nipping

[Deb Nylec]

Can a border collie be trained not to nip or "grip"? Long story made as short as possible. A stray border collie came to our street one day, he adopted me during the process of calling his owners. I knew nothing of border collies. I decided to keep him until I could find him a home. During that time, I learned alot about this breed, including their herding and nipping tendencies. One night as my husband was tickling the children and they were then screaming (happily), he ran up and "gripped" my husband's hand in his mouth. He then ran back to his area, knowing he'd done a bad thing. My husband was livid and gave me an ulitmatum on finding him a home. He is now awaiting a border collie rescue placement at another breed's rescue. I really miss him. Given that these tendencies are their nature, is it possible to train them against it? I'd love to bring him back here again.

 

Information on the dog: Male, neutered, 5 years old. Original owners got rid of him for biting a child who provoked him by chasing him and taking an item out of his mouth. He has been generally fine with my kids, and seems protective.

[Pam Wolf]

Sounds like the dog was just nor reared properly. If bred soundly and raised properly BC's don't bite under the circumstances you mentioned. But the breed does tend to require more and longer socialization than many other breeds. I suggest you go to a herding trial and watch some of those dogs. At Oatlands this year I saw Tom Wilson's Ken dog gently asking to be petted by strangers and even gently licking a small child on the face. There are many other BC's out there like this, just have to look for them. But just as important is careful rearing of the pup. BC's don't handle badexperiences as do some other breeds and they have fantastic memories.

 

Pam