I need to rehome don't I.....

[letsallcountsheep]

I have a 7 month old Collie cross. She is lovely, well trained and full of energy.

She came into season about 3 weeks ago, the temperament has changed a little, she's become a little possessive over me and food

2 incidents worry me, when my daughter and I were stroking her my daughter leaned in to give her a peck on the cheek and she nipped her nose, she sometimes gets over excited giving kisses but it scared me enough to pull her away and smack on her nose to stop her. The second happened this morning, I was making my dogs lick mat, I was walking to the freezer to set it and my cat(12) walked across my path, my dog snapped and went for her, she didn't actually get my cat as she ran away. I locked my dog in the kitchen while I checked my cat.

I have a dog walker while I work part time in an office. So she's not home alone all day, she says both incidents are completely out of character and could be because she is in season but I don't think I can relax with her now.

I mentioned we might have to rehome her to my daughter and she was heartbroken as am I, I tried to explain it to her but she's SN and 7 loves our puppy to bits. 😢

WWYD rehome now or see how she is after her season has finished. I will be getting her spayed so no more seasons after this

*MyBreezyPombear *I've never done the nose rubbing thing, thankfully she's fully house trained(took a while) now without that method

He sounds nice

*K0OLA1D *I meant I would google for alternatives

No, Tapping Dogs on the Nose is not OK: Here's Why - Dog Discoveries
There you go, saved you Googling

it is just a training method
get off your high modern horse

If she was my pup not even 1 yr old yet, I would get her spayed. She needs to be fed away from busy area's, and your daughter should not be trying to hug her to kiss her face. Some dogs get stressed by being hugged close. The most important thing you need to teach her is to trade items with you, it will stop her getting food aggressive.

Dogs don't kiss

it is just a training method
get off your high modern horse

👍

Nice well adjusted couple

Why do people do this and get a dog and do NOTHING to train it. Its not a toy.

Please give this dog to a rescue and allow it to have a better life

*dawngreen *Please read my responses, first season, can't get spayed until 12 weeks after first season, will be getting done asap

Dogs don't kiss.

That is licking, not kissing.

It all sounds a bit frantic.

OP you need a proper trainer involved. Whether that’s 1:1 or classes. Your daughter is a good age to get involved. A dog walker is not a trainer or behaviourist, though talking to them about training is important as, especially at this age, you need to be on the same page. A collie cross is not a type of dog that you can expect to train on your own.

Honestly, the word that stood out to me (other than “smack”) was “coddling”. Dogs don’t need to be coddled. They need appropriate levels of attention, boundaries and space. Dogs that are coddled are so often dogs that are nightmares!

why the insults?
i was talking about 30 years ago previous dog
are you always insulting about different experiences?

No you don't you need to spay your dog and stop letting your 7 year old get into her face. I don't even own dogs but know that. The dog is not a toy. The dogs sounds unsettled because it's in season and because a child is being allowed to treat it like a teddy bear. The owners are the issue here not the dog. Please do some research on dog owning. My SEN kids have always been told never to get into our cat's face and expect a negative reaction if they do.

There are times my dog is happy with certain physical interactions from my sons and other times, such as evening when he’s laying with me on the sofa that he does not like it. At these times he will give a very low level grr (barely audible) and if ignored a small lip curl. I’ve never punished this and never would, he never snaps as he is listened to. It’s his communication and signal that needs respecting: I’m sure your dog was giving other signals that were ignored long before she moved on to snapping.

hitting is counter productive will you be hitting your daughter in the face as learning method next time she is over enthusiastic with kisses?

*StuckOnTheCeiling *she comes to us for the cuddling.

*SaintHonoria *Awful comment, thanks for putting that out there!

Anyway thanks all, I think in a round about way I have what I needed from this thread.

A tap on the nose is not a training tool. If you want a training tool try positive reinforcement instead of physical punishment

You don't need to rehome but I am concerned by how little understanding of dogs your post shows. You need to book yourself in with a professional trainer ASAP.

Rubbing an animal's nose in its mess is actually insane.

It's stupid, ignorant and cruel, and doesn't work.

The animal won't associate the mess with the owner grabbing it and rubbing its face in the mess.

It's so bloody depressing the type of owners animals have the misfortune to live with.

Out of interest, how did you end up with a collie cross OP? In my experience as a vet, collies are one of the most reactive and unpredictable breeds out there. I would personally never have one in a house with young children.

Yes, ideally your DD shouldn’t have got close to the dog’s face, but I would look for a little more tolerance from a family pet than to go straight to snapping, especially when she is so young.

I suggest you educate your DD on how to respect her boundaries, consult a trainer and get her spayed. But I would certainly be on my guard with this dog.

Your dog is a puppy. You just need to train her and adjust your own behaviour and expectations. Collies are quite nippy, because they are herders. Theres a big difference between a nip and an aggressive bite.
Also snapping at the cat is annoying but you have to train her to be calm around the cat and that the cat is not for chasing.

You don't smack or tap noses unless you want a aggressive dog that will bite without a warning. And you don't rub noses in it neither. Training classes would be good, and collies get bored easy so it would de-stress your dog. You can also teach your pup the heelwork to music stuff. Collies are fast learners, and would enjoy it. All it would take is 10 mins a day.

I think its more of a case of dog is in first season, but the child will not realise it, and keeps doing her usual advances, which should be held in check whilst the dog is going through it. I'd ask a dog trainer, not a walker for advice, but I think she'll settle down when the season is over and then you can spay her.

Same. Dogs have personalities. I have a terrier who absolutely hates people getting into her face, or invading her personal space, and will snap at them if this happens. She will tolerate me doing it (kisses etc), but she won't stand it from anyone else. For that reason, I am cautious with her around small children (although weirdly, she seems more tolerant with them than with adults, maybe because she came to us when my daughter was 4 and she's used to kids.) It's straightforward though, she's not being naughty, and there's no issue if her boundaries are respected. Dogs aren't robots, some breeds are obviously more docile than others, but with all breeds, training involves understanding their boundaries as well as establishing your own. Kids unfortunately do sometimes breech those boundaries with pets and they need training too.

Branleuse dawngreen

No more nose taps.

My daughter is learning how to be around our pup, at 7 months she is already the same height as my daughter so we are working on stopping her jumping up

She's stopped doing this when we come home, but obviously still learning