New here. Dog behavior question.

[justsam]

I've never posted over here, but I'm hoping you guys can provide some suggestions on how to deal with our new dog's behavior.

We just adopted a 7yo female Border Collie mix last Friday. She's only my 2nd dog. My first (a BC/Aussie Shepherd mix) passed away 5 months ago. He was 8 when we got him (12 when he passed), and was much more calm than the new one. (Her name is Denali.)

In the week we've had her, I've been able to determine that she doesn't actually have an aggressive bone in her body - she's very sweet & gentle.

The problem is her behavior when we see other dogs. She loses her damn mind! She starts barking, growling, jumping - trying to get to the other dog. It looks & sounds like aggression, but it isn't. She's just REALLY excited. I've let her meet some dogs whose owner I know, and Denali was realy great with those 2 dogs (who are much smaller than her). She just wanted to play. And she did - and was gentle the entire time. She was just a playful pup.

But because she acts like a fool when we see other dogs, their owners are starting to give me dirty looks (the owners I don't know, that is). If we see a dog I don't know, I make sure to keep her away from them - move across the street, behind a building - something so as not to freak out their owner. But I don't want to keep doing that. I want to get her to stop acting like that. But I don't know how.

She sits when I tell her to (though sometimes I have to push her bottom down to make her do it because she's so focused on the other dog), and if I tell her "no" or to stay, she listens. But it's that initial moment when she sees them & starts to lose her mind that isn't good. I also try to get her to focus her attention on me, not the other dog. Sometimes that works, sometimes not.

Any tips on how I can stop this behavior? I never had issues like this with Miller (our previous dog). He just wanted to sniff the other dog then move along. He was usually more interested in their owner than them.

She's a really smart dog - knows a ton of commands (except speak, I've learned), so I know she can learn how to behave properly. I just don't know how to teach her. I never had to do that with my last dog.

Thanks!

[setsail1999]

more border collies! yay! I have 2 border collie mixes, a rough collie/border mix and a springer/border collie mix. Both of my dogs have the same reactions but my older collie mix is the worst. He will do this piercing whine/scream and spin around when he sees another dog. We did the following and it worked great for him:

I walked down the street and looked out for other dogs. The second he reacted (ears up, leaned in to the collar, started the alert posture or started making noise) I slid my foot closest to him in front of him and pivoted into him so we started walking in the opposite direction. When he looked up to me in confusion I praised, rewarded and turned back. The first few times I didn't even get out from in front of my apartment building. By pivoting into them they can't stare down the dogs while whipping out on the end of the leash and they have to pay attention to where you are going so they don't run into you. They learn pretty quick that reacting leads to redirecting away from their goal (the other dog).

If you are at a park or an area with dogs around pick a spot away from the action but close enough she notices the dogs (ears up, watching, scanning around). The split second you see her notice the other dog praise and reward. If she won't accept the treat or goes from noticing to full blown barking you are too close to the stimuli so take a few steps back and start again once she's calm again. This is called the look at that game and it helps desensitize them to the initial sight of a dog. You can use this for anything that distracts your dog such as bikes, kids, people walking by etc. They learn that the object they are fixating on or reacting to = treats so they start noticing an object and then redirecting to you instead of reacting.

In a situation where I can't work on his behavior or if we are in super close crowds I use a "Look at me" command. I started by holding a treat in my hand with my arm extended to the side. Once he stopped fixating on the treat he glanced at my face in confusion so I praised and rewarded with another treat. Over time I added the command "EYES" and taped the side of my nose. Whenever I see a trigger coming at us (he hates bikes) I give him the command and we can quickly get back while he maintains eye contact.

As for asking for behaviors like sit while out on a walk. Start by working in a low distraction environment like inside the house. Once she is doing the command well move to the backyard, a quiet park or empty lot and ask again but you may have to go back a set in a new environment. After that start asking for the command in a more distracting evironment like off a busy section of the street, a local park, etc. If she won't do the command go back to a slightly less distracting place and work her back up.

Hope that helps! Oh...and my loud collie boy....he's 11, crazy as a loon and still a competitive disc dog while training in flyball and canine musical freestyle. So 7 is probably still pretty young for her lol. I still have to work on his socialization and behavior even know that he's a "senior".

[winecat]

Hi Sam-
This just popped up on my FB feed, but there's a new place in Denver called the Zoom Room and they have a Loose Leash Walking class and lots of other stuff that might be good for her to do to channel her energy.

[justsam]

Those are great tips! Thank you! I'll start working on redirecting her attention/body elsewhere next time we see a dog. And make sure I take treats with me on our walks.

She has much more energy than we thought she'd have, especially for 7 years old! Our last BC mix was 8 when we adopted him, and he was much more "senior" than she is at 7. I think some of it is due in part to not being fully settled yet. But she's getting more comfortable with each day. And more relaxed. She's doing great, and I'm really proud of her. I've just got to get her to the point of being calm when she sees another dog.

[setsail1999]

Yeah, Jackson was more of an old man at 4-5 than he is now at 11 lol. We didn't even start competing until he was 5/6. In fact he's had personal bests in like 3-4 events in the last year at disc competitions lol. And that was with us recently adding flyball training (I compete with my other dog because she doesn't have a reliable enough recall outside to do disc) for some fun and him doing canine musical freestyle work. And he is usually the one to start the collie smackdowns at home. But then again my 5 year old girlie looks and acts like she's 8mon old so maybe my home is like neverland for dogs. I take in "lost dogs" and they stop growing up lol.

Best of luck with Denali!

[justsam]

Winecat recommend an indoor "play place" sort of thing for dogs to me that has an agility course. I'm toying with the idea of seeing if Denali would do well with that. And as a bonus, it'd be more exercise for me.

That's so cute about the neverland for dogs in your home.

[dirtyred]

Our dog used to be like this--she would go absolutely crazy at the sight of other dogs. We determined that she's just very social and likes to be around other dogs. We take her to daycare once a week so she gets lots of playtime with other dogs, and that has vastly improved her behavior when we're out on walks.

[ahsweetlee]

I have an Aussie like this. Our trainer said the breed, probably just like a collie, is meant to be an off leash dog. It's just in their genes. They are herders so being on the leash isn't natural. When my Aussie is on a leash you'd think she was the nastiest dog, she gets so worked up. As soon as she's off her leash around people she is fine.