Vixen snapped at me

Wow that would be worrisome in such a young pup! I do understand what you mean about the working lines of BCs, but really, isn't that kind of sad? It seems you should be able to have a good working dog who actually is good with people, too, wouldn't that be a goal in breeding?

Interestingly, a gal formerly in our dog club went over to England to get a BC bitch and had her bred artificially, also with a British dog I believe. At least one of the pups who went to another dog club member is just awful around other dogs also! He has run out of the agility ring to go after some other poor pup. What a life - he has to be tightly controlled at all times. It seems sad to me.

I hope a behaviorist can help you out, your own dogs are for sure feeling your stress and unhappiness.

Hugs.

 

Sophie, the fenced area with a nice kennel for Vixen sounds like a good idea for now...and maybe for the long term if this behavior can't be resolved. You don't want to chance your little ones getting hurt, or yourself and/or anyone else who might come to visit you.

My heart goes out to your brother...I know he was so happy to get Vixen and this has got to be emotionally hard for all of you. Hopefully this behavior can be brought under enough control that he can handle and bond with Vixen even if she is never really good around others. Coming from a working line the qualities that make for a good pet may simply not be part of her genetic makeup...not her fault.

Trini

 

When you say 'Without much effort I can reel off a list of five collies that I know personally to be people aggressive and liable to snap. '

Do you mean BC's, or collies? I am really surprised at the notion of an aggressive collie.

 

I guess that would be BCs. In the UK we tend to call them 'collies'. (We call Rough Collies by the full name - to avoid confusion and yes that would be more surprising.)

A good book which might help here is 'Bringing Light to Shadow' by Pamela Dennison

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bringing-Li...6912&sr=8-1&keywords=bringing+light+to+shadow

I would also suggest before doing anything else to get a full blood panel done to see if there is anything odd going on - thyroid etc as there might be a medical problem. Something else to check out would be her eyes, if she has an eye condition it might mean that she is being spooked by things she isn't seeing properly. Collies can be quite sharp, no nonsense dogs. They can also be quite nippy, especially the working lines, bearing in mind they have been selectively bred for those particular traits rather than good temperament.

 

Only slightly

 

I do not know any "bad" BC, but I never wanted a BC, because of their activity. but not least, I have never liked their look in their eyes, so the writing is new to me -they all have that slightly insane look in their eyes - I thought that I was the only one who had this impression. since everyone here else thought they looked so cute

 

I've read that one of Queen Victoria's favorite collies was an absolute terror to the people who handled and cared for it. It must be a breed trait. Shelties, on the other hand, seem to be fairly passive; my Dickens is so, almost to a fault.

 

When I write here, I do not mean here in SN, but where I live, Sorry