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8 month old bitch and 8 year dog - border collies
We have had the male dog for several years now, a big softie most of
the time and usually well behaved when out - except if he takes a dislike to another dog, which is about 50/50. Then he tries to go in to attack. Now we also have his little step sister as from Christmas, 8 months old and 1/3 his size. They had never met before she arrived at Christmas, so we weren't sure how they would get on, but get on they do great. The pair of them play fight happily for hours and chase each other around the garden. She is hyperactive, she is always either fast asleep, or running around the house like a lunatic when awake. Out on a lead, he is great - he just ambles along at your speed never pulling. She constantly pulls and in different directions and if she wants desperately to go in a different direction, she reverses to try to get her collar off. If we meet another dog while out with both of them, they both now try to attack, mostly triggered by her reaction. She is very brave with big brother to help her. Both are absolutely fine when their mother or siblings visit and with dogs they know. How do I stop this behaviour please? -- Regards, Harry (M1BYT) (L) http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk |
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8 month old bitch and 8 year dog - border collies
Harry Bloomfield wrote:
We have had the male dog for several years now, a big softie most of the time and usually well behaved when out - except if he takes a dislike to another dog, which is about 50/50. Then he tries to go in to attack. Now we also have his little step sister as from Christmas, 8 months old and 1/3 his size. They had never met before she arrived at Christmas, so we weren't sure how they would get on, but get on they do great. The pair of them play fight happily for hours and chase each other around the garden. She is hyperactive, she is always either fast asleep, or running around the house like a lunatic when awake. Out on a lead, he is great - he just ambles along at your speed never pulling. She constantly pulls and in different directions and if she wants desperately to go in a different direction, she reverses to try to get her collar off. If we meet another dog while out with both of them, they both now try to attack, mostly triggered by her reaction. She is very brave with big brother to help her. Both are absolutely fine when their mother or siblings visit and with dogs they know. How do I stop this behaviour please? Her behavior sounds a little odd for a young adolescent. Most dog go through a brief period of testing dominance at seven to eight months as they enter adolescence, get corrected by other dogs and go back to being submissive until they start the transition to adulthood: 1.25-1.5 years. You may just have her at the transition and things will settle down again for a while, but she might be a dog that remains aggressive through adolescence. You might check if she is resource guarding you, and not being genrally agressive. If she is aggessive there are no guarantees. Distraction helps. Border collies tend to love training. So get her into training and give her a job to do. As another dog approaches work on traing. Have them sit, look at you, down, shake, high five, etc. Be liberal with the awards if they remain focussed on you and ignore the other dogs. Heel going away from the approaching dog(s). Heel, where there is room, going around the other dogs with a wide berth. Did you try her in a dog park while she was younger? Four to seven months was a great age for socialization and learning how to judge reactions to other dogs. Usually 8-14 months is also good, and might still be good for socialization, but given her behavior I would be very careful. I would only go without your older dog. It is difficult to pay attention to two dogs at once, and older dogs generally are not happy at pdog parks, at least until they get so old that dominat behavior receeds again. Large parks where the dogs can easily choose the degree of interaction are best, but rare. I only know of one in my state. If all you have is small (almost invariably fenced) parks, I would walk her along the exterior fence to judge her reaction to the other dogs, and only take her in if she is less aggressive without him. |
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