The dog isn't mine. I'm just trying to help her owner deal with her behavior toward strangers. I can't find any training tips specific to her behavior. I'll try to describe it the best I can in the hope some of you know a good way to deal with it.
She's a 1.5 yr-old Aussie-border collie mix. She's very happy and friendly and energetic with all dogs and anyone she's made friends with. She's not the type of dog one would describe as aggressive.
When she sees a stranger, even if that person is 20 feet away and walking the other direction, she starts barking. Her hackles will go up slightly, but maybe because of her coat type, it's not pronounced. Her tail does go out a bit straighter behind her, and the bark sounds like an alarm bark to me. It's that kind of protracted "awoowoowooowoo" sound. She doesn't snarl or growl. If she is on leash, she pulls toward the person rather than cowering, but I still get the impression it's fear-related. If she is off the leash, she will follow the person at a distance while barking at them, but if they pause, turn, etc., she cautiously approaches, but stays back maybe 3 or 4 feet, but will sometimes charge in for a nip. She's never gotten anyone, but I'm quite sure she intends to.
I first met her when I walked out of a building and she and her human were outside the door. I startled her and she did this same thing to me. After I squatted and talked to her soothingly, she stopped barking, but she stayed close to her human and although interested in me, didn't have the courage to approach. I think the only difference between her behavior toward me and her behavior toward other strangers was my response to it. After another meeting, she became my friend and now she jumps all over me when she sees me. That's pretty much the rule: she loves everyone once she knows them.
I can't find anything in my dog books or on the net to help fix this specific type of aggression. All I could suggest to her owner was that she use treats and a distraction technique so that Boots learns to focus on her human and the treats rather than the fear-inducing stranger. After enough repetitions, I think there is a chance the dog will associate strangers with something positive (the treats) and because of the distraction, she'll stop fixating on stranger. Although this might work, I'm not entirely sure it's the most effective technique, and it's too dependent on random meetings with strangers. I'm looking for more ideas. Maybe some of you have experience with this and a more effective approach.
BTW, the owner cannot afford group training classes. She's on a fixed income, so she'll have to do the training on her own (with whatever help I can offer).
Thanks for any ideas you have.
She's a 1.5 yr-old Aussie-border collie mix. She's very happy and friendly and energetic with all dogs and anyone she's made friends with. She's not the type of dog one would describe as aggressive.
When she sees a stranger, even if that person is 20 feet away and walking the other direction, she starts barking. Her hackles will go up slightly, but maybe because of her coat type, it's not pronounced. Her tail does go out a bit straighter behind her, and the bark sounds like an alarm bark to me. It's that kind of protracted "awoowoowooowoo" sound. She doesn't snarl or growl. If she is on leash, she pulls toward the person rather than cowering, but I still get the impression it's fear-related. If she is off the leash, she will follow the person at a distance while barking at them, but if they pause, turn, etc., she cautiously approaches, but stays back maybe 3 or 4 feet, but will sometimes charge in for a nip. She's never gotten anyone, but I'm quite sure she intends to.
I first met her when I walked out of a building and she and her human were outside the door. I startled her and she did this same thing to me. After I squatted and talked to her soothingly, she stopped barking, but she stayed close to her human and although interested in me, didn't have the courage to approach. I think the only difference between her behavior toward me and her behavior toward other strangers was my response to it. After another meeting, she became my friend and now she jumps all over me when she sees me. That's pretty much the rule: she loves everyone once she knows them.
I can't find anything in my dog books or on the net to help fix this specific type of aggression. All I could suggest to her owner was that she use treats and a distraction technique so that Boots learns to focus on her human and the treats rather than the fear-inducing stranger. After enough repetitions, I think there is a chance the dog will associate strangers with something positive (the treats) and because of the distraction, she'll stop fixating on stranger. Although this might work, I'm not entirely sure it's the most effective technique, and it's too dependent on random meetings with strangers. I'm looking for more ideas. Maybe some of you have experience with this and a more effective approach.
BTW, the owner cannot afford group training classes. She's on a fixed income, so she'll have to do the training on her own (with whatever help I can offer).
Thanks for any ideas you have.
