advice needed asap.

louise3965

and tie a yellow ribbon on his collar so other owners know he needs space http://www.yellowdoguk.co.uk/

neveranymoney

The behaviourist man said about the yellow ribbon thing! Personally, if a ruddy great black basket muzzle doesn't let people know he isn't a new born lamb, I don't know what will!

We have kept everything bright and breezy and with the muzzle, spoken to scamps about it, with it etc in tones something akin to how you treat a toddler who has managed to use a potty for the first time. Great, hoorah, dog obviously tried to get it off a few times but lets you put it on no bother and already kind of knows it equals a jaunt out. Lovely peaceful, no other dog walk this afternoon (except a guide dog on the other side of the street but he hardly batted an eye at this in usual comparison) and I think our positivity kept it great. For the meanwhile, it will be a case of finding places that we can 'escape' other dogs. Cripes, but this harder than you imagine and makes you a teeny bit mental. Taking the two teens to the pics in the car earlier, my husband and I commented on every dog we passed, every street and lane - 'now, there's no footpath on the other side of that path. 'I know, look! There's four dogs practically in a row, we couldn't get away with a trot here'. This is as rock and roll as it gets for us now. I used to dance on a table somewhere all night. In heels.

candygirl

I know it's hard hun, but they pick up on stuff if you're nervous or wary and try and protect you sometimes.Easier said than done but try and relax when you walk him, and enjoy him x:p

minimad1970

neveranymoney wrote: »

I am astounded that so many people seem to have similar problems to me here, as in the real world, people have tended to give me a load of blarney about their dogs. I really do feel a lot more positive about scampers as I know I am not alone and we can try and help him as best we can and HOPEFULLY overcome it.

katy721 wrote: »

You don't know we exist, as us DACs (Dog Aggressive Crew) sneak around like ninjas!!

Once you have thrown yourself in to a ditch to avoid the fluffiest friendliest little pup, and have set your alarm for 3 hours before dawn so you can get a decent dog-walk in without drama you are well on your way to passing your initiation!

That's why I like going to the reactive dogs group, you realise it's not just your dog, and some have even more severe problems. I used to get quite upset just seeing all the people with their perfect dogs and the looks they'd give my lunatic dog.

neveranymoney

I know exactly where you are coming from, other people's dogs are gambolling about like eejits but within seconds are well behaved, sociable dream dogs when commanded.

An old friend of mine got a lovely collie pup from a farm one Christmas, so I imagine it came from working stock and with the bare minimum of training it happily let her kids swing off it, rock solid recall - you could take him anywhere and and as far as I know, it still is happy as larry in a terraced, built up area. It's just one of those things I suppose.

joansgirl

And while you're training him, teaching him with the muzzle etc, try to think of the positives. If he does have a bad reaction to another dog don't think of it as a setback, think of it as an opportunity to correct your dog and a chance for him to learn. Also, some of these dogs that are "perfect" when out walking are little so and so's at home. They raid dustbins and trash their houses. Your dog's got one problem, he's dog aggressive. Think of the other things he could be doing. It would be worse if he was people aggressive. If this was the case you probably couldn't keep him. A lot of our dogs have some kind of "problem" and we spend so much time addressing these. You're doing all the right things and by muzzling him you are removing the one dangerous element of his behaviour. As a previous poster has said, if I see a muzzled dog, or even a dog on the lead, I think "that dog's obviously got issues, I'll give it a wide berth but I'm pleased the owner is being responsible". Don't ever worry what anybody else thinks. Dog ownership is not a competition. Best of luck.

stevenjhepburn

If any of you dog owners have Border Collies and need some more advice (or if you would like to help other Border Collie owners!) I would recommend you check out Lily's Border Collie Lifeline on Facebook

catkins

neveranymoney wrote: »

We have kept everything bright and breezy and with the muzzle, spoken to scamps about it, with it etc in tones something akin to how you treat a toddler who has managed to use a potty for the first time. Great, hoorah, dog obviously tried to get it off a few times but lets you put it on no bother and already kind of knows it equals a jaunt out. Lovely peaceful, no other dog walk this afternoon (except a guide dog on the other side of the street but he hardly batted an eye at this in usual comparison) and I think our positivity kept it great. For the meanwhile, it will be a case of finding places that we can 'escape' other dogs. Cripes, but this harder than you imagine and makes you a teeny bit mental. Taking the two teens to the pics in the car earlier, my husband and I commented on every dog we passed, every street and lane - 'now, there's no footpath on the other side of that path. 'I know, look! There's four dogs practically in a row, we couldn't get away with a trot here'. This is as rock and roll as it gets for us now. I used to dance on a table somewhere all night. In heels.

I so know where you are coming from with this. As I said, I live in an area with loads of dogs. It is practically impossible to have even a short walk without seeing another dog. On most every day walks I probably see at least 6 or 7 dogs but usually much more than that. If I go to the local park it seems to always be absolutely heaving with dogs!

georgiesmum

Why has nobody stated the obvious. At the risk of annoying all you dog owners, i would be terrified of leaving such an unpredictable dog with a child. It may be fine most of the time but ALL dog owners seem to think their dogs are safe and "wouldn't hurt a fly ", how many have been proved wrong. Don't leave your children alone with him.

krlyr

georgiesmum wrote: »

Why has nobody stated the obvious. At the risk of annoying all you dog owners, i would be terrified of leaving such an unpredictable dog with a child. It may be fine most of the time but ALL dog owners seem to think their dogs are safe and "wouldn't hurt a fly ", how many have been proved wrong. Don't leave your children alone with him.

People have commented on this, in several posts. Whilst this dog may have some dog aggression issues, the problem isn't unpredictable - OP has a good idea of the issue (smaller dogs) and therefore this dog is no more likely to bite a child than any other dog.

I do agree with some sentiments from your post, any animal is a somewhat unpredictable entity simply because of the nature of living, breathing things - even with the most solid temperament, it could be ill or injured, have had a stressful day, be wound up by a child's rough handling, misdirect its prey drive with a young, screaming child, etc. However, this would apply to absolutely any dog, not just OP's dog in particular. Animals and children can get along very well, but supervision is essential (and knowing what you're watching for is as important - http://www.robinkbennett.com/2013/08/19/why-supervising-dogs-and-kids-doesnt-work/)