Originally Posted by samhx

Anyway, he very much likes his own way, and if picks anything up that he shouldnt and you try and get it off him he will growl. This seems to have got alot worse since my nan took ill over the past month and hes now growling at people for no reasons at all

Originally Posted by RobD-BCactive

If you haven't trained him to give up items, then the resistance is "normal".
The dog is growling for a reason, it's just you haven't discovered it yet

Agree with health check up first for sudden behavioural change, if you look at the paper referenced by this site at bottom of the page, you'll see neutering may well not help - Stan Rawlinson explains the dangers of Spaying and Castration (Neutering) young Dogs. With Collies being prone to fear issues, neutering may be counter productive.

Has anyone actually trained him and worked him in some productive way? There's play and play, fetch isn't really engaging an ISDS Collie's brain much at all, and other games whilst good ought to have some balance, practising impulse control, patience and other WSD characteristics. These dogs are very exciteable, huge stamina and not by any means easy pet dogs!

Originally Posted by samhx

Thanks alot for your reply. To be honest, he probably started picking things up around the house which he knows hes not allowed to for quite some time, and if anyone went anywhere near him to try and retrieve it he would growl so hes not been trained to give up these items.

Originally Posted by RobD-BCactive

This is the kind of thing you have to be wary of YouTube - Aggression in Dogs: Resource Guarding avoid conflict or it may escalate from growling and be harder to improve. You are right to be worried.

Because RG is quite dangerous for human's and can result in very nasty bites, it's quite hard to find good examples for you to follow, it's an issue that tends to get referred to a qualified behaviourist.

tripod has articles on her website which may help - guarding | Search Results | Pet Central's Pawsitive Dawgs Blog!

Here's a discussion featuring the Dunbar's 3.02 - Resource Guarding | Dog Star Daily. I agree that it's quite easy to accidentally train RG-ing, I'm having to work on this myself with my BC, because he values items like tennis balls higher than bones

The principal is to teach the dog, that good things happen when it gives up the item. So exchange higher value items, with a BC try offering a treat and play with a tennis ball for example. With dog toy items, reward giving the item up, by offering it back after reward with treat or praise.


Well hanging out with your Grandpa does mean he's likely not completly bored. Most ppl need to organise activities for their BC's, so they can switch off and rest, settling whilst the owners get on with life.

Definitely dogs can change their ways and especially BC's remain very trainable till later in life, so have faith, doing the right things will improve the dog's house manners and make him safer.

Tell the vet, that you've observed a change in personality and more aggressiveness and would like him health checked, which was advised by some pro-Trainer/Behaviourist already in the thread (snarling after coming for cuddle is particularly concerning, more than a "I want this" growl on items the dog has pinched. If you have pet insurance you may qualify referral to a good behaviourist (see Sticky on qualifications and sorting good from bad behaviourists).

Vets do like neutering, because it's a service they can offer which may help. But rather than decide the solution in advance, regard it like a detective story with leads, possibilities to eliminate, gradually narrow in until you understand "What done it!"

There's a thread on Training and activities as well as one talking about Recreational Sheepdogs, assuming your dog passes it's health check, and does not need treatment or specialised referral to veterininary behaviorist, who is qualified to work with combined medication & behavioural approach.