QuestionQUESTION: i have two border collies and one of them is very aggressive towards other dogs. yesterday he attacked another dog resulting in the dog needing stitches. im at my witts end and dont no what to do. we dont want to rehome him as we love him to pieces but dont no what to do.. please help.
louise
ANSWER: Hi Louise,
Aggressiveness in dogs can be caused by a number of causes, one big reason is territorial rights! You would best know if your aggressive border collie is simply "protecting" the other border or just dislikes other dogs. Finding the cause is the clue to training. Has your dog received basic behavior and lead training? If not, that is a good place to start. Many local kennel clubs have training classes available to train the owner and dog. Is the aggressive dog an intact male? If so,
Intact males dogs are more likely to display dominance, territorial, and protective aggressive behavior than are neutered males or females. Neutering a male dog will thus help to reduce the frequency of these types of aggressive behaviors. Neutering will not affect fear motivated, redirected or possessive aggression.
Also, do you have a fenced in yard? Their are a number of variables that come into play as to how this behavior should be taken care of. The best idea is to definitely confine the aggressive dog so another incident does not occur. By this I mean to make sure that the dog cannot reach another animal. Place on a lead or reinforce existing fencing to keep the dog in the yard.
If you can, contact a local veterinary, dog breed club, humane society, or trainer to see if you can get hands on help with a restructuring program for your aggressive dog. This is very difficult to actually suggest the best method to use for training without seeing the dog.
Here is an excellent article I would like to share with you regarding Understanding Aggressive Behavior in Dogs.
http://www.dogsites.com.au/Internet_library/understanding_aggression.html
Should you have any further questions, please feel free to write again.
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QUESTION: hello there,
thanks for replying back to me, red has been neutured and his aggressiveness isnt protective its more of he just dislikes other dogs. he is fine if they stay away from him but if they come close to him and growl at him then he doesnt like it hence why he fights with them. he is very well behaved at all other times and is brilliant with children and loves to play all of them time. he is very good on a lead and off the lead obeys us all the tie to come back, fetch, lay down and to sit. do u suggest anything that we could try as its not easy finding a dog club were we live as were military in a different country. many thanks for your help.
louise
AnswerLouise,
It sounds like Red is a GREAT family dog! Often you will find fantastic animals like this that can go absolutely ballistic when another animal confronts them. Just think of how most people act. I suspect that the other dog was probably confrontational first and Red just responded in a normal manner. Here is a story that will give you some insight from a similar problem. http://www.flyingdogpress.com/sayhi.html
