony in the flock is hopefully back.

This is the friendly and peaceful way to handle Shelties, that I believe so much in!