BC and children question

[Tammy11]

Hi ... newbie here.

I am a mother of a large family. We have had German Shepherds in the past as well as one other BC. I grew up with a BC / Sheltie mix.

 

My question is something I have had to deal with in the past and seemed to fix it well. Yet this is not so with my current BC.

 

He is 8 months old and overall a great dog! My problem is that of all my children, he has chosen my second youngest son (5yrs old) to growl and bite.

 

I keep a HAWKS EYE on the dog, moreso since this began. None of my previous dogs have ever acted like this. Reggie (our BC) will approach my son for attention. My son gives appropriate affection to the dog, yet within a minute, Reggie is showing his teeth. Reggie has bitten him once, which was the last time I left the room with the two of them alone.

 

Reggie is trained to remain in the living room, his crate is there as well. When I leave the living room, I tend to put Reggie in the crate.

 

My previous remedies for this issue was to teach my children to first be calm, second to begin feeding the dog and third to help me give treats to the dog when we do some standard training.

 

In my other dogs, this worked to stop the growling (although my previous dogs never bit).

 

Reggie will be getting neutered this week which is part of why I believe he is doing this.

 

I was just wondering if there were any other suggestions I could try. At this point, we have had 10 incidents of unprovoked and supervised aggression.

 

Thank you.

[Sue R]

This section is for asking advice of the resident expert with regards to dogs and stockwork. You may get more replies in the "General Border Collie" section, although I'm sure Amanda will give good advice for you here as well.

[ajm]

I recommend you get rid of that dog.

Nothing can be worth compromising the safety of your child

Amanda

[Eileen Stein]

Welcome to the Boards, Tammy.

 

I am moving this topic to the "General Border Collie Discussion" forum, where I expect you will get more responses.

[ChantalB]

No matter what we all tell you and give advice, you need to see a vet behaviourist. Trained in both physical and mental aspects.

 

Only a qualified expert is worth seeing at this point in the game (10 incidents).

[artsumo]

10 unprovoked incidents, seriously!?! Biting children is absolutely unacceptable. Neutering him will not help undo the problem thats a total myth. Be responsible and put the dog down.

[Gloria Atwater]

Unfortunately, neutering will have absolutely no effect on this behavior. Whatever he's doing, it's not driven by hormones.

 

If you can afford to get him to a dog behaviorist, you might try that, but this is not normal behavior for a young dog that you've raised in your home. 10 incidents is 9 incidents too many.

What you might consider is finding the nearest border collie rescue group and see if they will take him, and be honest about his history. However, if his aggression really is unprovoked and your child is correct and dog-savvy, there may be a more deep-seated medical/mental problem. It can't hurt to talk to a rescue, but they may or may not be willing to take on a dog with such an unnerving behavioral problem. Look into it, though.

The sad fact is, every once in a while there is a dog that is simply "not right in the head." It could be something like a tumor, or it could simply be that his mental wiring is messed up. Bad genetics, iffy breeding, who knows? I know of two young Aussies from one litter who were both put down, for unprovoked and unpredictable attacks on their owners. Sometimes there is no other remedy.

I wish you luck, and I grieve for your trouble.

~ Gloria