Anxious Border Collie

[Poppy30]

Hi there, I would really appreciate some help with my border collie Poppy if you don't mind. We were due to see a behaviourist with her but coronavirus may have put pay to that so any advice here would be much appreciated. 

Poppy is 2 years old and for the vast majority of the time is adorable. 95% of the time she is really playful and affectionate, however I feel like she has a general underlying level of anxiety that I would like to help her with. A few key examples of her behaviour are:

- She barks at the slightest noise in the house, it's like she's always ready to react to something. She can be fast asleep in the living room and a car door opening in the street will make her bark alot and jump up at the window. 

- We have had to stop people coming in our home as she has started lunging at them. She will be sat (seemingly) very calm and then dart from across the room at a person. She has never bitten anyone, but it's an aggressive motion and obviously makes guests uncomfortable, there is lots of noise. We're at the point where we wouldn't have people round with her now which is a real shame because she was really good with people when she was younger. This isn't every time, but the unpredictability of the behaviour is making us nervous. 

- She obsesses about going in the back garden and then when we let her out she goes to certain points in the garden every time. She will wait in the same place and not go to the toilet unless we go in the garden with her, and she barks a lot if we do go out (we've tried a few things to combat this - taking her out on a lead, carrying her out etc but not much luck so far). 

- Occasionally either with people in the house, or on walks with other dogs, she will start opening and closing her mouth which we've learnt is a sign that she's about to kick off. Again this could be as above at a person, or with a dog on a walk. She's good with most dogs on walks, but if they show any tension towards her then her reaction is the mouth tapping and then she will tell them off.

We've tried various things with her, some with success (she used to lunge at cars through fear and now can walk down a busy round perfectly fine) and some without (see above!). There is certainly an underlying level of anxiety there which is manifesting in fear and the above behaviours so any experience with helping dogs to deal with this would be amazing. Any help would be really appreciated, so thank you in advance!

 

 

[dananicb]

Poppy30 - We will be following this thread, as our almost 2-yr-old Tego is showing much the same behavior. I have been studying Brenda Aloff's caninie body language book and learning to recognize some warning signs, which helps. Highly recommend it. The constant state of alert, even when I thought she was sleeping is startling.

In other posts, this knowledgeable group always seem to want to know:

Is Poppy getting enough exercise?

What is Poppy eating?

Have you done any obedience or other training with her? Impulse control, tricks, leash walking?

Has Poppy been health tested - hearing, eyesight, overall health?

So maybe answer those for more responses? Folks here have been great at providing advice and suggestions. Looking forward to their guidance for sure. luck - dnb

 

[SS Cressa]

There are more people here knowledgeable then I. 
For the noise reaction at the slightest sound. Have you tried having a radio playing or TV?  Also have you tried a thundershirt or any Over the counter calming aid?

I would also suggest mat games Or teaching your dog to just relax inside. 
 

are you able to snap her out of that mode when she starts opening and closing her mouth? Or is she already super focus and you are unable to distract her?

[urge to herd]

Poppy 30, there's a lot going on for your girl. If she were my dog I'd work on one issue at a time. Sometimes once a dog 'learns' to be calmer or ignore triggers it translates to everything. Sometimes not.

 If she were mine, I'd start with the anxiety about you not being with her in the yard. Start by going out with her, then taking a step away and stopping. If that works, do it a few times then the next time take two steps away. You're getting her used to the idea that she's safe in the yard without you right at her side. 

Try that and get back to us.

Ruth and Gibbs PS if you have vet who is comfortable prescribing a mild anti-anxiety medication check with them. Are you in Great Britain ~ your wording/writing style seems British to me. If there's a drug available called Clomicalm you can try that, might be called something else. I used it on one of my dogs who had a lot of anxiety. It worked wonders for her.