our first border collie

thanks for the help. Our dog was still considered a puppy when we got her 2 months ago but we think she is now about 12 months old. We have gone through 2 training classes but she has a hard time with those since there are so many other dogs she can't focus as she has to show everyone that she is the loudest one. Her biting is mostly when my husband comes home from work - she goes right for his feet and if we have slippers on she doesn't like them. Sometimes she will nip at the kids if they are running around so I know this is the herding instinct we read about but it scares them. I have tried a similar dominance hold that the trainer taught us and that helps sometimes. Of course we never know what kind of home life she had before we got her so I try to take this into consideration. We won't give up, just should have researched the breed more before we took her home - but who can resist an adorable border collie?

Well, I agree with you, I find them absolutely irresistible. Ok, it is always hard to diagnose these problems at a distance but from what you have just said I think her biting your husbands feet and slippers is an invitation to play. Collies are working dogs, a happy Collie is one that has at least 4 hours of intense exercise a day; mine chase me in my Landie at 15mph amongst other things, and that also is mentally occupied. Experiments show Collies can learn command words as fast as a human child acquires vocabulary! How do you occupy the dog during the day? To the dog your children are a different species, they movements are sharper and they are a different size and smell different and interact with the head wolves (Your husband and you) as subordinates therefore, unless they have been socialised specifically to children in the crucial 6-12 week period of their life they may not recognise them as part of the pack, in which case they are either prey-species or subordinate wolves. It will be hard but tell your kids to stand still; the dog nips the child to turn it. Keep your voice low and soft you may be surprised what a calming effect this can have. Use a special food to train with and do not give the dog that food at any other time. Remember, training any animal is half about training yourself. Use regular training sessions. If the dogs fails a particular task, retreat to an easier one and reward it for completing that, always finish a session on success and praise. Never hit or shout at the dog, that is attention from the head wolf and all attention even being hit is a good result for the dog. Generally, turn away and ignore bad behaviour. If you really need to, OCCASIONALLY, you can use the ultimate punishment. Shut the dog out of your presence. For a wolf to be excluded from the pack is very frightening. Let the dog sleep in your room but not on your bed; the pack sleeps together. But sleeping on your bed encouraging dominance. Give the dog plenty of toys, a basket in the living room as well as the bedroom. all the best urban