Grumpy Border Collie

[Whattodo121]

We have an 11mo BC and she is generally a delight. Bit nippy when younger but incredibly affectionate, soppy and obedient at home. She goes to specialist daycare and has two dog walkers who she adores and 98% of the time she’s a dream. However she is a bit reactive on the lead on narrow footpaths when approached by other dogs. My husband took her along the towpath earlier today, and when passing other dogs that bound up to her she gives them very short shrift and is a bit growly and snappy but only once and then will move along without incident. She never bites them, it’s a warning. She also NEVER approaches another dog, ever. But dogs jump up to her and she doesn’t like it and she looks aggressive in return. She also barks at children running past but I’ve been working really hard on that and it seems to be improving (taking her to busy places, sitting, watching and being given treats for not reacting to triggers etc). Does anyone have any suggestions of more we could do? I know some of it is her breed and her nature, but it would be good to help if we could. Thank you!

Advocate for your dog and ask people to keep their dog away is what I would do.

But letting other dogs keep approaching could lead to it escalating.

My late BC crows hated other dogs he liked huskys which was weird but other than that we couldn't let him near other dogs and had to ask owners to keep their dogs away.

Cross * Not crows😂

I'd avoid narrow footpaths for a start. If you've got an anxious dog, you need to create a distance that they're comfortable with.

One of mine is nervous and reactive. Therefore I have accepted that I cannot ever walk her where I may encounter off lead dogs. It's not fair on her or any unsuspecting dog who would probably get bitten.

Sounds typically collie - not interested in other dogs or people, is she ball obsessed? I found a harness helped and I taught him not to bark. He's even grumpier now as an old boy, having had lots of surgery he is a bit fearful of other dogs because his so running isn't an option. We walk on open ground

Sounds like every collie I've ever met, lol. They're generally pretty aloof and antisocial with other dogs (unless they've known each other since puppies or have been introduced properly long periods).

If you are walking along a narrow path and can't escape or cross to somewhere else, I would body block so your collie can't see the other dog and shout out that she can be reactive so the other owner has the chance to put their dog on the far side and on as short a lead as possible.

When other dogs approach her and she snaps and growls, is she on or off the lead?

Our BC is exactly the same. We body block as pp said, and also offer a treat which she has to sit and wait for while other dog passes. If she sees another dog coming now, she will run back to us and sit and wait for her treat!

We do also put her on the lead and inform the other dog's owner that she is reactive.

I have a reactive dog. We cannot expect owners of nice friendly dogs to keep their dogs on leads, in safe dogs walking areas, just because our dogs are reactive. It's not fair and it never works - there's always a dog that will come up to ours. It might be boring to walk the dog through city streets rather than lovely countryside - but that's the sensible thing to do. I've had three reactives, one, in the end (older rescue) was so traumatised by walks that we no longer took him. He was happy pottering in the garden (but he was 11-12 when we got him). Another was Ok so long as she was muzzled. She didn't like it much but it meant she could be off lead on walks. My current boy is only reactive to un neutered males, so is walked on lead only, but is small, so I can scoop him up and walk past his triggers.

In your situation I would not stress the dog by putting her in a situation where she reacts in that way. Walk her where there are only dogs on leads, where children are generally not running around. You need to bring down her stress levels. Hire a field for free running.

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Our previous Border Collie was very much a people dog, and really didn't like other dogs sniffing around her (particularly Labradors who used to get way too personal). Think it's a breed thing!

Hi all, thank you for all your advice. I’m going to get her one of those ‘nervous dog’ collars for walks. I do always call out that she’s a bit nervous to give people chance to put their dogs on lead. She is much MUCH less reactive when off the lead but other dogs will continue to approach her, and sometimes dare to steal her ball! (As a previous poster said she is ball obsessed!) but she doesn’t get cross when that happens, she just waits for the other owner to get her ball back! It’s all a work in progress, we will continue with the training and try to avoid pinch points.

We have a collie and also we have children. I manage her interactions pretty carefully with children as she is prone to reacting to sudden movements . I don’t take her to school drop off for instance. I feel it’s too much pressure for her. She gets to see the kids and the occasional friend but not in high stress environments such as playgrounds.

We have one DS who’s 10, and she adores him, but is wary of other children-she doesn’t like it when they stare at her! Which is tough as she’s so beautiful (obv a bit biased). She wouldn’t cope with the school run I don’t think. For play dates we arrange them for when she’s at daycare or when DH can take her for a mega walk - no one likes listening to kids shouting whilst they’re playing on the PlayStation or dashing around the house playing hide and seek!

Border collie owner here. I also dread narrow footpaths...for the opposite reason. It's the only time mine jumps up and wants cuddles from people. Most embarrassing! So, no help for you but I share your narrow path issue in some way!

You have to stop the narrow footpaths, even though you warn other owners etc its not fair on your dog to be in this position. If you were assaulted in the park one day and someone insisted you go all the time how would you feel?
Also the ball is a resource, its hers and yet you allow it to be taken from her.
Quieter walks, more space and I would mark her seeing the other dog and ignoring with a treat or toy access- will she play tug?

I was at a training class yesterday with my collie. There was also another collie. One of the trainers suggested that the other collie was refund to keep mine in check as he's a little scoundrel. The trainer said that sometimes a collie will take on a policing type role, maybe that is what yours is doing.Telling the other dogs to pipe down. She sounds like a lovely dog.

*refund =trying!

She is a funny little character - she goes with a specialist collie dog Walker who is amazing. Her collie is 6 and our dog completely looks up to him and follows his lead behaviour wise. He is extremely well trained and calm, but aloof. He won’t let me stroke him for example as he doesn’t really know me. It does look like she’s telling them off - there’s a little flurry of a growl and an air snap and then she goes back to what she’s doing quite happily. And often will happily continue to potter or play next to the dog who approached her, as long as they don’t get too close again.

What you are describing is exactly what my parents collie used to do. She did a little lip curl and a growl to tell them to go away. If they persisted in annoying her a snap and more growl. She was a very sweet natured loving dog. And this is how she dealt with other dogs her whole life. It never escalated further than this. She told them she wasn’t interested, they left her alone.

Our old BC used to do that, particularly when dogs persisted in trying to stick their noses where they weren't welcome. A little lip curl gave them a warning, if they ignored that then she'd give them a growl to tell them to back off. She was very particular about which dogs were permitted to sniff her...

Yep you definitely have a typical Border Collie
I have one (7yrs) like that and my old lovely collie was exactly the same.
My one now is fine with kids as she is ball obsessed and knows they are more likely to play with her so doesn't bark at them.
They are bossy and are telling the other dogs to behave and keep their distance.