Border Collie And Baby

[Alouk]

Hi everyone,

I have a 3 and a half year old border collie called Stella who has always loved children. If you had a group of 100 people and one child she would find the child in a second and want to lick them all over! She's been fine with them patting her, the only time I ever saw her become stressed was when a young girl- maybe 5 yrs old-kept chasing her (I put a stop to it don't worry!)- her reaction was to hide.

I also have an 8 month old baby boy. She was very shy when he arrived home in April and has always been more stand-offish with him than any child- it is strange but I have thought it is probably because she hasn't been sure about the hierarchy with him around?

Now he is getting curious and he wants to pat her if she is close (he isn't mobile yet but is getting there) but she does not want him to touch her. Today Stella put herself in between me and the baby to have a snuggle with me- he reached out and touched her side/back and she whipped around and snapped/growled! (no contact with him) Not really what I had hoped for in their relationship! I growled at her (how I do when I communicate something is not good to her) and she dropped to the ground in submission. She would look at me but kept her eyes away from the baby and kept her body turned away.

I'm just wondering about what my best approach is from now on.... do I keep reacting in this way (baby can't really tell her off!) or do I do some reward training (but my baby will put the treats in his mouth rather than to her so...:) ) or?? I am not pressuring Stella at all to spend time with him or to be close to him. She has her own beds and kennel that I keep as her spaces and don't sit on them or anything. I don't leave them alone together.

Your opinions are appreciated!

Thank you!!

[Alouk]

I should add that she cares for him! we were walking in the bush one day when my mum came and collected him in the car so Stella and I could go for a fast run and she turned the other way and followed the car instead! It took a long time to convince her it was ok for us to go the other way!

[Mystiqview]

Personally, I would get get a behaviourist out to watch the interaction. All we can do is guess here on a forum. We cannot see what is happening and read the body language of everyone involved.