Long haired collie who bites

jack presley

Me and my wife are dog lovers (we have 5 now) but the last one we took in from the pound was a long haired collie. He's a thorougbred so at the time we were quite surprised to find a dog as beautiful as him in the pound. He was about a year old.

However it is now obvious why he was put in the pound. He bites! We've had him for a couple of months now and he snapped a bit at me and my wife but over the past week he's bitten two kids. Nothing too bad but a bites a bite and he broke the skin on one of them!

We took him to the vet to see if there was anything wrong with him that was causing him to bite but she said he wasn't sick or anything. We can't the risk having him around anymore so we've decided he has to go.

I don't want to have him put down so is there anywhere that would take him and maybe do something with his temperament? Does that Dogs Trust place take in unwanted dogs? I hate doing it but one of the kids is petrafied of him now and I don't trust him around the kids either.

Is there any happy solution?

Sigma Force

There are tons of collies ..pure bred..in the pounds.

Has his biting gotten worse since you had him? Have you at least taken him to a dog trainer that uses humane methods of training, although sometimes medical reasons cause problems it's more often than not behavioural and vets in general aren't qualified dog behaviourists.

Collies can snap it's a bit of a trait with them, usually not aggressive it can be like a reflex. But this behaviour can be changed.

You can't expect any dog to change their behaviour unless the owner puts them in the right direction, it's not acceptable of course that he has bitten and can understand why you don't want him but any rescue dog even a non rescue needs training and rescues especially need some guidance.

Highly recommend trying out dog training ireland or the like they deal with these kinds of problems all the time.

Not funny.Have a ban from here aswell.

lrushe

Collies aren't for every body especially if they come from good working lines. They are so intelligent and need so much mental and physcial stimulation or they are known to become biters.
Try emailing Uisneach Border Collie Rescue Ireland, uisneach@utvinternet.com, they are based in Westmeath as far as I know.

jack presley

Guineapigrescue wrote: »

There are tons of collies ..pure bred..in the pounds.

Has his biting gotten worse since you had him? Have you at least taken him to a dog trainer that uses humane methods of training, although sometimes medical reasons cause problems it's more often than not behavioural and vets in general aren't qualified dog behaviourists.

Collies can snap it's a bit of a trait with them, usually not aggressive it can be like a reflex. But this behaviour can be changed.

You can't expect any dog to change their behaviour unless the owner puts them in the right direction, it's not acceptable of course that he has bitten and can understand why you don't want him but any rescue dog even a non rescue needs training and rescues especially need some guidance.

Highly recommend trying out dog training ireland or the like they deal with these kinds of problems all the time.

yeah, his biting has gotten worse. At first he was just snapping at us without making contact so maybe it was only a matter of time before he got one of us. He actually regularlry attacked one of the other dogs in the house but that was him just trying to assert his dominance I suppose.

The second bite of the kid was actually an attack as opposed to just a bite. He went for 12 year old and when he was pushed away he went back for more and it took a few kicks to get him to stop. I wasn't there but the kid said he wasn't doing anything unusual with the dog and i believe him as he's not the type of kid who would be cruel to an animal.

Sigma Force

Since he's gotten worse it is most likely something you are doing wrong, not having a go none of us get it right all the time.

But it does mean it most likely can be solved, going to good training classes and perhaps agility will also give you a chance to chat with the trainer to help work out how to get him to get along well with any other dogs as well.

It's not expensive can be as little as a tenner a session, collies need to be kept busy get him focused on tennis balls or a specific toy, playing fetch regularly with him at regular intervils eg 10 mins intesive ball throwing every hour if there's someone always home that is. Keep him busy and tire him out for now until you can get to training classes.

Clicker training works well with dogs too.

jack presley

Guineapigrescue wrote: »

Since he's gotten worse it is most likely something you are doing wrong, not having a go none of us get it right all the time.

But it does mean it most likely can be solved, going to good training classes and perhaps agility will also give you a chance to chat with the trainer to help work out how to get him to get along well with any other dogs as well.

It's not expensive can be as little as a tenner a session, collies need to be kept busy get him focused on tennis balls or a specific toy, playing fetch regularly with him at regular intervils eg 10 mins intesive ball throwing every hour if there's someone always home that is. Keep him busy and tire him out for now until you can get to training classes.

Clicker training works well with dogs too.

Thanks for all the advice.

I don't know what to do now. If there's a chance we can train him, I'd love to keep him but I don't know can we take the risk of having him in the house with the kids at the moment. My wife definitely wouldn't be comfortable anyway. I know it's like asking how long is a piece of a string but how long do you think it would take to train a dog like this to get him out of biting people?

CreedonsDogDayc

jack presley wrote: »

Thanks for all the advice.

I don't know what to do now. If there's a chance we can train him, I'd love to keep him but I don't know can we take the risk of having him in the house with the kids at the moment. My wife definitely wouldn't be comfortable anyway. I know it's like asking how long is a piece of a string but how long do you think it would take to train a dog like this to get him out of biting people?

Not sure how long it takes, but as far as im aware the whole family can attend the training classes at dog training ireland, and they do one on one training. that could build your families trust in the dog.

Or have someone come to the house so they can evaluate the dog in its natural surroundings. The whole family should be involved in the training

The Sweeper

On the flip side, I don't think it's appropriate for the OP to continue to keep a dog that he knows will bite his children, unless he can absolutely guarantee that the dog will never, ever be left alone with the kids. Unless he can guarantee that the dog and the children will never be left alone together, then it's not fair on his kids for him to keep the dog, even while they wait for training classes to start.

The other thing is the dog may not be coping well in a multi-dog household. Five dogs is a lot of dogs, and the number has to be taken into consideration in terms of whether the dog is getting the attention it needs. A training class will address this, but some animals just cope better in single-animal households.

peasant

lrushe wrote: »

Try emailing Uisneach Border Collie Rescue Ireland, uisneach@utvinternet.com, they are based in Westmeath as far as I know.

+1

roxiesmammy

as much as i love dogs, i have enough, my kids would always come first. If u think the dog could be a danger to your kids, i would try and get her into a rescue. After all if your kid gets badly hurt would you be able to forgive yourself?

pitbull_fanatic

training classes would help a bit but collies need to run. they get frustrated easy. bring his to a field every day and let him run for as long as he can. i had a collie years back and he was an absolute lunatic!!! until his energy was drained. when he's tired is the best time to train him because he wont try go against you he'l just do what you ask.

Graces7

pitbull_fanatic wrote: »

training classes would help a bit but collies need to run. they get frustrated easy. bring his to a field every day and let him run for as long as he can. i had a collie years back and he was an absolute lunatic!!! until his energy was drained. when he's tired is the best time to train him because he wont try go against you he'l just do what you ask.

Indeed yes; ours runs and runs and runs when she gets in the field.

Their energy and need to run is astounding.

madrabui

pitbull_fanatic wrote: »

training classes would help a bit but collies need to run. they get frustrated easy. bring his to a field every day and let him run for as long as he can. i had a collie years back and he was an absolute lunatic!!! until his energy was drained. when he's tired is the best time to train him because he wont try go against you he'l just do what you ask.

+100!

Collies are very bright. They will get very aggressive if they are bored.