Lead training and feeding

Question
My husband and I are in our 70s, and have been given a Border Collie puppy by our son-in-law.
We lost our 13 year old Belgian Shepherd 12 months ago and had decided not to have another dog at this time in our lives, but the gift of the puppy was well intentioned.

We have had her from 7 weeks of age, she is now 5 months.  She is extremely active, and we spend a lot of time with her in our garden.

We have taken her to a one-on-one training class, (3 weeks ago) and have been following through with what we have been shown.  I walk her about 54 km each morning, take her to the beach.  She is so easily distracted by everything and tends to pull and tries to sniff the ground constantly.  I had her on a choke chain, but was very concerned that the constant pulling back was going to damage her neck.  We have since bought a Halti and she is much better on this but fights it on our walks trying to get it off.  I suppose that this will pass.

She still wants to chase everything that moves, cars, cycles, other walkers, birds, leaves.  I make her sit everytime a car passes (quiet area, not many) or a child is on a cycle.  When we talk to other walkers she jumps up on them (we are trying to stop her, she takes notice at home but goes off the scale when out)

Have you any suggestions for us?

The other part of my query is the amount of food to give her.  I have been checking articles on the web but haven't found anything specific.

We feed her twice a day, I make a stew from Roo meat, potato, sweet potato, carrot, pumpkin, zucchini, rice or pasta.  My husband feeds her about a cup of this and equal quantity of commercial dried food, supermarket standard.  She also has a bone each day.  Do you think this is balanced and enough food for a young active pup?

Charlotte, I look forward to any advice you might give.  

Answer
Hi Shirley;
Sounds like you have a very normal Border Collie. they love to play, and get a bit excited. the jumping up can be toned dopwn a lot, and they can be easily trained not to do that.
Border Collies are one of the easiest trained breeds.
She is still a puppy, so be patient mom. she is just so full of puppy energy.
Praise lavishly when you tell her 'down" and she gets down.
All dogs love praise, but some breeds more so.
I have a little Sheltie, and he really soaks up praise.
It sounds like you give the dog plenty of exercise, even for e BC. They require a little more activity than a lot of breeds.
Everything sounds like you are doing everything right, except some of the feeding.
I don't give bones !
ALL bones, except knuckle bones can be bitten and splintered, and are not safe for dogs.
They can bite off a splinter, and it can really cut them up on it's way through their digestive tract.
Steak bones are tempting, but they are just as dangerous as chicken and fish bones.
Contrary to popular belief, dogs do NOT require raw meat, any more than humans do,
Dogs DO NOT eat bones in the wild.
Wolves and other canines crack the bones and get the marrow out. That is why broken bones from animals are found in the wild areas.
They don't eat the bone, they just break it and fish out the marrow.
For shewing exercises, I give mine a Nyla bone. It is a hard rubber that cannot be bitten off in chunks to swallow and choke or strangle the dog, or block up their bowels.
You can also put cheese or peanut butter in them for an additioal healthy and tasty treat
Unless you just want to prepare food for the dog, a good brand of dry kibble dog food is enough.
The rice is good though. the pasta may be a little fattening for older dogs.
The dry kibble helps to keep their teeth clean and remove tartr buildup. keeping the teeth clean is as important as it is for humans. Dogs just don't get as much of a plaque buildup as humans do, because we have more germs in our mouths that they do.
At 5 months. I would still be feeding at least 3 times a day, until she is 1 year old, then twice a day.
I feed 4 times a day until they are sox months old, splitting the daily requirement four ways to make sure they get the required amount of nourishment, without filling them up too much at one time, and too long between feedings.
I would go with one of the better brands of dog food. Iams, Science Diet, Walthams, or Natural choice, and feed the puppy formula.
It takes a bit of reading up to make sure the so-called human food is a balanced diet.
What is nutritionally correct for a human is not correct for other animals.
You would not feed a cat and a dog the same diet.
Dog food has ash in it, and ash can block a cat's bowels up and even kill them.
Don't put onions, or any of the cabbage family in the stew.
Of course you know to not let her have chocolate.
however, carob is not chocolate, but tastes the same. It does not have the chemical that chocolate has that can be deadly to a dog. and white chocolate is legal. LOl
Of course it is not chocolate at all.
Dogs love the flavor of chocolate, so I get mine dog cookies at the pet store. I also make cookies for them, cutting the sugar amount in half.
Mine love peanut butter cookies and oatmeal cookies. I more often use honey or molasses to sweeten them.
There is a brand called "Some to Share", and they are for you and your dog to share.LOl. They are actually quite tasty.
There is a chocolate chip one, but of course they do not have real chocolate in them.
I am going to refer you to a good website. There is good information about feeding and a lot of other things. They can help you check your dog;s physical condition( their physical age). just a really good site.
Go to

http://www.dogage.com/

That site should help you a lt, and if you have questions you feel I can help with, please feel free to write me anytime.
Charlotte