Border collie barking at me and scraping his paw

[dreamingon]

Hi I posted a while a while back about our border collie's various issues. We got him from the dog's trust in January and they told us he was 3-5 years old. After he had grown a lot and completely destroyed my front room and my sanity we had a behaviourist come to the house.

Turns out he was no more than twelve months old which explained a lot of his behaviour.

Anyway, he is now adorable and pretty good most of the time but when I am sitting in the arm chair in the evening he keeps eye contact, barks and scrapes his paw on the floor before lunging.

He was doing this before but stopped. He now also cries as he does it. Has anybody any idea why he might be doing this, it is very un-nerving. I have tried just ignoring him and moving away but he just does it again when I sit down.

Thank you if you have got to the end of this.

Have you tried giving him a bone/chew when he starts doing this? My collie can have a really active day but as soon as I sit down in the evening she will start pestering me for more play. I've been using a filled kong or bone to give her some stimulation at this time and it usually settles her down.

Collies are definitely an eye-opener in terms of needing amusement in the house. My old dog just slept between walks/meals.

Definately need constant attention it is like having a baby again

My last dog was a collie cross and you could forget you had her.

I have tried the bone / kong. Kong did not work and the bone did but then everybody kept telling me not to get into the habit of giving a bone so I stopped.

Is it ok for a dog to have a bone each night? He likes the ham bones but will eat it non stop till it is all gone. Sorry to ask this but my previous dog did not like bones so I have no experience of this.

Thank you for replying

Have you tried a chewy Nylabone or a stag antler, so he has the fun of gnawing it, but not the additional calorie intake?

He has variations of these but cannot be fooled with them. He wants a real bone or nothing. Too bloody clever by half.

What does he eat? Could you keep back some of his food and put it in a stuffed Kong to occupy him at these times. He is looking for stimulation so needs to have an outlet.

I have a year old Border Collie and he has a bone most days, he's very slim so I don't think the extra calories have any effect on him.
When you say he holds eye contact do you let him? If you're allowing the eye contact then you are effectively joining in.
Have you tried half turning away from him?

Also how much exercise is he getting? I find mine needs an hour in the early evening which then gives us a peaceful time. He also has up to two hours in the morning.
For example he's had an hour and a half walking with my trainer and her dogs and then he'll be going out with me soon for a three mile walk, with him off lead.
He has spent the afternoon snoozing under the hedge in the garden so not constantly full on.

I would not be questioning how much exercise he is getting a collie will always think they need more

You need to teach him what you want him to do in the evenings when you and (him) are ready to chill.

Get a mat put treats on the mat and reward him every time he goes onto the mat. You can sit in the arm chair and when he goes to the mat throw him a treat. You may need to work at this for a while. Do not reward him for getting up and going back to the mat he is rewarded for staying down on the mat - he will quickly work out if he gets up and down he gets treats so be ready to reward him when he is down and relaxed.

I would not be giving him bones and things to do at this stage in the day - he has to learn he does need down time, if you are happy he is getting exercised and stimulated earlier in the day this is now the time to chill.