Hi

I have a rescue border collie who is 3 he is really obedient in the house and outside ( comes straight away when called, sits & stays whilst you walk away & leave him for a few yards, learnt lots of tricks) until he has sight of another dog.

When he see's another dog out on a walk he lunges on the lead gets really frustrated and barks, if he gets close enough he will attack the other dog on or off lead. He is well exercised goes for bike rides & to agility and even when he is ready to drop he still finds the energy to try & attack another dog. I have taken him to a few agility shows to try & introduce him to them before he starts competing but he just walks around trying to nip anything that walks past & barking his head off.

I have had a dog behaviourist come out, all she said was I needed to divert his attention to me, which is easier said than done, he has no interest in food, toys or playing when there is another dog around !

Has anybody else had these problems ? if so how did you overcome them ? If anybody has any suggestions on how to start getting him out of this please please please let me know.

He is capable of being nice to other dogs as he lives with 2 others & is also fine with some of my friends dogs, but unknown dogs he will attack on site. Picture 223.jpg

If he has no interest in anything you can offer when another dog is around, I'd guess that you're going too fast and getting too close.

If you're going to desensitise him to other dogs then you have to work within his tolerance level. What is the distance away from another dog where you CAN get his attention? Start there and very gradually get closer...

I have this problem to with a ten month old border collie, he only needs to see a dog int he distance and he starts going crazy, barking, rearing, lunging and spinning round, if he gets close enough he will bite.

He now has to be muzzled when out, i was hoping to do agility but not sure any clubs would tolerate him, puppy class made him worse so im not sure agility classes would be ideal for him, good luck i know its so frustrating having a dog agressive dog let me know how you get on

__________________
http://s689.photobucket.com/albums/v...arleys_angels/

RAPHAEL FERRET SANCTUARY

Fighting for Tyson, he deserves to live.
http://www.petforums.co.uk/dog-chat/...ing-tyson.html

wooo hoooo the judge saw sense, Tyson has been saved

slave to child, collies, cats, ferrets, rats, hamster, canaries, beardie, guineas, bunnies, silkie hens and ex battery hens

I agree with colliepoodle. You need to catch his attention long before he's even aware a dog is near by. It's not easy and it means you have to be on your toes all of the time. You need to be three steps ahead of him!!

I'm sure your behaviourist gave you all the right advice, the crucial element is timing and stepping in soon enough to prevent him reaching 10 on the anger scale - when there will be no return!

I always like to think like the dog (or how I imagine the dog thinks ) .... ''dogs equal treats, equals I like dogs''. It's worked for me with several dogs, but you have to be all over it and persevere, it's not a problem that can be fixed overnight as he could be harbouring deep rooted fears dating back x

__________________
Some days you're the dog: some days you're the lampost

Hi. Welcome to the forum, and congratulations for taking on a rescue.

It doesn't sound like your behaviourist has given you very good advice. It is true that a dog needs to be distracted from what it is focusing on. However, usually a dog reacts like this because it is scared, this is known as fear aggression.

If this is the case, then distraction alone will not cure this. As colliepoodle said, your dog needs to be de-sensitized to other dogs. Did the behaviourist say WHY he is reacting like this?

Which part of the country are you in?
Is your dog worse on the lead or off?

x

__________________


Lilly, Max, Henry and Sammy. The joys of my life!

Hi, I agree with colliepoodle.
Get your dog at a distance away from other dog where he is comfortable and reward him- wehter its treats or praise, does not matter.
Then gradually close up the distance.

Also another command to teach is 'watch me' and start this off at home, by holding a treat up to your eye and asking himt o watch, then gradually do it without the treat, so that he will look at you on command, then you can ask him to do this when near other dogs so his focus is on you. This command is also helpful while doing agility so his focus doesn't wander off to the other dogs

x

__________________

-MY DOGS ARE NOT MY WHOLE LIFE- BUT THEY MAKE MY LIFE WHOLE-

Dave and Dixie
Milo and Maisy

Im not sure if your dog is the same as mine but i find walks just make the matter worse my dog isnt distracted by anything and the trouble is there are so many people who let their dogs run riot and scream from 500 paces 'its ok he is friendly'

well its not ok as a strange dog charging full pelt does nothing for a fear agressive dog except make it worse.

i dont suppose you will ever know what happened in the past so its hard to know what is in the dogs memory and why he is so fearful, is he nervous of other things or does he just not like dogs?

__________________
http://s689.photobucket.com/albums/v...arleys_angels/

RAPHAEL FERRET SANCTUARY

Fighting for Tyson, he deserves to live.
http://www.petforums.co.uk/dog-chat/...ing-tyson.html

wooo hoooo the judge saw sense, Tyson has been saved

slave to child, collies, cats, ferrets, rats, hamster, canaries, beardie, guineas, bunnies, silkie hens and ex battery hens

Hi

Just out of interest, what have you done to fix this? Is it so bad that you can't take your dog out?

x

__________________


Lilly, Max, Henry and Sammy. The joys of my life!

Hi all

Thanks for all your replies.

I have had him since November & live in Oxfordshire. When I first got him his tolerence distance of another dog was non exsistent he would start barking & lungeing whether the dog was over the other end of a park or a dot on the horizon. He is definately very very slowly improving but it is very hard to keep the distance he needs whilst in a town. I have taught him the watch me & at home or in situations where there are no other dogs he will watch me for ages but if there is another dog even in sight he refuses to.

I don't really know what to do with him, if I always walk him out in the country away from other dogs we don't have a problem but it is avoiding it rather than confronting it, if we walk him around where we live there are so many dogs every where it blows his brain.

The behaviourist said that he was frustrated & wanted to get to the other dog rather than being scared or aggressive, but then he was taking the frustration out on the other dogs when he got to them. Although he is a little nervy in some situations & is a little scared of men at first.

There are a few owners in the park that have tried to help by letting him play with their dogs whilst muzzled but he always trys to dominate them (Hilarious the other day when he was trying to get his chin over a Great dane's back & wasn't tall enough ! I know I shouldn't laugh but it was a very comical sight)