# HELP! My border collie keeps growling at me and it’s starting to look bad!



## Bri2328 (Jul 16, 2021)

Hello! 

I have a 2 year old border collie named Casey. I bought her at 10 weeks old from a farm and she’s lived with me and my partner ever since. She absolutely adores my husband and practically can’t live without him, she cries when he comes home from work, if me and hubby are cuddling she’ll try and get in between us or if we’re having a laugh she tries to get in between us also. Casey with me however…. She hates me. I’ve been undiagnosed for a while but I have physical disabilities that stop me from working, so I usually take care of everything house related… which includes Casey. When she was a puppy she would try and go for my neck if tried to tell her no when she was naughty, every time I tried to ignore her bad behaviour so I could reward the good she would keep going for me, constantly trying to bite me. Saying ouch in a loud high pitched voice when she bit me just made her more excited and she would want to bite me more. I chalked it up to her being a very excitable puppy, I’ve had many dogs before just not a border collie so I had to assume this behaviour was normal. (I did do a lot of research on collies after her behaviour turned sour) Anyway as time goes by it gets obvious that Casey does not like me full stop. When my husband tells her off when she’s naughty or gives a command she listens and does as she’s told but with me, she tries to bite my neck (but this hasn’t happened in a long time), growls and shows her teeth. She would growl at me when I tried to move her off my side of the bed. She would show her teeth to me if she did something naughty and I tried to discipline her. She used to growl at us if we touched her food bowl but we did training with that and she doesn’t do that anymore. She used to go and bite my mother in law if she touched her butt (butt strokes), same with me but now she doesn’t. But she is very hit or miss. If you try and stop her from doing something naughty she won’t like it and will try to continue that naughty thing. I have never hit or abused her while growing up, I’ve tapped her nose or bum when she’s been naughty but nothing that was harder than a tap because I’m not a heartless monster. I’ve had to do a Caesar Milan and pin her at one point because she kept trying to bite my face and wouldn’t stop but that is it. My husband has had to pin her a few times because of her behaviour but she responds well to it, she stops being aggressive and calms down and usually won’t do that thing again (if you’re my husband if it’s me she continues) I have done loads of research and found that she could either be showing fear aggression or dominance aggression but it’s really hard to pin down. I tried training her as if she was showing dominant aggression and it sort of helped. She wasn’t allowed on the bed anymore or anything that was a sitting place for me and my husband. But my husband always caves with it and just lets her back up. But even so she would still act out. I then started training her as if she was showing fear aggression so no real difference to how we usually train or interact with her but I guess extra kindness and she still shows her teeth or growls at me. Just recently Casey has been acting super strange. she is crate trained because we found she is VERY destructive if you leave her alone to the point she completely destroyed her soft bed, my headphones and charger wire and peed and pooed herself, she would bark like she was being covered in lava when we left the house without her. She was so loud you could hear her down the street and she would do that for hours. Whenever she’s coming out her crate I would always give her a stroke, but recently she has started stiffening up and staring at me with her ears back and then retreats to her cage and if I try and call her out she won’t budge, she might even growl a little bit. This morning when she was on the bed with me I went over to give her cuddles as I always do and she growled a little bit at me. I assumed it was maybe because I squished her a little bit so I tried playing with her on the bed to show her I ain’t trying to be mean and she tried to nip my hand quite quickly and aggressively (which I ignored as me and my husband rough play with Casey) but then she barked at me and showed her teeth so I stopped, looked at her and calmly asked her to go to her cage. The entire time she was moving from the bed to the cage she growled! When I kneeled down to close the cage door so growled at me again. I just don’t understand why she’s being like this with me. I mean she’s never liked me, she’s always tolerated me. 

there has been worse experiences with Casey such as showing her teeth to me when I’ve told her to get out the trash bags, showing her teeth at me when she chased after a cat and I managed to grab her and keep her with me. GOING TO BITE MY HAND when I tried to guide her off the bean bag and put her in her bed (this was during anti dominance training) and the constant times that she has tried to bite my neck when I’ve told her no or when she’s irritated because she’s struggling to learn and new trick. She’s been quite bad with me to the point where my husband has on and off wanted to get rid of her. She’s a fantastic dog when it comes to training, she’s smart, knows all her tricks and responds well (if you’re my husband) and she’s come a long way but her behaviour is weird. We don’t know if her fear aggression is coming from another place, when we lived in our old place, we were living with my husband’s mum, she was a nightmare (the mother in law), she’d scream the house down and start petty arguments to the point where Casey would find a corner and hide, even now that we aren’t there if we raise our voices slightly or get annoyed, Casey senses it and she leaves the room. So we thought maybe that’s why she’s acting the way she does, but if it’s only with me then it doesn’t make sense. Plus even before the shouting she was always aggressive towards me. I’m really afraid that one day she will just attack me out of the blue. I can’t really afford trainers to come in and see the problem, plus she growls and loses her head when strangers comes to the house so I doubt she’ll listen to a stranger. I really need help with this, it’s making me really sad that my own dog doesn’t like me. I just want to do something to make things better.


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## Boxer123 (Jul 29, 2017)

Hello and welcome. A few things jump out but I'm going to tag @Twiggy as she has a lot of experience.

Your sounds very anxious the shouting (mil), nose taping and pinning has all fed into this. The dominance theory is outdated and CM is an idiot,

You want to try non confrontational reward based training. She is growling to communicate. Collies are sensitive dogs. Do you have insurance? You can sometimes access behaviourists through that. Hopefully someone more experienced can help.


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## Linda Weasel (Mar 5, 2014)

I did skip to the end of this post after the first few red flags. Cesar Milan, ‘tapped’, ‘pinned’ aren’t words you would want to read in relation to what is now an anxious and confused dog.

You need a behaviourist who uses positive methods and is qualified with APBC or similar, because it’s not really possible to sort this out without seeing all of you first-hand.

In the meantime, don’t be confrontational.


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## Twiggy (Jun 24, 2010)

Boxer123 said:


> Hello and welcome. A few things jump out but I'm going to tag @Twiggy as she has a lot of experience.
> 
> Your sounds very anxious the shouting (mil), nose taping and pinning has all fed into this. The dominance theory is outdated and CM is an idiot,
> 
> You want to try non confrontational reward based training. She is growling to communicate. Collies are sensitive dogs. Do you have insurance? You can sometimes access behaviourists through that. Hopefully someone more experienced can help.


I'm sorry but none of us can sort these extreme behavioural problems in two or three paragraphs. The OP urgently needs the advice of a collie savvy behaviourist. Perhaps if she tells us which area (assuming UK) she lives, we might be able to recommend someone.


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## Nonnie (Apr 15, 2009)

Bri2328 said:


> Hello!
> 
> I have a 2 year old border collie named Casey. I bought her at 10 weeks old from a farm and she's lived with me and my partner ever since. She absolutely adores my husband and practically can't live without him, she cries when he comes home from work, if me and hubby are cuddling she'll try and get in between us or if we're having a laugh she tries to get in between us also. Casey with me however…. She hates me. I've been undiagnosed for a while but I have physical disabilities that stop me from working, so I usually take care of everything house related… which includes Casey. When she was a puppy she would try and go for my neck if tried to tell her no when she was naughty, every time I tried to ignore her bad behaviour so I could reward the good she would keep going for me, constantly trying to bite me. Saying ouch in a loud high pitched voice when she bit me just made her more excited and she would want to bite me more. I chalked it up to her being a very excitable puppy, I've had many dogs before just not a border collie so I had to assume this behaviour was normal. (I did do a lot of research on collies after her behaviour turned sour) Anyway as time goes by it gets obvious that Casey does not like me full stop. When my husband tells her off when she's naughty or gives a command she listens and does as she's told but with me, she tries to bite my neck (but this hasn't happened in a long time), growls and shows her teeth. She would growl at me when I tried to move her off my side of the bed. She would show her teeth to me if she did something naughty and I tried to discipline her. She used to growl at us if we touched her food bowl but we did training with that and she doesn't do that anymore. She used to go and bite my mother in law if she touched her butt (butt strokes), same with me but now she doesn't. But she is very hit or miss. If you try and stop her from doing something naughty she won't like it and will try to continue that naughty thing. I have never hit or abused her while growing up, I've tapped her nose or bum when she's been naughty but nothing that was harder than a tap because I'm not a heartless monster. I've had to do a Caesar Milan and pin her at one point because she kept trying to bite my face and wouldn't stop but that is it. My husband has had to pin her a few times because of her behaviour but she responds well to it, she stops being aggressive and calms down and usually won't do that thing again (if you're my husband if it's me she continues) I have done loads of research and found that she could either be showing fear aggression or dominance aggression but it's really hard to pin down. I tried training her as if she was showing dominant aggression and it sort of helped. She wasn't allowed on the bed anymore or anything that was a sitting place for me and my husband. But my husband always caves with it and just lets her back up. But even so she would still act out. I then started training her as if she was showing fear aggression so no real difference to how we usually train or interact with her but I guess extra kindness and she still shows her teeth or growls at me. Just recently Casey has been acting super strange. she is crate trained because we found she is VERY destructive if you leave her alone to the point she completely destroyed her soft bed, my headphones and charger wire and peed and pooed herself, she would bark like she was being covered in lava when we left the house without her. She was so loud you could hear her down the street and she would do that for hours. Whenever she's coming out her crate I would always give her a stroke, but recently she has started stiffening up and staring at me with her ears back and then retreats to her cage and if I try and call her out she won't budge, she might even growl a little bit. This morning when she was on the bed with me I went over to give her cuddles as I always do and she growled a little bit at me. I assumed it was maybe because I squished her a little bit so I tried playing with her on the bed to show her I ain't trying to be mean and she tried to nip my hand quite quickly and aggressively (which I ignored as me and my husband rough play with Casey) but then she barked at me and showed her teeth so I stopped, looked at her and calmly asked her to go to her cage. The entire time she was moving from the bed to the cage she growled! When I kneeled down to close the cage door so growled at me again. I just don't understand why she's being like this with me. I mean she's never liked me, she's always tolerated me.
> 
> there has been worse experiences with Casey such as showing her teeth to me when I've told her to get out the trash bags, showing her teeth at me when she chased after a cat and I managed to grab her and keep her with me. GOING TO BITE MY HAND when I tried to guide her off the bean bag and put her in her bed (this was during anti dominance training) and the constant times that she has tried to bite my neck when I've told her no or when she's irritated because she's struggling to learn and new trick. She's been quite bad with me to the point where my husband has on and off wanted to get rid of her. She's a fantastic dog when it comes to training, she's smart, knows all her tricks and responds well (if you're my husband) and she's come a long way but her behaviour is weird. We don't know if her fear aggression is coming from another place, when we lived in our old place, we were living with my husband's mum, she was a nightmare (the mother in law), she'd scream the house down and start petty arguments to the point where Casey would find a corner and hide, even now that we aren't there if we raise our voices slightly or get annoyed, Casey senses it and she leaves the room. So we thought maybe that's why she's acting the way she does, but if it's only with me then it doesn't make sense. Plus even before the shouting she was always aggressive towards me. I'm really afraid that one day she will just attack me out of the blue. I can't really afford trainers to come in and see the problem, plus she growls and loses her head when strangers comes to the house so *I doubt she'll listen to a stranger*. I really need help with this, it's making me really sad that my own dog doesn't like me. I just want to do something to make things better.


Quoting this as it strikes me as the sort of post that gets deleted.

Just to point out the bit ive bolded - training/behavioural modification isnt about someone else doing the work for you. Its about teaching YOU how to work with your dog and build up the relationship thats clearly lacking due to your treatment of her.

If you cant afford a behaviourst, then rehoming her to an experienced rescue would be in her best interest. Not one that using the techniques that you do, but one that actually knows what they are doing. She does not sound like a dog thats happy in her environment, and i bet a lot of her 'friendly' behaviour towards your husband is simply appeasement as she is scared of both of you.


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## Lumboo (Mar 31, 2011)

Firstly, have you taken her to a vet to rule out any medical issues she may have that is causing this behaviour?

If so, did you speak to the vet about her behaviour, as they may have been able to suggest something. A good veterinary practice will always be on hand to give advice, or suggest a pet behaviorist/trainer. The effort to stop this aggression has to be put in by you and Casey - and by your husband too. You are a family and so this will have to be a family effort.

Your dog does not sound at all happy. She sounds stressed and is lashing out in the only way she knows how. She can't communicate how she feels verbally, but something must have triggered her behaviour. When a dog or cat is secure in their surroundings, they do not attack. Even if she is territorial, you have to ask yourself why. What triggered her initially? You need to really think back to when she started act this way to decode this.

The way you have reacted to her aggression does not seem to have helped, as it has made her feel even more insecure, which has ended up with this vicious circle of behaviour.

I know that you are not happy with the situation, which is why you have come to the forum asking for help and advice. However, it seems as if you need professional help - that help will need to be one to one so a behaviourist can see the interaction between you and Casey first hand,

It sounds like this is going to take some hard work on your part to correct, so please be prepared to put in the work to reap the reward.

You will get support from this forum during your journey, but please get professional support first, and stick with the training and suggestions they tell you.

You could of course rehome Casey, but all you have done is leave her insecurity and unhappiness for someone else to deal with.

I think that by coming on this forum, you don't want to do that and really would prefer to work this out for yourself and for Casey. 

Every journey starts with a first step - get the professional help that Casey and you need


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## O2.0 (May 23, 2018)

As @Twiggy said, this is not something to be dealt with over the internet, you really need in-person help. If she is insured, her insurance may cover it, you will have to get a vet referral first.

Your post is full of red flags, it sounds like you have gotten some really bad advice and followed the exact wrong suggestions for dealing with this sort of thing starting when she was a puppy. This is why so many genuine dog professionals speak out against Cesar Millan, his approach very often makes things far worse. You really have your work cut out for you to come back from this. It's doable, but you will have to change your entire approach.

Just a couple of examples.


Bri2328 said:


> She used to growl at us if we touched her food bowl


 This advice shows up all the time and it is terrible advice because it is a great way to quickly erode any trust the dog has with you. There is no reason to disturb a dog while eating. In the dog world, messing with someone's food is extremely poor manners and will get corrected regardless of the status of the dogs involved. Resource guarding is totally normal behavior and normal dogs don't let dogs or people mess with their food. Dogs should be left to eat in peace.
If you want to teach her to be comfortable with someone approaching her food bowl, simply walk by and drop something tastier than what's in the bowl. But if she's already not trusting, just leave her alone and work in other areas to re-build that trust.



Bri2328 said:


> I've tapped her nose or bum when she's been naughty but nothing that was harder than a tap because I'm not a heartless monster. I've had to do a Caesar Milan and pin her at one point because she kept trying to bite my face and wouldn't stop but that is it. My husband has had to pin her a few times because of her behaviour


Again this is terrible advice. It is another great way to destroy any trust the dog has with you. Dogs don't understand 'naughty.' They don't know that chasing the cat is a bad thing, or that you care if the table leg has teeth marks in it. They just do their thing. When you respond with what is at best confusing behavior, it teaches them to be wary of you. Yes, you often also get appeasement behavior where the dog looks like she is infatuated with one person but it's really just the dog trying to appease and deflect any further confrontations.



Bri2328 said:


> she has started stiffening up and staring at me with her ears back and then retreats to her cage and if I try and call her out she won't budge, she might even growl a little bit.


 This is a very clear signal that she is afraid and wants you to give her space. I would listen. Give her that space, drop your eyes, turn you head and leave her alone. Let her come out in her own time.

How familiar are you with dog body language? I would read up on dog signals and try to start "listening" to what she is trying to tell you - most of it sounds like a serious lack of trust and she is simply afraid and usure of you and probably your OH too.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with rehoming her either. Sometimes a fresh start in a new environment is exactly what a dog needs. You guys have a lot of history together that a new home won't have to overcome. And it happens that some dogs and some homes just aren't compatible, there is no shame in that. 
If you choose to rehome her, please go through a reputable rescue, preferably breed-based. Again someone on the forum may be able to suggest a rescue if that's the route you want to take.


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

This chart is useful but I prefer the title Ladder of Anxiety.










The dog will give lots of signals that they are anxious or unhappy with something or what you are doing to it before growling, but if missed or ignored the dog will escalate.

Try to read her body language and avoid pressuring her.

If she learns that you listen and remove the pressure she will have no need to escalate.

A short house line is useful to help guide a dog off or away gently rather than handling the dog or grabbing a collar, which is likely to be seen as very confrontational by an anxious dog.

A vet referral to a good behaviourist who uses positive methods is advised as incorrect training and reconditioning now could make matters much worse.


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## Burrowzig (Feb 18, 2009)

O2.0 said:


> There is absolutely nothing wrong with rehoming her either. Sometimes a fresh start in a new environment is exactly what a dog needs. You guys have a lot of history together that a new home won't have to overcome. And it happens that some dogs and some homes just aren't compatible, there is no shame in that


Some dogs can forgive and forget when things have gone wrong between them and the owner, but once you've broken the trust with a border collie to such a level, it could well be that it's broken beyond repair, and a new home with a collie savvy, positive reinforcement owner may be in Casey's best interests.


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## Bri2328 (Jul 16, 2021)

Hello everyone! 

I’ve read everything you said and I completely understand! I will save up some money up or invest in insurance so I can get Casey some professional help. 

I did forget about this post as I was working with Casey and preparing for university. 

However I would like to clarify that I’m not going to delete a post all because people have advised me that the way I’m treating my dog is wrong. I came here for advice and I got loads of advice that I’m willing to take. My actions are ones formed from outdated methods, I’m fully responsible for that and I will do what I can for my dog to make things right again as I don’t want her to be afraid of me… it really saddens me actually.

i wasn’t looking for others to fix my problem, more of some advice from other border collie owners of what I could do to improve the situation as I’ve looked over a few books and websites for help and nothing seemed to be working (but then found out through this forum it was bad for my dog)

I’m not cruel to my dog and I guess I never really specified that we do have a lot of good times too, this behaviour is sort of a recent flare up because things were getting better between us as I started learning about why dogs growl! I grew up with a family that taught me to tell off a dog (not smack or hit just say no firmly) when they growl, but I have found out not to do that and integrated it with my day to day interactions with Casey! 

Also we taught Casey to not growl around food when she was very young, we just reassured her and told her she was a good girl and then returned the bowl, she hasn’t had a problem with her food for a very long time now. Well I know not to mess with a dog’s food, my only concern is if a kid comes round or when I have kids of my own and if they stick their hands in their food. Not that I wouldn’t keep an eye on my kids it’s just slip ups happen and I want to be well prepared. 

I was speaking to my husband about rehoming her and we agreed that we can’t as we do love Casey a lot but she is also hyper attached to my husband and it would be unfair as she does truly love him! We are just going to try and change how we treat her with more positive than negative. However though she is absolutely fine with my husband, it seems to be only me she doesn’t like and we treat her fairly the same. (I’m more easy going with her than Jason) 

I will keep that dog aggression chart so I become fully aware of her behaviour and be better towards it! 

However I will take all your advice and find a way to make thing better! 

thank you


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## Bri2328 (Jul 16, 2021)

Lumboo said:


> Firstly, have you taken her to a vet to rule out any medical issues she may have that is causing this behaviour?
> 
> If so, did you speak to the vet about her behaviour, as they may have been able to suggest something. A good veterinary practice will always be on hand to give advice, or suggest a pet behaviorist/trainer. The effort to stop this aggression has to be put in by you and Casey - and by your husband too. You are a family and so this will have to be a family effort.
> 
> ...


hey!

Thank you for your nice words!

I haven't spoken to the vet but I will when we go to pick up her worming stuff and see what they recommend.

After reading my post I realised that I focused mainly on the bad things and made casey out like she's bad 24/7. Things are more spread out and there are a lot of good things between me and casey! I was just really concerned when she does growl or show her teeth as for me and how she usually is, it's out of character.

my husband thinks that casey is unsettled because we've recently moved house and everything is new and because of the heat and her being on her doggie period she hasn't been able to go out as much (she gets very ill when she's out in the sun so we try and limit her exposure to it!). I'm just concerned as she only reacts this way with me and I'm the more easy going out of the two of us.

you're right I don't want to get rid of Casey. While things have been hard between me and her sometimes, I still love her to death and I want to do what's right by her, I don't want to throw her away as if she's a failed experiment 

I will see about seeking proper professional help for casey! And I will certainly change my training methods.

thank you again


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

Hormones can also play a part in behaviours so I’d get her neutered ASAP … usually a few weeks (3months?) after a season.


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## Bri2328 (Jul 16, 2021)

Lurcherlad said:


> Hormones can also play a part in behaviours so I'd get her neutered ASAP … usually a few weeks (3months?) after a season.


We were planning to let her have a litter because neutering, but I will see if that's still the plan! We wanted to keep one of her kids and then let them have one litter and keep one of those so we can keep a lineage of Casey in our small family!


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## pinklizzy (Dec 19, 2009)

I won't give any behavioural advice but definitely do not breed from her!


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## Bri2328 (Jul 16, 2021)

pinklizzy said:


> I won't give any behavioural advice but definitely do not breed from her!


i'll talk to my husband about it, given how she can be it might be best not to.


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## Boxer123 (Jul 29, 2017)

Bri2328 said:


> i'll talk to my husband about it, given how she can be it might be best not to.


Thank you for coming back to update it's very frustrating when you answer and people disappear. I don't know if you saw my post but if she's insured you may be able to claim behaviourist fees.

Please do not breed your dog. Dogs tend to inherit temperament. Pregnancy is not fun for dogs (or anyone I guess) but this may make her issues worse.


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## Bri2328 (Jul 16, 2021)

Boxer123 said:


> Thank you for coming back to update it's very frustrating when you answer and people disappear. I don't know if you saw my post but if she's insured you may be able to claim behaviourist fees.
> 
> Please do not breed your dog. Dogs tend to inherit temperament. Pregnancy is not fun for dogs (or anyone I guess) but this may make her issues worse.


I did see and I'm going to see about getting it done  thank you for you're help! I will defo speak to my husband on the matter! Got to do what's best for Casey!


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

Bri2328 said:


> We were planning to let her have a litter because neutering, but I will see if that's still the plan! We wanted to keep one of her kids and then let them have one litter and keep one of those so we can keep a lineage of Casey in our small family!


Well you sound very sensible, so please heed us! This is a very poor reason to breed, please reconsider! Breeding should be done with only the finest examples of a breed, to better the breed. And that, after all health testing has been done on both sides. Since these kinds of behavioral problems can be hereditary, Casey, while a wonderful dog to you and your family of course, is not a finest example.



Bri2328 said:


> Well I know not to mess with a dog's food, my only concern is if a kid comes round or when I have kids of my own and if they stick their hands in their food. Not that I wouldn't keep an eye on my kids it's just slip ups happen and I want to be well prepared.


Did you see in your thread the advice on this? (see below)



O2.0 said:


> This advice shows up all the time and it is terrible advice because it is a great way to quickly erode any trust the dog has with you. There is no reason to disturb a dog while eating. In the dog world, messing with someone's food is extremely poor manners and will get corrected regardless of the status of the dogs involved. Resource guarding is totally normal behavior and normal dogs don't let dogs or people mess with their food. Dogs should be left to eat in peace.
> *If you want to teach her to be comfortable with someone approaching her food bowl, simply walk by and drop something tastier than what's in the bowl. But if she's already not trusting, just leave her alone and work in other areas to re-build that trust*.


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## Bri2328 (Jul 16, 2021)

lorilu said:


> Well you sound very sensible, so please heed us! This is a very poor reason to breed, please reconsider! Breeding should be done with only the finest examples of a breed, to better the breed. And that, after all health testing has been done on both sides. Since these kinds of behavioral problems can be hereditary, Casey, while a wonderful dog to you and your family of course, is not a finest example.
> 
> Did you see in your thread the advice on this? (see below)


yea is so see the quote, I was mainly trying to explain why we trained her out of it. But like I said she hasn't growled about food in a very long time. After reading the advice I know better now anyway.

I will defo speak to my husband about the breeding side and explain everything to him!


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## Siskin (Nov 13, 2012)

As has been said, temperament is definitely an inheritable trait. Also puppies will pick up on the mothers behaviour whilst she has them, so a double whammy really.
I bought a GR puppy from a breeder who didn’t understand about inheritable temperament (and neither did I at the time). Although my pup grew into a nice looking dog who was fine with us, she inherited a number of behaviour traits normally not associated with goldens. I thought I hadn’t socialised her enough, but then I met a number of dogs locally who showed the same or similar traits who were bought from the same breeder. Theses dogs were either directly or indirectly related to my dog. All seemed to have inherited a nervous issue which was displayed as either extreme fear of people or aggressiveness, definitely not desirable.

If you did breed your dog how would you feel if one of your puppy owners reported back that their dog had bitten a child or something. Pretty awful I would suspect.
Please make sure your husband really understands about inheriting temperament and accepts the best policy would be to have her spayed.


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## Bri2328 (Jul 16, 2021)

Siskin said:


> As has been said, temperament is definitely an inheritable trait. Also puppies will pick up on the mothers behaviour whilst she has them, so a double whammy really.
> I bought a GR puppy from a breeder who didn't understand about inheritable temperament (and neither did I at the time). Although my pup grew into a nice looking dog who was fine with us, she inherited a number of behaviour traits normally not associated with goldens. I thought I hadn't socialised her enough, but then I met a number of dogs locally who showed the same or similar traits who were bought from the same breeder. Theses dogs were either directly or indirectly related to my dog. All seemed to have inherited a nervous issue which was displayed as either extreme fear of people or aggressiveness, definitely not desirable.
> 
> If you did breed your dog how would you feel if one of your puppy owners reported back that their dog had bitten a child or something. Pretty awful I would suspect.
> Please make sure your husband really understands about inheriting temperament and accepts the best policy would be to have her spayed.


Yea I definitely will! Especially after what you've told me! He's a reasonable man so he should agree that it's for the best! Thank you again!


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

Bri2328 said:


> We were planning to let her have a litter because neutering, but I will see if that's still the plan! We wanted to keep one of her kids and then let them have one litter and keep one of those so we can keep a lineage of Casey in our small family!


Given her temperament she isn't suitable for breeding.

She could pass it on to the litter.

That would not be ethical or responsible.

If she's temperamental now, she will be much more likely to ramp that up through pregnancy and definitely once she has pups to protect.


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## Twiggy (Jun 24, 2010)

Bri2328 said:


> We were planning to let her have a litter because neutering, but I will see if that's still the plan! We wanted to keep one of her kids and then let them have one litter and keep one of those so we can keep a lineage of Casey in our small family![/QUOTE
> 
> *From what you've said you really shouldn't be breeding from her with an unsound temperament. Plus were you given her pedigree when you purchased her? There are many, many collies that suffer from epilepsy as well as CEA, hip dysplasia, OCD etc, which are all genetic, and if you don't know her lineage you could be breeding puppies with a lot of problems.*


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## TTouch (Apr 20, 2021)

Too many things that you mention show reg flags, most of which is about the dog not getting what she needs ....... an online forum is not the place where you will get a change of behaviour for a BC at this stage of its ( or your) behaviour....

For that you NEED to do several things first is you WILL need professional help as you have taken many decisions that has made this dogs behaviour worse ... 
Following 'advice' from TV actors fronting 1hr dog training shows which are only for public entertainment ..... on TV shows you see 'set up situations' and 'set up solutions' and that is all you see, you do not see the hours/days/weeks of real trainers/behaviourists/practitioners who assess and do the real training and changing of behaviours and I know because I have worked on some.... so maybe fun to watch but nothing more.

BCs live on their nerves, which makes them the brilliant working dogs they are out in the fields all day on a farm working hard at distance, then fed and they sleep and many not living in the house with all the expectations of humans 'wanting cuddles. or 'sleeping in human beds' all the household noises and household chaos however, taking a farm bred BC puppy you have more than likely aquired it from a long line of working dogs so highly motivated to work and if you don't give any BC let alone a working farm bred BC a job, they find their own job which often displays as bad behaviour. Lots of what she is doing is making a job for herself. BCs are never 'not working' unless taught to chill an easy task for a farmer who puts them away, not so easy for a pet owner who has their own additional expectations but it can be done...mine is chilling right now after working all morning but she is chilling in her bed having been told 'bed'

Oh and she doesn't hate you, she just has pinpointed you as someone she can manage and has found 'what works' to do so....she has found herself ' a job' to do

My advice *until you get a professional to help* and/or at least someone who has owned a number of BCs and knows their needs... is you have her on a trailing lead, so you can easily, quickly and in silence step on the lead and you are instantly in control, the lead can then be picked up and without chatting or 'correcting' certainly never 'pinning' you can remove her from the area/point of confrontation, allowing her to 'cool down' you are also not putting yourself in danger as it is impossible for her to bite your neck/face if they are no where near her face.... and biting your neck suggests you are 'getting in her face' and that is a dangerous thing to do with any dog let alone a BC who are hard wired to stare down sheep and 'nip' them to move them...(.that is all she is doing to you)
Get her booked into some basic dog training classes, she needs to know and understand obedience ques, any dog regardless of what breed needs to be obedient and with a reactive dog like you have achieved/allowed to become, if she knows/understands obedience ques, that is what can save her and you...she is a working dog, she has a hard wired NEED to work, so will comply as the obedience class for her is 'work'..... and you need to do that before you look for other training such as basic agility, tracking, herding, scent work.... look around and find a GOOD trainer running classes as she needs to expel that pent up mental and physical energy

The VERY basics staring at a dog in dog langauge is rude and often taken by them as an aggressive behaviour. Walking directly towards a dog in dog language is taken the same way....... many/most dogs learn to accept both, that is it a 'human' behaviour and not meant to be aggressive.
Excessive chatting which humans do too much is just 'white noise' to dogs, again most dogs learn it is 'human behaviour' and accept it/ignore it but it means they take longer to learn obedience command words as they have to learn to filter out 'people chatter'.and as BCs are often noise sensitive this adds to more anxiety for them .... and likely why she displayed over excitement with a high pitched female voice telling her off and getting in her face when she was younger.

Oh and get her spayed asap, it is a beyond stupid idea to breed from her!
.


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