My male Sheltie bit our neighbor!

T

Tdanyo

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My male sheltie (Furgus) is 1.5 years old. We have a big back yard with a gate. It was at night. My daughter left the gate open and Furgus got out. We have an alley way and the neighbor was retrieving his trash can. Furgus went ahead and bit him in the ankle. He actually broke the skin. The person he bit was a 20 year old male and friendly to our pets.

Everything has settled down with the neighbors, but they did threaten to call animal control if it happens again and rightly so. We feel terrible about this and I'm wondering if this will only get worse?

What can we do to remedy this situation? Should I arrange for Furgus and the neighbor to meet under controlled and positive situation? What training tips do you suggest?

Thank you!
 
Has Furgus ever shown any sign of aggression in the past? This doesn't sound like typical sheltie behavior at all. He may have been HERDING your neighbor and the guy just misread it for aggression. Try talking with him. I don't know if he's the type of person that's easy to get along with or talk to though. It's easy for them to say "Your dog attacked me!" When it was just doing what it was breed for, herding. My dogs have bitten my ankles, every one of them, and yes skin has broken, but they wouldn't hurt me to save their own lives. I've had some horrid experience with neighbors, close friends have become mortal enemy #1 (not saying that's how your neighbor could be), it's hard for me to trust people around me right now.
 
Tdanyo said:
My male sheltie (Furgus) is 1.5 years old. We have a big back yard with a gate. It was at night. My daughter left the gate open and Furgus got out. We have an alley way and the neighbor was retrieving his trash can. Furgus went ahead and bit him in the ankle. He actually broke the skin. The person he bit was a 20 year old male and friendly to our pets.

Everything has settled down with the neighbors, but they did threaten to call animal control if it happens again and rightly so. We feel terrible about this and I'm wondering if this will only get worse?

What can we do to remedy this situation? Should I arrange for Furgus and the neighbor to meet under controlled and positive situation? What training tips do you suggest?

Thank you!
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Oh my, so sorry this has happened. Express to your neighbor how bad you feel about this and see if they are open to the meeting with Fergus. Has he ever shown any aggression with anyone ? If you have allowed ankle biting you need to correct this.

He is a teenager and this is a time when training can go out the window so make sure to continue training fun tricks and changing undesirable behavior .I agree with Tabs that's it sounds like herding/territorial guarding and so you need to work on these issues.

Put a padlock on the gate and don't let kids have the key. Use a long lunge line on a stake in your yard for Fergus to be on when he is outside and or go outside with him on a leash when he goes out. Tell your neighbor that you have taken these steps to prevent this from ever happening again.

I hope you can get this worked out with your neighbors and Fergus can settle down and be a good sheltie boy.:yes:
 
An 18 month old sheltie biting on the ankle is not unusual. To the dog, he was herding the person. Being loose, out of his comfort zone, he was probably in a heightened state. Then, if the young man was pulling or rolling the trash can which makes noise, that added to it.
The fact that he broke skin is too bad for all concerned. I hope that your neighbors can understand the unusual circumstances, that the dog got out from the yard.
Here are some ideas for you to ponder....

I don't know how old your daughter is, but I would start there. Sit her down and explain how lucky she is that the results of her actions were not more devastating. In our world at my house, EVERY gate is closed all the time. It becomes second nature that you NEVER leave a gate open. If she is young, and has friends over, playing outside, it is her responsibility to close the gate, not her friends'.

Next, I would take flowers, maybe a Christmas plant, or baked goods to their door, and say again, how sorry you are for the accident, and explain the steps you are taking for it to never happen again.

Lastly, I would strongly consider obedience classes for your pup. He is at an age where he would benefit from the attention and the boundaries class could give him.
 
If you have a basically good relationship with this neighbor and even with other neighbors, maybe you could recruit him/them to help work with you on this issue. If they would call you when they plan to step into alley to retrieve something, you could take Fergus (on lead and carefully controlled) to meet them in the alley, you great them happily and chat for a few minutes, so that Fergus gets the message that it is OK for them to be in the alley. Treats and praise for friendly attitude from Fergus...initially the treats from you...then once you feel secure that Fergus won't nip the treats can come from the neighbor/s. Make sure anyone you have helping you is not afraid of Fergus...dogs sense fear immediately and it makes them nervous and much more prone to reacting in a negative way...so only recruit neighbors to help who really like dogs and like Fergus. Although this may be herding instint taken too far...it could also be "protecting" what Fergus sees as his territory...and either way it is not good.

And if neighbors won't help in getting Fergus to see that people have "alley rights" and that it is OK for them to be near his yard, you can always try calling your local high school and asking if they have a list of responsible students who are looking to find a few hours of work a week for pocket money and could come and work the alley issue with you. One of our rescues was very unpredictable (her issue was fear aggression) when we adopted her and I knew I needed to work with her in a totally controlled environment before we could safely continue rehab anywhere in public. I called our high school and got 4 kids, all who loved animals and were planning to study vet medicine, to come 3 afternoons a week for an hour to help work with my little one and get her past her fear aggression. It was a wonderful experience for all...the kids learned a lot about approaching a dog with issues and our little one learned that people could be trusted and be a source of fun and good treats. We worked together for a full school year and the results were great.

And I agree that a lock on your gate would be a good idea...other kids, or even adults, might open the gate, letting Fergus get out.

Trini
 
Does Fergus have a soft mouth in general? If not I'd go back to basics with that, yell "OUCH" (but don't pull away - you want him to back off) anytime there is pressure with teeth on skin, keep lowering the treshold at which you do the ouch thing. Also stop whatever playing is happening whenever there is any kind of biting involved - including pulling on pant legs.

I agree with everyone else who suggested you work with the neighbour if you can. Good luck.
 
Given his age, he's an adolescent, I'd be keeping him on a short leash for a while. He is trying to work out his role and being a guard dog should not be one of them. Adolescents don't make good guard dogs. That means not leaving him in the yard unsupervised for a while. You need to be able to keep an eye on him and prevent any undesirable behaviours. Don't let him bark at the fence and try to keep him away from the fence line with the alley. I'm concerned he thinks he is guarding that fenceline, which would explain his over the top response.

Get someone to stand on the other side of the fence and make some noises - start with small noises. Put him in a sit and if he stays calm and controlled give him a treat. As he gets better build up to him being loose in the yard, making sounds on the other side and call him every time to give him a treat (if he doesn't react). If he does react go and get him and put him on a leash and walk him away from the fence. You'll need to do these over a period of time so he becomes less reactive to noises on the other side of the fence. It will also mean if he hears a noise he doesn't like he comes to one of your family rather than taking it into his own hands.

If you can afford it I would suggest bringing in a behaviourist that uses positive reinforcement methods only. They can show you some techniques at home and also it will help allay the concerns of your neighbours.
 
My Sheltie nips me on the ankles sometimes.. She doesn't quite break the skin though.. Whenever she bites me I let out a doggie ouch.. A high pitched yelp! I think it works.. I guess try that?? I'm sorry I'm not much help..
 
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