hi everyone:
I have a 3 year old Kelpie who is confounding me a bit. Since she came home at 9 weeks, she always wanted to be top dog with the other dogs in the house. Lately she has been posturing, out of the blue around my other 5 yr old Kelpie. This finally resulted in a fight between the two, because she had been pushing it. I was easily able to separate them, but it was not all noise. So, that is her wanting to be top dog- oh, another thing she does, is if I tell another dog to stop something, she runs at it to back me up. But, the other big thing is that she is fearful of *some* strangers- not all, and not all the time. She seems so hyper alert to everything, she is constantly on the lookout for the boogey man, although, if you didn't know her, you may just think she is having a nice quick walk. So, sometimes some people running by, or walking by don't bother her at all. We do agility and at trials, she appears to be really concerned about boogeymen SOMETIMES. Sometimes she is completely focused. Going in and out of small spaces is not her cup of tea either. The kicker is this, I took her out on a walk at a preserve today. As we walk in, a family and a dog come by, the dog tugging to come close, my dog responded to this by having ALL hackles up and running at the group. Then she did this again to another dog. Then we worked on focus on me when others walk by and it was like she was happy to have something else to do. Then, we came across a woman and her dog, and she started in on this hackle up charging thing, and then I stopped to talk to the lady, and she quieted very quickly.
So, is she afraid, telling these groups to stay away? Or is she NOT afraid and telling them the same? I went to the q and a, but didn't see anything that she fits into.
Thanks for reading and any advice.
Julie

Check your private messages <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Kelpies are supposed to be like you are describing somewhat. This is what makes them great herding dogs. All other breeds either do what is directed of them, or drive the herds from one place to another. Kelpies can do all of it on their own, and do it better than the others.

If you have a herding club anywhere in your area, I would strongly advise you to check it out. It is a lot of fun, and you would be amazed at how many of those behaviors become managable. I have an aussie who is really weird except when we go to class. We go to class and he is a different dog altogether. He even stops trying to herd the sparrows in the yard, and leaves the bicyclists alone! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />