Border Collie Issues

KibaAndGaz

Problem 1: Recently when we take her to the dog park she has started nipping at other dogs if they have something she wants (like a ball or stick) or if she just gets too excited and because she's so worked up she won't listen to me when she normally would. Our park is split into several areas. There's a general play area, a massive walking area, a couple of rivers and a couple of agility courses. All are individually fenced off. Oddly she's better behaved in the walking bit, even if she's playing with another dog I can call her and most of the time she'll stop playing and come with me but in the big play area and at the river part she won't listen at all. I'm obviously doing something wrong but don't know what.

 Border Collies and other herding breeds are often not good dog park dogs because they are hard wired to want to control situations. Dog parks can be very frustrating and overstimulating for herding breeds and what you are describing is a classic overstimulated, fruistrated Border Collie. The reason your dog is better in the walking area is because it is likely a much less stimulating environment than the group play area. My suggestion would be to stick with just the walking area, where you can practice and reward good behavior. Not all dogs are cut out for free for all group play with strange dogs and her behavior with the other dogs is likely to continue getting worse if you continue to put her in that situation. Also for training purposes you don't want to have your dog off leash in places where they routinely don't come to you and you can't enforce the command - it is like training your dog to ignore the come command. Not sure what the situation is with the river. Is it another group play area? If not, you can try a harness with a long line attached so if she doesn't come when you call her, you can kinda reel her in. If so, it is likely the same issue as the group play area and would best be avoided.

This is a good article on this sort of behavior with Border Collies: http://www.learningaboutdogs.com/html/sheepdog_.html

KibaAnd Gaz

Problem 2: I take her for a walk in the evening. She pulls sometimes but is generally well-behaved. We can walk past other people and other dogs without any issues but if someone wants to pat her she gets scared and barks at them whereas if we were at home or at the dog park she's happy for people to come up to her. I'm guessing it's because she's on the lead and can't run away if she feels the need so she's panicking. How can I teach her it's OK to let strangers touch her if I'm with her?

 This is another fairly common behavioral issue with many herding breed dogs - they don't want strangers to touch them. I would suggest starting off by not allowing people to try to touch her in this setting and being very strict about it. There is no reason that people you see out walking need to touch or interact with your dog and the worst thing you can do with a dog who is afraid of strangers touching them is to try to force interactions with strangers. This should help stop the fearful response and allow you to reward non-fearful behavior. Every time you see a person out on a walk say "hey look at that!" and give her really tasty treats, even if they are off in the distance. If the person comes over ask them not to try to interact with your dog because she is in training. Then if they are willing and your dog is not behaving in a fearful manner ask them to stand there for a moment while you have your dog sit and reward her. Don't allow the strangers to attempt to interact with her - no petting, no talking to her and no having them give her treats. Teach her to trust that you will handle the stranger interactions and she doesn't ever have to worry about them trying to touch or interact with her. Stick with this routine for a long time, until she never reacts in a fearful manner to strangers approaching and is happy and confident to see them. In situations where she is comfortable being touched use a cue like "say hi" and reward her appropriate response.

In general I"m going to tell you to learn MORE about herding and herders.  They ARE wired differently than other dogs and THEY NEED HERDING OPPORTUNITIES.

You gotta give them opportunities to use that *nature* which is SO out there in everything the dog does and feels.  Rather than relying on a dog park for ALL the exercise, either stay in your yard or go to an EMPTY place and give herding exercises.  

You can actually get involved in obedience type herding classes OR just start small and bring out a whole bucket of tennis balls.  Heave the whole bucket full of balls in the air and then reward for the dog picking up the balls and dropping them IN the bucket.  You can then shape the behaviors to actually get them to "herd" them into a particular area and THEN pick them up and put into the bucket.  The varieties of the game are endless. 

You can do this inside as well as outside -- just teaching a herder to pick up all their toys on command and put them in the 'toybox' or whatever -- it gives them an outlet for the herding drive.

 You also want to teach them NOT to herd humans in the house.  That thing where they will follow you and "bump" your leg to try to getyou to go one way or another -- that is NOT good.  This results in the dog eventually trying to "herd" people and children  -- especially kids in the neighbor's yards and kids who may come to your house.  It's not acceptable and it's NOT cute when the dog butts someone behind their knees and knocks Gramma over! 

At 6 months it's really time to go for some basic obedience and formal training.  Herders tend to excel at this -- it's competitive to a degree, and you can even go for something like Rally which is easy but motivates the dog. 

Learning to do what agile suggests and tell people "NO, please don't pet my dog" -- for some of us that is the HARDEST thing to do -- because if you have a friendly nature and want your dog to BE friendly it's tough to say no.

But ... learning to control the dog's environment so you CAN control responses is the first step towards being able to reward positive behavior.

 Tootsie, my herder, is not a dog park dog. It stresses her out, a lot. Trying to control all the moving dogs is exhausting work.

Another thing about strangers touching her: Umm no! Her being so cute is her downfall too, but when people ask to pet her, I politely say shes not comfortable with strangers. Also, with her being so short, people usually bend over her and pat her on the head. Not worth it for me.

Your dog should have a solid down.  Put her on a twenty foot lead and bring her to the park.  Walk her all over the area practicing down, sit, and whatever else she knows.  Go home.  Repeat the next day.  She needs to be reliable all over the park.

 Now, when you go to the park and see a dog that needs to be herded, put your dog on the twenty foot lead and put her on a down after she shows interest but before she gets all  worked up. Practice.  Then, using the long line and a harness let her play with the other dogs and when she is up to nipping, tell her "that'll do" and pull her toward you.   Not in a mean way, just reel her in.  Repeat, repeat.  She will learn that "that'll do" means she has to stop what she is doing.  It is not the "come" command, it is to pull her off the sheep, er, dogs.  Praise and let her go back to playing after she's settled down.

I would also teach "leave it" and "down" and "come" (I like Leslie Nelson's DVD "Really Reliable Recall";), but I would mainly use clicker training to do it.  Solidify the dog's cues *before* you introduce the distractions of running dogs at the park.  Before you ever get to the park situation, introduce distractions one by one (you can have a friendly dog or two or three meet you in a safe, fenced area).  Use food or a tennis ball to your advantage.  If your dog does not come, you can gently reel in, but use a "no reward marker" and show her (but don't give her) the liver or the ball.  Let her get distracted again, then call.  When she shows up, toss that ball or feed that liver!  Praise is virtually useless to most dogs when it comes to "sheep" - at least with a tennis ball or frisbee or food you have a better chance that the dog will want to work for that.  Also, you can take your dog for a few herding lessons where she can learn that it's ok to herd sheep, but not dogs.  My Aussie will go for sheepies, but she's in a down/stay near my horse!

We can walk past other people and other dogs without any issues but if someone wants to pat her she gets scared and barks at them whereas if we were at home or at the dog park she's happy for people to come up to her. I'm guessing it's because she's on the lead and can't run away if she feels the need so she's panicking. How can I teach her it's OK to let strangers touch her if I'm with her?

Border Collies are often reserved with strangers, and do not want to be patted.  And, all dogs learn in contexts, but are not great at generalizing.  My guess is that she has been going to the park for some time and part of that time was when she was still in her puppy socialization period (8-16 weeks).  She may have learned that everyone in that park place are ok, but that learning did not transfer to other locations and circumstances.  It's quite possible that she simply didn't get enough socialization with people outside the park perimeter, or people who were not in the company of dogs.  In any case, most BC's do not really want to be Labs;-)