beezneez

Hey Vickie, this has been super duper help. You are spot on with a lot of things. I think starting off fresh with the recall is a great idea. i didnt think of it. because i thought that what she knows is just her. and she is just being cheeky. But i think that would be a good idea. What kinds of words are best for recall. ATM i use come. I have quite a big front yard and a park which is enclosed (not a dog park) that i have been using to train her. she was doing really well at the beginning with her fetch and coming back. But lately she's been deciding that it is more fun to run off with the ball instead. 2. i had a read of NILIF and that is rather interesting. Which would also help with her recall and order in the pack. ATM she knows many tricks (sit, stay, down, shake, high 5, turn around, sit pretty, fetch) etc. But sometimes she decides not to listen when told. She also doesnt wait when i open doors or go in the car or out of the car. she just rushes in and out. Which leads me to think that im not much of a pack leader. not enough anyway. 3.Chasing cars, that is a very bad habit of hers. Which i am slowly starting to get under control. i was trying to use her tricks everytime i car came past with treats to distract her. But i live on a main road. which means it would take me half an hour to walk 50m. Not practical. I Was having huge problems, until a friend recommended the gentle choker collar. not like a choker. only a part of the collar is. and by positioning the collar under her neck and at the top behind her ears very gently it is very sensitive for them, and by having the collar there she doesn't pull. and everytime she tried to chase a car i do that. And it has really helped with the problem. I can now walk down the street with more ease. (although she still does try and chase them every now and again) 4. She gets along well with my other dog (staffy x) and we used to walk them together. But he is my brothers dog and he isnt well trained. he pulls really bad and stops all the time and sometimes gets angry and doesnt listen and she started to copy him. So i stopped walking them together. My friends don't really have dogs (who are friendly) that i can go walking with unfourtunately. I did go down the beach with my friends dog a couple times. whom layla adores. and this was a huge distraction and she was actually able to walk down the beach at hillarys with 50+ dogs running around without even noticing them!! 5. I dont mind if she doesn't play with other dogs, i just want her to focus on me and if strange dogs are around she can come to me and play with me rather than growl and try to bite them everytime. 6.Yeah i see where you are coming from. I probably cause most of the problems to esculate rather than help. I need to train myself just as much as her. I want to be able to do agility and obedience training with her when she is a bit older. To be able to do this i need her to have a huge amount of attention on me and not want to run off and be at other dogs throats rather enjoy her time and focus on the commands im giving. Thank you so much for all this help, it has really really helped me!!! Beezneez, I would caution you that if you want to work on your dog's behaviour around other dogs, you'll find it difficult to achieve this outcome in an offlead dog park because other dog owners are unlikely to control their dogs. Your girl may be confronted by strange dogs whose behaviour she won't enjoy and this may escalate the responses you don't want. Stick with the dog club, make some friends with dogs your girl likes and let her socialise with them. As you've got a BC, have a good think about doing obedience or agility. Both build your dog's relationship with you and both will give your dog a job which she needs. Read above :)

I wasn't overwhelmed or stressed at all about it? There were much worse dogs there when i was there, she wasn't too bad back then. It just made her much more nervous and stand offish to other dogs. I kept going til the end but i was then told that she had no hope in being friends with any dogs. So i never went back. I then went to Carine Dog Club at Carine Open Space and they put in a lot more effort. They really tried a lot to help Layla. And i can honestly say it has helped her. First week there she couldnt be around any other dogs without growling at tthem. I can now safely say i can go down there and she will want to say hi n ploay with some dogs. Some dogs she very obviously doesnt like and doesnt want to be around. I'd be more than happy with that. I dont want to force her to be around dogs and play with them if she doesnt want to. I understand that dogs are very similar in that they ike some dogs and not others. I just want to be able to go to a park and if she doesnt want to be around other dogs or away from another for her to come back to me. Or focus on something else. Her recall isn't very good, so i rarely take her off lead. She gets distracted easily and is very cheeky, she will look at me and play games trying to get away. Which drives me mental!!!!

I just want to be able to go down to the beach or park and let her have a run around and not have to worry about her growling and snapping at other dogs. I dont want her to love every other dog. Because i know they aren't going to. She is 6 Months old and from a private breeder So your pup was put in a confined space with an over the top pup and couldn't get away. Other than aggression, what options did she have to get the unwanted behaviour to stop?? The trainer didn't do right by your pup IMO. What do you describe as a "friendly" dog. One who rushes up to yours with its tail madly wagging and who wants to be sniff yours all over? Are they bigger than your girl? You might find the article "He just wants to say hi" at this link useful. Some dogs lack social confidence. Some dogs have quite large personal spaces and Border Collies often seem to be like that. They simply aren't that interested in being friends with every dog they meet. I would suggest you listen to what your pup is trying to tell you and give her space from other dogs. No amount of socialisation will convince some dogs to be friendly with strangers. On the other hand, it can train them to react more and more strongly to get their message across about keeping other dogs away. Yes she was put in a confined space when she was already a very nervous dog, and i wouldnt recommend rspca ever. I just want to be able to take her to the park and her have a fun time and not be stressed and nipping other dogs. Totally agree with this. Borders often don't like other breeds and do not tolerate any dog staring at them. Other breeds don't understand that to a Border, staring is is a threat. They are very particular about who they play with and some do not like to interact with strange dogs at all, preferring their owners to other dogs. I find a lot of the bitches tend to hate strange dogs getting in their face. This is a breed bred to be VERY attached to it's owner so ignoring other dogs is pretty normal when they are with their owner and they don't take kindly to other dogs butting into their personal space. Stop forcing this dog to interact with others and instead concentrate on getting her to be with you and ignore the other dogs. Border Collies are often worked several at a time on sheep and they would be pretty useless if they wanted to play together instead of working. I am not forcing my dog to play with other dogs, we usually mind our own business on walks and stuff, but she still growls at dogs if they come past us. She gets along with all BC, she has never had a problem with any BC. She usually loves them and just wants to play with them all the time!! bigger breeds she usually submits to instantly and lays down. and some smaller breeds she isnt too keen on as she tries to dominate them.

So I've got a Border Collie Puppy. I've had her since she was 8 weeks old and she has been enrolled in training since i got her. We started her training at RSPCA and she was going really well for the first few weeks. When it came to play time. The lady put her in a cage with a smaller breed puppy which was overly excited and she started to show some agression. She started to growl at this dog and show her teeth and her fur stuck up. Since then she started to do it more often with other dogs. We pulled her out of RSPCA training as it was too overwhelming for her. And we have changed her to a local dog club training. (Carine) Since we put her into this trainig she has done really well with learning how to greet other dogs and not just straight out growl and show teeth. She started to progress really well. I take her to the park or beach or for a walk nearly every day. Always on lead obviously. I try and keep her around other dogs and let her say hi to other dogs (after talking to the owners of other dogs). Lately she will be completely fine and happy with some dogs. And other dogs who happy and friendly she will just snap and growl and try n nip them. She is a very nervous dog, when meeting all new dogs and people. But she loves all other people. She lives at home with a American Staffy (5 yo) who she adores and loves so much and she has had no problems with him at all. I'm not too sure where to go from here. How can i help her become more confident? How can i help her be less stressed around other dogs? I want her to think that dogs are a good thing!!! Thanks