Has Your Dog Ever Snapped at Anyone?

[Ashlea]

He is a border collie. He will not be all that fond of kids, ever. Now I know people are going to argue that there are borders who like kids, I know there are, just not all that many. He is a focused hearding breed. It is normal for him to be one or two people orientated. And the attitude. That is what I love about borders! LOL

With my dogs I give people 2 very clear warnings that they are not social with children and if kids want to pat/stroke they must do so with my supervision and do so gently. If they chose to ignore they are going to get bitten by my little one, Aeron will never bite but she will growl. There is only so much one can do with kids who insist on invading you space.

[casablanca1]

Originally Posted by moonchild1970

Someone at the park tried to grab poppy's face and pry the ball out of his mouth, and when he growled they ignored it and kept trying to get the ball and he snapped at them and kind of ran at them... I'm really upset about this. My husband says he doesn't like where this is going and thinks poppy's had an attitude problem.

I've had a dog who would never snap or charge a kid, no matter what the provocation. She was naturally fantastic with people, kindly and generous, because we sure never trained her to be like that. I've also had a dog who was not even remotely good with people, and now I have a dog who is friendly and happy but also a little too high-strung to be reliable without direct supervision. The first would never snap, the second snapped rarely but always seriously, and the last will snap if she's wound up. So I've run the gamut of temperaments, in a way.

Poppy seems to fall into the middle - pleasant and friendly, but can be provoked fairly easily into displays of aggression. I think training - basic obedience training, as well as a negative (verbal no, end of play time, etc.) when she's aggressive will temper that. But I would always bear in mind that she's not the most mellow dog. I think that's where people sometimes get into trouble - they hope/believe/expect that their dog is more tolerant than they really are, and let them get into bad situations. Not to say that she can't play in the park, etc., but that she needs a higher level of supervision than the sort of dog who, if someone wrests a ball from their mouth, naturally just wags its tail.

[moonchild1970]

Originally Posted by Ashlea

There is only so much one can do with kids who insist on invading you space.

Exactly. Thank you!