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

good @oakleaffy that it doesnt actually happen

Did you read anything about dogs before you got her .
She is not a toy for your child .
Stair gates on your downstairs rooms ,give your dog some space from your child

Well which is it @letsallcountsheep

a) “it scared me enough to pull her away and smack on her nose to stop her”….or

b) “A tap on the nose is not a smack, if you want a dog to stop what it is doing you tap on the nose. I wouldn't ever go further than that.”

You seem to have changed your mind. You quite clearly said you “smacked” her on the nose, but after getting flamed for doing this, you changed it to a “tap” and said you wouldn’t ever go further than this!

Yes, your puppy does need to be re-homed, you are abusing it. It deserves a home where it will not be abused hit.

So the smack changed to a tap, and locking her away changed to the gate banged shut due to the cat

Hmm

I repeat, poor dog

No you don't need to rehome. None of what you said is enough to warrant that, she is a dog at the end of the day and will act like it. Take some responsibility and learn to adapt. This might mean not letting your child touch or interact with your dog and keeping your cat and dog separate. Yes it's hard but that's the risk you take when taking on a dog

Dogs don't like kisses. They don't really even like hugs. Lots of behaviours we view as lovely and cuddly are stressful and even aggressive to them but they put up with it because they are bonded to us.

Also, she's a collie - it's in her genes to nip, she's bred to nip the heels of the sheep she's trying to herd. It's also unsurprising that she goes for the cat - she's literally designed to chase things that move.

If you're desperate to not rehome her, I recommend the book 'the other end of the leash' to help you understand more about her behaviour and how you can help her. If you can let her be a collie, maybe you won't need to rehome her. If you honestly can't, maybe it's in her best interests.

*Uselesssil Costacoffeeplease *Well done, you can read! have you read the rest or maybe some of the more constuctive comments? 👏

I have had collies for years and have one now. Every one I have had has been food possessive. You need to mitigate the risk and work with the dog's natural behaviour. Collies work really really well on a reward basis. No need at all for tapping on the nose, a stern word/time out is enough.
I train them constantly by giving them food from my hand and teaching them to wait for food until I give the command. Clicker training is great for Collies.
However if one of the cats gets anywhere near while our current girl is feeding, she will snap at them to warn them away.
For this reason, when grandkids are in the house, the dog has been taught to lie calmly in her crate (which is her space and no-one disturbs her if she chooses to go into it). I don't ever shut or lock the crate.
If we or grandkids are eating, she is not given food from us or them and must lie down while we eat. Any scraps are given to her after our meal into her food bowl.
Everything you describe here sounds like classic Collie food possessiveness.
Do not smack the dog, EVER. You are teaching her that defending you/her food can result in pain. This will make her more defensive and anxious around you and around food.
If you are preparing her food she will be on high alert, send her to her safe space while you do it.
Make mealtimes fun for her, I often throw a whole bowl of food in her toybox or on the lawn so it takes her ages to find and eat it all.
Don't cuddle her when your child is around and don't let the child cuddle her at all. She will quickly learn that cuddles only happen when you are alone with her.

Don't spay her until she is mature. Around 18months to 2 years to allow her bones to develop properly.

Good luck, they are wonderful dogs.

The ignorance of some dog owners is staggering.
Collie/ crosses are such wonderful, intelligent dogs, and deserve far better than this.

*TangentsPlease *THANK YOU! helpful advice!!! it's hard to find amongst the bashing 😀

Rehome for the fact you think smacking her is OK. You don't train and discipline a dog through aggression, you do it through firm but positive reinforcement.

You are making her unsafe to be around.

Few things:
Firstly, get her spayed, that may be all that you need to do re. the behaviour.
Secondly, collies can def. nip. You need to make sure she's never given cause to. I would not have the dog "cuddling" with humans on the sofa or bed!! Dogs belong on the floor or their own beds.
Finally, it sounds like you've overreacted and you need to calm down and think what is best for the dog before you do anything. You can easily sort this situation out if you approach it sensibly.

I think the bottom line here is your DD will take from this that you don’t kiss the dog.
Your dog is being ADog and you need to uphold your side that you keep out of her face .
And she’s at her hormonal un best

The cat will learn to keep on his toes

Collies are very boisterous dogs and need a lot of exercise. Hours of walking a day. How long does your dog walker walk for. You need to rehome it. Totally unsuitable fir your household IMHO.

I agree with the comments regarding tapping the nose, spaying after first season, and letting the 7 year old kiss the dog's face.

I just want to add that I would not use a dog walker who thought it was OK to walk a bitch in season with other dogs, on or off the lead. I don't know a walker who would agree to do that - it would always be alone, on the lead, and early/late to minimise interactions with other dogs. Even if the other dogs don't try to mount her (and some neutered males are still interested in bitches in season), there will be other male dogs in the area, some of them walked off lead. I'd have real concerns about a dog walker being able to manage that sort of situation if they were also walking several other dogs at the same time.

*Englishrosegarden *Thanks, she's very patient waiting for her food, sits by her bowl stand quietly.

Cats are fed first so they are usually busy while I sort my dog out. I don't know why today was different.

Daughter knows to stay away when shes eating etc

Look up positive training methods @letsallcountsheep Its much better to train a dog to want to do things for you than not do things through fear.

I am so glad some training methods are now outdated eg rubbing noses in mess and tapping them with a hand or a rolled up newspaper.

How you are with your dog will change through their life. Now my dog is older and going deaf we have to do things differently, being very careful not to scare her when waking her, or not leaving her asleep as she runs around in a panic if she wakes and I am not there, two things we never had to worry about up to now. We have always had to be careful about her around food as she js very food focused, and we are careful about her with our cat. For the most part they are fine in each other's company but the cat has her own issues and can turn easily (I did a post recently about my dog having an infection which turns out was likely from a cat swipe, and it was very touch and go for a few days if she would pull through it).

There really should be knowledge tests before being able to have children or dogs. This is awful.

This. Dogs need space and don’t want kids up in their faces.

And yes, collies are very nippy. I grew up with collie crosses, in the 80s when if you bothered a dog and got nipped it was a learning experience. Lovely dogs, but not an ideal first dog for a family with a 7 year old, I have to say

These are animals you have to be aware of their behaviour and boundaries. My last cat was absolutely not child friendly. She would have shredded a childs face if they tried to kiss her. This would not have been her fault. It would have been my fault for allowing it.

I agree I hate the notion of “bomb proof” dogs. I think there would be far less bites and injuries if people actually understood and respected canine behaviour rather than the expectation that we can train dogs to tolerate any old shit from adults and kids.

Can I suggest looking up Southend Dog Training on instagram or Tik Tok. He has some really good resources that will help you learn how to be a better dog owner. He is especially vocal about children and adults actually getting in dogs faces! Dogs don’t need kisses.

We all make mistakes, I once told my vet my dog had snapped at my child when he was chewing a bone and DC came up from behind and her answer was ‘you need to train your child, not your dog’. This is exactly the same, you need to train yourself how to protect and advocate for your dog. 🐕

*CarterBeatsTheDevil *Another education, I thought contiuning her routine was best. Noted. Though this will be her only season.

That poor young dog is in season, she doesn't understand why she feels the way she does, for crying out loud educate yourself keep your kid away from her and don't ever smack a dog again! It's YOU that is the problem, your poor dog needs space and understanding .she'd be better off rehomed than with an owner like you.