Naughty collie/dalmamtian! help needed please!

[warehousewill]

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Hi Guys,

First post so please go easy on me!!

So a bit of background, we have a 2 year old Collie x Dalmatian (but mainly Collie!) called Reef, from a rescue home, he was 8 weeks old when we picked him up so has not been treated badly at all. He really is such a great dog, most of the time we just have a couple of issues we can't quite iron out!

Issue 1: Reef comes to work with me everyday and is in a shop environment most of the day. Its very quiet, only a few people coming in through the day. However when someone does come into the shop he will sprint to the door barking like mad, looking like he is going to eat whoever walks through the door. Most people will walk in and ignore him, but some people (like our postie) is genuinely scared and just throws the post in the door and leaves! Quite rightly so as well, it isn't nice for anyone. Reef has his own area that no one is allowed in so he has a kinda safe zone, but he won't use it when people come in, he would rather stand a meter or two away and growl for a few minutes until he gets bored. I'm just not sure what i can do to sort this out, any ideas??

Issue 2: Quite a lot of the time I am also looking after my folks 6 year old Lab, the two dogs get on fine, but the Lab does get a bit annoyed by Reef sometimes. Reef gets jealous if Bailey has a ball in his mouth, or a stick and will just run up and bite Baileys face until he gives up! he will also hang off baileys Jowels when they are out walking, its not all the time but must be pretty annoying for bailey!

So if we can nip these in the bud I think we might have a perfect dog(ish!).

I have considered a shock collar, but personally don't really like the idea too much.

Thanks in advance guys!

Will

 

[gypsysmum2]

Firstly, well done for ditching the shock collar idea. They are cruel and cause more problems than they solve.

It sounds as if Reef feels trapped when in the shop environment. Dogs have a very strong Fight/Flight instinct. It is not modified, as ours is, by reasoning. We use the pre frontal cortex to reason out whether a situation requires us to Fight/Flee. If a dog feels trapped and is unsure of a person or situation they will only have the Fight option left to them.

This can be prevented by comprehensive socialisation where the dog is exposed, gently, to lots of different people, situations, other dogs etc. If that, for some reason is lacking, and it is only really effective up the age of 12/14 weeks, then the dog will struggle to cope in later life. Some dogs become reactive to certain situations because of a bad experience. This can be something as innocuous as being surprised by someone/something.

I would try to convince Reef that all the people entering the shop are wonderful! Start by giving him a fantastic treat as soon as the door is opened. Keep feeding him the treats while the person is present but cease when they leave. Once he looks at you expectantly as the door opens you can move to using some friends to come in and toss him treats themselves. Ask the odd dog friendly person to stay a good distance from him but to toss treats. If Reef will approach them then he can have treats from them. Ignore any barking it is based on fear. Don't let anyone assure you that they love dogs and want to "help" by approaching Reef. Tell them, if necessary, that you think he might bite if he feels trapped enough (this is true!). If you work out how to stop people from approaching a fearful dog then do let me know!

There is a website dedicated to helping dogs like Reef and they produce yellow jackets for the dog to wear with slogans like "I Need Space" on them. This may help people to give Reef the space he needs.

Your folks' Lab needs to stand up to Reef! Mostly older bitches will do this but some older dogs will too tolerant. I would use a word like "enough" and stop the game if Reef gets too mouthy. He is only allowed to play if he can play nicely. If you are consistent he will soon realise that if he wants to play he will have to do it nicely.