darcy just attacked another dog : (

sounds like you are really stressed about this, it gives you a real fright when this sort of thing happens, but they are dogs and sometimes things happen. We just have to try and minimise the risk though. I do think that going and grabbing her and putting her on the lead everytime a dog comes will have contributed to if not caused this. You were telling her that it was something to worry about or be suspicious of or be afraid of. If she is so ball orientated then play with this and keep her distracted with it.
I would ask the agility trainer if she can help with one to one or recommend someone to help. I would also keep her on the lead til you get it sorted and go round and check on the wee dog.
 
Petunia said:
Disagree. A trainer will do as well these days as mostly they understand behaviour. I have previously trained and have done behaviourist courses as well as control of dangerous dogs - most other reputable trainers do. A behaviourist or "whisperer" may charge you more to do exactly the same as a trainer because that is what they call themselves.
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Agree to disagree then. Personally i wouldn't want someone who had just done a few behaviorist courses working on my potentially aggressive dog.
 
Our boys spend considerable time and money and go abroad for behaviour courses.
You'd (non-specific you!!) be a pretty crap trainer if you didn't understand behaviour, and a pretty crap behaviourist if you couldn't train a dog or help the owner train their dog.
 
CaveCanem said:
Our boys spend considerable time and money and go abroad for behaviour courses.
You'd (non-specific you!!) be a pretty crap trainer if you didn't understand behaviour, and a pretty crap behaviourist if you couldn't train a dog or help the owner train their dog.
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Very true but the fact is there are many people who call themselves trainers that have nothing behind them other than training a few easy dogs.
I would expect a behaviorist to show me their degree in small animal behavior and also have a ton of experience.
 
There are behaviourists doing the same, trust me....do a few courses, bish bash bosh...dog isn't easy and didn't read about it in the textbook, sorry, can't help you, off you pop.
If Lula tells us where she is this would be a lot easier :p
 
Petunia said:
Disagree. A trainer will do as well these days as mostly they understand behaviour. I have previously trained and have done behaviourist courses as well as control of dangerous dogs - most other reputable trainers do. A behaviourist or "whisperer" may charge you more to do exactly the same as a trainer because that is what they call themselves.

You say Darcy is 100% recall - actually clearly she isn't. That isn't a criticism because I don't believe many dogs are in certain circumstances, which is why you back it up with distance commands. Even an aggressive dog in the down automatically becomes subservient. If you have that control, then a muzzle isn't necessary and you have the toys and treats as your armoury.

It may be that Darcy is actually fearful of other dogs or, as a bitch, she feels she may have to set ground rules which other dogs may not understand. My bitch is certainly like that given half a chance.

The fact you are worried about it and realise you need to address it is full credit to you. You clearly love your dog and hate the thought of people thinking ill of her. Training with an intelligent dog like yours is huge fun and takes the hassle and stress out of what happened to you. If you say whereabouts you are, might be able to suggest someone who could help you.
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hi petunia, thankyou for your kind reply. I am in south northants, near Brackley, but in a kind of circle around Buckingham and Bicester. If you could recommend anyone id be grateful.

Our first Agility Class yesterday was great fun. But i had to laugh when i arrived (or i think i might have cried a little!) as with darcy's fun attitiude towards other dogs then only other dog in the class was...a rottweiler!

He was a lovely boy but hugely interested in my bitch and i thought oh my lord, i thought if he comes out of the tunnel and by passes his handler and comes straight to darcy to say hello and she decides to pick a fight with him we're definitely gonnas' for sure!

Darcy was nervous just being around him at the start of the class, his presence was enough to have her barking worriedly and trying to run away although he was showing no signs of aggression towards her whatsoever.


Im thinking of perhaps contacting her breeder who had her until she was 9months just to see if she can think of any incident in darcy's past that has caused this fear..

anyhoo, by the end of the session.... climbing up the ladders, jumping, tunnels, BRILLIANT fun! she was much more desensitized to the rotti's presence (called Fluffy - a rotti called Fluffy- i love it!) so these classed being around other dogs i do think will help but im so glad there was only 1 in the class to start, i think it might have blown her mind if there'd been more for her to worry about,

i did go round to check on the little terrier darcy fought with after class yesterday. neighbors didnt answer the door :( Hoping they weren't in not just not answering cos they didnt want to see me!
i left a good bottle of wine and a note apologising again on their doorstep. Saw the little dog on the Green with his owner this morning though and he seemed fine swaggering about bless him so t least i know he's alive and has both ears!. i'll go and try to check back later though..

thankyou to everyone who gave me advise on this thread.
Im definitely on the look out for a one on one trainer/behaviourist for her.
 
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chestnuttymare said:
I do think that going and grabbing her and putting her on the lead everytime a dog comes will have contributed to if not caused this. You were telling her that it was something to worry about or be suspicious of or be afraid of. If she is so ball orientated then play with this and keep her distracted with it.
I would ask the agility trainer if she can help with one to one or recommend someone to help. I would also keep her on the lead til you get it sorted and go round and check on the wee dog.
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agree with this 100%. thats the way id been thinking chestnutty exactly if i grabbed her and put her on the lead when another dogs around its going to make it worse.
see i LET her meet the dog yesterday, in the past ive always called her away just in case this happened but i didnt expect what happened yesterday and i stupidly took the risk as i didnt SEE it as a huge risk. she's got a great (and her only) friend, a tiny little shitzu and this dog was only a little bigger and she approached it in a friendly manner so i thought it would be fine.

but now i have to do the grabbing her and putting her on the lead when another dog appears until i get a trainer to over come this problem

what other choice is there if i cant trust her to meet other dogs at the moment? But thats exactly what my thinking was too.
 
Hi Lula

glad you had a good time at agililty and sounds like Darcy did too, did the trainer not recommend anyone for you?.

I never knew why my Darcy reacted as she was a rescue and I realised it was better to concentrate on what she was doing and getting her out there to meet as many dogs as possible. The fact your Darcy enjoyed herself is very telling because she was having to concentrate on you and I see that as very good sign.

I dont know if you said what age,breed she is and whether she has been spayed. Also what do you feed her? also very relevant.
 
Dobiegirl said:
Hi Lula

glad you had a good time at agililty and sounds like Darcy did too, did the trainer not recommend anyone for you?.

I never knew why my Darcy reacted as she was a rescue and I realised it was better to concentrate on what she was doing and getting her out there to meet as many dogs as possible. The fact your Darcy enjoyed herself is very telling because she was having to concentrate on you and I see that as very good sign.

I dont know if you said what age,breed she is and whether she has been spayed. Also what do you feed her? also very relevant.
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agility is brilliant fun isnt it dobie? i was looking for your thread from last week to read again about your agility class as i couldnt remember what you posted about..

Trainer didnt really recommend anyone she thought could help tbh... Just being in the presence of this huge dog was enough to worry the pants off her but yes, by the end she was tired from the mental work and much more relaxed.
She did enjoy herself and went through the tunnel first time :)

we dont really know any big dogs we could walk with though which is a bit of a shame but the agility classes are mostly every week which will help her a lot with that i hope... as long as no 'incidents' !

she's a full border collie as far as i know (pic on OP) although wasnt sure you can get sable and white collies so very possibly there's a mix in there somewhere?

She came from her breeder at 9 months and my ex OH had her for 4 years when he moved in with a new girlfriend in january and was going to dump darcy in a rescue center as he basically couldnt be arsed with her.

Charming eh? :mad:
Im not a doggy person tbh dobie but thats a crap thing to do so i took her myself to live with me in january.
She's turned 5 in march.
Now, i know you will jump on me for this but she's not spayed yet but i have her booked in to be spayed in november as vet said i have to wait 3 months from her last season.
i have a cat which she's fine with so no 'little fluffy prey thing MUST KILL!! drive'

Atm im feeding her pedigree dry food. She was on Bakers but thanks to this forum that crap's now off the menu! :D
 
think darcy is a full border collie unless anyone thinks otherwise?
sorry not the best pic to tell from.

IMG-20110925-00041.jpg
 
Darcy is a beauty and you and her had a narrow escape from your ex OH.:eek: If you can get her off the pedigree I would, I feed mine Skinners Duck & Rice which is about £20 and last my 2 about 10days topped up with sardines in tomato sauce twice a week. Our pup is now on Fish4puppies which is expensive but she is a Lancashire Heeler and dosnt eat so much.:DI previously fed Autarky Summer which is a lot cheaper but they did look well on it.

Sounds like Agility is going to be her thing but if you can afford it go to an obedience class as well, I know you said she is pretty obedient but it is all about the socialisation which perhaps she never had and caused her problem.

Thats great that you have booked her in for spaying the last thing you need is unwanted puppies.
 
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