Puppy hurt dd

[Charliebradbury]

We have a 19 week old border collie puppy. He is generally good, the only issue we have is he jumps up at the children and pulls on their clothes. We decided to get a dog trainer in to help us with this. They came round for the first time last night. Now the puppy is normally really good with the children, he has never bitten anybody, he plays with my dd (6) and is gentle, every morning he gets so excited to see her and greets her with face licking and tongue wagging. He will happily just lay across her and sleep.
Yesterday the trainer gave her a bowl of food to hold, puppy saw this and jumped up to get it, the trainer pulled the food away when the puppy had his face in the bowl, he followed the food and caught my dds hand with his teeth in the process. Now she isn't badly hurt or anything just a couple of small scratches and it wasn't a purposeful bite. The trainer then dragged my puppy away by the collar causing it to growl. Later on she asked my daughter to stand and call him to her, the puppy tried to run to her but the trainer had him by a lead so he couldn't get anywhere. He then started to get frustrated and was kind of growling but more in a frustrated way (somewhere between a growl and a whine).
The trainer has now told us we can't have the kids and the puppy together when the puppy has food, that the puppy shouldn't be fed from a bowl and they are concerned about his aggression towards the children.
The thing is he isn't normally at all aggressive, he has never growled before, the kids have hand fed him from the day we got him and he has never bitten them. After they left last night and the puppy had calmed down the first thing he did was go and sit next to my dd and fall asleep.
I suffer terribly from anxiety and have hardly slept all night worrying about what I have done wrong. The trainer went on about how he was aggressive and might need a muzzle but he has never growled or bitten anyone before last night. He loves getting attention from people, he is very excitable whenever he sees people and he is very good with other dogs. In the hour the trainer was there he growled twice, once when she pulled him by the collar and once when our cat came up behind him when she was giving him treats, but when he realised it was the cat he stopped growling and ignored it.
The image they have given is totally the opposite of the reality of day to day with him. I don't know what to do, my dd loves interacting with him and to be told they shouldn't do it really upset her last night. I will point out we never leave them alone at all.

@Charliebradbury

We have been trying to ignore him when he jumps up and it has worked with us more than the children which is why we got the trainer in the first place. We went from a dog who was a bit jumpy to one who now growls at my daughter. If I keep them separate when food is involved will that help for the moment? I honestly don't know what to do anymore. We feed him in the kitchen normally anyway away from us all but my main worry is that she can no longer give him treats something she has been doing from day one. If I give him the treats and she just stands next to me will that work for now? The trainer gave us no idea how to stop the behaviour other than keep them separate. Should we leave it a few days and try again with treats?

Is he still growling at your daughter or was it just the occasion you have describe?

He has growled at her when she has had his food this morning but not since then. When she doesn't have food he just goes towards her tail wagging and licks her hands.

She has told him to sit a couple of times and I have thrown the treat to him and that is fine. She has also had the treat in her fist and thrown it and that was fine but when he saw her get the food he growled at her.

Seriously, get rid of the trainer.

How would you feel id someone offered you a glass of your favourite gin and then the person took it away just as you get a little bit on your lips?

Get the Keira Sundance 101 dog tricks book, plenty o reward based, fun & gentle training - enjoy your puppy!

I have found a trainer that specialise in collies so I have contacted them. I will look at the books, websites and fb page later. Thanks for all the help. I felt like shit this morning but I feel we will be able to solve this with the right training methods.

The trainer is a fucking moron.

Unfortunately, dog training and behaviour is a completely unregulated industry, and there are some complete fucking morons out there. You've found one of them.

You want someone from this list - they're all properly qualified trainers (APDT is very well respected) apdt.co.uk/find-a-trainer/

We tell our dog '4 paws' to keep him from jumping up. If he keeps 4 paws on the floor he gets a treat, if he jumps up he doesn't get anything

The pup may be a bit over threshold at the moment. Probably best just to relax everything. And let some decompression occur with the dog. The trainer should not have attempted such a high stakes event within minutes of turning up. The dog would have been excited at another person being about especially one with high value treats. So totally over whelmed. He's still a baby.

Bin this trainer immediately, collies are super sensitive and this is not the right way to train them. Worst case this trainer will make him fear aggressive of people through her aggressive approach and rough handling.

Overexcitement and lack of self control is normal for a BC pup. They have to learn it through games like It's Yer Choice.

Mild resource guarding is just a case of showering them with treats when you go near them and their valued resources.

I see you're looking at other collie specialists, some are quite old school so do make sure you get one that's a genuine positive reinforcement trainer.

Bin this trainer immediately, collies are super sensitive and this is not the right way to train them. Worst case this trainer will make him fear aggressive of people through her aggressive approach and rough handling.

Overexcitement and lack of self control is normal for a BC pup. They have to learn it through games like It's Yer Choice.

Mild resource guarding is just a case of showering them with treats when you go near them and their valued resources.

Another one who thinks your trainer is an idiot. Don't feel bad @Charliebradbury you were trusting the professional in the situation.

I agree with keeping them separate when he's eating and actually the suggestion to ditch the bowl is a good one.

Collies are active and clever and like to be put to work. Use a lick mat for raw or wet food. Kongs for wet or dry.
Take a look at Absolute Dogs for positive training advice. Their courses are great for teaching calm to puppies and dogs and the training is all game based.

He growled at her again this afternoon when he had food and she walked past. I have spent the evening in tears, I am so scared he could hurt her. She is really upset and is worried we will not be able to keep him and she thinks it is her fault. I feel so guilty and ashamed that I have somehow created a massive problem. I just don't know what to do. My anxiety is through the roof and I feel constantly sick.

@Charliebradbury

He growled at her again this afternoon when he had food and she walked past. I have spent the evening in tears, I am so scared he could hurt her. She is really upset and is worried we will not be able to keep him and she thinks it is her fault. I feel so guilty and ashamed that I have somehow created a massive problem. I just don't know what to do. My anxiety is through the roof and I feel constantly sick.

I'm so sorry the trainer has managed to creat this situation, and all the worries that go with it, for you

This does have the potential to become an issue of resource guarding, and some early intervention with a behaviourist may be wise, to nip things in the bud. Due to the age and relatively minor current state of play, a phone / video consultation should be sufficient.
apbc.org.uk/find-an-apbc-member/
www.asab.org/ccab-register

In the meantime, I would ensure that puppy is left alone while eating - you don't want to give her a chance to practice the behaviours and for anything to become ingrained / start to escalate.

Where did you get him from OP?
Was he treated right?
Is this just the trainers work? Is that why he is now growling at your DD if so this 'trainer' needs to be held accountable.

We got him from a local breeder and he was fine and has been fine up until last night. I mean I suppose it could have happened in the future but I have always taught the children to leave animals alone when they are eating so my dd would never have taken food away from him.

I'm sorry OP I just don't understand this trainers thought process. Why did she do that and what was she hoping to achieve. She has made a problem for you out of nothing. I wouldn't let this go I'd find out who you can report her to and get a refund.
Collies are sensitive dogs and don't react well to negative punishment I'm angry on your behalf.

From what I can gather unless they are affiliated with a certain training body there is no one to report them to. I have made a complaint to them and they just replied with "I was also shocked by his response" I feel so down and depressed about it tbh. The dog was something my dh has always wanted but after a few things that have happened in my life recently he was really helping me. Now I feel more anxious than ever.

She wanted my daughter to get the puppy to sit but obviously a bowl of food was never gonna be the way to make that happen.

Your puppy is not broken from one bad experience and neither is his relationship with your child. Calm down, avoid putting both of them together with food involved for the moment, and look around for a qualified, kind hearted and frankly more intelligent trainer.

Thanks. I suffer from anxiety attacks and this whole situation set one off. I've not felt like I could breathe all day. Starting to feel a bit calmer and hoping I can actually get some sleep tonight.

It'll be all right. Easy for me to say, but try to consciously act confident and cheerful even if you're not, as both puppy and child are probably picking up your tension a bit. It will be okay.

Trainer sounds like a dick but please don't let the dog lick your dd's face or let your children hand feed him! Especially not while he's still an unpredictable puppy. I would be surprised if the new collie specialist trainer thought either of those things were OK.

@Motorina

Fire the trainer. Carry on what you’re doing.

This.

Your puppy is adorable btw!

Gosh it sounds like you have a far worse problem than what you started with. I’m sure you can turn this around with some further training.

He greeted her as normal this morning with his tail wagging and sat down waited for her to stroke him. We made sure she didn't go to greet him until we'll after he had finished his food. We have decided to keep them separate as much as possible, and all interactions are gonna be done either through the safety gate or when he is on a lead. Taking it slowly to get him more confident around her to begin with. We are not going to introduce food back into the relationship until we have a new trainer We are confident with. Thanks all for the advice.