# Border collie puppy turning nasty and biting! What to do?



## Graham936 (Feb 18, 2012)

Hey. We have a 9 week old border collie and he is extremely protective over certain items (his bone and favourite toys). When I try to stroke him or take his chew or toy he begins growling quite aggressively. When I actually take the item he turns vicious and has drawn blood with his bite. I completely understand that he is a working dog that needs alot of stimulation and that nipping at my heels etc is completely normal and I'm doing the standard things such as shouting "ouch!" when he goes too far, but as I stated above, his behaviour is completely unacceptable when I actually take the item he has.

What should I do to combat this?


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## Dogless (Feb 26, 2010)

Do you just try and take an item or do you swap it? I taught 'drop' by swapping items for something of the same value or higher - then often giving the item back if it is a 'safe' one like a toy. The principle is that a dog learns that he has something to gain by giving you what you want; hands don't just take away things that you value.

I have turned getting stolen items back into a game - I don't chase and corner, but call my dog to me in a 'playful' voice "What do you have?" and he will come running over to show off what he has. I then ask him to drop and sit. Once he has sat I take the item and either give him lots of praise, a treat, a toy, a fuss etc - anything really that he sees as a reward.

If he has something that I know he will not want to give up to me I show a high value item and throw it a small distance away. When he goes to get what I have thrown I then take the item he previously had (if that makes sense). 
A very good, understandable book on this subject is called "Mine! A Practical Guide To Resource Guarding In Dogs" by Jean Donaldson. It explains why this happens and has step by step advice on preventing the problem.


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## Bobbie (May 3, 2008)

Yes I do pretty much what dogless says and as he is a pup he may still be protecting it from his litter mates. Early days yet I know but do start some training with your BC as they thrive on it.


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## amymay01 (Sep 30, 2011)

I had terrible issues similar to this with my rescue greyhound when we first rehomed him .
For us the swapping game didn't work he was far to into the object he had to swap for the yummiest of treats!
He wouldn't drop the said item either just growl with it in his mouth ,on one occasion he swallowed a whole roast chicken carcess without even putting it down to chew!
Now I'm not saying this works for everyone or weather it is a recommended way to do this but it worked for us fantastically .
I was advised with relaxed body language to walk towards him until he warned me (growled) then stop and stand all relaxed not looking at him till he stopped growling then move forwards again repeating this day by day week by week until I could stand leaning on him slightly so making contact without taking said item with time the growling stopped and he relaxed enough we could have a stroke while he had said item then we moved on to swapping as other posters have rightly mentioned which seemed to work better once he was relaxed .
I am happy to say we have no problem anymore and he intact brings me gifts to take which is more then I could have ever expected 6 months ago!!!!!


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## Barkie (Aug 22, 2011)

This isn't uncommon when a pup has learned to guard items from their litter mates but you can teach yours to retrieve toys and Drop them in return for an edible reward. If you snatch things away it can encourage a pup to view you as someone to fend off like his littermates were. 

I start by sitting on the floor with the pup and giving them something to play with with me and begin to teach Drop by doing a Swop and Drop for an edible reward. 

Allow him some toys and chews which he can play with alone but take all other toys away at the end of games and rotate them round so you are always presenting him with an exciting toy to play with you. With normal luck he will learn to play Fetch It and bring the toy back to you to throw again. Use his least favourite toy to practice Drop and when he drops it throw him the better toy you have ready as soon as he gets to you and you can get him to Drop the more favoured toy as a Swop for an edible reward.

If it extends to guarding his bowl half fill it, stand a distance away and say his name, if he looks your way throw a tasty morsel into his bowl, gradually you can get closer to the bowl and drop food in from above. Then you will eventually be able to move your hand closer to the bowl to add more tasty food to it. You can also hand feed him in return for doing a sit or down for example. I leave a dog alone to eat in peace otherwise since I don't want him thinking I'm going to remove the food bowl. 

At the same time teach bite inhibition by saying ouch in a normal but sharp tone of voice and stopping the game, hide the toy out of sight. You can restart the game. It's common for pups to nip when excited so control the games to prevent over-excitement and play quiet games as well as Fetch.

Another time when guarding happens is when they pinch something. You can throw edible treats on the floor and say in an excited tone 'ooh look' and they often drop what they've got to go eat the treats, three or four little biscuits will keep a small pup occupied so that you can get the pinched item back. You can also just walk away and wait until they are bored with the item. 

You probably have only had a 9week old for a week so they need a little more time than a stressful, for them, first week to learn that you are trustworthy and the great provider of all things good as well as the one who lays down the law and sometimes takes things away but gives better things in return. It's the start of a close and good relationship of mutual trust and respect for you that lasts a lifetime.


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## Guest (Feb 20, 2012)

What is it with Collies and resource guarding recently!!

I've just posted on another thread about similar issue (older pup) and I completely agree never to pull something out of your pup's mouth. We made that mistake and are now dealing with it

Also, we didn't teach the drop or swap command early enough so I would urge you to do this along with leave it.

For me personally, 8 mths down the line, the most important commands are sit, stay,come, leave it, take it, drop it. Down, wait etc can all be added as you go. Also, we totally lavised unconditional attention on our pup, and are now having to adopt the NILF approach. We have finally found an experienced BC trainer, who I wish we had taken her to much earlier. 

Essentially he says that collies need a job to do; mental stimulation is much more important than physical, and so before you give your dog anything that rewards him (affection, praise,treats, play) you need to ask him to do something; "work" for it. So somthing as simple as sit or down beforehand. You can also do this really easily during play - good time to teach drop.
We have sadly only been taking this approach for a few weeks but already it is paying dividends and we have a much more chilled little dog.
Good Luck!
Gavs


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