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August 25, 2011

Our 12 year old Border Collie gets aggressive and tries to bite us when we attempt to put a lead on him. This is causing us a lot of problems. Any advice?

Full Question:
Hi,

I need a little advice, I have a 12 year old border collie, who is quite disobedient. He will not go on his lead, so this means he can't have a walk. If we try to put him on his lead he gets aggressive and will try to bite us, this is making us afraid of him and he knows it. This is causing us a great problem as we both work all day and so when we want to sleep at night the dog gets bored and barks and want to go out to the toilet. When he is out at night he barks and won't come in. He has bitten my husband in the past when he fixed his eyes on something that was on the floor and my husband went to pick the object up, the dog bit him and was quite frenzied. That was 5 years ago and since then I suppose we have shown fear. The dog has always been quite nervous ever since he was a pup he doesn't like coughing, laughing, or noise he goes and hides. We are thinking of having him put to sleep as he is dominating our lives, this obviously breaks our hearts. Any advice please.
Cindy
Cindy Cindy's Answer:
A 12 year old dog that has been allowed to behave like this his entire life has been done a great disservice. He's now a senior citizen and so any changes you want to make will be much more stressful on him than if he had been reared with rules, leadership and structure in the first place. I'm not trying to be disrespectful when I ask why have you waited all this time to seek help with him? Twelve years is a long time.

My advice is to put this dog on a strict schedule of control. If you need a muzzle for him, we have directions on how to measure the dog for a muzzle.

Start with our groundwork program and Pack Structure for the Family Pet.

I'd get a lead on him and leave it on. That way you can pick up the leash and not have to touch him. I would make him go out on a walk and then I would put him in a kennel just like the article I linked above explains.

He's running your house and he's not going to like any changes you want to make but it's in his best interest to do so.

We also have a number of eBooks, which include topics that may help you.

Good luck,
Cindy Rhodes

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Expert Dog Trainer Cindy Rhodes
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