Pup advice

riddler95

Iam just looking for an experienced dog owners view on my 1 year old pup.
He's a male dog that went from very shy/frightend 2 to 4 month old to a aggresive 9 to 13 months old. This behavior was to other dogs in the park which he gets every day. This is probably normal but today he bit/pinched me on the leg when i tried to run with him. Do pups act like this trough excitment?
Thanks

scudzilla

I'll ask the obvious to get the ball rolling, has he still got his nuts?

EGAR

As a 1yro your dog is not a pup anymore, more like a teenager .

There are several factors involved, breed/type, feeding, obedience/training level, socialisation, exercise level and so on. There is no blanket rule why _a_dog behaves this way or that.

Aggression towards other dogs in not normal unless it is leash aggression which is quite common. Perhaps you could explain a bit more?

riddler95

He's a 13 month sheep dog that gets about 10 hours a week exercise and eats twice a day, mixer and tinned. A bit of a cranky dog when he's eating. Still has he's nuts!

riddler95

Must add he's a grand dog in the house but once he knows iam taking him out he gets very xcited. He was grand using a Halti leed at first but now he still pulls..

Caoimhín

It sounds like he is trying to assert his dominance, which is entirely normal for a dog of his age.

I found that with my GS, it just took time and patience to make him realise that he wasnt the boss. From a very early age I had him around other dogs and people. The trick here is to repeat and reward good behaviour.

Also, you should consider getting him neutered.

riddler95

scudzilla wrote: »

I'll ask the obvious to get the ball rolling, has he still got his nuts?

Still has them.

riddler95

Thanks for the replies. Have your dog ever bit you?

Caoimhín

When he gets really excited, and i mean really worked up he can nip at my legs. A firm "No" and ignore him for a bit should make him see sense.

Shanao

Hi there, had a sheepdog for fifteen years so am well used to them and some issues they can have. Sheepdogs, when herding, will often nip the heels of a sheeps leg to get it moving, hence why your dog nipped you, overexcitement and to get you going. That's it really, there's no malice behind it, its simply their instinct to do it. I would definitely reccomend getting him neutered as that will help with some dog aggression, beyond that he sounds like he just needs some training.

Because they're a highly active dog, I'd get him onto a high quality complete food rather than a mix of mixer and tinned stuff- tinned stuff has a lot of sugar in it, as can some of the dried foods and trust me, sugar and sheepdog is a bad combination!! Same as giving kids sugar, it makes them hyper!!
Also start holding his bowl out for him when you're feeding him and get him used to your hand being there; if he growls, take it away from him as food aggression is another way they can show their attempts at dominance.

When it comes to exercise, 10 hours a week is nowhere near enough for a sheepdog. They need 2 hours a day at least (hour in the morning, and an hour in the evening) to keep them from getting frustrated, if you can get him swimming, even better and a lot of sheepdogs (especially our own) loved playing fetch in and out of our local river. Collies were bred to be on the go so they have bucketloads of energy and they need to expend a lot of it to be happy.

Next time you take him out to the park, make sure not to feed him for a couple of hours before, and bring some strong smelling treats that he loves. Does he have basic obedience eg Sit, lie down, give the paw etc? If so, then any time he starts to pull towards another dog, try to distract him with the treat and get him to sit for it.

Hope some of this helps:D

riddler95

Shanao wrote: »

Hi there, had a sheepdog for fifteen years so am well used to them and some issues they can have. Sheepdogs, when herding, will often nip the heels of a sheeps leg to get it moving, hence why your dog nipped you, overexcitement and to get you going. That's it really, there's no malice behind it, its simply their instinct to do it. I would definitely reccomend getting him neutered as that will help with some dog aggression, beyond that he sounds like he just needs some training.

Because they're a highly active dog, I'd get him onto a high quality complete food rather than a mix of mixer and tinned stuff- tinned stuff has a lot of sugar in it, as can some of the dried foods and trust me, sugar and sheepdog is a bad combination!! Same as giving kids sugar, it makes them hyper!!
Also start holding his bowl out for him when you're feeding him and get him used to your hand being there; if he growls, take it away from him as food aggression is another way they can show their attempts at dominance.

When it comes to exercise, 10 hours a week is nowhere near enough for a sheepdog. They need 2 hours a day at least (hour in the morning, and an hour in the evening) to keep them from getting frustrated, if you can get him swimming, even better and a lot of sheepdogs (especially our own) loved playing fetch in and out of our local river. Collies were bred to be on the go so they have bucketloads of energy and they need to expend a lot of it to be happy.

Next time you take him out to the park, make sure not to feed him for a couple of hours before, and bring some strong smelling treats that he loves. Does he have basic obedience eg Sit, lie down, give the paw etc? If so, then any time he starts to pull towards another dog, try to distract him with the treat and get him to sit for it.

Hope some of this helps:D

hi, thanks for above advice
he has all the basic obedience, sit, lie, paw, ect, and does some other little tricks aswell, he loves the river and anytime i have him in the park he generally always goes for a swim and constantly always throwing the ball for him
he is grand for us at home, but once some else comes in he gets crazy excited jumping all over them and is really hyper and takes ages to settle him down.

what food do you give your dog?

Shanao

I'm currently feeding my guys a dry food called Real Nature, but there are plenty of good high quality foods out there- Royal Canin, Hills, Burns, James Wellbeloved, Select Gold, High Five, Orijen, Acana, Eukanuba it just depends really on what you can get. They are more expensive than some, but right now I'm getting a month out of a bag of Real Nature and I'm feeding three dogs on it. It is a completely natural, meat-based diet whereas a lot of foods are more filler than anything. Whatever food you decide to go with in the end, always make sure that the first ingredient in the list is a meat (and meal or dried rather than fresh- fresh means its mostly water), if there's another meat ingredient in the next four ingredients, even better.

How about stay, have you taught him that yet? If you can get him staying for a few seconds, work on this as people come around. Ask one of your friends if you can borrow them for a while and everytime they knock on the door, tell the dog to sit and stay, reward him when he does. Then tell your friend to come in. If the dog moves, the friend goes back out and the dog doesn't get to greet them, then repeat the process until he sits and stays when they come in. Time and patience needs to go into this to make it work. But like I said, collies are highly intelligent so it shouldn't take him too long. Our current one learned the same commands i taught my akita in one hour. It took the akita almost two months to get them right :rolleyes: I guess the collies aren't the most intelligent dog for nothing.

LucyBliss

riddler95 wrote: »

he is grand for us at home, but once some else comes in he gets crazy excited jumping all over them and is really hyper and takes ages to settle him down.

Oh, so you have my dog then??! Because my dog, Jack, went through that exact same phase. People would walk in and he'd be all over them. I had to be consistent and firm in telling him 'no' and I'd use treats to redirect his behaviour when he got too bad. He'd have to sit for them and I would put them on the floor in front of him and tell him to wait. He'd sit patiently a minute (with his head so far to the side, it was like he was channelling David Caruso in CSI:Miami!) and I would give it to him.
He is a very strong willed dog and also had a phase where, on the lead, he would bark at other dogs in what I considered an unnecessarily bolshie attitude. Again, there was correction and redirection - we wouldn't necessarily walk away from the dogs but I would tell him to come on and get him focused on my commands. Not easy when the dog is acting like he's about to tackle the world (when I know in my heart & soul that he's not an aggressive dog because of how he'd behave when my grandmother would practically lean/lie on him and he'd just curl up beside her) but he is a dominant dog. Or would be if given the chance. Which I never gave him. Anytime he tried, he was given short shrift.

Collies are very smart and I agree with Shanao, they will try to herd you, it's in their nature. If you're not going to breed him, I would get him neutered most definitely.