Upset dog family need help

[den9112]

hi, we have a cross collie male dog small , we got him from a rescue home and have had him 9 months he was aprox 12 months old when we got him , he is a very freindly and happy dog with the family , we take him on long walks and trust him he recognises our tone of voices and is very obedient , the problem we have is when there is any high pitch noises on the tv ie kids screaming he gets all silly and jumps at the tv , he seems realy upset and it takes a while to calm him down , tonight my daughter as taken him out for a walk with the lead and a child as aproched him and he as attempted to bite her , this is the third time he as done this , luckily he as not hurt any one yet , we are really upset about this as he is a really freindly dog . this only happens with strangers we really dont know what to do we do not want to put him down as he is not a nasty dog he just seems not to like kids he is ok with our childrens freinds when in the house . we are a responsible dog family and would like some help and advice , i seems to be acting like a grumpy old dog when he is only 18 month old , we do not know any history of the dog before we got him , any help would be apreciated

[Becky]

It sounds like he's afraid of children, most likely because he wasn't socialized to non-family, outside the house children when he was young. The attempted bite actually sounds like a snap, which is basically a warning "don't touch me" type of thing. Most dogs don't miss when they try to bite.

You might be interested in the book/pamphlet by Patricia McConnell called The Cautious Canine.

How old is your daughter?

For now, don't let any children into her space, that is the area which starts upsetting her. You need to (slowly!) teach her that children are good. You can start by taking her outside a playground, at a distance she is first comfortable with. Have some REALLY tastey treats and give her a few for being good. After a few minutes, go a little closer. If she behaves well, she gets more treats. If she doesn't (like starts getting antsy), ignore her for a little bit, and treat if she stops. Continue to do this until you and her can stand up next to the fence and she's okay.

For actually meeting children, I personally would read a lot about fear aggression and simply fearful dogs and look for an animal behavioralist or trainer with experience with fear dogs (and one that uses positive methods only!).

hth

[pittiegirl]

In addition to everything Becky said, I want to mention that collies are naturally very protective dogs. It's pretty common for them to be aloof with strangers, and even to growl and air-snap when someone approches their family. It should never be allowed to progress to biting - and it's improtant to remember that a dog never "almost" bites someone. They have tremendous control over that reflex and when they air-snap it is meant as a warning. This is a good thing actually, as you want a dog to give warnings before its behavior progresses. This can be modified and controlled, but for now it is important to keep anyone that is not involved with the training from approaching him - and for now at least it doesn't sound like your daughter should be walking him alone.