Border collie

[joe1]

Hi,
We have 2 dogs they get on fine when my husband is not around, but as soon as he enters the house the border collie seriously intimidates the other ( lurcher) and will not let him go near my husband. Any ideas pls/

[Count-A-Strong]

Your BC obviously sees himself as second in command within the pack. Have you had him longer than the lurcher?
All I can suggest is that your husband is very firm with the BC and tries to make it clear that he shouldn't behave in this way. Yet another example of the slight autism which BCs have as part of their character.

[jules77]

BC's have autism, have you ever had one of these intelligent dogs CAS??

I would firstly suggest your husband ignores both dogs when he comes home. Who exercises and feeds the dogs, and how much exercise is the BC getting? Is he getting any mental stimulation?

[joe1]

hi,

thank you both.
i feed them usually they are fed together no problem. We had the lurcher before the bc - he is very quiet and friendly. The bc is a lovely dog and very friendly to all - just has this habit of almost like he is keeping the lurcher away from my husband by getting between them. Once lurcher is with my husband and having a fuss bc is ok. He is very active almost manic!! But we love them both to bits.

[ladybirder]

You say he is very active, almost manic. That sounds like a dog not getting enough exercise joe1. How much exercise do they get?

[Count-A-Strong]

Jules - yes I have an 8 year old male and a friend who has an 11 y o male. That;s how I know. Intelligence has nothing to do with autism. BCs exhibit classic austistic behaviour.

[jules77]

Well I am intrigued, how does autism display itself in dogs?

[carmalee]

BC's are notorious for thinking they are in charge - they've been bred to think for themselves as they often work out of sight of the shepherd. Your BC thinks it's his job to put the Lurcher in his place.

[Count-A-Strong]

Jules:

SLIGHT (as I said) Autism in BC's is generally associated with them liking set ways of behaving and wanting to do the same activity over and over again.

It's not proven and is a fairly new concept but to me makes sense.

[ladybirder]

Hmm that's interesting CAS. I wonder if that is just confined to BCs. My daughter has observed a dog that spends a lot of time with us, a terrier, who she thinks has a degree of autism. He sort of holds himself apart from his owners and friends and family who walk him and feed him. It's almost as if he doesn't care who is on the other end of the lead or who is throwing his ball as long as they're doing it. He will walk straight past his owners if out on a walk with me. Everybody loves him but I'm not sure that he loves anybody. Whereas my last dog would be rooted to the spot if anyone but me tried to walk him. Also this little dog only wants to do one thing, run and fetch his ball. So I don't know if this could be classed as autism.

[madeira1328]

A similar problem has developed with my two dogs, mongrel 13, Sally and westie 16 William. Wills is my dog 16 years and Sally is rescue - been with my parents for 11 yrs. moved in with me last October, always got on well with Wills.
Last week began to snarl at him and went for him twice. Quite hard for Wills as he is deaf and almost blind.
So I reveiwed my handling and have reasserted my dominance and Wills superiorority - by making Sally wait for a cuddle, get food after William and sleep apart (for safety) have had no more snarling thankfully - she is a very bright dog, after 3 meals had cottoned on to sitting patiently while I witheld her tea while Wills ate
his. madeira1328

[jules77]

My dogs all have set ways, although they are each very different. They would run up and down the garden playing ball all day long, which I guess is the same activity, I dont think they are autistic though, they just like playing ball.

[Chaffinch]

Not sure about the autisum stuff, but you have two "working" dogs, both very inteligent too, so the question to you is are you exercising them enough, and are you stimulating them.

Personally, I think working dogs should be "worked", my JRT's both rabbit and rat for local farmers, as that is what they are bred for, but you could try agility classes for the BC, as this will stimulate him, and let him know who's boss.

[Avatar]

Autism in dogs. I've heard it all now. 95% of the cases ascribed to rowdy kids are unfounded, let alone dogs having it. Dear oh dear. Anthropomorphic nonsense

[calicosrcool]

the BC probably wants more attention than they want the lurcher to.