dorisq

Thank you so much to everyone for their input and advice. I have contacted several trainers but most of them, sadly, use corrections and negative punishment to train the dog. I have been working with CJ and he's very smart and obedient for me. I do think, however, that Melanie is correct and his biting is a result of fear rather than aggression. He can be very skittish sometimes. When he has to stay at the vet for any length of time, the vet will give him a mild tranquilizer and muzzle him if necessary and that seems to keep him calmer. Does anyone have any advice on muzzling a dog? He doesn't seem to be in any discomfort when he has the muzzle on at the vet's office. Once again, thank you so much for all your input. I certainly have a great deal of imformation to think about. Doris

Hello, I'm brand new to the border collie boards. My name is Doris and I have a 1 1/2 year old male border collie. With the immediate family he is a wonderful and affectionate dog. With anyone other than the family, he's very aggressive and he's bitten three people. Not a vicious bite, but kind of a bite that let's them know he's the dog in charge. Is there any way I can train him to stop biting people? We have very few visitors unless we know ahead of time and we can restrict CJ to one room. He was crated as a puppy but if we lock him in the crate when we have company, he just barks and goes crazy. Any suggestions would be welcome. Thank you.