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New Collie Puppy

612 views 2 replies 3 participants last post by  ForTheLoveOfDogs 
#1 ·
I Just bought a female collie puppy yesterday. I've had puppies before, only males though. I also have a 10 year old boxer/golden retriever mix boy. The problem is that the collie puppy just wont take to him. She started growling the minute she saw him. Which I understand because she's afraid. So I just started slowly introducing them. I got my older dog to lay down so I could let her sniff him. Today she is not growling as much. But every time he goes to sniff her, she goes to snap him and just did a little while ago so I went to pick her up and then she snapped at me a bit, maybe for fear it was the older boy. I'm not to sure what to do in this situation. My older dog loves puppies and has never snapped or growled at them. He didn't even growl when my collie pup snapped. My Brother also just got a Collie puppy (a boy) last week. The puppy took to my older dog straight away and can't get enough playtime with him. The puppies haven't met yet and won't be until my girl gets her last vaccine. I'm worried she may not take to my brothers pup either. Any advice given will be much appreciated. Is this a bad sign in a puppy to snap at older dogs?
She loves people and kids even more. The breeders little girl mostly raised the puppies so there's no issues there. Only with her not taking to my older dog.
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#2 ·
Never been in the situation and I’m not a professional anything but sounds like it could be a territorial problem. Maybe with the property? I don’t think it’s a bad sign your puppy doesn’t like your dog in terms that she’ll have aggression issues with other dogs, specially a puppy her size and breed. My pup can be annoyed at one dog but loves another, and I’m sure it’s normal. I suggest watching a lot of YouTube videos on territorial aggression or just dog aggression and behavior in general :) Good luck 👍 (and sorry I can’t be of much help)
 
#3 ·
My Border Collie puppy did this. It's based on fear and stress.. and while definitely not "good" does not mean that your Border Collie will end up an aggressive dog.

Border Collies are quirky, weird and go through very intense fear periods, especially if not well bred and socialized correctly. Even if they are.. just expect oddness. The best piece of advice I can give (which I wish I had when mine was a puppy) is to take everything slooooow. I ended up separating with an exercise pen and letting them "meet" through there for a couple days before she was finally more confident to meet my older dog (who was very friendly). Some Border Collies don't like forwardness and have space issues. Be very careful when introducing to other dogs. In fact, you are better to only let them "see" other dogs and only "meet" very chill/indifferent dogs. My Border Collie actually ended up really getting along well with other Border Collies... they all kind of understood each other. Sporting breeds on the other hand were just so rambunctious and something to "tell off".

All socialization should be done carefully, slowly, from a distance if needed. Take them around stuff, but don't make them interact if they are uncomfortable.. but most importantly: do not push an issue. If they are afraid of something, do not try to keep working on that issue. Take a break for a few weeks and come back to it. These are sensitive dogs, and they are very easy to mess up. Mine is still a bit whack from some puppyhood trauma from bad socialization on my part. But still overall a pretty good dog. She gets along fine with my older dog for the most part, despite being snappy in the beginning. And she can safely be around other dogs as long as they don't bounce obnoxiously into her space.

Edit - Just realized this says Collie, not Border Collie. Weird for a Collie. But puppies are puppies, and the same can be true with any puppy. Especially quirky herding breeds.
 
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