Dog growling at my youngest child

Question
Hi Kristen,

We have a 9 month old border collie bitch,that eats and sleeps in the kitchen. She loves being outside, and playing with my 2 boys aged 9 and 6.
However when in doors, she growls when my youngest son goes to stroke her.My wife and i tell the dog off, and put her in the garden, when she growls. Is this the best way to deal with the problem ?.
I read on a web site that dogs only growl when they are afraid,but i cant understand why she should be scared of a small boy?.I am wondering if it is more of a dominance problem?.
The dog eats after the family has, shes the last to go through doors, and we do all the usual things to establish a pecking order.
I hope you can help, as im worried it may go from growling to biting.
Many thanks, Jonathan  

Answer
It *could* be fear, but most likely it is dominance, as you suspect, Jonathan.

It sounds as if you have a good foundation with her, but some things need to be tweaked a little. She is not accepting that your 6-year-old is above her in 'pack rank,' and that is probably why she growls at him when he approaches her. Of course, he *might* have done something to her some time in the past that would cause her to go on the defensive and growl to warn him to stay away, but you'll never know if that was the case because if he DID do something, he most likely doesn't realize he did anything necessarily wrong. For example, he may have gone to pet her one day and instead of stroking, patted her on top of the head a little too roughly, or accidentally poked her in the eye or something. You just never know. For this reason, it is recommended that children and dogs ALWAYS be directly supervised by an adult at all times when they are together, no matter their age. When children and dogs are left unattended, that's when dog bites occur, and the dog is always blamed, even though he may have given plenty of warning signs that the child did not pick up on prior to the bite. Dog bites to children are always the fault of the parents for not supervising them when they are together. That goes for everyone, not just you and your family. Dogs and children should never be left unsupervised. Period.

Now, having said all that, let's see what we can do to teach your dog that growling at the kids is 100% unacceptable. Right now, what you are doing (telling the dog off and putting her in the garden) may actually be reinforcing the behavior. She growls at your son because she doesn't want him near her. She growls, and you put her in the garden, where he cannot get to her. See what I'm getting at? Does she have access to the garden on her own, via a doggie door? If not, you may want to consider putting one in, so that she can go outside when your son is becoming annoying to her. That way, she has the choice to remove herself from the situation safely. You would need to explain to your son that when she tries to move away from him, he needs to respect that and leave her alone, rather than following her because he wants to pet her.

If she has furniture priveleges right now, I would stop allowing her on the furniture immediately, and until she is no longer viewing your son as being below her. If she gets up on the furniture, simply push her back off. You may have to do this several times before she stops trying to jump back up. Don't say anything to her - just push her back off.

I would also recommend allowing him to work with her in her known obedience commands, and feeding her so that she realizes that he is on the same level as you as far as pack ranking is concerned. She should be on leash, and YOU should be holding the end of the leash. Have your son give her a command, such as 'sit,' and if she does not sit, then YOU should then tell her "No. Sit," correct her with the leash, and make her sit if she does not do it after you correct her. Then you should praise her and let your son give her a treat on his open palm (so she can lick it off and not accidentally get his fingers with her teeth). All your son has to do is tell her to sit and give her a treat for sitting. You do all the rest. The same goes for feeding time. He should tell her to sit, you should reinforce it if she does not obey, he should set her bowl down, you should correct her if she gets up, tries to eat, or shows any kind of aggressive behaviors (growling, lip curling, hair raising, etc.), and then your son should release her by saying "You're through" or "Free" or "Okay" and walk away, and she should then be allowed to get up and eat.

Let her drag a 4-6 foot long leather or cloth leash when she's in the house and your son is around. It should be attached to her regular flat leather or cloth collar - not a chain collar, harness, or head halter. You will want to take the loop out of the end of the leash so it doesn't get caught on anything. I just cut the stitching that connects the end of the leash to itself to form the loop. Then I use a cigarette lighter to burn the end so it doesn't unravel. The moment she shows any kind of aggression towards your son, you should immediately tell her "NO" in a low, growly tone of voice, and use the leash to administer a correction (if you do not know how to do this, let me know). Your son should then immediately command her to lie down, and you should enforce it by telling her "No" and correcting her with the leash if she does not obey. When she lies down, tell her "Good girl" in a regular tone of voice and then ignore her. She should remain in that spot for at least 2-3 minutes total. She should not get up until your son goes and gets a small treat, comes back, tells her "good girl," hands it to her on his open palm, and then gives her the release command that you have decided he will use. When he gives her the treat and releases her, he should always walk away immediately so she does not think he is going to try and take her treat or food away. If she tries to get up before he gives her the release command, YOU should correct her by saying "No. Down," popping the leash downward, and placing her back in the correct position. An easier way to enforce the down is by simply standing on the leash so that it is slack when she's lying there, but if she tries to get up, it becomes taut and prevents her from standing up. That way, all you have to do is tell her "No. Down," when you see her start to stand up, and she will correct herself with the leash. The reason for commanding her to lie down is that lying down is a submissive posture for a dog. By having your son make her lie down, he is enforcing that she is below him in ranking.


It sounds like you're on the right track, but give my suggestions a try and let me know how it goes.

Let me know if there's anything I need to clarify, as well.

Good luck!

Kristen