Toy Greetings

Question
QUESTION: We rescued a Border Collie Mix a couple months ago, he's about 5 months old now. He's the best dog we could ask for. He learns quickly and loves cuddles, other dogs, and his toys. We are unsure of what breed he is mixed with but he does have some brindle color patches on his back legs. All the research we've done points us toward a Staffordshire or Pit Bull. I've read that border collies love their toys and our's definitely does. In fact, he almost always greets us with a toy in his mouth. Our routine when we come home is to  take him out of his room (we make him sit first), then we take him to the back door, ask him if he needs to "go potty" (he responds with a bark even with the toy in the mouth), and the outside to his potty area. It still takes him a minute to "go potty" and he won't put his toy down until right before he relieves himself. Is this an obsessive behavior that we should be worried about or is the a behavoir that stems from his mystery breed?

ANSWER: Hi, Cindy,

Have all his adult teeth come in yet or is he still teething? Check to see if any puppy teeth are still there.

LCK

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: He has lost all of his baby teeth a couple weeks ago but I guess it might be possible that his molars are still moving around/growing in.

Answer
Thanks for the further info.

I don't think this exactly qualifies as an obsessive behavior, just a bit of a personal quirk, if you will. He's using his toys as a kind of pacifier.

The greeting behavior is actually something I have most of my clients teach their dogs because it redirects a lot of energy away from jumping up, barking at the door, etc. Once the dog has a toy in his mouth those behaviors always disappear. So your dog is smarter than most other doggies!

Also, make sure you play with him outdoors as much as possible. That will make him much less in need of his pacifier. You should especially play tug and fetch, and even games where he gets to chase you around the yard. When you play chase though, he always has to be the chaser, and you should always have a tug rag (like a bandana or an old sock) available for him to bite when he catches you.

I hope this helps,

LCK