Hi Everyone
Hope you all had a nice Christmas.

I know I keeep asking peoples advise on my BC but things are still not right.

Dolly is a very loving dog, she loves everyone she knows, but is awful around people she doesn't. If new people come to the house she just barks at them for a while but then calms down and wants to be friends, however when we are out walking it's a different matter!

The same again if I see the same people walking their dogs day after day she's fine with them, she barks for a bit then calms down, she won't say hello though.

The BIG worry I have is if she see's someone walking who she hasn't seen before, especially if they are on a bike, she makes a beeline for them and nothing I can do will stop her, she barks and barks and just won't stop, when I finally manage to put her on the lead she goes crazy, starts growling etc. Her sister, Rosie who is so different and wants to be friends with anyone tried to say hello to someone who was walking today and Dolly bit her hard, as if to say don't do that??????????

I love her so much and would never give up on her but we are getting worried now that she might bite someone. I must stress though that she doesn't try to bite just bark.

Hope you can help

Thanks

Sorry but you are making excuses for her!! make no mistake one of these days she will" bite" you must get on top of it now get her to training class and start making her work for you, at 8 months this is geting into a very bad habit and one that will only lead to a very sticky end.

Thanks for being frank but I know her and I do think if she was going to bite she would have done by now. Surely if she was a really aggresive dog she would do it to everyone???

We have just spoken to a behaviourist so hopefully will get things sorted.

No one has said she is aggressive but she IS out of control which is not comfortable for you, for her or for her "victims".  And no, not all dogs bite everyone, in all situations etc etc.

You have a duty to prevent incidents not wait for them to happen before you react.

Imagine if the boot were on the other foot; you (or your child) were out cycling minding your own business when a dog rushed up to you barking and frightened you so much you fell off and hurt yourself?

We can all arrange events in a manner to suit us; you need to be clinical and now that you have identified there is a problem, act responsibly.

also please note that if your dog is involved in any incidents you may be jeopardising your insurance policy!  Mine says:

if your pet is a dog you must tell us if the in the last policy year it has shown any vicious tendencies, been involved in any fights or there have been any complaints about its behaviour; been involved in any incident where someone was injured or property was damaged that you have not already reported to us.  If you do not tell us your policy may not be legally valid.

The BIG worry I have is if she see's someone walking who she hasn't seen before, especially if they are on a bike, she makes a beeline for them and nothing I can do will stop her, she barks and barks and just won't stop, when I finally manage to put her on the lead she goes crazy, starts growling etc.

Then IMHO you should not let her off her lead, put her on a long line.  Your dog can be reported under the DDA; it does not have to be a certain breed, neither does it have to bite; just frighten!  You have a dog that is out of control; you need to take steps to put it under control before an incident occurs.

I am sure you would not appreciate it if you, yoru family or your dogs were to be rushed at and barked at, it can be extremely frightening and could cause an accident.  I would strongly suggest that you get in touch with a QUALIFIED trainer/behaviourist such as can be found on the APDT site; they will have a list of members some of whom should be in your area.

Your dog is obviously uncomfortable in certain situations which is causing her stress and thus her behaviour is designed to remove these stresses from the vicinity.  Please do not wait until it is too late.

Thanks for the advise

What does APDT stand for??

Association of Professional Dog Trainers; please make sure you use a "proper" trainer or behaviourist such as one from the Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors; your vet will need to refer you.

I have an 18 month old collie doing the same thing only she now has to be muzzled and on a lead any time we are out it will get worse unless you get proper help we have been seeing someone about ours and its going to be a long haul and it may not change things that much, yours is still young enough to change things

I really sypathise, my BC went through a similar stage at the same age. She would bark at men, joggers, bikes and she occiasionally barked at children. I know what you mean, she never gets close enough to bite as she is actually too scared. On the odd occaision when she has been out in the garden when the postman comes she will rush out barking but then before she gets withing a few metres of him she will turn and run back inside. The basis of my dogs behaviour was fear, and i think perhaps your dog is fearful too. I think Dolly is very similar to my Megan, as if i remember rightly she pulls badly on the lead as does meg. She also is very friendly to people she already knows but very wary of strangers especially men. Meg will be 2 in febuary and she is much better when out. When she started this behaviour i kept her on s retractable lead and kept reinforcing the come command if she went off on one. I also took her to places where there were lots of people, but didn't force her to meet them, but clicked and treated if she behaved herself. Another trick i used was if i met a friendly looking man on a walk i would ask hime to feed her a treat, first by dropping them on the ground and then as she got bolder from his hand, but i did ask them not to make eye contact with her as she found this very threatening. I continued taking her to training and recently started agility (which is something you could think about when she gets a bit older, most clubs start at a year old), both have increased her confidence and helped her obedience training. Another think that may be useful is a headcollar as it enables you to have more control. If Dolly is toy motivated perhaps you could distract her with a toy or a tasty treat when you go past these people. With meg i hold a gravy bone in my left had right by her nose, therefore reinforcing the heel position as we go past, now when i call her to me she will automatically fall into the heel position if i keep walking and stay there until we get past the person and i give her the treat. (It looks really good too!!)
She will still run and bark at bikes and joggers occasionally when they catch me unawares, but i usually put her on a lead if i see them coming, and even if she does start her recall is getting to the point where she will stop and come back even if she is giving chase. BIkes and joggers however i think are slightly different as being a BC she is highly motivated to chase anything moving fast, so it is not so much fear and excitement.
Anyway, i hope some of this has helped, i know how frustrating this problem is (especially since my other dog has shown signs of this now.) A word of warning, you mentioned that Dolly told off your other dog for saying hello to someone, i would be worried that Dolly's fear may have a bad effect on your other dog especially since they are the same age. But i think as long as you restart the socialisation process when she is so young you have a good chance of curing Dolly's problem, it won't be quick and it won't be easy but its definately worth it.

Thanks so much LucyandMegs owner, it's nice to know that I'm not the only one with the issue.

We are going to get her an extendable lead tomorrow, should I keep her on this all the time now??

We are starting to take them both to training from next week so hopefully that will help to. I agree about Dolly rubbing of on Rosie, she has started showing signs already but is no way as bad. Someone suggested taking them out seperately?? what do you think???

We have just taken them both out and she was as good as gold when we saw people!!????, she seems to be worse if it's a bike and they are passing us. Very odd

Anyway Thanks so much again

Well, at the moment i am taking my two dogs out separately as it enables me to concentrate on training one dog at a time, as i find two a bit much. It can be annoying as it takes twice as long, but at least you can give Rosie more one to one attention without the constant worry that Dolly will react to something, and it will be more relaxing for you too.
I would keep Dolly on a long lead, either a flexi or a lunge line, (a bit fiddly but allows more freedom), until she gets a bit better. If she starts reacting then you can reinforce the recall and such. Its important that once she starts making progress you don't let her off too soon as if she gets startled by someone with a bike and barks again if you are unable to reinforce ther recall and she ignores you you may quickly go back to square one. Its a bit of a pain, but worth it in the end.
Good luck and i hope everything goes welll with the classes.
Lucy

It is possible to stop bike chasing behaviour with committed training - my dog was keen to chase bikes, Belgians are keen to chase anything that moves so need to be under acceptable control just like BCs. ;)

I armed myself with clicker and cheeese rewards and went and stood like a lemon near a cucle path - BUT not TOO close. If the dog  starts to bark and lunge you are way too close. YOu need to take into account the dog's critical distance. So not so close that the dog reacts, but maybe is just watching very alert but not actually reacting.

So you may need to be 50 or 80 yards away to start. Each time a bike goes past, a reward and praise can be given as if this is set up correctly, the dog won't be reacting. This needs to be done on a regular basis and with no chance in between lessons for the dog to react strongly or chase a bike - so plan walks with care :)

Over time, the distance can be reduced and eventually the dog should be able to be near a moving bike without reacting. If the dog ever does start to react, go back a few steps and build up again. This is basically getting the dog to accept bikes, or do it with joggers etc as well. Needs to be backed up as well with Leave it (I teach  this in very small steps and the point is to get the dog to CHOOSE to leave an item and get a reward. Takes some training but eventually this transfers after more training to leaving moving animals and people. Even fast moving ones. ) and good recall.

This worked both with my own dog and others i have worked with. It is also possible to get a dog (esp. chase orientateds ones!) so toy fixed that bikes are nothing compared to a ball or kong :)

Lindsay