Hi.

I recently took my Border Collie to the mountain today for a walk. All was fine, until we met a Newfoundland dog who was off leash. Jack, who was also off leash, ran to the Newfoundland to have a good sniff. The Newfoundland was friendly and began sniffing Jack as well. Jack became fed up and began walking away but the Newfoundland continued to follow him. Jack gathered pace to get away and began giving some low warning growls for the dog to back off, but it persisted regardless. A few seconds later Jack turned around and lashed at the dog, but I was able grab him and restrain him. The owners were great, and I apologised as Jack had never done this before and was usually a lot calmer around other dogs.

We met another few dogs later on the walk, but Jack simply sniffed them and continued on his way, so I can't understand this odd reaction, especially as Jack never used to have a problem with other dogs sniffing him.

When I'd finished walking him, I took him to work (I work in a kennels). I proceeded to let all the dogs out to the toilet for a little run-around. All the dogs began sniffing Jack as they had never met him before, and Jack was happy enough to just stand there; but when I let out some of the bigger dogs Jack became a little stand-offish. One of the more boisterous pups approached Jack, and Jack let off a few low growls. The pup continued to sniff him and even began jumping on his back, then Jack lashed at him. I grabbed hold of Jack and seperated the two dogs.

The problem is I have no idea how I'm able to train this reaction out of him. Recently he has become quite nervous around other dogs, especially larger dogs; however, he is happy enough to let smaller dogs jump all over him and even nip him.

This behaviour is really embarassing and I'm not entirely sure how to train it out of him, as many people have conflicting advice; with some saying that you must be dominant and affirmative, while others say that this will only make him even more stressed out and aggressive.

If any of you can help I would be really appreciative. Thanks.

Hi ya a good book that may help you is "Click to Calm" Emma Parsons. Really good book.

Also try posting this in the behaviour and training section.
All the best

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from what you've put in your post it sounds to me as if it's the other dogs with the problems. When your boy walked away from the newfie, the newfie should have just accepted it and let him carry on without following him. With the pups in the kennels, they were probably excited and Jack was just politely telling them to behave, when the one jumped on him he was bang out of order and Jack was simply telling him this and showing him that his behaviour was unacceptable.

I really wouldn't try to train his behaviour to be something different than it is, maybe encourage him to be a little more tolerant but don't change him

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ShazaLhasa
My fabulous furry friends

Your dog lashed out because the newfie would not or could not read his body language- your dog gave plenty of warning to back off and that is just what dogs do, kinda like you saying ''leave me alone'' a couple of times then yelling ''F off!''

The dogs would have been all over him at the kennels because he was probably carrying smell of this other dog, and we all know dogs love to smell new things1

Again with the dog all over him, your dog was probly still a little stressed from the earlier incident and again this dog was not reading his body language- common with pups!

If only everyones dogs was good at reading body language!

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Exactly what I was thinking! If a big dog started running after me I'd be a bit freaked out too!

Laura

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Yeah, I really wish he was more tolerant. He seems to be no fun at all when it comes to meeting other dogs. He won't play with them; he won't even chase a ball when all the dogs are playing catch! I wouldn't change him at all, but I just wish he would be amiable when it came to other dogs. However, he is very tolerant of small dogs, just not large dogs.

hey, 91! :--)

U don't mention some key details which will help a lot -
* how old is Jack the BC?
* how long have U had him/how old was he on arrival?
* is he intact?
post-puberty Ms [7 to 10-MO or 12-MO] and dogs verging on social-adulthood [20-MO to 26-MO approx]
are must touchier during these stages of transition, one from pup to teen, the other to adulthood,
and being intact only adds more stress; all dogs are more-reactive to intact-Ms, so their reception is
less-tolerant, and all behavior being a transaction, the intact-M develops a chip on his shoulder.

* how long has this behavior been going on? [a week, month, slowly worsening over 5-mos?]
* has there been any trauma or drama with other dogs around that time?
a chase, a spat, a snark from a bigger dog, startled, bullying, excessively rough play?

i would grab a copy of click to calm and begin the DS/CC protocols that are detailed in the back -
Desensitization + CounterConditioning are not complex, but need persistence + patience;
keeping the dog under threshold and knowing body-language signals of social-stress are crucial, IME.

the sticky on dog body-language has books with photos, websites, video-links, seminars, etc.
the website FEARFULDOGS.Com is also a rich resource - especially see the page triggers + thresholds.

calmatives can be a huge, huge help - for directions, see
Pet Forums Community - View Single Post - dog body-language - and why it matters so much...

personally, i would start with DAP pump-spray + Rescue-Remedy, while doing Open-Bar / Closed-Bar treats
to associate big dogs with good things - NOT with any possibility of dogs off-leash, tho!
i would get his exercise in where there are zero off-leash dogs to encounter - inside a fenced-off area of the park?
in the yard at home? at an out-of-the-way beach, swimming? inside a fenced tennis-court with a clay surface?
[please grind his nails so his claws JUST reach the floor, but do not tap as he walks on hard-surfaces,
before romping on the clay-court, or he may score it.]

any further details would be appreciated,
--- terry

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terry pride, APDT-Aus, apdt#1827, CVA, TDF
*wolves R wolves, dogs R dogs, + primates R us.*
tmp, sept-2007

I dont think him wanting to walk away is being un-tolerant! He said hello to the other dog and then was fed up. My pair do this, a quick hello is enough most of the time.

Can you maybe walk with one other dog frequently it may be that he needs to get to know the dog a bit better to feel comfortable to play with it?

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Maybe you could work on him being a little more tolerant of larger dogs, but if it ain't broke, then don't fix it. Maybe he finds them a bit imposing or intimidating, or maybe just that one Newfie happened to be a bit annoying (and also large).

The suggestions above sound good to me. But don't underestimate him. For a long time I thought my lad wasn't good around other dogs, then when he met my friend's manic young rescue boxer, he turned into the sensible, grown-up one giving clear signals to the younger dog to back off and calm down. I hadn't dared let them meet before as I was so sure it would have been a bloodbath - how wrong was I!

If you haven't already, then read Turid Rugaas's book Calming Signals. It will show you a lot of the secret signs that dogs use to one another, which us humans often miss. In fact if I hadn't read that book I would never have known why Merlin was OK with the boxer, and would have missed the signs that he was managing things so well.

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I would echo the above that your dog is reacting normally.

I had a collie that would only put up with so much from other dogs and then she would tell them off - usually it was completely appropriate for her to do so and *most* owners were ok with it.

It's nice when your dog plays with other dogs but I think it's better that he's not that bothered - it might be a bit of a collie thing. Molli would only play with other collies, shetland sheepdogs and the occasional lab who met her exacting standards for example! It was part of her unnique personality and I wouldn't have changed her for the world. Although is was a bit embarassing when an owner didn't like their over-excited yappy fluffball being pinned to the ground by a no-nonsense collie.

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