Having a Reactive Dog is Difficult and Costly, Study Shows

[Errin Paddywack]

My friend has just taken on a rehome collie bitch, now just 15 months. She was bred by someone who breeds for nice easy trainable dogs and the rest of her litter are fine. This one was bought by a couple who had lost their old collie so wanted another. Unfortunately we don't know what went wrong but suspect too much stimulation and not enough socialisation. They took her to scent training with someone my friend knows well and when she heard the dog was needing rehoming suggested her to my friend. However at the time her dog was old and she didn't want to upset him so didn't follow it up. The she lost her boy very suddenly and this dog was suggested to her again. It was now with a behaviourist having been handed back to the breeder who sent it to be sorted out. The owners had been having trouble with it getting wildly excited and biting them. They had the dog assessed but weren't prepared to put the work in. I went with my friend to meet this dog and she was a sweetheart and very pretty. Behaviourist had worked with her and said she was dog reactive but manageable and also reactive to traffic but again controllable with care. However what none of us thought about was where my friend lived compared to where she was currently in a quiet cul-de-sac in a village. Friend lives in a terraced house with a busy road, buses, cars etc, schools close by and lots of other dogs.
My friend soon found out about the biting. The dog was rushing at the window when buses went past then turning and going for my friend and biting hard. First couple of weeks she wore gardening gloves in the house to protect her hands. Her go to when over the top is to bark and bite. Lovely sweet dog the rest of the time. She is improving but going to be a long job. She also chases flying birds.
It is lucky that my friend is used to dealing with rescue dogs with problems but she is still finding this daunting and hard work.
It just emphasises how essential it is to give a dog the right upbringing from the start.

 

[maisie06]

and before anybody says it didn't used to be like this when they were a kid and dogs roamed the streets. Those dogs had a choice. They didn't have to mix with other dogs if they didn't want to, they could walk away. Now every body wants to walk their dogs into other dogs.

Agreed -I find it infuriating, if I see someone with dogs heading towards me 9 times out of 10 I go another way, move away, give everyone space etc but the amount of people who then try to head towars you to initiate a meeting is phenomenol,,,, fluffybutt wants to say hello is the opener...well I don't and nor do my dogs, ugghh

There's a lovely guy who has a couple of American Bulldogs locally, they are lovely, so well behaved and focused on him, never any trouble, he actually said thanks to me as I spotted him called mine in popped leads on we had a nice chat about this as all dogs just sat quietly, his dogs have been attacked by little fluffy monsters on several occasions and HE was abused by the owners of having dangerous dogs....the mind boggles.

 

[Moobli]

My friend has just taken on a rehome collie bitch, now just 15 months. She was bred by someone who breeds for nice easy trainable dogs and the rest of her litter are fine. This one was bought by a couple who had lost their old collie so wanted another. Unfortunately we don't know what went wrong but suspect too much stimulation and not enough socialisation. They took her to scent training with someone my friend knows well and when she heard the dog was needing rehoming suggested her to my friend. However at the time her dog was old and she didn't want to upset him so didn't follow it up. The she lost her boy very suddenly and this dog was suggested to her again. It was now with a behaviourist having been handed back to the breeder who sent it to be sorted out. The owners had been having trouble with it getting wildly excited and biting them. They had the dog assessed but weren't prepared to put the work in. I went with my friend to meet this dog and she was a sweetheart and very pretty. Behaviourist had worked with her and said she was dog reactive but manageable and also reactive to traffic but again controllable with care. However what none of us thought about was where my friend lived compared to where she was currently in a quiet cul-de-sac in a village. Friend lives in a terraced house with a busy road, buses, cars etc, schools close by and lots of other dogs.
My friend soon found out about the biting. The dog was rushing at the window when buses went past then turning and going for my friend and biting hard. First couple of weeks she wore gardening gloves in the house to protect her hands. Her go to when over the top is to bark and bite. Lovely sweet dog the rest of the time. She is improving but going to be a long job. She also chases flying birds.
It is lucky that my friend is used to dealing with rescue dogs with problems but she is still finding this daunting and hard work.
It just emphasises how essential it is to give a dog the right upbringing from the start.

I do hope your friend manages to help this little dog. With their sensitivity to noise and movement I often think border collies really shouldn’t be kept in busy urban homes. I know there are some who cope admirably, but it saddens me to see collies spinning in circles on the lead as cars go past

My own rehome collie was brought up on the outskirts of Edinburgh, she was raised with care, well socialised and the owners sought professional help with training but she was a car chaser, lunged at joggers and bicycles in the park, was stalky and snappy with other dogs and has started snapping at her owners in the house. Since she came to me (very rural farm) she has stopped most of this unwanted behaviour. When I take her somewhere a little busier she tends to lean away from traffic now and if something particularly noisy (like a bus) passes she tries to hide in bushes etc, but with encouragement and tasty rewards she is getting more confident. If she lived in an urban environment I think her stress levels would remain very high and the behaviours would likely have become worse.

 

[Clodagh]

Slightly off topic but the only collies we see here are workers. They are dirty and scruffy and have collars ranging from baler twine upwards. They sleep outside and would be considered unloved by many, but you never see a behavioural issue with them.
EP, not judging your friend for helping this dog.

 

[Moobli]

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[Clodagh]

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[Jenko109]

Oh gawd. Someone explain.