Food and a border collie

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dragonflys

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My little welsh BC has had a lot of stomach problems in her short life, diarrohea and weight loss etc.
She is now the correct weight and poos etc fine, and she is very fit and healthy. She is just over 9 months.
To get her to her proper weight she is currently fed 3 times a day, Burns and small amount of sardines.
But she seems almost excessively active, compared to friends BC's and i am wondering if she is now having too much food and this is causing the excessive energy.

Any ideas?
For various reasons i cannot feed raw, and i am happy with her food, its just maybe im giving her too much now?
Thanks : )
 
Depends what you call excessively energetic. My almost year old BC doesn't have an off button!

If I am outside he will run continually, even if thats for 3-4 hours. Every opportunity he gets he's out and running/playing.

During the 2nd lot of snow, when it was about 2-3ft deep, he played non-stop for as long as he could. Then he would come in the house any play more. Chasing his beloved toy.

I feed him for a 30kg dog even though he only weighs 17kg, and he doesn't put on weight.

BC are very energetic dogs. I've never found the 'bottom' of one, having owned them for 23yrs!
 
I have a 5 yo border collie. He didn't calm down until he was 3-3 1/2 years old. He gets three walks a day as well as coming to the yard with me twice a day. He was on tinned food until I came on here and read about all the crap that's in there.

He is now on Burns and this is perfect for his weight. He gets enough for a 25kg dog and is fed twice a day. I think you have to wait for yours to mature a bit mentally and then he will calm a little (not a lot!) physically.
 
CaveCanem said:
Three meals is a bit much for a nine month old, I'd cut it to two.
Click to expand...

agree with this - plus are you doing enough mind work with her. Running about isn't enough for a BC they need to use their brain too. Not sure what training you are doing with her but I found that 15 - 30 min session once a day was great in settling mine down when she was younger. In saying that she's still not really slowed down that much and she's 13 and 1/2. Today we were heading out for a walk and I realised she was lame - I could have fried on the look she gave me when she realised that she was going home and the others weren't!
 
dragonflys said:
My little welsh BC has had a lot of stomach problems in her short life, diarrohea and weight loss etc.
She is now the correct weight and poos etc fine, and she is very fit and healthy. She is just over 9 months.
To get her to her proper weight she is currently fed 3 times a day, Burns and small amount of sardines.
But she seems almost excessively active, compared to friends BC's and i am wondering if she is now having too much food and this is causing the excessive energy.

Any ideas?
For various reasons i cannot feed raw, and i am happy with her food, its just maybe im giving her too much now?
Thanks : )
Click to expand...

I have a working BC 4 yr old and he has Burns chicken and rice as he has digestive issues. I spoke to the Burns people as he was getting itchey and a bit manic and it turned out I was feeding him too much!
The lady suggested the correct amount and he has lost his itch and calmed down so my suggestion would be to talk to the Burns feedline.
Best of luck
Bryndu
 
Hi thanks for all replies.
I did think that 3 meals was too much. Do you just cut it out or cut down gradually.

Yes i know about BC's and energy but she seems even more than i would expect.
We play with a ball 2x daily for approx 20mins a go, a good walk in interesting places and then she is outside with me and horses, so not much indoor stuff.
Also generally whereever i go, she goes too, in the car etc.
And then we go round up sheep whenever we can : ) which is the best thing ever. Dog, sheep, earth, sky and human. Gets me fit too!! :D
 
I did think that 3 meals was too much. Do you just cut it out or cut down gradually.

The Burns lady said from immediate effect, so that is what we did and we saw a difference in a week.
Bryndu:)
 
She needs mind games. Ball and walks tire her physically not mentally.

Do lots of training with her. Teach her random tricks that she will never use but that tire her mind for the day.

Get a good clicker and learn lots of clicker games.
 
Our 3 yr old BC is also fed on Burns Chicken and Rice with Sardines (twice a week), eggs and paddywhack or a pigs ear as treats or when we go out. He weighs approx 25kgs and is fed twice a day - most of his ration in the morning and just top up with another handful in the evening.

He gets walked twice a day for min 45 mins at a time and we also play ball and other games with him. To stimulate him mentally, we also do 'blind retrieves' with his ball or toys so he has too seek them out. Also continue with his basic obedience on walks to stimulate him too. Also comes with me to the yard where he runs around with whatever menagerie of doglets are around at the time.

His diet really seems to agree with him and he's quite high energy so it may be worth speaking to your vet or nutritionist to check quantities etc. Also have you thought about enrolling in obedience/flyball/agility or somesuch?

We are planning agility with ours this year which I think he'll really enjoy :-)
 
katielou said:
She needs mind games. Ball and walks tire her physically not mentally.

Do lots of training with her. Teach her random tricks that she will never use but that tire her mind for the day.

Get a good clicker and learn lots of clicker games.
Click to expand...

this is what I meant - I just did lots of walk to heel, sit stay come - basic commands that she LOVED - we went to a local club and learnt some basics and took it from there. I started off thinking I don't want a point and click dog but after a short while I realised that's what she wanted and really enjoyed it!
 
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