u/Emmatheplantlady

I have posted about my dog Bo here before. He is an almost 6yo Australian kelpie, border collie, blue heeler mix. He’s my baby and I love him more than anything. I previously posted about issues with having guests over to which people suggested teaching place which were working on. I also have a herding ball for him and a flirt pole, but he’s still learning how to use them/not super interested.

I wanted to seek advice about another major issue we have with him. About 2 months ago we moved from an apartment into a house with a nice sized yard. We play ball and hangout outside a lot. But the yard is also where we expect him to do his business. When I get home from work to let him out, he is too excited and wanting to play ball that he won’t go to the bathroom. We keep his toys locked away for this reason but he still begs and cries to play and won’t go potty. So typically we have to resort to putting him on the leash and he will at least go pee. But if I try to walk him around more to poop before getting the balls out to play, he will jump on me barking and bitting the leash and playing tug of war with the leash. I was trying to get him used to knowing he has to do his business before we play because him holding it in order to play had previously resulted in a UTI and I want to avoid that. We dont want to have to walk him on a leash every time he goes potty and we also still want to use the yard to play as well. I don’t know how to get him to associate the backyard with both play and business. Any advice is appreciated

My dog Bo is my baby, we have had him for almost 6 years. He has always been reactive with other dogs when on a leash meaning if we are walking and see another dog he will bark and pull. But if he actually greets the other dog, he isn’t aggressive and usually just sniffs/plays normally. We have tried several trainings with him for the reactive leash behavior and also just random issues at home. For example, he’s very protective over me. So if my husband hugs me, he will bark or jump on us. He goes crazy if we have guests over and he doesn’t calm down. He seems so anxious and on edge when we have company and he is obsessed with ball, so he is harassing everyone who comes over to play with him, even if we get rid of all toys. But if I put him in a bedroom for company I feel horrible because he’s barking and sad and stressed. We are currently babysitting my niece and nephew for a couple days and he is nice to them, only giving kisses, but his energy is just so high. He’s constantly barking when they run or running with them occasionally knocking them off balance or sometimes trying to herd them. If I have to pick up one of the kids or give them attention, he barks and jumps on me. The constant barking and just restlessness is horrible for me and must be even worse for him. I just don’t know what to do. Ive tried teaching things like place and never got anywhere. I just don’t know where to start. But I also want to say, majority of the time he is an angel and he cuddles with us and he’s my best friend. When we go on walks and there aren’t dogs around m, he knows heal, will stay when I tell him too, come when I tell him too. He’s very smart and probably too smart. I love him so much and I just want to help him so we can all be more stress free

P.S. Bo is a mix of border collie, blue heeler, and Australian Kelpie