Hey guys, i have a 3 year old Australian Kelpie mixed with some other stuff aswell and she well i wont sugar coat it tends to attack some other dogs but i think(hope) never with the intention to physically injure as she only clinches at the fur not biting down on it shes never caused another dog to bleed. she often does it when a dog is sniffing her or charges towards me (Playful or non playful) i tried to shrug it off but i really want to get ontop of it because shes a really intelligent and a great friend and pet being let down by this behavior

I can always get her to stop by yelling at her but she'll often scare the owners of the dogs


Thanks in advance guys any help would be much appreciated

[Piti Longstalking]

Your dog has proximity issues, and I highly recommend this book: Welcome to Dogwise.com.

Alright, never heard of that but it makes sense i'll defintley check that book out.


I should also mention that shes also quite protective regarding other dogs such as when my friends miniature poodle(Uh Oh) who they had recently got and she hadnt met jumped up on him (in a joyful/playful way) she went into defense mode and roughed it up abit(Again seemingly avoiding to injure it as it seemed like if she wanted to she could have easily injured it badly so im taking relief in the fact that she doesnt seem to want to seriously injure)

Couple of thoughts. You need to prevent the dog from practicing this behavior. Dogs just get better at behaviors they repeat and just cause she hasn't drawn blood it doesn't mean she won't or that the other dog won't. Sounds like a big vet bill in the making.

That's step one. Step two is teaching the dog an alternate behavior. This you practice when there are no distractions, most folks use a 'look at me' getting the dog's attention and focus, before the dogs becomes too aroused and reacts. Using positive training techniques mean that two things will happen, you are more likely to have a long term reliable solution because the dog's feeling about seeing another dog is going to change as well.

Find a trainer to help.

Are you so sure she is "just playing"? Sounds like she has aggression issues that need immediate attention before she attacks and injures a dog or human.

You need to seek out a professional to help evaluate the cause of the aggression and deal with it.

If you haven't watched The Dog Whisper...you might want to....and read his books.

It's also important to be aware of what the breed means for the dog. You have a kelpie mix...what does that mean? Well, kelpies are working dogs with high energy. A bored kelpie will be a frustrated, destructive kelpie. Kelpies nip at stock to move them--they need to be taught not to do this in inappropriate situations (against humans or other pets).

So, you may simply have a frustrated kelpie so full of energy it can't release that it is acting out. Exercise, Exercise, Exercise. Also, give it a job--obedience, herding, agility, something to exercise it's mind.

Ever wonder how Cesar Milan can keep 30-40 rotties/pit bulls/etc as a pack without problems? 4 hours of exercise a day, that's how!

Exercise--Discipline--Affection in that order!

Training. Understand triggers, thresholds,counter conditioning and desensitization. You need to work on getting good focus and attention from this dog AND changing how she feels about other dogs. At the very least she should learn to ignore other dogs, even if she doesn't like.

Feisty Fido
Click To Calm

good books.

Working with a fearful dog

Its a hard one really i think professional training might be my best shot whether it comes down to proximity issues im kinda on the fence with as to me personally witnessing it appears as though she does it out of fear as dogs that she knows well she wont react to at the most baring her teeth she used to be abused so i dunno whether or not this is the cause i also think her kelpie energy is a contributing factor as she appears to behave alot better when shes tired but will sometimes do despite being completely exhausted maybe 1 30minute walk a day isnt enough for a kelpie?

Recently she went to stay at my aunts house for a night without me there my aunt has two dogs. when we arrived my dog did "Her thing" afew times then following day when we picked her up she was only baring her teeth at them still an issue but progress at least

Im highly open to the idea of trainign her to act different however i dont really know how to do so, my opinion is that she needs extensive socialisation however this is difficult to do as noone understandably so wants her to hang around with there dogs knowing what she is likely to do

Thanks for all the help given so far i really appreciate it. ive always been thinking about watching the cesar millan guy and will definitely do so asap

[lil mutt]

observe your dog carefully if it just want to play with other dogs or aggressively attacking other dogs.

I would encourage you to find a local rehabilitator to help you. They can help evaluate the situation and show you the best way to address the issue while keeping everyone safe.

Yes, one 30-minute walk a day is not going to be sufficient for a kelpie. If you bike/roller-blade you could teach the dog to run along side you. Remember that a kelpie is breed to run cattle all day long so they are typically very high energy.

im absolute its not playing im hoping it just comes to her being frustrated

I'll look into Cesar Millan However i do understand there is some controversy surrounding how humane his methods of training are

Proximity, adrenaline or whatever it is, it doesn't seem to be a big problem, it's a natural cause, animals in general will try to protect themselves from unknown things, training may take it off, but for me it's just fine.