My Dog Just Had A Go At Me. :(

[janisw]

hi all, Im a little emotional at the moment. My old BC just had a go at me not once but 3 times tonight. I have had this boy since he was 5 weeks old. he is now 11 yrs old. I scared him when he was asleep tonight & I understand he was startled so i was talking to him & was telling him to lay down he growled at me & showed his teeth, I thought okay if you want to play that you can go outside to your owm bed & when i told him that he did it again, So i got up & went to grab his collar as i would do any other time & he had a third go at me. he knew it was me at this time & wasnt still asleep.

He didnt bite me but i know he very well could have, & Im a little upset & shocked he would do this. My eldest daughter was standing nearby watching this unfold & she was shocked. I have 2 young children who could have easily done the same thing to him that i did & startled him or accidently sat on him & I dont think i trust him not to bite.

So what now. He is outside in his bed and I have been out to talk to him to make sure we are okay, but im nervous now. He has never in his life shown any agression toward me or any family member. I knwo he is old & grumpy but now im worried. I have organised a vet check up to make sure he is okay, glad i did now.

I always said i would have my dog put down if they showed any sign of agression and that may sound harsh to some but his father had a accident & he showed no sign of agression untill one day he attacked a child he knew. I think he had suffered some damage in the brain area after his accident but still no need to bite a child or anyone. I dont want that to happen again.

[janisw]

Thanks, I know i always said i would PTS but i dont think i can do it. I have a date for vet so will tell them about this when i get there. I do hope that it is nothing and i will warn my kids now about being around him just to be safe.

[RuralPug]

I agree 100% with what Snook has said.

[Aidan3]

Definitely a vet check, a thorough vet check.

[Dogsfevr]

Vet check good BUT when you scared him you should have just left him alone & to regain his barrings.

After the 2/3 time i would say he was so overwhelmed he was just protecting himself .

I wouldn't see what he did as an issue unless there has been other signs.'

If that was a human startled /scared you would get a similar reaction if not worse

You need to understand he wasn't playing a game .

[Sheridan]

As everyone knows, I, too, have an old grump. What I have learned is that he has to do things in his own time and never to tell him off when he's having a grumpy moment. I don't startle him, I don't wake him up if he's having a sleep. When he has a grump, I tell him no one will talk to him if he's going to be silly and then I ignore him. He goes into something of a funk and comes out of it a little while later.

[Tazar]

I too agree with Snook, don't panic just yet, vet check and kids away or closely supervised. Something is amiss.

Good Luck

[Salukifan]

You must be shocked. Not what you expect from a dog you've had for so long.

But he's old, he may be in pain, he warned you he wasn't happy and you pushed it.

If he'd meant business, you'd be at the doctors now. He could have bitten you and he didn't.

Give him the benefit of the doubt and head off to the vet. Pain could be a reason for this response and old dogs can feel quite a bit of it.

[janisw]

Thanks everyone. I didnt tell him off straight after i scared him, just said for him to lay down. I didnt move nor go near him any more than i was. When he told me off the second time I simply sat there & said outside which he would usually just go but he didnt so i got up. this was over a space of time. i didnt touch him or use a very stern voice as i dont have to with this boy, he is very well trained & I only have to look at him or point & he knows what to do usually .

I agree if he was startled I understand him not knowing what was going on. I had already set up the vet check last week so I will mentiont his along with some other things i noticed about his health and hopefuly we can find something if not I will just have to warn the kdis about his old age & grumpy moments. Scared the crap out of me though .

[Salukifan]

It would have scared the crap out of me too.

[dancinbcs]

11 is not really old for a Border Collie but something is amiss here. I would get the vet check asap and try to think what other symptoms or other odd behaviours he might have exhibited in recent months. Sometimes the signs that something is wrong, are very subtle. Pain anywhere could be one cause but he is in the danger age for cancers so a brain tumour is another possibility. Any unusual reaction to noise, difficulty judging distance or a general change in temperament even to more affectionate, can all be signs of neuro problems.

Be very careful with this dog until you have him thoroughly health checked and keep the kids away from him. You may just have startled him if he is becoming hard of hearing but it could be something much more serious. I have been badly bitten by a dog with brain damage from meningitis and have had another with cancer that we believe also had a brain tumour and it was only in hindsight with both of them, that I worked out that there were very slight signs of a possible neuro problem over several months.

[persephone]

Hearing loss can make dogs do odd things as well ...

Hopefully your vet is sympathetic, thorough ,and has everyone's welfare at heart .

[Staff'n'Toller]

Pain is the number one reason for sudden onset aggression or sight issues, so a very thorough check is warranted. If the Vet wants to run bloods- go with that suggestion too.

Checking the ears, eyes and mouth for broken teeth and dental disease is important but my money would be on osteoarthritis and there's plenty you can do for that these days.

Don't make any rash decisions, it sounds like you are doing the right thing by taking him for a health check. :)

[sekp79]

That sounds terrible. I hope things work out okay.

I just read about something terrible in the Thailand news:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/574589-black-labrador-bites-newborn-baby-to-death-in-bangkok/

[dancinbcs]

That sounds terrible. I hope things work out okay.

I just read about something terrible in the Thailand news:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/574589-black-labrador-bites-newborn-baby-to-death-in-bangkok/

That is a completely different situation. The one in Thailand was idiot owners leaving a newborn baby unattended near a "guard dog". Dogs do not see new babies as people so extreme care is needed with introductions and constant supervision. Clearly this didn't happen here and both the baby and dog paid with their lives.

The OPs dog is a treasured family pet who knows the family members but clearly has some issue worrying him and making him defensive.

[sandgrubber]

The article I recently posted in "Studies About Dogs" may be of interest. A group at U. of Barcelona followed a dozen cases of pain-related aggression reported to vets. HD was the #1 cause. The article is one of those technical ones you have to pay for, but has been widely discussed and summarized online. Google "dog pain aggression Barcelona" to find various summaries/reports. The paper went into behaviours associated with pain and factors (eg. hunger) that may make the aggression worse.

Edited August 26, 2012 by sandgrubber

[oakway]

Thanks, I know i always said i would PTS but i dont think i can do it. I have a date for vet so will tell them about this when i get there. I do hope that it is nothing and i will warn my kids now about being around him just to be safe.

Noooooooo, you isolate the dog from the children till you have a satisfactory answer to this problem.

I don't want to read, BC attacks child in owners back yard. :)

[Clyde]

he growled at me & showed his teeth, I thought okay if you want to play that you can go outside to your owm bed & when i told him that he did it again, So i got up & went to grab his collar as i would do any other time & he had a third go at me. he knew it was me at this time & wasnt still asleep.

This is a nightly ritual here with my old girl at last wee's for the night. I've learned to very gently tap her awake from an angle where she cant get me, never grab the collar. She's old, cranky, quick to bite and no drugs seem to give her full relief. She bites if I try to help her up in anyway so I have to just stand over her and plead with her to get up. She gets it after about 5 minutes :laugh:

See how you go with the vet check and explain to your kids not to go near him when he's sleeping (hopefully they are old enough to understand). If not, try a crate where he can snooze in peace and the kids aren't at risk.

I wouldn't leave the kids alone with him at all anymore now. Just the way they can lean on a dog or startle them with a hug can be too much for a senior citizen.

[Sheridan]

There is a reason for the adage 'Let sleeping dogs lie'.

[**Super_Dogs**]

The article I recently posted in "Studies About Dogs" may be of interest. A group at U. of Barcelona followed a dozen cases of pain-related aggression reported to vets. HD was the #1 cause. The article is one of those technical ones you have to pay for, but has been widely discussed and summarized online. Google "dog pain aggression Barcelona" to find various summaries/reports. The paper went into behaviours associated with pain and factors (eg. hunger) that may make the aggression worse.

Very interesting.

My old girl gets very cranky when I make her move and she will often growl, for example at night when she is comfy and needs to go out before bed. When she does move she is very stiff in her back legs - which is why she does not want to move! I do not touch or push her, this makes her more cranky, I just have to be patient.