What would you do?....

H

Honeypots

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I have a 5yr old border collie. We've had him almost 4yrs and got him from Dogs Trust. He's a lovely dog BUT...

He's started lunging at my ponies.. He used to just mooch about, sitting and watching them. I've noticed a few times though that he's lunged at them, usually their back legs and they've shot off with a start but today he bit one of my ponies on the nose and drawn blood
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I'm quite fed up tbh as I also have two JRT's who are fine with the horses but since I have to keep telling the collie off and to keep away they're getting twitchy. The ponies are getting defensive and are occasionally pouncing on the JRT's who tiddle about mindig their own business and its allround turning into a bit of a nightmare.

When he bit my pony today I could have swung for him and tbh right now could happily give himaway...
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What would you do in this situation..
 
I sympathise but................. it is a Border Collie all said and done and as such is really a working dog. He is only doing what he would naturally do if working sheep or cattle and that is very hard to get out of them because it is so natural to them. Even if you trained long and hard, it's so inherently bred into them that you would never know if and when it might re appear.
Have to admit it is a gripe of mine (no offence meant to you and you have done well to have him so long without it happening before) when people buy as a pet, any type of working dog for a special purpose and then don't accept it is a working breed, then moan when it does what it does totally naturally; very unfair on a dog not to be able to do what it is bred for in some degree or another IMHO; you must give it something to do whether it be obedience, agility or even fly ball if you must, but working dogs do need a job.
Only ways around it I can see are either to not let it out when the ponies are about, fence your yard so it can't get into the field, shut it up somewhere if you have the ponies around or failing that, send it back to the Dog Trust if you can't find a genuine working home for it. Sorry.
 
Thanks..Yep..I appreciate what you are saying but I thought biting was a big no no for working dogs. He is a pet but is never shut away. He has access to outside all day long and has always rounded the ponies up and just sat and watched them. He thinks that is his job! I'm happy for him to do this but the biting is just a step too far and now I feel I have to restrict him which I don't want to have to do.
I think I may have to secure the paddock so he can't get in there then. Its a shame because I feel it'll be stressful for him not being able to get to them and it'll mean my JRT's won't be able to either..
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my collies the same, i just dont take her to the stables any more

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Thanks but my ponies are at home. He has always had free rein to the garden and paddock and has always been fine..
 
HP, you don't have to lock him away, you have to train him not to bite them. I know it sounds easier said than done but if you watch Cesar
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(my hero) you WILL see that it is easy to stop them from doing this.

I don't know if you remember back a couple of years ago when I was talking about my big black shepherd dog? Well she went through a phase of jumping up and trying to bite the horses on their noses at feeding time. I bought a zap collar, and although I only had to use the vibrate setting, it worked. I would have used the zap setting had it not. I used to tell her "no" as soon as I saw her going to lunge at them, if she did not respond to me then I vibrated her (not in a dirty way of course
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). I only used the collar for 2 days and she stopped.

She's 3 years old now and has never done it again, well she's had a moment where she has wanted to but I say "Tsscht!" to her and this works immediately. I no longer say "no" to my dogs thanks to Cesar as "Tsscht!" works sooo much better!

I admit I did cheat, however had I known of Cesar back then, I don't think I would have needed to cheat, I believe that "Tsscht!" would have worked perfectly. You may have to do a bit of leash training to begin with but then your dog should get the hang of it off the leash in no time.
 
Yes Cesar Millan. He is wonderful. I watch him on his programme "The Dog Whisperer" almost every night.
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HP, you don't have to lock him away, you have to train him not to bite them. I know it sounds easier said than done but if you watch Cesar
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(my hero) you WILL see that it is easy to stop them from doing this.


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I remember seeing a couple of episodes where he deals with dogs obsessed with horses. I had a look at Cesar's website and it mentions this one, which I've seen:

"Cesar visits Caryn Lebduska's vast horse ranch. But with all 25 horses under her control, it's Caryn's 3-year-old Rottweiler Buffy who is giving her the most trouble. Buffy has a dangerous obsession with the horses, especially the newborn foals. Caryn has never experienced this obsessive type of behavior before. She has trained Buffy to stay outside the corral, but now, Buffy seems to be testing her limits. Caryn is frightened that Buffy will start jumping through the gate into the horse ring. Will Cesar succeed in roping in this Rottie?"

I seem to remember one involving a Blue Heeler/Border Collie as well, but can't find the info.

Maybe get in touch and see if the relevant DVD is available to buy.
 
Do you remember the one with the red and white border collie? I think the woman lived in Florida and the border collie kept chasing the horses in the corral. Cesar was pretty firm with that dog and whilst he was there, it responded very well indeed. I was never too sure that the silly old woman who owned it would be able to have the same firmness to keep the dog under control though.
 
Oh this is all very encouraging!
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He's such a great kind dog apart from this so if I can stop this behaviour it'd be great. I suppose I haven't been vigilent enough. I should've nipped it in the bud when he started nipping at their tails/back legs. I think I was half waiting for one of them to kick out but they won't. This really infuriated me though to see him draw blood so I'll make it my mission to sort it out if possible even if he has to wear a muzzle while out there until its sorted..
 
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Do you remember the one with the red and white border collie? I think the woman lived in Florida and the border collie kept chasing the horses in the corral. Cesar was pretty firm with that dog and whilst he was there, it responded very well indeed. I was never too sure that the silly old woman who owned it would be able to have the same firmness to keep the dog under control though.

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I have a vague recollection of that episode. Cesar has incredible results with dogs that exhibit fixation, doesn't he? I seem to remember a Heeler that attacked farm equipment, which is sort of a similar problem, and that dog was transformed.

Lots to work with, OP--I'm sure you'll get the issue sorted!

(On a side note, do you remember the English Bulldog and the skateboard? Every bulldog/BT I've met seems to have an issue with skateboards, Stella included. She is good at ignoring them on the street now, but I have to put her right back on the lead if one zooms through the park, otherwise she tries to hunt them down and bite the wheels
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)
 
Yes I've seen the bulldog with the skateboard one a few times and it still amazes me with his results.

Also the Harley Davidson one - with a BT? I think it was anyway. I liked that one too.
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Jenny - we are in North America and over here Cesar is on every night at 5pm on National Geographic ... at least he is where I live.
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I agree with Tia that a zap collar may do the trick. I had a lurcher who used to run around our horses winding them up to the point they would try to kick out. To save the hound from getting injured I bought a collar and found after a couple of welltimed 'belts' he would leave the horses alone with the warning vibration only.

Some people I'm sure will say these collars are cruel, but it was a choice of that or the hound get killed by one lethal kick from a horse.
 
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Please don't use a zap collar on it. As MFH_09 says - give it a job.

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He doesn't need a job.. he's fine 90% of the time.. he just needs to learn not to get so carried away..

I'd never use a zap collar but have tried the vibrate ones..
 
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