So I was 37m single set on not having kids when I got an Australian cattle dog. Literally the day he got his final parvovirus vaccine I took him out with me to drinks with a couple coworkers where I met my now wife who was a friend of a coworker.
Fast-forward 4 years I’m married have 2 kids (both conceived after marriage tyvm #firstinmyfamily #generationalfamilyissues #omgwhyisthisboomerusing hashtags #causeimaddandalreadyinsideaparenthesies) and my dog is a absolute love but very protective and has a biting problem.
He’s never broken skin on me my wife or kids but he does regularly bite my older daughter. He has broken skin on several people we are close to though. I’m not worried he will mail our daughters but it’s very difficult to have a dog you have to lock away whenever people are over and my wife hates that he bites our daughter.
Should I try and re-house him, are there ways to fix this. I love the guy but he is a problem.
Edit: I would have never gotten an ACD if I thought this was going to be my future. I knew what I was getting into with the breed, I just didn’t think I was ever going to have a family. He does love our daughters too but a two year old doesn’t understand why he bites.
Get rid of this dog. My brother had a dog almost the same breed and it bit my niece and she was ok but it did break the skin. Years later when he had children the dog attacked his 3 year old daughter and mauled her face, she had to have major reconstructive surgery and has massive scars. The put the dog down after that, but they didn’t see the signs when it bit the first time.
Get a one-on-one trainer, talk to your vet. Don’t take the internet’s advice beyond this point.
This is pretty standard cattle dog behavior. They herd and feel everything with their mouths. My best advice is to try to exercise that herding instinct in your dog to release the need to herd (read bite and nip). My go to with my cow dog is playing soccer, and playing monkey in the middle with a tennis ball. Not only are these great exercise but also mentally stimulating in a way that fulfills the herding instinct in your dog.
Cattle dogs can also be not so social at times. I like to have guests greet my dog with a treat immediately whenever they come over as a sort of tribute and acknowledgement that they are in HIS home. Its also a good positive reinforcement that when people come over you get a treat and make people a good thing rather than scary. This isn’t sure fired though, but combined with exercising their herding instinct could do a lot to keep that unwanted behavior under control.
We had a rescue rottie that was aggressive when we got him. It took years but through controlled exposure to new people, some professional training, and just working through different situations, we got to the point that I was never concerned about him hurting any guests. Maybe he would body a small child because of his size, but never bite.
We currently have a personal trainer coming to help with our husky/pit/German shepherd rescue. She’s a great girl and unless you’re a rabbit, would never hurt you, but she’s very reactive on walks and when people walk by with their dogs. It’s helping a bit, but it’s a marathon, not a sprint.
So my anecdotal advice is to get a private trainer with recommendations and good reviews. Your vet may be able to guide you to someone or perhaps a local shelter or doggy daycare place. My wife volunteers at one of our local shelters and she found someone through networking there who also volunteers her training at said shelter.
In the interim, keep the dog separated from your daughter. Any way you can associate your daughter as a positive thing for your dog is good. Positive reinforcement is king
Get a good dog trainer, re home it or put it down. Any dog can be trained but you may not have it in you to provide the kind of discipline that an old dog like that requires. Especially with so much on your plate already.
Cattle dogs gonna cattle dog. I’ve lived with a lovely neurotic heeler. She’d bite me for months while walking around before getting accustomed to me being one of her people. She is not friendly with strangers, dog or human. Small fast loud humans would be a wild card for sure. Very territorial and defensive of her people. Just part of the breed. If the kids grew up around the dog that should be grandfathered in. Otherwise it takes time and care. Mutual respect. Constant supervision and correction.
Yeah pretty much cattle dogs going to cattle dog.
From someone who has only watched videos and TV shows about this and not practiced what im about to preach, take this with a grain of salt.
From what I’ve seen, it’s a dominance issue. They believe that they are in a position to doll out “punishment for transgressions”. They believe that they are alpha or close to it.
Lot of the time it comes down to them not being challenged in other ways. Not enough exercise. This breed loves to work and run, run, run.
My late friend used to have a border mix that was similar. She loved chasing his 4wheelers. And definitely thought that she had some amount of rank over other people. But it did get a bit better after he moved to his last house and she had tons of room to run. And not just run, run for a purpose, to herd the 4 wheeler.
Not sure if this helps at all, but i wish you the best. Really sucks to feel like you may have to pick. Been there, for other reasons.
