Having an aggressive yet affectionate dog pts

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I have a collie that was abused by my boyfriends brother as a puppy. We don't know exactly what happened but it turned him very aggressive when around men and when being touched before he decided he wanted to be

He was always 'our dog' when when my boyfriend left me he decided louis would be too much hassle and left him with me.yoday someone came and saw a room I am renting out as I was left trying to pay for a £550 house on my own and louis bit him. I just don't know what to do anymore, he is the most affectionate and loving dog when he knows you but I'm not sure if I am doing right by him when he is clearly unhappy about new people.

This is breaking my heart
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Try a specialist rescue place - one specifically for Borders.

My uncle has taken two like your dog, and they are both wonderful family pets now.
 
My mum had her best dog put to sleep when I was a baby, he would have ended up killing someone trying to 'protect' us.

However this doesn't sound quite so serious - could you investigate a good trainer?
 
He may never be 100%, but there are ways and means of helping him feel a little more secure and less threatened when guests/strangers arrive, atleast until he can build up a little familiarity, it's common of even the best natured dogs to show territorial aggression/body language towards strangers as a warning.
I have a rescue, whom I kept back for the exact reasons u describe,(he was locked in a kitchen, and tormended daily by drunken yobs, with no exercise,(he is a Wire Haired Pointer)
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so u can see how frustrated the lack of exercise and stimulation was leading to his demise, and he finally snapped
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and they sh!t themselves and tried to sell him in the local advertiser
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he is fine with me and he will stay with me for good, I have put alot of training into him and built up a nice bond, he trusts and respects me and my OH, but in the wrong hands, of maybe someone who does not understand his needs and can understand his body language he would pose a pretty dangerous threat. (he is/was possibly the most aggressive rescue I have ever dealt with, he is the most loving affectionate dog u could ever meet once he is familiarised, but he is wary of strangers, I never make a fuss of this, and he never takes long to eventualy greet a stranger in his own time.

How did the incident happen?
Did he give warning first?
 
There have been a few incidents but this recent one knocked me back to sqaure one.

I am obviously aware of his behaviour and normally i ask the new stranger to sit on the kitchen stool and completely ignore both my dogs (one is very friendly) no eye contact nothing..

Let Louis sniff you but leave him be, this generally works and over the following 30mins or so he will start to sit next to them and beg for a smooth but i tell them to continue to ignore him as this is what happened to a local dog behaviorist who knew better than me and he got bitten badly aswell when he took one step too far.

basically only once they have been a few times and when they arrive he doesnt follow me around or feel the need to stay with me do i say they can smooth him and generally this works no problems.. he then remembers them and every time he meets them he is 100% ok.

In saying this, there have been three major incidents where this wasnt followed and he has bitten.

The first was my friend who is the 'sqeally' type of girl, she came in my front door quietly and had never met louis before she shouted 'hello' he jumped a foot in the air in shock and went running into the corridor to see whoever it was- got caught in the small corridor with a girl he didnt know and bit her leg. It bruised and scarred, he broke the skin.

He bites and runs away.

The 2nd was when she had a friend over, my OH told her not to touch him- my housemate said he was fine and she touched him and he bit her.

The 3rd was today, same small corridor as before.. i have a gate that means if anyone comes in the front door the dogs cannot get to it (so everyone has space) The gate had come loose and i hadnt realised.. my new housemate came in and my little terrier pushed the gate open- she came running in to greet the new guy and as he bent down to see her i opened my mouth to say 'Dont' and by that point louis was closely behind her. His hand was already on display and he bit his hand. 3 puncture wounds and blood.

he then ran away but i muzzled him and sent him to wait outside.

Its random because i never had to do any introductions with my mum or sister to louis and he adores them both- yet rarely see's them more tha once or twice every few months!!

He also, after biting my old housemate, utterly adores her aswell and will follow her around, lick her, cuddle with her etc.

I have a friend who has started to come round every few weeks and i have started the above introduction stage with her and so far so good, he even licked her face last weekend quite by suprise and affectionately but i told her not to smooth him yet. She obv talks to him and looks at him etc and he is all fine with this now.

Obviously his biggest bond is with me- he is very obedient and affectionate and has never ever attempted to touch me whereas he once bit my Ex when my Ex used his leg to manover him and he nipped his leg.

Men are his biggest issue 100%
 
sounds like nerves really, I would consider a collie rescue if necessary but only a v. good recommended one.
 
Depending on how badly he bit will depend on his outcome, is the person he bit taking it any further?

Most rescues can't/won't rehome a dog that has bitten and not just for their own policies, it is a rehoming nightmare to rehome a dog that is known to have bitten, you have to make an adopter aware for legal reasons if a dog has bitten and there aren't many people willing to take on a dog knowing this, therefore the dog is likely to end up in kennels for the rest of its' life. Not a nice thing to watch or see, some dogs litterally become insain with this. I therefore wouldn't go down the rescue route. If the person he bit isn't taking it any further, I'd go down the trainer route, see if you can't sort out the problem but if the problem is not able to be sorted out unfortunately faced with the alternative as harsh as it sounds I would rather euthanase.
 
Agree with competitiondiva, I would be very suprised if a rescue would take him on, we do sometimes take on aggressive dogs, but it really depends on time and space, considering they need alot of one on one time spent with them, and the other nicer non problem dogs have to take an unfair back seat, some people would hand them into kennel type rescue and not mention their aggression, this way they would get passed from pillar to post then pts at the end
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as they simply don't have experienced staff/volunteers to dealt with such cases.
so unless the OP can pre warn everyone to be patient and take precautions (which it sounds like u are already sensibly trying to do), I would also go down the pts route then pass him on.
 
No-one he has bitten is taking it further, mainly because they have been friends etc aside from the housemate incident and so far he doesnt seem hugely worried either.

I suppose i am torn really, obv i dont want to have him pts and he has never bitten anyone when we are out on walks but i wonder if that is because he has plenty of space to avoid them and its not in his terriory plus, of course, he has his tennis ball!

He will not approach strangers, dogs etc out on walks- he simply isnt interested in them in any way (although never aggressive to dogs or any other animals)

I just go through times where i get frustrated about the whole thing especially when i never made him the way he is.
 
sounds like its territorial, I'd be inclined to keep going but obviously it's difficult and at the end of the day, you're doing your best and it may not be enough, might be better to pts before someone is seriously hurt eg child.
 
Does he get plenty of exercise and how does he react to people outside the house? I'm sure you know collies need lots to do and can go a bit mad if they're not kept knackered and busy. How long ago was he abused? It could be too late to change him but it can be mananged in exactly the way you are at the mo, just be 100% sure the gate is shut and people who visit the house know in advance how to act. It's a persons natural inclination to pet a dog but if it's not benefitting the dog just ask people to ignore him permanently. It would be a shame to rehome him as you know him so well, he could end up going somewhere less inclined to work with him and he could end up pts anyway.
 
QR Until it is sorted, can you keep him muzzled when you know someone is coming round? Or in a public place when he may be insecure?

Unless this would reinforce fear behaviour - I stand to be corrected on this, just an idea.
 
Exercise is twice a day an hour each time and if i am out and about he comes in the car with me aswell while i potter etc.

Its hard exercise as he loves tennis balls so its a constant hour of tennis ball catching etc.
 
Just a query but is he entire? Could be that he sees himself as an alpha male and his role is to protect you. It sounds like he is always with you, does he sleep in your bed or in the same room as you? maybe he has become too possessive over you. I have dealt with a few aggressive entire male dogs who have been fine with females but they regard any male as competition to their alpha status and become very aggressive to them. Maybe neutering is a possibility as a start and then training to ensure he is treated as a lower member of the pack over other men around etc???
 
Nope, he was 'chopped off' when he was 9 months old and sleeps outside in the garage at night with my terrier or whenever i am out of the house.
 
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