Expert: Lee Charles Kelley - 1/13/2008

Question
QUESTION: Hi there

I do hope you can help!

We have issues with our border collie cross called Thunder who is now four years old.
we also have a dog called Lightning a saluki cross and Storm a husky pure breed - they are all rescue dogs.
thunder was our first dog we got him in scotland and then moved to Qatar where we are now - we then got Lightning who we found on the streets and then we got Storm who was at the rescue kennels ( shes the only girl).

they all get on okish at first.  Now thunder is taking to nipping our cleaner when he is working and he also nips people when they come in the house which is naughty.  He also screams like he is being murdered really loudly when he is in the back of the car with the other two dogs when they go for walks. Also the female dog Storm ( shes still only one and chewing madly ) when she has something in her mouth whether she should have it or not he growls at her - he spends all his time following her around - he use to have a mummy fixation and seperation issues which have now transferred to strom the female dog he is obsessed with her.

were at a loss what to do, we have taught him the word grumpy which he knows is a bad word when he is snapping - we have tried spaying him with water tp try amd teach him but to no avial

plesae help!

helen

ANSWER: Hi, Helen,

Thanks for the question. It's an interesting situation.

How much hard, vigorous playful exercise are these dogs getting every day? Do they like to play fetch or tug-of-war? Do they ever get a chance to romp and run and wrestle and chase each other around outside?  

As you probably know, border collies are herding dogs. They've been bred tp work all day without needing any rest. The same for huskies and salukis. The more hard, vigorous playful exercise they get, the better.

You think Thunder is being naughty when he nips the cleaner or people who come to visit. He just thinks he's doing his job, which to him probably seems like a mixture of herding and protecting the house.

Trying to teach Thunder to be "good" by treating him badly (scolding, spraying water, etc.) doesn't really teach him how to all use his excess energy. If anything, it just teaches him to bottle it up, which isn't good.

My advice would be to get him to play tug with you. Use a bandana, twirled, with knots tied in either end, or an old sock. Always let him win and praise him for winning. (Here's a link with further info: http://www.tiny.cc/tug ) Tug uses up a lot of energy, and is particularly great for dogs like Thunder with strong oral impulses. Once he becomes addicted to tug, which provides a real strong feeling of satisfaction for his urge to bite, it won't be that difficult, when he wants to nip your cleaner or visitors, to redirect him to his tug toy. Over time he may even start racing to find it whenever the doorbell rings, and carry it with him to greet people at the door.

And see if you can give all your dogs more hard, vigorous playful exercise every day.

If you have any questions or problems, let me know.

LCK



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Bless you - thank you so much for replying to the question thats really good of you!!  The dogs only get one walk a day - but they do have the free run of the house and the yard all day! we cant take them out for longer walks as its just too hot all the time! they do play with each other really well and play fight everyday but not for long periods! The problem with Thunder is he wont play with me because he is too busy following Storm ( female husky) around worrying what she is doing! if you give him a toy he drops it so she can have it and then he can follow her around! they have a thing about toilet rolls when you give him anything play worthy he just wants to give it to storm and follow her! so  how can i burn off his energy!

what you have put about the herding and protecting issue with the cleaner is great advice i hadnt thought of it that way!!

bless you and thank you for replying!

Answer
Hi again.

I'm having problems with my server, so I have to be brief.

The reason he's so fascinated with Storm is that she excites his pack/prey drive in some way that you don't. Dogs don't like being sphritzed and scolded, so that may be part of it. I don't know. I do know, that if you hand feed him every day, using the exercise described here, you'll see a change in how he relates to you.

So try this for a few weeks: http://tinyurl.com/3balu6

You may have to keep doing it longer than a few weeks, but you should see some cool changes start to happen in how Thunder relates to you more than he's doing now.

I hope this helps!

LCK