# Aggressive border collie



## charliehorse (Sep 29, 2008)

Hi we have 2 dogs. A 5 month old male border collie called buster and a 1 year old female border collie called scampy.
We bought buster from a local farm and apart from alot of biting in the first few weeks has been nothing but a joy.
We decided that we wanted a play mate for him and seeing as our neighbour was looking to get rid of there dog we decided to take her on, They had seen each other over the fence many times and never a cross word was had between then. So we took her on and at first everything was fine. All the biting stopped and they get on very well. 
Buster loves his walks and loves meeting and playing with other dogs he meets.
Scampy also loves going for walks but the problems start as soon as she sees another dog. She starts jumping around like crazy even swinging on her lead to get to the other dog and barking like mad. Other dog owners now wont come near us due to the way scampy is behaving. She has even pulled so hard she hurt my shoulder so now we have head halter so she cant pull so hard any more but this doesn't stop the wild jumping and barking. When we took her on we had only been living here for a couple of months so didn't know the full background to scampy. It turns out that they only ever walked her late at night and not very often. She spent most of her time in the back garden.
We now don't know what to do with her as if we take her for walks with buster she just gets really aggressive at every dog she sees. The only dog she will accept is buster.
She will even start barking if someone walks down the lane behind out house weather they have a dog or not.
We have tried distracting her with treats getting her to sit but until the other dog is out of sight she just wont stop. Giving her a hard tug on the lead doesn't stop her either.
We did find she was much better of the lead as she would run up to other dogs then run back to us. But then she started grabbing other dogs with her front paws. We are now scared to let her off her lead as we just dont know what she will do.

We are getting a bit worried as buster has started to copy scampy. We have just come back from the beach with them. Someone came down with another dog and scampy did what she always does and started barking very loudly and pulling on the lead as hard as she could. Buster was having great fun in the water but then started coping scampy and barking at the other dog. He has never barked at another dog before but its obvious he was copying scampy.

Thanks
Mark


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## leoti (Dec 9, 2007)

i think with scampy its lack of socialisation and not aggrestion if she has not seen other dogs then she wont know how to behave round them , i would sign up to a dog training class and get her socialisted as you say when she is off the lead she runs up to other dogs and only uses her paws if she was aggresive she would attack them then so i feel lack of socialistion is the problem here


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## Guest (Sep 29, 2008)

What has she actually done that's aggressive? Barking isn't a sign of aggression. "Grabbing other dogs with her paws" is usually an invitation to play, not aggression. Has she actually attacked another dog?

It sounds like she's on the lead a lot, Border Collie's need a lot of physical and mental stimulation, they need off lead running every day, sounds to me like she might be frustrated at being stuck on a lead all the time, but without better information it's hard to say, nothing in the original post suggests aggression to me.


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## Guest (Sep 29, 2008)

Good replies from Leoti and AJ - I agree with both of them.

If Scampi really was aggressive, you would be having a lot of problems between her and your boy, but the fact that you aren't makes me think that she is a lively and healthy normal border collie, who unfortunately has not been very well trained or socialised by her former owners. Take her to training classes to socialise her and teach her how to behave around other dogs, then let her have lots of off the lead exercise. I also don't think that grabbing other dogs with her front paws is aggression - she is either trying to get the other dog to play, or (depending on just how she is grabbing!) it could be that she is trying to show dominance to the dogs she meets by mounting them. Either way, training classes will soon sort her out.


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## charliehorse (Sep 29, 2008)

Thanks for those replys. Me and my wife were getting very worried about scampy so its off to training classes for her. I have to say in every other way she is a lovely dog and is very obedient in the home.
We do take her out twice a day for an hour in the morning and another hour in the evening. We have a local field near us that we take her that we can let her of the lead. We had been doing this there but the field is surrounded by woods and she has the habit of running into them and not coming back when we call her name. I guess the classes will help with this.

Thanks 
Mark


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## Jacks Dad (Sep 25, 2008)

Hi You`ve answered one of my questions about , Jack he does exactly the same as Scampy ,it`s like his brain goes into free wheel, we`re going to puppy classes tonight to get him socialised.

Thanks

JD


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## gillieworm (Jul 4, 2008)

Some great advice here. I was going to suggest training classes, which by the looks of it you are now going to start doing.

Stick with it, it sounds like you have 2 wonderful dogs there, just sounds like Scampy hasn't been given the worlds best start in life with being stuck in the garden and walked when no one is about. She'll get there


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## staflove (Sep 4, 2008)

I recon lack of socialisation, there is great advice on here like gilli said but i advice getting her in to training class ASAP, i have a staffy who are prone to not get on with other dogs, i had the same with her but she did not bark she screamed at dogs and it was so embarassing on the streets, she as a lot of doggy friends now and is doing really well. 

I have put a lot of hard work in to her but it as paied of, you never no she could hace been attacked by a dog and hurt try get her in a class or one to one but you need somthing good luck


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## hutch6 (May 9, 2008)

Get her out with a ball, a frisbee, a stick or anything to try and get her stimulated. If she was stuck in a garden all day or for long periods she is no doubt frustrated as she hasn't been able to do what collies do best - chase things including other dogs.

Give her the opportunity to do what she was born to do and I am sure you'll see a different dog in no time. If I walk Dill two days in a row without throwing anything for him, cycling, running, roller blading or seeing another dog to run with, he becomes a different animal altogether. If I take him on a hike he'll cover maybe 15miles so he'll be tired but he hasn't used his brain or his instincts so I'll take him out and play frisbee with him or throw a tennis ball for 20mins just so he can chase something.

Dogs know how to behave with one another as long as their needs are catered for with regards to mental and physical stimulation to get rid of frustration. 

Throw something for her to chase and if you then take her to meet other dogs I'm guessing you'll have a more positive response.


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## charliehorse (Sep 29, 2008)

We took scampy and buster to our local beach today and spent an hour down there.
We kept scampy on a long lead to start with and threw a stick and tennis ball into the sea for them to fetch. Buster and scampy both enjoyed this a great deal so we thought great. We had also removed the halter and just used a normal collar which she enjoyed much more as she normaly does everything she can to remove the halter by rubbing her head along the ground.
So seeing as everything was going ok we let her off the lead and for about 5 mins everything was fine till she saw another dog further up the beach. She took off even though we were trying to call her back. She ran felt steam into the other dog knocked it over. We did manager to call her back and get her lead back on. The dogs owner called the dog back to him have us a filthy look and walked on down the beach with scampy trying to pull me down the beach after him.
We really want to let her off the lead but are scared she will hurt another dog.
So is having her on a long lead going to give her enough exercise. 
Also i forgot to mention that we cant drive past someone walking there dog with scampy in the back of the car without her going mad barking at them until they are out of sight.
We cant get her into training classes till next month as thats when the next class starts.


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## hutch6 (May 9, 2008)

There is a theory that if a dog is confined to a garden or enclosed area that when another animal (including a human) comes in range of the territory, the enclosed dog barks to warn of it's territory which results in the other animal passing by. The dog learns that barking, growling or whatever causes the other animal to move out of it's territory and the enclosed dog wins the confrontation.

Before I owned a dog I used to stand at the gate of a big house that had two guard dogs and let them bark their heads off at me until they realised I wasn't going anywhere and then they would pipe down and come to sniff me instead. Most dogs do this.

Perhaps it is Scampy wanting to ensure that nothing else will encroach on her pack's territory.

If the guy was miffed that Scampy knocked his dog over I'd hate to see what he'd do if my dog played with his as Dillon will knock other dogs over, he'll get knocked over, he'll run alongside them and playfully snap at their necks, they'll do the same to him and I have lost count of the fat lips that have been received by both parties through collisions during play.

If Scampy is aggressive as far as biting is concerned and warding other dogs away from you then she is definitely guarding what she sees as "her pack". If Buster joins in then he is only following the leader.


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