Hello everyone, I’m new to the group and I really like it’s formula- where you can share any tips or worries about humans best friends. I’m the happy owner of 18 weeks old Frankie ( border collie) She is adorable but can be a nightmare. The biggest issue we have is growling and snapping after she’s been fed or playing with her bone. Now additionally she doesn’t like to put her leash on and growls at anyone who tries it. She gets extremely sweet and apologetic strait after almost as if she new that isn’t appropriate behaviour. (It seems sometimes as she was schizophrenic ) The other issue is chasing the cars: we try to avoid any walks involving the closeness of the cars but sometimes it’s not possible. Hearing and seeing the car approaching she pulls the lead and tries to jumps on them and no commands are working. Anyway enough from me, if anyone has experienced similar please share your experience Thanks Izabela
Sounds like she may have some food aggression. I have dealt with that using the following things: 1. the dog must sit until you put the food bowl down and say "OK" or some other command word. When giving treats the dog must sit and gently take it from you. 2. Try hand feeding her kibble from the bowl. This helps her learn you are in control of her food. Just sit on the floor by the bowl and hand feed her kibble by kibble. 3. Practice "let me see it" with toys and chews. While saying "let me see it", take hold of the toy/chew until she lets go. Then make a fuss over looking at the toy/chew. When she sits, give it back to her. Occasionally, after you take the toy/chew say "all done" and put it away out of sight and reach. These will help show her that she is not to be possessive with her food or toys. For the car chasing, try to redirect her attention. When you first hear a car coming, start playing with her with a favorite toy. Try to get her to focus on the toy BEFORE the car gets close. Whenever she ignores the car, give her tons of attention and love. If she reacts to the car, just ignore her. An obedience class can help with that also.
With the leash, really make putting it on as a positive thing. Never put it on to correct bad behavior or force her to do something. I had a rescue dog who became very aggressive whenever I tried to leash her. I started just holding the leash out towards her and letting her attack it. After 5-10 minutes, she would finally stop attacking the leash. Then I could put it on her without issue. After about 3 months of her attacking the leash every time, she got over it. From then on I never had a problem with her and the leash.
Thank you so much for your help. All the tips are super valuable. We’ve been using some technics already but I guess it’s just so difficult with the puppy in general h sth I’ve forgotten already from the previous experience )
I totally get that. It's been 16 years since I had an 8 week old puppy. A lot of refamiliarization with puppy behavior (or lack thereof).
