Border collie biting

Hi Watchman,

I am sorry for all the headache that your BC is giving you. As you know BCs are one of the smartest breeds so I am sure she will be a wonderful companion once she learns how to live with human family in a respectul way.

First of all, she came from a working line so I think she needs "work". This includes some "mental" work too. Have you taken her to obedience trainings? Does she know basic obedience commands, such as "Sit" "Down" "Stay" "Wait" "Leave it" "Drop it" and "Come" commands?

If she masters, for example, "Sit and Stay", it will make it much easier for you to control her when she starts jumping or biting (I think it's more like nipping?) you or anybody. Make her "Sit and Stay" and give her a treat. This will give her a chance to settle herself down.

Secondly, she is 9 months old, which is the worst canine age They ignore commands, they talk back, they do things on their own, and think they are the boss, like human teenagers. Therefore, it will be very helpful to give her extensive positive trainings during this period.

Thirdly, and this is maybe the most important thing that she needs to learn and you have been already working on this, it is "Mutual Trust". Since she bites you, you don't trust her 100%. In your mind there is always a fear or concern about her. She senses that and it makes her feel insecure. This is like a chain reaction, or catch 22.

In order to re-establish a mutually trusty relationship with your dog, please start with structured daily training sessions. Praise her a lot when she can do things well so that she gets self-esteem and will try to please you more and more. Please think this way, your BC loves you but just doesn't know how to please you. You can show her what to do, rather than what not to do

Hi Andrew,

I am so pleased to hear all the changes

I think dogs want a calm, stable, firm and relaxed owner that they feel comfortable with and willing to follow directions from

You are now on the right track so keep us posted on her progress. She cannot change in a day but when you look back like on weekly basis, I am sure you will see some positive changes on her.

Good luck

All was going well and then our little collie started to act strange
She would suddenly get aggressive when meeting strangers
I was unable to hand feed her any more with out her snapping at my hand

The final straw came when I was home from work one morning.

Having had breakfast I decided to play with my puppy dog outside in the garden.
I let out and turned round to shut the back door, on turning back around my dog jumped up and bit my hand, after pushing her away she lunged at me again.
Several moments later I had received bad enough bites on both my hands legs and arm to require hospital treatment.

An hour later the dog was behavouring just as a puppy should.

A vists to the vest confirmed that my little puppy had sezures which resulted in jeckal and hyde personallity. Sadly the only proper and safe option had to be taken.

I write this to provide some experance should any other owners have the same symptoms from their puppies.

RIP Daisy sadly missed