Hi and welcome to the forum.

I basically would agree with the above comments. Boarder Collies can be a little nervie anyway, but with patience and lots of inter action, you should see a great improvement.

I would strongly suggest that your young Grandson be supervised around him. Young children can pull dogs tails etc not understanding the implications, and of course dogs do not understand, hence a potential hazard.

Training classes is a great suggestions for you both and there should be one near you. Ask around for recommendations as some are better than others.

Best of luck.

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Boy can I relate! I adopted my dog (a border collie/chow mix) from a shelter at 6 months of age. She had been kicked around by an owner and subsequently was not socialized with people until I took her home. She has a naturally quiet/timid personality and exhibited almost identical behaviors to what you are describing. A year later, we have made vast improvements. The above mentioned tips are good and I will give you a few more that seemed to help me with my dog. First, patience is key. Leash training is the first step in this. Take him for walks properly so that he learns to trust you and look to you for guidance. Second, make interactions with new people/places as calm and painless as possible. Don't allow her to hide when strangers come over. Once they have walked in and seated themselves (floor or couch where it is not a tight space), put a leash on her and lead her to them. When she is calm, reward her with praise and treats. Allow the other person to hold the leash and calmly pet and talk to her while giving her treats. Keep in mind, it may take several minutes to an hour for her to calm down and relax. Introduce him to the outside world slowly. Going for walks in quiet neighborhoods is a great way to start. Don't allow strangers to pet him during these outings as the dog sees this as a negative interaction. Like my dog, your dog is good with other dogs. Use this to your advantage. Dog parks are great places to teach dogs that other people are good. They pick up on the behaviors of the more outgoing dogs that approach you and other strangers. This gave my dog a big boost of confidence about approaching strangers given enough exposure to it. Remember, because your dog was not socialized with humans, it doesn't understand our behaviors. For example, smiling to a dog can indicate aggression because we are showing our teeth. Leaning forward is also aggressive in dog world because you are moving your chest forward. Petting the dog on the top of the head is also a dominant dog behavior. Ironically, these are all things that people do when they see a dog. As your dog becomes more comfortable on walks with you, you can start allowing people to interact, but only in the way you describe. If your dog appears curious about a person, and the person is willing to help you, start by having the person squat down or sit. Then lead your dog to them, calmly. Have the person reach out their hand. If the dog sniffs the hand and doesn't appear frightened, allow the person to pet the dog under the chin only and maybe give the dog a treat.

These things were key to me helping my dog not be so afraid of "people world". A year later, she is still a little timid, but has made vast improvements. She readily greets strangers now and has learned that people, in general, are pretty good sources of attention, belly rubs, and treats. If you want more advice about specific behaviors, I have some more tips, just ask. Best of luck!

I almost forgot...border collies in general are very intelligent and eager to please their master. Use this to your advantage. For example, I taught my dog the command "say hello". This tells her to approach the person that I indicate and sniff or lick their hand and allow them to pet her. In this way, she is approaching a stranger, but she is doing it because I told her to. Because she knows that she is obeying my command, it gives her confidence and loosens her up. She usually ends up enjoying it so much that she will eagerly continue to "say hello" to everyone in the room, forgetting any trepidation that she previously had. It took about 6 months of intense "timidness therapy" before she felt comfortable doing this, but now she loves it.

Another idea is to bring strangers outside with you and play with the dogs while the strangers are present. Keep in mind, that the strangers should not be paying attention to the dog, but just sort of in the background. Eventually the dog will loosen up and forget they are there.

I guess the moral of the story with timidness is to think outside the box. Use the things your dog naturally enjoys (other dogs, learning tricks, etc) to help them feel more confident in the outside world and with other people.

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He' got a lovely smile!

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"Do not meddle in the affairs of cats, for they are subtle and will pee on your computer." --Bruce Graham
There are no rules, rules are only for people who fit inside a box, if you want to think out of the box there is no hope... Life has no Box. (Tony Howells)

Thankyou kris for your advice, Rusty seems to be gaining more and more confidence, but he is still very frightened of young children, he won't come out of his bed when my grandson visits but as soon as he has gone out he comes. Also when walking in the park if there are children around he just goes down on his tummy and won't move, but yesterday when I took him there he was not as bad I'm trying very hard to encourage him that they will not harm him, I'm sure with this encouragement he will over come the fear.

Sounds like he's coming on really well, as people have pointed out it will take time, enjoy the success you are having and build on it.

i hope he feels better as soon as posible

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