Not bad, just bored!

Today I have seen a very sad case which highlights a very common problem and I thought I should tell you all about it.

A 9 month old border collie came into my clinic, he had been vomiting for 5 days and now wasn´t even keeping water down. He was very depressed, dehydrated and his tummy was sore. We put him on a drip, sedated him and took x-rays of his abdomen. We found a child’s magnetic toy in the middle of his intestines. He is going to need emergency surgery to remove the toy which is going to cost his owners at least £600.

When we x-rayed him we also found that he was very fat for his age and this gave me a big clue as to why he had eaten that toy.......he was bored!

Collies are a working breed and although they are often kept as pets, they are not always suitable. Firstly, they need a huge amount of exercise, at least a couple of hours a day off the lead and they also need to be mentally stimulated. They are very clever dogs, having been bred to be easy and quick to train, if they are left on their own for large parts of the day without anything to do, or not exercised enough, they will become bored and frustrated. This can lead to behavioural problems such as destructive behaviour, chewing and eating things they shouldn´t and even aggression.

If you have a border collie, or any working breed, not only do you need to exercise them for a couple of hours every day, you should also work to keep them mentally busy. Play games while you are on a walk, such as fetch and also more challenging ´search and find´ games as well. If you leave the dog in the house, keep them busy by hiding treats around the house for them to find, or leave them with a ´Kong´ toy stuffed with biscuits for them to play with. Another great thing to try is agility classes, collies are really good at this and it can be a great way of keeping them stimulated and fit.

I felt compelled to write about this subject as it is not the first time I have seen this problem in a young, overweight, bored collie. The last time the dog was put to sleep as his owner couldn´t afford the surgery, which was heart breaking and could so easily have been prevented.