Rosie the border collie

[Sue Durant]

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Hi, We have Rosie, an 8-month-old rescue border collie. for just 10 days now. She is very sweet but has had no training.

Advice with evening 'zoomies' please. We are unable to let her out on her own quite yet. She is too big for zoomies around the living room furniture. We try her kong and soft ball rolling but she gets quite frenzied. How to diffuse zoomies indoors please?

 

[JudyN]

Welcome to the forum. Is it possible to zoomie-proof the living room? My feeling is that puppies need to get their zoomies out of their system, and if you try to suppress them you might well end up with a frustrated dog who will let their energies out in even less desirable ways. As she's not been with you long, she will still be in the 'settling in' period which might influence her behaviour.

You could try giving her a large cardboard box to shred, as long as she doesn't eat the bits - you could encourage her by hiding bits of kibble in smaller boxes and twists of paper and putting them in the box. It makes a hell of a mess, but the bits can be cleared up.

Though sometimes, after a dog has got rid of their excess energy, they can find it difficult to 'come down' and relax, and can get even more frantic as they get tired - think of an overtired toddler at bedtime. You could work on teaching her a 'calm settle':

which might help there. But remember the aim is for the dog to be calm, not frustrated.

 

[Sue Durant]

Thank you for your advice. Living room cannot be 'zoomie' proofed but we're going to try the kitchen for such activity this evening. Slightly more robust!

 

[JudyN]

Good luck - and try to enjoy the zoomies, because you'll remember them fondly when Rosie no longer zooms!

 

[Bcolliemum9]

Fond memories of bc zoomies! My bc is 11. Enjoy them!