Lively Collie

NCW feen

A young collie strayed into me about 6 weeks back, she was probably dropped off. (I advertised about her but no responses) She's a lovely dog but a bit hyper. Whenever I walk out the door she's jumping up on me the whole time. I get a stick and wave that at her and she'll back off but then she gets a fit of barking that could last 4/5 minutes and it sets off my other dog barking then as well. I take her for walks which she likes but as soon as I take off the lead she tries to jump up on me again and when I get the stick to keep her away the barking starts again. I'm not sure how old she is, maybe 2 or 3 at most.
Has anyone got any tips on how to stop her jumping up on me every time I appear or why she then gets this prolonged fit of barking when I won't let her jump up ?

Two Sheds

Collies are not for the faint-hearted. They're working dogs with boundless energy , requiring intelligent and dedicated handling, but will repay your work a million times over.

Unless it's an inbred spacer - in which case give up now.

ShiverinEskimo

You need to run her ragged when taking her out. Bring a ball and sling or something and let her off the leash if there's a suitable field.

Do that on a somewhat regular basis and she'll not be fit to jump up on anyone and she'll love you for it.

Pretzill

Yes she's a border collie and they love nothing more than expelling energy - but they also love direction, can handle commands very well and enjoy structure. The waving of the stick is like a game to her (she just wants you to throw it - though I would replace the stick with a ball, sticks aren't the safest retrievel items)

Basically the bc always wants to get in on the action - they love a walk, but are bred for free running - waiting - and being given direction - they aren't the handful most would lead you to believe - once you can organise a time for them to do this through the day.

I give my two minimum five 'games' per day - this could be something as simple as frisbee, or ball to hiding games, jumps or command type games. This on top of regular walks and they're stretched out at my feet by evening!

Edit: on 'run her ragged' comment many bc's can be adrenaline junkies - don't overdo exercise in this case - shorter games and runs - and more hide the object games too - they love a puzzle!

tk123

I'd be going to opposite way - yes she needs to be excercised and stimulated but if she's jumping up fold your arms, turn your back and ignore her. What you're doing (IMO) is rewarding her for jumping up by giving her a stick - a stick is a HUGE reward for one of mine but she doesn't ever get it until she sits. Are you doing anything when she barks - telling her to stop/ talking to her etc - if so again you're rewarding and ultimately encouraging her to do it again.

SingItOut

Welcome to Collie ownership. Mine is two years old, has Never ending energy despite a two hour off lead run in the evening every evening and several play time sessions throughout the days , and barks at literally everything! she barks at the cats (only when they're on the wall because she's afraid if they get near her in which case she hides :pac: ), barks at the other dog, barks at walk time, barks at toys etc every emotion is a bark! If you can train her out of that you're an amazing person!

The jumping up is a real pain too because she can jump my height. What I do with her is ask her to sit and "watch me", I took her to dog training classes when she was 6 months old (shes a rescue) which was actually great to get her to focus on me despite the commotion of the other dogs. She is such an intelligent dog otherwise, some of the things she can do are amazing! With the barking and jumping honestly you're at nothing telling her to stop, turn your back on her or leave the room then come back in when she settles. Try teaching her the sit and watch me too, it works wonders. If you can get her into a class it might work wonders for her.

beveragelady

Collies are incredibly rewarding to own because they are so absolutely focussed and attentive once they figure out that you're giving them commands.
My advice is to teach her one simple thing, like maybe a 'sit' command with a hand signal. if she's smart she'll pick it up in a few minutes. I have found this method to be very effective. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIdKdba_Wmo
Start at a time when she's not overly hungry and not too full of energy and you'll be amazed at how soon she'll be sitting on command. Keep commands clear and keep your voice steady to make it easy for her.
When that's done, and she'll sit almost as a reflex, you've achieved two things. You've now got a command that will make her stop jumping up, which solves one problem. You also have clued her into the fact that when you're speaking to her you're communicating, not just making noises. Take advantage of that by teaching her to lie down, to get certain things like sticks and balls or whatever she fancies herself. Once she has copped on that she's learning something and if you're patient and give her lots of praise and affection then you'll have a devoted student for life. Collies have a ferocious appetite for this sort of thing and it's no surprise they feature so prominently in obedience and agility competitions (Worth a look, search for crufts agility on youtube.)
I'm not sure if the stick-waving you mention in your post is a signal that you're going to throw a stick or a gesture to frighten her off. If she's into stick-chasing take advantage of that too, teach her to stand on your left or something before you throw. Seriously, they love learning things and they love knowing what you want them to do. If you're waving the stick to scare her into backing off then that's probably confusing her and making her anxious. An anxious dog isn't going to be particularly cooperative.
In general keep it light and fun. If you're getting impatient take a break, it's no good if you're frustrated. Lots of praise, clear commands, attention and affection will pay off.
In a way I envy you, it so so rewarding making little breakthroughs in the early stages of training. I hope I don't come across like I'm giving you a lecture, really this is just what I've learned from dealing with my own collies. It worked for me, maybe it'll work for you.

ShaShaBear

With a rescue collie who everyone here knows had SERIOUS issue with jumping up on people (he now stands at 5 feet tall if he puts his paws up on my kitchen counters), the only thing that ended up working for us was teaching him, in a totally separate instance, to "get your ball". His ball could be anything - his squeaky doughnut, his kong, his rubber ring, his rope toy or even an actual ball
Once he was doing this on command, we started telling him to "get your ball" as soon as we would come in the door. It did take a while for the command to override the excitement, but he now knows that if someone asks him to get his ball, it's because they are going to play with him, which is usually his overall goal when jumping in the first place. He's only just 1.
Our last boy was also a collie, and by the time he hit 5 or 6, as soon as he heard the door opening he would be standing waiting with a ball. You only had to throw it once, and he'd proceed to entertain himself.