3 months ago i rehomed a 2-3 year collie bitch (Sally) , the kennels had no details of her history as she was an abandoned dog . She lives with a male collie (Barney) which i rehomed 2 years ago . They both get on exceptionally well together and both dogs have been neutered (bitch spayed 3 weeks ago) . Sally is very aggressive when she meets other dogs and there are very few she gets on with . During her walks with Barney she is kept oh her lead and wears a mesh muzzle . She is about to start general obedience classes and i was wondering if there is anything more i can do to help her get over this aggression . The fact that i don't have any history about her past behaviour makes matters more complicated . I am not sure if her aggression is nervous behaviour or is she just be very protective of Barney , if so should i walk them seperately ? Sally is wonderful with people and sometimes too affectionate - your advice would be most welcome :-)

Hi, Welcome to Champdogs!

What sort of collie is Sally? Working collie, Border collie, Rough, Smooth? It sounds as if she wasn't properly socialised as a puppy. :( I would certainly try walking her on her own, to eliminate any possibility that she is trying to protect Barney (and you don't want him to start copying her behaviour). How close do other dogs have to be before she starts to react aggressively to them? How do you react to her behaviour? What is her body language (position of her ears, tail etc)?

The right training classes are an excellent idea, but explain her problems to the trainer before you start. Is the trainer a member of APDT?
:)

Sally is a long coated border collie . She usually starts to pull on her lead and starts growling at dogs when fairly close to them , she is muzzled when on her walks . Her ears go back and her tail drops , i usually carry a spray bottle containing cold water and if she gets too aggressive i spray a short squirt of water in her face and say a very firm no . If Sally shows no aggression i use a clicker and then reward her . Barney is a very laid back dog and at the 1st sign of sally showing aggression he will divert the attention of the other dog by playing with them .
Not sure about the training class being a member of the APDT but i have been taking Barney there for the past 6 months . Jenny Goude (organiser) has several collies of her own and i have advised her of Sally's aggression . The training class uses the clicker method and runs very small dog classes so i am hoping Sally will not be too much of a nuisance .
Several members of the household walk Sally and they all report the same aggressive behaviour . as i mentioned before Sally is wonderful with people and gets very excited when she meets people .
Not sure if i was right in my methods but when i introduced sally into the household Barney was treated as the alpha male e.g Barney was fed 1st allowed through the door before her when going for walks etc etc . Is this a cause of her aggression and should i have let them sort out the position of alpha dog by themselves ?

Hi Jill,
It sounds like you're doing the right things, and I'm certain you did the introduction right, showing from the outset that Barney was favoured, so please don't worry about that.
The classes sound good too.

With her ears going back and her tail dropping it sounds as though she is fearful, rather than dominant-aggressive, though of course it is impossible to be certain without seeing her. You all sound sensible people - if you can reward her before she starts reacting to other dogs, you may well see some benefits. The ideal scenario is where she sees another dog and associates it with looking to you for a treat, rather than trying to get drive the dog away. Other dog = nice treat! Timing though, is critical.

I sincerely wish you luck - you sound like good people who can turn this dog around.
:)

The problem with using an aversive method like the spray bottle on a fear agressive dog is that they can start to connect the arrival of a dog with the spray and want to defend themselves even more :(
Barney sounds like a typical Omega dog to me, as he's taking on the role of tension defuser, it could be that Sally is frustrated at not being treated as 'alpha' and asserting herself, but I doubt it........I'd suggest she's just been poorly socialised with other dogs, or had a bad experience previously - careful handling with a stooge dog/dogs, never pushing her beyond what she is happy with, over a period of weeks/months should see some improvement...

It can be very difficult to change the behaviour of an agressive bitch, especially once she's been spayed - APDT trainers have noticed that speying an already agressive bitch actually can make the problem worse :(
To tackle the problem you need to know *why* she is agressive - is it fear? Is it behaviour that's been rewarded in the past? If you suspect she may be protecting Barney - walk them seperatly and see if it makes a difference, alternatively she may be feeling the need to protect you - in which case is she the same when somebody else walks her? an experienced trainer will be able to help you in a hands on way with these problems, it's not really something that can be advised on further without seeing the dog I'm afraid....