I have a Border Collie who's becoming rather aggressive. What can I do to stop this?

Question

Hello! I currently have a 3 year old purebred Border Collie. She's passed obedience at 5 months, excelled at Agility level 1, and when she was a puppy she was constantly taken to a dog park. She gets a long with a few dogs that she's known a long time..but if she sees any others..she freaks right out. I haven't found out yet..thank god..but I'm pretty sure she'd attack them if given the chance. Lately, she'll even jump up to snap at people walking by me. I know she's protective..but this is too much. I've been being really firm with her when she barks at other dogs, and I keep her on a close leash. I punish her for snapping at people, but it doesn't seem to be stopping her. She's settled a bit more in the car when she sees other dogs now..but I'm petrified that one day she'll attack something, and have to be put down. She's fine with everything else..she even plays with the cats I have. But how can I stop her aggressive behavior?

I've smacked her lightly on the nose when she does it..she knows it's wrong. She's extremely intelligent..after she's done it..she looks back at me and looks guilty even before she's punished. But she doesn't seem to be changing her habits any time soon..

Her mom & dad are unfortunately on the other side of the country now..but I did meet them before I purchased her. They're full time working dogs on a farm..with some of the highest credentials. and unfortunately, I had to take her out of agility when she got snappy with other dogs. Even there, she'd sit at my side and refuse to play with the other dogs until I told her to. She's a huuge suck, and is very affectionate. Which makes it hard to understand why she's so aggressive now.

It's not really a smack per se on the nose, I take a finger and tap it on her nose. Her trainer suggested a smack under the chin when she's doing something wrong. And her trainer dealt with rottweillers, german sherpards..and other highly aggressive police dogs. But yet..my little border collie is STILL aggressive. =\

Answer 1

Punishing aggression makes aggression worse. Pulling her up tightly when she aggresses will cause her to be even more on edge and to associate that sensation of pulling with the other dogs she sees.

Punishing the growl takes away any ability she has of warning other dogs out of her space. She will learn to go straight to biting.

There are some excellent books on aggression:
"Aggression in Dogs: Practical Management, Prevention & Behavior Modification" by Brenda Aloff. (she has specialized in Aggressive behavior and is very well known)
"Feisty Fido: Help for the Leash Aggressive Dog" by Dr. Patricia McConnell (devoted her life to studying and helping dogs)

Answer 2

I once had an elderly lady for a friend. She had a wonderful little dog. A mix of some sort. She had the dog trained well and it behaved very well. Learn here https://tr.im/OlhCJ

She kept an uncovered candy dish on her coffee table with candy in it. The dog was forbidden to eat the candy. When she was in the room observing the dog he did not even appear to notice the candy. One day while she was in her dinning room she happened to look in a mirror and could see her dog in the living room. He did not know he was being watched. For several minutes he was sitting in front of the candy bowl staring at the candy. Finally he reached in and took one. He placed it on the table and stared at it, he woofed at it. He stared some more, licked his chops and PUT IT BACK in the bowl and walked away. Did he want the candy, oh yeah. Did he eat it? Nope. They can be trained that well but most, I'll admit, are not trained that well. When I was a young boy, maybe 5 years old. We had a german shepherd. He was very well trained also. My mom could leave food unattended on the table, no problem. She would open the oven door and set a pan roast beef or roast chicken on the door to cool. No problem. He would not touch it, watched or not. But butter? Whole other story. You leave a stick of butter anywhere he could reach and it was gone. He was a large shepherd so there were not many places he could not reach. Really, I think the number of dogs trained to the point they will leave food alone when not being supervised is very small indeed.
.
Now if we are talking obedience training, not food grubbing, that is a different story. Way back when I was first learning obedience training one of the final exercises was to put our dogs in a down/stay and not only leave the room but leave the building for 15 minutes. The only person that stayed was our trainer, not the owners. Most of the dogs in my class did not break their stay, which would be an automatic fail. I'm happy to report my dog was one of the ones that passed.

Answer 3

Border Collies are great dogs if you have the energy level to keep up with and exercise them.

That said, you cannot undo hundreds of years of breeding, and your dog was bred to herd. They accomplish this by being agile and nipping quickly at that which they feel needs to be herded or controlled. In the past, this has typically included livestock which is much larger than the dog, so never think you have the upperhand on any herding dog because they are not as big as you.

You probably need to look at some alternative methods. We get a lot of border collies at our dog park ,and if they are the least bit territorial or aggresive they are only permitted in a seperate area of the park until they get further obedience training or an e-collar. You might consider those options, which is always safer for you and your dog than hitting, tapping or otherwise improperly correcting the behavior.

Answer 4

This sounds like my dog!
My BC Is 2 and a half and hates other dogs and is very protective over my she has never snapped but when the kids come up for a cuddle shes rite there trying to get in for acuddle too.
what i do when we are out walking is take her fav squeeky ball and i make her sit and once the other dog has passed and she hasnt bothered about it then i will throw it and have fun but if she bares her teeth or even focus on the other dog then she gets no play,
Im not an expert but i think smacking her nose mite make her hand shy and when strangers go to pet her she mite think shes
getting a smack instead of a pat,
but good luck and you know yourself shes a border collie she will get over it cos we have the best breed in the world!!

Answer 5

You have a beautiful dog. I have had several and they are wonderful farm dogs and lousy city dogs they were bred to work constantly. Your possibilities are Find a way to work this dog . He will herd ducks perhaps take him to a park that has geese or a golf course that has lots of water,if they have much water they would welcome you to bring your dog to keep the geese in the ponds as they crap on the course.She will loose the aggressiveness as she uses her talents of herding . I hope things work out cause heartbreak is in store if you have to get rid of her and that may be best if you don't have the time. Another thought ... perhaps a golf course that has a goose problem would be glad to day sit the dog for that very purpose. If the dog can't be busied you should let her go to someones livestock farm and choose a Sheltie who will be more content with your lifestyle.

Answer 6

Smacking your dog in the nose for aggression is wrong. She is incapable of knowing her aggression is wrong, but she is capable of learning to give you appeasing body language because she knows you've smacked her on the nose, one of the most sensitive parts of her body.

STOP SMACKING HER IMMEDIATELY, unless you want to be sure she stays aggressive.

Take her to an applied Behaviorist who can watch and and identify what the triggers are and help modify her reactions so she will stop aggressing.

Answer 7

some border collies are single dog BCs they dotn like other dogs in ther *bubble* the best way to stop the agression around other dogs or People is get her around LOTS of people and dogs she has to get over her Fear of being crowded i have a working BC named cowboy who didnt like anyone near him i started taking him once a week to a lady who held Work out sessons at her ranch forproblem BCs and for people new to handling BCs make her SIT and watch people and dogs walk by if she growls pull back on her coller gently and tell her Quite... us the word *quite* put a littlle bit of a "growl" behind it, If you live anywere around the *country* find some one who is a BC trial competor/trainer and see if they have any classes at there ranch take her out and herd with her also if you aroud other BC people who understand BCs they can help you to get her over her agression...the best thing for her is to get some people who know about BCs to "get in her face" thats what The lady i took cowboy to did and thats what i do to other BCs who are people dog agressive. BCs by natiure a possive creatures she dosnt want anyone or anythign Near her and more then anything Near you who is its Pack leader.. good luck with her

Answer 8

I do lots of field work and have something that just might help.
It is primarilly used to stop agressive dogs from attacking and biting me. It is called a dog repeller. It emits a high pitch tone that a human can barely hear, but a dog hears it very well. It has stopped at least 6 dogs from biting me. It states it can also be used for training, by pressing the button whenever the dog is doing something it shouldn't be doing. Do a google search for dog repeller, I'm sure you will find them, they range from $12 to $49 bucks, I bought the $12 one and it works great. Good luck!!

Answer 9

it is probably her way of being dominant and if it progress's further it can be she will snap and you and your family, some ways i have heard to reassert control over a dog like that is to (if they are on open feeding) take them off and give them food personally and make sure they see where the food is coming from you control their food you control them in a sense and also feed them AFTER you eat, i like to compare it to lions the dominant ones eat first. the thing with open feed is the dog doesnt relize you control the food to them the food comes from the floor...its always there...

another way is to be very firm with the dog when they do somthing you dont like...when i a dog is flipped onto their back and held there that is the same as you telling the dog that you are in charge it may help in this case.... also i would reccomend finding a trainer in your area and make sure they show you some sort of credentials....

another guy to look up is Dr. Stanely Corin he is a behavorist from the university of british columbia he is very good, he has a show called "good dog" you may be able to find some info from him online here

Answer 10

Big No to the 'smacking', or 'lightly tapping', or whatever you want to call it. Punishment for aggressive behavior does not work. Please find a behaviorist and work on your problem positively.

http://www.iaabc.org/