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The doghouse

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Original poster

Collie just attacked my dog are they known to be territorial?

44 replies

Honkytonky12 · 15/08/2022 17:18

Basically at a friend's house and they were dog sitting a neighbours collie. My dog is a bouncy cockerpoo both are females. My friend has a male cockerpoo so out dogs play lovely together. They did sniff and play a bit of attention to each other but were not overly amused. But then the collie wanted to play a game of fetch so my cockerpoo tried to join in the collie pinned my cockerpoo by the neck against the floor and made her cry! It seemed quite aggressive and yet she seemed a lovely dog. I am just trying to work out if it's a female thing or breed thing. My dog gets jealous and barks but she is never, ever aggressive.

OP posts:
LilacSky95 · 15/08/2022 17:19

Collies can get very territorial over their toys / balls. They often view games like fetch as their 'job' and aren't happy if another dog interferes with that

Hoppinggreen · 15/08/2022 17:21

Could be a breed thing, could be a female thing, could be a not liking cockerpoos thing, a too hot and grumpy thing or a telling another dog to get out of her face thing
Who knows but you can’t assume dogs will get on so you need to supervise

Billybagpuss · 15/08/2022 17:23

Yep what @LilacSky95 said, I have to turn and walk the other way if she’s on lead and people are playing ball and if she’s off lead she will get the ball first and recall goes out the window it’s embarrassing.

Wombat27A · 15/08/2022 17:24

Collies are not dog dogs. They are owner & work focused. Sounds like something went wrong here but you may never know why.

rickandmorts · 15/08/2022 17:26

Ahh I've met lots of 'bouncy cockerpoos'. Sounds like the collie was just giving her a warning to stay away from her toy or to stay out of her personal space. I wouldn't stress about it.

Original poster
Honkytonky12 · 15/08/2022 17:31

I'm not stressing I am trying to understand as obviously want to train my dog if she needs it or to avoid a situation like this again. It did seem very, aggressive, teeth showing and growling and the collie had to be pulled off and my dog really cried out. There are no obvious injuries so maybe it was a warning but it's didn't sound or look it. We were supervising but it happened very quickly, my dog probably doesn't read social cues and wants to play. Also gets jealous if not given attention. I just want to learn from it really.

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Whattodo121 · 15/08/2022 17:33

I have a female border collie and she is not remotely keen on other dogs getting in her face in any way. She will play alongside other dogs (like toddlers do at nursery!) and she has dogs that she adores, but she will show teeth to other dogs that she perceives are getting too close to her/interrupting her game. I’ve never known her to pin another dog to the floor though and she’s not aggressive, as soon as the dog has moved away from her she is fine. She is aloof and quite happy in her own company. It’s a breed trait I think.

Original poster
Honkytonky12 · 15/08/2022 17:33

I think she used her mouth to pin her too. So seemed quite scarey.

OP posts:
Original poster
Honkytonky12 · 15/08/2022 17:36

I did notice prior to that actually she tried to stand on her back, side on as if to push her down. Not sure if this was a dominance thing. I was literally just about to leave as had a sense that my dog was too bouncy and in your face.

OP posts:
Whattodo121 · 15/08/2022 17:36

But dogs can occasionally get narky and barky with each other. It really depends on their breed traits as well. My DDog isn’t remotely food motivated, no guarding issues. My ILS have a WCS, who is food obsessed. The only time the two of those have argued was when Collie tried to take a chew from WCS and she got REALLY told off with growling and snapping. Has never happened again and they love each other. But we always feed them separately and now give chews in different rooms.

Whattodo121 · 15/08/2022 17:37

My collie used to do the pushing down thing to our chickens (they’re all still alive by the way!) it was a dominance thing I think, but she never bit them.

CandyLeBonBon · 15/08/2022 17:38

Honkytonky12 · 15/08/2022 17:18

Basically at a friend's house and they were dog sitting a neighbours collie. My dog is a bouncy cockerpoo both are females. My friend has a male cockerpoo so out dogs play lovely together. They did sniff and play a bit of attention to each other but were not overly amused. But then the collie wanted to play a game of fetch so my cockerpoo tried to join in the collie pinned my cockerpoo by the neck against the floor and made her cry! It seemed quite aggressive and yet she seemed a lovely dog. I am just trying to work out if it's a female thing or breed thing. My dog gets jealous and barks but she is never, ever aggressive.

Ive got a collie and she would rather be left alone by other dogs. If she's playing fetch and another dog decides it wants to play chase she'll politely avoid it but if after three goes of swerving out of the way the other dog hasn't got the message, she'll turn and get cross. I avoid other dog owners because the whole 'oh he only wants to play/is friendly' schtick is a pain.

Collies are notoriously aloof and disinterested - I think they're very human focused - and god help if you interfere with their ball chasing.

DoThePropeller · 15/08/2022 17:38

Collies are the one dog breed I’ll always avoid in the park with my dopey lab, I think it is because they are so clever they are not that interested in other dogs. Too busy being busy and can be touchy if interrupted.

My grandparents had four collies when I was a kid and I love the breed but I don’t think they are particularly sociable or good tempered.

UrsulaPandress · 15/08/2022 17:41

Was your dog hurt?

No

Has she learnt a valuable lesson?

Yes

Original poster
Honkytonky12 · 15/08/2022 17:46

No I think she is OK thankfully. By the way I am not trying to put blame on the collie. My dog can be super annoying and doesn't read cues, but when a dog goes for your dog with their teeth and pins them down making them cry and having to be pulled off it does frighten you. So I am just trying to determine what happened.

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Nap1983 · 15/08/2022 17:50

I’ve genuinely never met a collie who is interested in playing or even being friendly towards other dogs. They are neurotic weirdos.

stayathomer · 15/08/2022 18:01

I know people are leaning towards hinting it may have been your dog but it seems that dog was a step over the line of just teaching a lesson. Plus, personally I’ve known a few collies to be quite unsociable but I feel like I’m on another planet sometimes because when I expressed this when we were dog hunting I had the world and their mother tell me I was wrong

Beamur · 15/08/2022 18:07

I love Border Collies but they are notoriously anti social with other dogs. Very people and task focused - which is why they're such excellent working dogs.
Maybe your dog will have learned a lesson, but I'd take from this to be quite careful about play interactions with dogs you don't know well, especially if your dog is not good on cues.

Whattodo121 · 15/08/2022 18:14

Dcollie does not do well with other dogs who are a bit bouncy. If your friend was only dog sitting then they don’t know the dog particularly well so they probably didn’t realise that the dog would react like that so weren’t watching out for the signs. I would be watching my dog like a hawk to ensure that she wasn’t going to be grumpy. Having grown up with spaniels on my husbands side of the family, a collie has been a real learning curve. She is a neurotic weirdo, but I love her dearly. I’m glad your dog is ok, and things like that are so scary.

sunsetsandsandybeaches · 15/08/2022 18:17

Adult collies are notoriously aloof with other dogs. They generally prefer their own company, the company of other collies or the company of humans.

In this scenario, it sounds like the collie was defending her toys and was telling your dog to bugger off, basically.

In the future, I wouldn't ever let your dog share or try and share toys with another dog, and if you know she can be (in your words), "super annoying", then she needs to be kept on a lead around unknown dogs so that she can't pester them.

If your dog isn't good at reading cues/body language, It's not fair on the other dog who then feels as though they have no choice but to defend themselves further.

Original poster
Honkytonky12 · 15/08/2022 19:01

I think in fairness my dog was confident in her environment and with her friend so was being sociable and annoying because she didn't feel threatened as never been in that situation. When we go for walks she actually tends to be more fussy and will keep away from other dogs and is more alert this was a totally different environment like being at home so her normal OTT self was coming through as her play is hectic with her cockapoo friend. She has been to lots of socialisation classes and is only 2 so still technically a puppy apparently. The toy was also a toy she has at home and was with another adult who was playing with her perviously not the collies owner. So actually I don't think my dog was totally in the wrong for joining in play. Yes she mis read the situation because of the environment l and she felt safe. Normally if someone steels her ball she let's them have it. Obviously their temperments are completely different.

OP posts:
Original poster
Honkytonky12 · 15/08/2022 19:03

and the environment confused her. Withouutthw collies owner there it is also hard to know if she has form for this or if it her just giving warning or whether my dog had a lucky escape

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Sitdowncupoftea · 15/08/2022 22:56

The only collies I know are antisocial with other dogs. They are working dogs a bit nippy. We have a few round here with lots of farms. One farmer has one it's a twat, good at herding but tends doesn't like other dogs. There a working breed really. I see a lot of people with working breeds as pets personally it's typical collie behaviour. If you watch them with sheep.

ScattyHattie · 15/08/2022 23:15

Perhaps the collie was resource guarding if had a toy, they can be very 'my precious' 😮
I find it interesting watching my friends collies play, they want the ball but also enjoy chasing and stalking whoever got to it first, till they drop it and can swoop in, therefore switching roles. They don't do any rough and tumble just follow each other round and round.

Blanketpolicy · 15/08/2022 23:29

Dogs can wind each other up. My placid, bomb proof labrador has only growled once (to my knowledge), when my dbro's young collie tried to mount him for the umpteenth time.

A lot of dogs dont like "bouncy" dogs with no social skills and will put them in their place, sometimes it can seem quite aggressive. You need to manage the situation closely, let the other dog tell yours off but stop your dog annoying them if they don't respond and before it gets out of hand.