genetic / inhereted fear in Border Collies ?

[Rictina]

A friend of mine has a lovely 10 month old Border Collie bitch, she has had her from being 12 weeks old.

The problem is that she is so fearfull of strangers & life basically. she turns into a wild animal & doesnt listen to a word my pal says to her.

She is fine playing with her ball on the local field, & is very happy at home with her 2 GSD brothers.

The trouble is that my pal has worked so hard with socialising her & walking her through the middle of busy towns etc.... & feels to be banging her head against a brick wall now as to what to do next.

So this is why we are thinking that its genetic inhereted fear, as this girl is getting no better.

What do you think ?

[Stefan]

Walking a fearful dog through busy town doesn't help.

Do you think going to the dentist every day for a filling will help somebody overcome their fear of going to the dentist?

Give the girl some peace. Very little steps are best. Have strangers come to the house and ignore the dog (don't touch, don't even look at the dog). Then she'll understand that they aren't dangerous. When out on a walk make sure nobody talks to her or touches her. Keep her away from busy places.

It may take years but she will eventually start to relax. Only then can she learn new things. A fearful stressed dogs doesn't learn.

One of my dogs was the same with other dogs. She lived upstairs in our house out of fear for our other dog. She hated going on walks. After two years she was sleeping in the same room as my other dog. Still doesn't like walks to this day, she prefers pottering around the garden.

[Rictina]

Walking a fearful dog through busy town doesn't help.

Do you think going to the dentist every day for a filling will help somebody overcome their fear of going to the dentist?

Give the girl some peace. Very little steps are best. Have strangers come to the house and ignore the dog (don't touch, don't even look at the dog). Then she'll understand that they aren't dangerous. When out on a walk make sure nobody talks to her or touches her. Keep her away from busy places.

It may take years but she will eventually start to relax. Only then can she learn new things. A fearful stressed dogs doesn't learn.

One of my dogs was the same with other dogs. She lived upstairs in our house out of fear for our other dog. She hated going on walks. After two years she was sleeping in the same room as my other dog. Still doesn't like walks to this day, she prefers pottering around the garden.

Sorry I should have said that she hasnt just gone for the bombshell of taking her through a busy Town, she has done it in tiny steps.

When visitors do visit then she is fine with them, it seems to be anywhere anyway from her safe havens.

Its comforting to hear that your girl has got better with time.

Thanks for the reply I will pass it on.

[demac-artist]

I would do the reinforcing training.

Its where you get a stranger to walk past and keep her attention on you and if she ignores then give her the treat.

If someone walks near and she starts to react get her attention and get her to sit and give her a treat its a lot of patience of sit treat but in the end she should ignore people eventually. Divert her attention on something she loves and finds reassuring.

you will recognise the behaviour as soon as she goes in that mode then nip it in the bud before it over rides the brain and is in total panic mode..once she is in panic mode its hard to get them to listen to commands..its like the aggression in dogs afraid of prams you do the same thing...Hope this makes sense. Keep us updated on how she does

Deanne

[Rictina]

I would do the reinforcing training.

Its where you get a stranger to walk past and keep her attention on you and if she ignores then give her the treat.

If someone walks near and she starts to react get her attention and get her to sit and give her a treat its a lot of patience of sit treat but in the end she should ignore people eventually. Divert her attention on something she loves and finds reassuring.

you will recognise the behaviour as soon as she goes in that mode then nip it in the bud before it over rides the brain and is in total panic mode..once she is in panic mode its hard to get them to listen to commands..its like the aggression in dogs afraid of prams you do the same thing...Hope this makes sense. Keep us updated on how she does

Deanne

Thanks for the info, I will pass it on.

It certainly makes sense when you really think about it.

[Leanne]

There is a woman, Turid Rugaas, who promotes training based on what the dogs' body language is telling us. Her site is here http://www.canis.no/rugaas/ . There is a Q&A section, maybe someone has asked the question previously... I changed the way I deal with my dogs based on what she teaches and have seen brilliant results because of it

Advise your friend to stay away from and Caesar Milan type teachings as trust will never be gained from his methods. Compliance yes, trust no.

[Stefan]

I used to be a dog trainer and was working with Turid Rugaas methods... she's fantastic, did a few workshops with her during my International dog trainer course... my dog was a nightmare to live with and would never listen to me and is now such a lovely dog...

Maybe I should start up my business again....

A note about making a dog sit for a treat: not always a good idea. In winter even dogs get a cold bum and they will not always find it amusing having to sit on frozen ground. It's also important to get the timing right for treating, so if you spent 12 seconds getting your dog to sit he/she thinks the treat is for sitting only.... to condition behaviour you have a maximum of 2 seconds for treating.

[Rictina]

Thanks guys your all great.