QuestionHello and thank you in advance for any advice you can provide. We have a spastic sheltie that is 11 mo old. We did the wrong thing by getting him at a pet store but we love him to death and really need to understand this little ball of fire (keep in mind prior dog was a dalmatian, so used to high energy pup) to help us all learn to live together. What we are curious about is that our pup does a really odd thing in which is he backs his rear end into us. He usually does this when trying to get us to play but it is annoying and dangerous, I have almost tripped over him many times when unloading the dryer, not realizing he was doing this odd behavior. Again any advice would be much appreciated, as I can't find anything in regards to this.
AnswerHi Valarie,
Sheltie pups under foot are not uncommon at that age. He will eventually learn to move out of the way.
If he is backing into you he is just trying to get you to play with him. I think it is a submissive thing and he recognizes you as his superior. I remember that Tucker used to do that with Possum pretty regularly when they played.
Suggestion: schedule regular playtime with him. Reward him when he is good during playtime. If you are focused on housework or some similar task have him lay somewhere or crate him to avoid the risk of being tripped. Reward him when he is patient and good by playing with him after you do your work.
As for the pet store: give your pup a good home and make sure you tell your friends to not buy from puppy mill supporters. Never from pet stores and never from the local parking lot out of the back of a van/truck.
'sneezes
Dave
