Please help! behaviour issues with daisy!

[FlisT]

Hi everyone

I need some help with my ?3 year old collie cross. We got her a year and a half ago from a family who couldn't cope with her behaviour and don't know much about her life before that.

Daisy is a very affectionate and intelligent dog, but her behaviour is affecting everyone in our family now. She's a nightmare to walk and pulls constantly (despite halti harness), and barks and lunges at other dogs, cars and sometimes people. She goes ballistic when anyone visits or even passes the house, although when people visit once they have made a fuss of her she generally leaves them alone. In the house without distractions she's responsive and has learned tricks and plays games, but outside or with 'strangers' around she's uncontrollable.

I'm thinking that her problems stem from her being a very nervous dog, her body language when she's barking at threats is more defensive than aggressive, but don't know how to help her. She also doesn't socialise well with other dogs, even though she does want to play with them (she has one friend who is a very patient dog who Daisy tries to bully constantly), it's almost like she doesn't know how to be a dog with other dogs??

Any advice appreciated, we love her to bits but it would be nice to be able to invite people to our home and take Daisy out with us without this.

 

[gypsysmum2]

From your description it sounds as if Daisy was not properly socialised as a pup.

There is a critical period for socialisation of the first 12/14 weeks. After that puppies have a fear period and the window is closed for easy socialisation. A dog will be suspicious of everything it did not experience during the critical socialisation period.

It all stems from their wild ancestors who would have learned to trust the dogs and surroundings they encountered during the first 12/14 weeks of life but to then be suspicious of any strange creatures or places after that.

It is possible to help a poorly socialised dog but it can take an awful lot of time and patience. Firstly she needs to have confidence in her family. This means lots of gentle handling and gaining her trust.

From then on gentle introduction to the things she fears. Distance makes the things she is worried about much smaller so letting her see the things she worries about from a distance and giving her time to absorb the fact that they do not hurt her. This may need to be repeated often and in all sorts of situations before she relaxes.

You could use food and toys to lift her emotions while she is absorbing certain situations that usually worry her. For instance taking her a distance from strange dog and feeding her or playing with her. If she will do neither then she is too close or she has not had time to relax properly.

You may find her easier to control on a headcollar like Dogalter or similar. Look for the ones that have a cross cheekpiece as they are more stable. She will only be able to learn to walk nicely on a lead when she is not fearful of her environment. It may be a question of just managing her for the time being.

Work on the ones that matter the most and then tackle the other issues later. For instance you might like to just put her somewhere safe at home when visitors arrive. Some dogs are happy in the car if the weather is suitable. Introduce her to the visitors once they have settled in.

Take really tasty food out on walks to distract her away from strangers. Keep feeding her until they are gone.

You can get more tailored help from a qualified Pet Behaviour Therapist from either COAPE or APBC. Beware of other, less well qualified, advice.

Think back every now and then to how she was when she first came and give yourself a pat on the back for getting this far with her.

 

[NorthamptonDogWalker]

Hi,

I agree with the first reply that Daisy did not get the socialisation when a puppy that's so important. I have a collie called Archie who was a rescue at 7 months. He'll be 2 in July and he has some of the same issues you describe. Archie does not lunge at other dogs or attack people who come to visit but he's very noise sensitive and likely to want to run off if he hears the slightest noise. He's delightful at home with bags of personality and is finally improving outdoors at the parks. He's not great on a lead though and is much happier to have his freedom. His recall was shocking until recently but he's getting much better.

Not all your symptoms are the same as ours but what I've learnt is how sensitive and perhaps even neurotic collies can be. They are certainly not the ideal breed for everyone. What I would say is if you can bear to stick with it things can get better but it will take time and work to help her unlearn the behaviours that she is displaying. Getting help from a professional can certainly help but it's not cheap and one or two sessions may not be enough but could at least provide you with the tools and ideas to continue yourself. In our case we researched and studied as much as we could about collies. Knowledge and patience will pay dividends. When Daisy does the things you report it's important not to get stressed as they pick up on our stress. In our case we tried to avoid the triggers, build his confidence and then really engaged with him and distracted him before just as his fear was about to kick in. We tried Adaptil spray to calm him, thundershirts etc.

Don't expect an easy fix but know that dogs worse than yours have been helped. Good luck with it.