Signs of aggresion, advice requested.

[shrek]

Hi,

I could do with some advice on resolving an aggression issue that seems to be developing in my dog, I've searched the other posts on the subjects but not quite answered all my questions!

The Dog;
I've got a Border Collie, 2 1/2 years old, male who has had the chop.

Bit of History;
We've had him since a pup at 8 weeks, we took him to puppy classes early on, covered the basics and things seem to go well. We met his parents who seemed fine and we where reassured they where house dogs, not working ones.

The only reason we didn't move on to advance classes is the instrutor moved on and other local classes became hard to find.

He has had a few run ins during his time, he has a long standing fear of black labrodors after a run in when he was a pup. Then in the space of a few days last year he was set upon by a couple of greyhounds and a staffy type dog in a seperate incident.

He gets at least three good walks aday, including ball games, lead walks etc. We work but during the day we have a lady walks him for at least an hour.

When out with me if he's off the lead he tends to be fine, he comes back when called regardless of other dogs, there have been random incidents if a dog has over stepped the mark in his comfort "zone", ie shown aggresive behaviour first, or tried to pinch a toy etc.

There have been instances he has shown his teeth when on the lead with black labs or dogs that have been openly aggresive to him as we've approached. Normally he's keen to just get past and on with his business, more or less keeping himself to himself.

He's great with people, beyond a bark when someone knocks on the door there are no signs of aggression here.

When we go away he stays with a friend who takes dogs in to her home, meaning he socialises here and does so with no problem. He also socialises find with my mums King Charles Spaniel and my in-laws Nofolk Terrior.

We also take him to dog friendly pubs and on many walks where we encounter dogs and in the main he seems fine.

The Problem;

We have recently changed the lady who walks him and have had two instances in a couple of days where he has been overly aggresive with other dogs. The lady currently walking him is very experienced and whilst we don't know if there where other problems when with his previous walkers, we asked and they always say he's fine, but we can't say for sure. So it may have been a problem for a whole but no-one has had the honesty to tell us.

I'm not really sure how to proceed, to rectify the problem or at least prevent it from escalating. We have booked in to see a local "expert" but they can only see us a week on Saturday so we're keen to help avoid any further instances in the mean time.

Any advice greatfully received, appologies for the long post, just wanted to get plenty of information in.

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help.

[trainingrixie]

hmmmmm.....the first thing I would do is call the former walker lady and ask her again if there was issues. Maybe if she knows you are aware of the problem she will be more willing to tell you. She might have been afraid to tell you previously because she didn't want you to think she didn't like your dog. Know what I mean?

But anyway, i'm not an expert so that's as far as I'll go w/ advice...there are many other people here who know MUCH better than myself what to do in your situation. I'm sure you will get lots of advice to help you and your four-legged friend.

p.s. I love herding breed, have a bc mix myself...do you have a pic??

[Spiritus]

http://www.flyingdogpress.com

This is the link to Suzanne Clothier's site. She is an expert on aggression. Click the Articles link and it will bring you to a page of articles she has written, several of them are regarding aggression issues.

Leash aggression can be very common. Dogs that are perfectly fine around other dogs off-leash can become down right aggressive on-leash. She talks about leash aggression in some of her articles.

[StephanieandTeddy]

When you have the dog-walker come by..is she walking your dog alone or in a group?

It sounds as though you have a generally nice dog who is a little bit fearful.

I'm not a dog behaviourist by any means, but I can tell you what I've learned over the years (being a professional dog-walker myself)

There are many times when I take on a client and I'm told that they are "afraid of labs" (or Shepherds, or whatever...) Instead of avoiding those breeds, I expose the new dog to good old, bombproof dogs of that breed...They meet on-leash...have an introduction...and then walk together (on-leash)....At first there is some nervousness...but I stress forward motion...we keep on the move...

After a week or two, the dog that was previously afraid has built up confidence.

Now, if your walker is already walking him in a group, it could be too much too soon for him if he's being introduced to a gaggle of new dogs! He'll need to build trust with this new "pack"...Perhaps she could take him with a smaller group of dogs that he gets on with.

I think he needs to be put into situations where he doesn't become fearful.(like too many dogs at once...or being approached by off-leash dogs) It could be that he'll always have a bit of a streak in him and that's just something your dog-walker will have to manage.

Again...I'm just mentioning what works for me...Good luck!

[shrek]

Hi,

Thanks for the replys really sorry for the slow response I've been off line for what seems like an age thanks to computer issues!

I've had a good read up on the recommended reading and really liked the writing style and felt I learned quite a lot so thanks for those.

We ended up getting a local trainer to come and give us a one on one lesson. Upshot is I'm now walking the streets armed with a plastic drinks bottle with a few stones in.

When shaken with an associated noise it has great affect, the dog refocuses on me and forgets about everything else. The theory is in a couple more weeks if used correctly we can lose the bottle and just use the associated vocal command.

Working really well at the moment.

[Cassiepeia]

Glad to hear things are looking up. It's always great when a solution is found and improvement is made.

Cass.

[Novel]

Excellent. sounds like the refocusing is what was needed! Look forward to hearing about things continuing to improve.

[shrek]

Originally Posted by Cassiepeia

Glad to hear things are looking up. It's always great when a solution is found and improvement is made.

Cass.

Thanks, as per usual I think it was the owner more than the dog that needed the training!