Agressive behavior

[Lsmith0227]

I need advice. Magic is a five year old border collie and he does not like young girls. He recently bit a six year old girl that came on to the property. Magic has a invisible fence. Unfortunately, I can not find out exactly what happened.

 

Magic has shown this behavior before and I must figure out how to stop it. His first incident was at seven months, next was at one year. He has show periodic agressiveness but has not bit since until two weeks ago. He is well behaved in all other areas.

 

Can anyone recommend a trainor (in the RI area) to deal with this problem. I know if I don't solve this problem quickly, I will not be able to keep Magic and I could not imagine not having Magic around.

[Niko]

First of all, please clarify something. Is Magic left unsupervised in the yard? And is there a fence in addition to the invisible fence to keep strangers and strange dogs out of your yard? And if the answer to both is yes, then are you intending to change the situation?

 

I'm afraid I do not know of a trainer in your area but some here my be able to give you some advice. And you might consider reposting this question in a different area that gets more traffic like the General area. At any rate, Good luck.

[Lsmith0227]

I have and use two systems for Magic. The invisible fence which is used only when we are home and usually outside. I also have a 10 x 20 kennel which I will leave Magic in if I am not at home. I also leave Magic in the house. The total yard covered with the invisible fence is apx 1/2 acre.

 

I am not opposed to fencing the yard, however I am more concerned about correcting Magic's behavior.

 

I run with Magic every morning for at least 3 1/2 miles and my wife walks with him in the evening at least 2 miles.

 

I will also post the question in the general category. Thanks!!!!!!!

[trailrider]

i sold a dog to a nice family who left their dog in a fenced yard. Children were throwing sticks and rocks at the dog when the family was not home. The dog became a barker and untrustworthy with young strangers. He had to be placed with an older couple - where he was soon killed on the road.

 

Another dog was left in an invisible fencing area - bear bait you know. That fence may!!! keep the dog home, but he soon learns to defend himself because there is absolutely no protection for him from any intruder, 4 legged or 2 legged. He knows that. It only takes once for a smart dog to learn how to protect his own life at the expense of anything he has been taught. This dog had to be removed to another home. I know of a behabiourist who say he gets lots of dogs in needing help because they have learned to position themsrlves when going through the fence line so that they don NOT get the shock. Of course, then they don`t like to come home.

 

A third dog was left in a nice pen as you describe. However, when neighbour children were playing, he got very excited because of the activities. He learned to overdo it around children, but didn`t last long because one day he got so excited he went into bloat when the owners were not home. After $1000 worth of treatment that night, he died anyway.

 

The moral of the story - protect your dog. Do not abandon him to the problems of an invisible fence or even a pen if you cannot be there to supervise and observe. It is only fair to the dog that he get a safe environment - psychologically as well as physically.