a few issues with shep please read?

I am having a few worrying concerns with shep. hes 8 months old but hes been acting a little odd of late. anytime he runs round the house he keeps crashing into everything. Now i have checked him out and he doesn't seem hurt in any way but i am a bit worried. hes also have bad separation anxiety as well. It did stop but now its back again. can anyone give me some tips and advice on how to deal with theses issues.

Yes... see the vet!!I know people get sick of that response, but it isn't good when a dog runs into things. There could be some neurological condition which only a vet can diagnose.

Separation Anxiety.If your dog suffers from separation anxiety don’t give him free access to every room in your house when you leave him. . If you allow him free access you are doubling his burden. As well as having separation anxiety he will think that he has to guard every room in your house. If he is restricted to one room he will not see you leave. You could also con him into thinking that you are always at home by carrying out the following procedure.Try to do this when you are at home all day, or in the evening when you are there. After your dog has had a long walk, put him in a room with his comfortable bed, this should be a room where you will leave him if you need to go out and where your dog will sleep at night. Walk out of the room and close the door. Open the door immediately and go back into his room, close the door behind you and try to ignore him. Pretend or actually do something which excludes your dog, for example if he is in the bathroom you could do a bit a cleaning for a couple of minutes. Then walk out of the room, go back again immediately and continue with the pretence. Keep doing this to ensure that your dog won’t feel isolated and eventually leave a small gap before you go into his room again. Over a period of days increase the gap before going back into his room. When you know that your dog is asleep stop going into the room, however you MUST try to go onto the room before he wakes up and starts to cry. If you carry out this procedure for a couple of days, your dog will always think that you are at the other side of the door. I do this when I get a new puppy and this PREVENTS separation anxiety.Don’t neglect his long walks and playtime in the garden whilst you are re-training him, he needs his funWhen you are leaving your dog on his own please don’t make a dramatic exit, or this will give the game away. Simply put him into his room and walk out. When you come home don’t give him a big hello, just walk into his room and let him out for a pee. You can then play with him and give him cuddles.Please don’t get a dog if it has to be left alone all day. Try to get a friend or a professional to take him out for pees and poos, if you need to leave him for any length of time...

PRA is the first thought, especially the version known as Juvenile Night Blindness. But look through the eye problems in http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/The_GSD_Source/links/Diseases_001198817153/Eye_problems_001199109668/ and then find out whether he can see you silently making hand-signals - if he can, does he see them in a bright light but not in dim light?Sight is not a dog's most important sense, but it IS very handy while the dog behaves in mad-cap race-everywhere-flat-out puppy fashion.Don't attempt to do an actual diagnosis yourself. Vets spend many years training so that they know what to look for, and what each symptom leads to and what it eliminates. Even so, vets & doctors often have to try a couple of treatments before hitting on the right one.Separation anxiety is not something my dogs have exhibited. If he is going blind, that would be a justification for him reverting to it. Think about how LONG you are away at present - THAT could be a justification for his anxiety. My youngsters are usually in security runs outside when I'm not home. In there they have plenty of room, and experience the constantly changing scents, sights & sounds of their environment. But herding dogs were selected for millennia to be VERY focussed on what their human wants, and to NEED to use their brains. [Dorothy S]s ideas could work, but if they don't you'll need to look at your lifestyle and whether you should have a dog.• To ask questions about BCs (and your question SHOULD have told us Shep's breed), join some of the YahooGroups dedicated to various aspects of living with Border Collies. Each group's Home page tells you which aspects they like to discuss, and how active they are. Unlike YA, they are set up so that you can have an ongoing discussion with follow-up questions for clarification. Most allow you to include photos.Les P, owner of GSD_Friendly: http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/GSD_Friendly"In GSDs" as of 1967

I vote for the vet too. If he is running into things that could be anything from vision issues to a number of health issues. We don't have the right to make wild guesses here. When dogs/puppies have changes in behavior like this the vet is always the best answer. Practice leaving the house with him. Grab your keys, purse, school books, whatever, and practice leaving. We raised the garage door and when the dogs started barking we popped back in and said "settle down" and when they did we praised them. Then we did it again, gathered up our stuff, said "not this time" raised the garage door and "left" and when they started barking we popped back in and told them 'settle down" and when they did we praised them. I am not sure how many times it took before leaving became "no big deal" for them. We left them toys and bones and a radio on for company, some people leave an old shirt with your scent on it. Don't forget to try search for questions, this gets asked a lot.

Separation anxiety is usually due to changed routines. Also, again your dog is effected by your life energy and when you are stressed, he too will react. There are many ways to solve the problem, but one needs to entirely understand the root of the problem and at this stage I feel I know too little about the situation.Training is of course one answer, but this takes time. Getting a 'carer' to be with the dog is another, but this could prove a financial burden. He is only a young dog and needs lots of running, exercise and ways of making him tired. A dog his age, should not be left unsupervised more than 4 hours. He still needs 2 meals a day. Is it possible to find a dog walker, to break the monotony of the day?You study holistic nutrition, therefore can find herbs and foods that enable him the nutrients required to feel good in himself. I go for porridge in the morning. Perhaps scrambled eggs with whole grain bread. Warm milk with honey? Make sure his bladder is empty before you leave. Add some valerian in his drinking water or anti-depressant drops like St. John's Wort or Kava kava. It will help him through the initial period. Once he has adjusted to the new life routine, you can change things around. Make sure to not feed him on dried food or commercial tins. Rice with fresh meat and raw veg are easier for him to digest. Keep it as holistic and alternative as you can. Also, switch on the Animal Planet or at least a radio and a place where he is warm. Anything already in place, please ignore. I am merely trying to answer your question as best as I can. I hope some of my suggestions will be useful. Don't forget a chewy bone to his size.