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border collie mix- puppy nipping

19 17:06:44

Question
We adopted a "border collie mix" puppy from a shelter about three weeks ago.  She is now about 14 weeks old.  She has an unusually calm and intelligent and cooperative manner most of the time.  she has learned sit, off, down and will comply most all of the time to our commands already.  She passed all of the puppy temperment tests in Brian Kilcommons book.  She sleeps quietly in the kitchen through the night and is basically paper trained.  She has a crate and spends maybe 1 1/2 hours total in her crate a day.  Most of the time, she seems to have alot of self control for a puppy.  I am concerned about the times when she seems to go into a frenzy and begins nipping at us rather aggressively..  i just experienced one of those moments and it is a bit overwhelming and frightening.  She might start to nibble the shoe or sock and then her attempts to engage us escalate to head darting out nipping at ankles, knees pants legs.. she may even growl a bit.  Considering her usually extremely calm and placcid nature 90 % of the time and her seeming willingness to cooperate and learn, I am hoping that this is something she will outgrow.  I have seen her even correct herself mid-nip and divert her own attention to her chew toy and take up with that because we often give her a toy to chew instead and she seems to have remembered.  I read about FRAP's in Brian Kilcommons book and wondering if this behavior could be associated with that.  It seems to go as quickly as it comes and usually does not last long. There are times when she wants to chew or mouth but it does not have the aggressive feel that I am concerned about during these brief episodes that occur once or twice a day..  When I finally was able to take control of the situation today by making her sit then down, she finally calmed down to the point where I felt I could move her into her crate for 10 minutes - not as punishment per se, but to give us all a safe space away from her for 10 minutes.  Now she is as calm as ever relaxing on the floor with my 9 year old son.  My children are 9 years old and behave appropriately with her.  For exercize I take her in our yard and let her chase a ball 2-3 times a day.  After she as had all her shots she will be able to go on longer outings and meet more of the world.  Please tell me if wha I'm describing is normal puppy behavior and if shes likely to outgrow it, or if this is something more that we need to be concerned about.  It would be sad for us to have to give her back to the shelter, but if this behavior sounds like it would get worse instead of better, I would rather know now than have the heartache of giving her up later on and running the risk of someone getting hurt.  I  know that puppies teeth and nip, I just dont know how to interpret her style of doing so. Do most puppies at this age have this aggressive style?  She is not protective of her food bowl or toys usually and you can usually touch her when shes eating no problem. Thank you for any advice you can give me.  virginia  

Answer
Virginia,

There are two pieces of advice I can give you at this point. First is take her to a vet and see if they can figure out (if you dont already know) what breed the Border Collie in her is mixed with. It may give you a clue as to what is going on behaviourally.  The other thing - before you even think about giving this lovely puppy back to the shelter, contact a local border collie breeder for assistance on the behavioural nippiness.  They may be able to give you advice on channeling her in a proper direction.  Here's why.

A Border Collie is a higher energy herding dog than a Standard Collie and what she's displaying is a version of the herding instinct.  Trouble is, she doesn't at this point know what to do with those drives.  A Border Collie is what is called a "rounding dog" and they move livestock by "eyeing" them, making short sharp dashes and nipping here and there to get the flock moving.  She's not a lost cause, as she already seems to know that her behaviour needs to focus in a different direction i.e. the toys.  I would think that proper obedience training and giving her an alternative when she begins that behaviour will work better than outright discouragement - as she's following her nature. Excessive force against her natural drives will only confuse her and cause neurosis. I say excessive because she does need some correction and your help in learning acceptable ways to play.  She may outgrow some of the playfulness but finding an activity where she can free that part of herself would be good for her.

 Make sure she has plenty of outlet for exercise and play. You may also talk to your local kennel club and find out if there are herding activities in your area as from the way she's behaving it sounds like she could learn to herd and you may even find it fun yourself.  If you aren't sure where to contact your local kennel club, pick up your phone book and call a good boarding kennel - they can refer you to the local breeders and clubs.

I applaud you for taking in a rescue, good luck and I would like to hear how she's doing in the future.

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