Chloe's snapping at the kids

Not all of the time, but in certain situations that occur semi-frequently. She's also tried to nip at my dad and my mom.
I pretty sure it is a "dominance" thing, because everything that the kids do around her I can do and she has never once tried to bite me.

Chloe doesn't consistantly listen to anyone in the family but me. I'm assuming this is because I'm the only one who has ever worked with her, but no one else in the family WANTS to work with her. Chloe almost constantly tests my authority to see what she can get away with, and she works me to my limits.
Now I can get Chloe to pretty much behave around me, but with everyone else, as I stated earlier, she's started to get snarfy.

For example: Chloe was chewing on my mom's camera bag strap. My mom went to move it away from her and Chloe growled (it wasn't a deep, belly chest growl....I've been on the receiving end of a few of those and trust me, that isn't what she does. It is more like a growl to test and see what will become of it) and snapped at my mom. She didn't make contact with my mom's skin, but she was definitally testing the waters.

This is versus me who can walk up to Chloe who is chewing on a forbidden object and Chloe drops it and lays down giving me a look like, "What? See, I'm a little angel."

Last night someone forgot to close the laundry room door, so Chloe ran back into the room and started to eat Pheobe's kitten food. I was in the kitchen so my sister JeanAnne went back to shoo Chloe out. JeanAnne went to reach for Chloe and Chloe snarled and snapped at JeanAnne. She made contact, but didn't so much as leave a mark. As soon as I heard Chloe snarl I hopped over the gate we have blocking off of the kitchen and, for lack of better word, screamed at Chloe. (Basically yelled at the top of my lungs in my meanest voice and said, "What the heck are you doing dog? You do NOT do that!") I was not going to tolorate her going after my sister. Chloe stopped what she was doing immeadiatly and went into submissive mode (ears down, tail down, not confident in her posture at all). As soon as she did that I sternly told her to get out, and she trotted out of the laundry room into the living room and laid down.

Then later that evening, someone forgot to put the gate up at the bottom of the stairs and Chloe ran upstairs and started eating Rush's cat food in my mom's bathroom. Again, JeanAnne went to go get her out before I could say it was a bad idea. I'm not intirely sure what happened as I wasn't in the room, but I heard my mom yell, "Andrea, Chloe's biting JeanAnne!" so I went running in there, grabbed Chloe with no problem, brought her back downstairs, leashed her, and made her lay down and go to bed. Chloe hadn't broken JeanAnne's skin and again didn't leave a mark.

A couple of weeks ago when we had family over, Chloe was eating Cherrios off of the ground outside and Taylor (he's six?) came over and leaned over her to pet her. She growled and snapped at him. I corrected her with a little leash pop and moved her away from the Cherrios. After they had left, I walked her over by the Cherrios again and let her eat them. I leaned over her, pet her, hugged her....nothing.
If Chloe gets into the cat food or occassionally the trash or food left on the table, I can pull her away (or even tell her to get away) and she'll do so without a problem. Before the stupid cat just erased everything else I wrote about this: She's been through basic obedience (granted it was at Petsmart), but I've been working with her at home and out in town ever since then. She knows: sit, down, stay, off, shake, "don't pull", leave it, take it, "out" (as in, get out of the room you are in), "outside", "upstairs", "go lay down", "Chloe" (she looks at me), come here, and we are working on drop it and roll over. When with me, she follows those commands about 98% of the time.

A couple of time she has gotten possessive over a toy when the kids were around or nippy with them if they sit down on the floor, but I was quick to correct her and she would settle down. I didn't think too much of it. I guess I should have.

The only thing that comes to my mind to get Chloe to behave around everybody else in the family is to get them all involved with training Chloe. I can think of two problems with this plan: 1.) they have no motivation to do it, nor do they have the time, and 2.) with as much as Chloe is testing me to the limits, I know for a fact my two younger sisters wouldn't be capable of handling her mentally.
She is already on a NILIF schedule (although like I mentioned earlier, I'm the main enforcer), and goes on a 45min walk each afternoon when I get home from school. That exercise schedule has been working well with her and has been tiring her out nicely.

Aside from some of the scenarios mentioned above, Chloe is very good with the kids. She loves them to death.
I'm also scared that she'll snap and/or bite at a guest if they do something that she doesn't like.

In 2 years or so this wouldn't be a problem because I'm going to be moving out of the house. But as it isn't 2 years from now, this is an issue. If she ever bites the kids in a non-playful manner and breaks skin, I am almost 100% sure she will not be allowed in the house ever again.

I need to nip this in the bud before it gets worse. Anyone have any ideas?

*** I've tried to search for a trainer in my area, but I can't find anyone. I don't think I'd be able to afford one either, but I may as well look.

**** And yet another example of how she behaves around me but not anyone else: As I'm sitting her typing this, she came up to me and sat down waiting for petting. If anyone else had been sitting down and she wanted attention, she would have jumped up into their lap and licked them in the face bugging them until they pet her. With me she knows she isn't supposed to, so she comes over and sits. She was actually sitting there for a couple of minutes before I realized she was waiting for me to pet her. Not once did she try to jump up on me, she just sat their patiently. She also doesn't jump up on me in greeting so much anymore, but she still jumps 20ft in the air to greet other people.

***** Oh, and if you didn't know, Chloe is a 6-7 month old Collie/Aussie mix. She loves to counter surf, beg for food, play fetch, run, chew on her bones, and act out around other dogs.

Obedience training,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Firstly, is she totally completely healthy? Are her hips okay? Are her eyes okay? Is her bloodwork normal? Always rule out medical problems before behavioral problems.

I personally think she's fearful: She seems to snap when people are physically handling her or leaning over her. Best solution is to set her up to succeed. Cheerio incident - If this should ever happen again, hold your hand out and offer Chloe an EXTREMELY yummy treat (boiled chicken, for example). As soon as her mind is off the Cheerios (or whatever object she's eating), walk her forward, place her in a "Down", and then let the child pet Chloe calmly. But NEVER let the child lean over or hug the dog. It's just not common courtesy in dog language and I wouldn't push it unless Chloe was extremely bombproof.

Because it sounds like Chloe has fear issues, I would never allow her to be in any situation where she might snap. If your guests are very rambunctious and don't understand dog etiquette (like not leaning over the pup), I would remove Chloe from the situation or instruct the guests on how/how not to touch Chloe. Good luck and keep working on that NILIF!

With out meeting the dog in person i have to (respectfully) disagree with Giselle about this being a fear issue.

It sounds exactly how you put it. She's learned what she can get away with. She respects no one but you. With out the others willing to work with her she's going to continue to get a huge ego and think she can get away with anything.

I do agree with the rest of what Giselle said though. It's sound advice.

I don't know much about Collies or Aussies though, but i do know some breeds are one person dogs and unless highly socialized can be a royal pain in the rear when anyone else is around. (I don't think Collies or Aussies fall under that though.)

Sorry that i don't have more advice. Good luck!

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Originally Posted by crow_noir

With out meeting the dog in person i have to (respectfully) disagree with Giselle about this being a fear issue.

It sounds exactly how you put it. She's learned what she can get away with. She respects no one but you. With out the others willing to work with her she's going to continue to get a huge ego and think she can get away with anything.

I do agree with the rest of what Giselle said though. It's sound advice.

I don't know much about Collies or Aussies though, but i do know some breeds are one person dogs and unless highly socialized can be a royal pain in the rear when anyone else is around. (I don't think Collies or Aussies fall under that though.)

Sorry that i don't have more advice. Good luck!

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Sorry Crow...... I do Dobes and grew up with Danes.... had a few collies ....................this babe needs ob training with everyone.

I don't like the "dominance theory". After speaking with several behaviorists about this topic in depth, I'm believe more and more that "dominance" issues are not applicable to human-dog relationships. Yes, dominance comes into play in dog-dog packs, but there are several glaring issues that stymies the belief that a dog truly believe s/he is dominant over a human being. Therefore, I don't believe that Chloe is dominant or trying to exert her dominance over the family members.

The three times that Chloe snapped, a person was taking away her resource. 1st incidence- Mother attempts to grab object from dog's mouth. 2nd incidence - Dog is in an enclosed space, eating food. Child attempts to reach for dog. 3rd incidence - Dog is eating food. Child leans over the dog. In all cases - dog had resource and snapped when humans tried to take it away.

I still do think it is fear. It is a fear of having her resources taken away and not receiving anything for it. She has not yet been taught "Drop it" or "Give" and that is the most important thing she needs to learn right now. As another testament to why I don't believe in dominance (especially in these cases), I have a Dobe mix. I am her sole trainer. Rarely does anybody else besides me give her commands. Yet, when my mother was home alone and Ivy had something in her mouth, my mother said "GIVE" and Ivy gave it up. True dominance is not easily fixed, and if a simple "Give" can rectify this situation, I highly doubt Chloe is truly dominant.

I never said anything about dominance. I'd think it would be more an issue of "I want, I want, I want." Not being taught that she can't have her way all the time.

Oh, I know you didn't say it was dominance, but Blackrose said that she thought it was dominance, and I needed to dispel that myth.

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Aside from these food deliveries, there appeared to be an ownership zone (Mech 1970) around the mouth of each wolf, and regardless of the rank of a challenger, the owner tried to retain the food it possessed, as Lockwood (1979) also found with captive wolves. Wolves of any rank could try to steal food from another of any rank, but every wolf defended its food (Table 6).

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-From L. David Mech's "Wolf Status and Dominance in Packs" report.

Basically, my point is that it's not dominance, but it is an issue of obedience training and Chloe's perception of "what will I get in return for giving up my resources?"

I put "dominance" in quotes because I when I talk about dominance, I'm not talking about "alphas" and "dominance" and "being the master over your dog buy doing yadda yadda yadda".
When I think of dominance in a dog, I think it is more of a respect issue. For instance, I'll use my friend and her horse as an example. When my Sarah first got her Welsh Pony, she hopped up on him to ride him. She told him to walk forward and he backed up. She tried to get him to canter and he walked over to a tree and started eating the leaves. Every time she told him to do something, he did something else just to see what he could get away with. She corrected him, showed him that she meant business, and then he was a little angel.
But then when her less horse savvy brother rides Cody, Cody is a butt head just because John doesn't inforce, nor does he know how to inforce, anything.

From what I know about Chloe, I don't think it is a fear issue. She can be skittish around new things (skirts around it, then investigates it), but when she snaps at someone her body language is anything but fearful. And if she was truely afraid that her resources were going to be taken away, I don't think she would also act that way around me. In the situations I posted about earlier, I can do the exact same thing that everyone else did, and she doesn't care and listens. If the rest of the family tries to do that, they get snapped at and barked at. She is a dominant dog (and again, when I say dominant, I mean a dog that is constantly trying to bend the rules to see what she can get away with versus a dog who will listen to every word that comes out of your mouth like it's scripture).
Since I'm the only one who ever inforces anything, I'm the only one she'll listen too. Blackie and Rose are kind of like that, but they aren't as testing with everyone as Chloe is. Melanie, my six year old sister, can go out to Blackie and Rose and tell them to do anything and they'll do it. If Mel tells Chloe to do something, and since Chloe knows that Mel can't inforce it, Chloe just won't do it.

She is healthy as a horse. When she was spayed she had an infection and on top of that she had worms, but that has all cleared up now.

A dog testing the waters is not a dominant dog. Like I said, from 6-10 months is the first rebellion stage. It's a completely normal part of puppy development. But aside from debating whether or not Chloe is dominant or fearful or disrespectful, the problem is that she's protecting her food. The only way you can successfully remedy that is to have a concrete "Give" or "Drop it". The best method is not to correct her when she growls but to prevent her from putting on the defense at all.

Give her a yummy treat and then take the resource away. Repeat repeat repeat. You, of course, will be the main trainer, but encourage your family members to help you every once in a while. Say, have your family gather together for 5 minutes once a week and help train her. If they aren't willing to help, warn them that Chloe's snaps could becoming skin-breaking lunges and that's not exaggerating. I made this same mistake with my first dog and he broke skin several times.

As long as you have a concrete "Give" and you practice every day, Chloe should listen no matter who's commanding and no matter what she has in her mouth. "Give" is the single most important command I've taught Ivy and she listens to my trainer, my parents, my friends, and she listens no matter what is in her mouth - even a raw bone. If crazy Ivy can do it, Chloe should breeze through it!

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Originally Posted by Giselle

A dog testing the waters is not a dominant dog. Like I said, from 6-10 months is the first rebellion stage. It's a completely normal part of puppy development. But aside from debating whether or not Chloe is dominant or fearful or disrespectful, the problem is that she's protecting her food. The only way you can successfully remedy that is to have a concrete "Give" or "Drop it". The best method is not to correct her when she growls but to prevent her from putting on the defense at all.

Give her a yummy treat and then take the resource away. Repeat repeat repeat. You, of course, will be the main trainer, but encourage your family members to help you every once in a while. Say, have your family gather together for 5 minutes once a week and help train her. If they aren't willing to help, warn them that Chloe's snaps could becoming skin-breaking lunges and that's not exaggerating. I made this same mistake with my first dog and he broke skin several times.

As long as you have a concrete "Give" and you practice every day, Chloe should listen no matter who's commanding and no matter what she has in her mouth. "Give" is the single most important command I've taught Ivy and she listens to my trainer, my parents, my friends, and she listens no matter what is in her mouth - even a raw bone. If crazy Ivy can do it, Chloe should breeze through it!

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I have no doubt that Chloe is possessive over high valued food items (she's occasionally been over nonfood items, but very rarely). The very first time I gave her a rawhide treat she snarled at me when I walked by her. I sat down and worked with her and it got to the point that I could have my han by her head while she was chewing on it, but she was very tense. I traded a training treat for the rawhide and she's not had a rawhide since.
I can get her to drop anything, no matter what the value, for a pea sized training treat, but that is the extent of it. I don't carry broken up peices of Begg'n Strips in my pocket 24/7, nor does anyone else I know personally, so this doesn't do me a lot of good. I can't seem to get her to understand that the command means the same thing even when I don't have treats.

How I tought Sadie to drop it was when I was playing tug with her I would tell her "Thank you" whenever I won the toy back. After she seemed to get the idea, I would tell her "Thank you" and then cease all playtime until she gave me the toy. Then she was praised and the game would start up again. It got to the point with her that I could tell her "thank you" in the middle of an intense game of tug and she'd let go of it. Her reward when she did that was that she'd get the toy back and the game would resume.

Chloe doesn't seem to get the concept of that. I was told it might be helpful to switch toys (dog drops one toy and immeadiatly gets to play with another) but she gets so focused on one toy, it doesn't matter what the value of the toy is to her, she won't play with any other toy other than the one she was playing with at the moment.

The idea of dominance has now been thrown out by top behaviourists as twoddle. It was a bit of a pain changing the midset after years of being told these things were down to dominance. If you do a bit of googling, you'll probably find references on this subject.

I also agree that this isn't a fearful behaviour..defending the camera bag and all.
The aggression in that situation is simply down to defending resources from an individual who the dog doesn't have respect for.

Dogs do view their human owners as sort of mother/father figures but we need to set a good example and act as a guide. If we let the dog have too much leeway and then try to take something away from the dog that it is used to getting, no doubt that dog will try and defend what it already has to stop it being taken away and will rebel. It's not about dominance as such and rather about lack of respect for your guidance. Young children are the same in this respect although it is important to not anthropomorphize, small children do learn in a very similar way to dogs.
She doesn't have a go at you because you've been everything that a proper guide should be and she respects you for it. As the others have not, this is why she shows aggression.

With food aggression, the best way to combat that is to teach them that you are all givers and not taker. Get two dishes for her food. Put the one she eats out of on the floor and keep the food in the other that you hold. Call her over for her food and put a little of the food in her eating dish and let her eat it. Once she's done, put a bit more in and keep doing that until it's all gone. She knows then that there is no point in growling at you because you're going to put more in, not take it away. This was a technique advised by John Fisher a former top behaviourist who sadly died. If you can get various family members to all do it in turn at different meals although you should do it at first if her aggression is too dangerous for the kids to try and then the growling in defence should cease because she'll learn that she needs to let you stick around so yiu can give her more until all the food in the first dish is used up and get her used to being touched a little on her main body as she eats the food but only once she's stopped the growling to start with. It will be a bit of an inconvenience but once she's fine with that, you can gradually cut it out the feeding her like this and just give it all in one go and, by then, hopefully, her growling habit will have gone. It will be well worth the effort because food guarders are quite horrid at mealtimes.
As for cat food, maybe feeding them on a raised surface so that, even if chloe manages to get into where the cat food is, she can't reach it. Thats what we do. The cats get fed on the side in the porch... out of Jess's reach.

Also, for a collie/aussie mix, 45 minutes when you get home from school might not actually be enough for a dog thats a cross between two high energy breeds. When you say collie, which collie breed do you mean? There are four of them and they can be quite different.
I have Border collies for example, the most energetic of the lot. 45 minutes a day for such dogs isn't enough really and they also need the mental stimulation as well as the physical. Lack of either can also cause frustration leading to aggression and thats why a lot of Border collies end up in rescues and such. Apparently, they are the number one breed to have problems with and thats because of unsuitable owners, not the fault of the dogs. I'm not saying you are unsuitable and you've obviously put a lot of effort into her but you need to remember the high levels of stimulation these dogs need and not just the physical type.
Another thing is that if a rapport doesn't exist between her and other family members, they aren't really going to get anything out of her. Dogs being sociable pack animals need to identify with their packmates on an emotional level and wolves are always undergoing rituals to enforce these mental and physical bonds with each other for this very reason. This also needs to happen at home. Thats why it is important to only bring a dog into a household if everyone in that household wants the dog and is able to develop a rapport with it.


I didn't read all the post admittedly but where aggression is concerned and, especially with kids, it is much wiser to have a pet behaviourist come in person and see her with their own eyes around all members of the family and perhaps arrange for a visitor so they can see the dog with them.
Giving advice over the internet for a situation that you aren't 100% on can be quite dangerous, even though I've just given some...lol, and even top behaviourists won't do it. I doubt the advice I just gave would be enough to sort everything or all the other advice in the thread either because none of us has been able to witness the general situation first hand or had the full training needed to become a qualified pet behaviourist.
Hope you manage to find one and nip the problems in the bud now.

I don't carry around Bacon Bits in my pocket all day long either, but teaching new behaviors always requires heavy treating for the first few weeks/months and then gradually fading it out to mere jackpotting every now and then. If Chloe only gives up her objects for food, don't give up and assume that the food will become a crutch. Furthermore, you're right. You can use the play with the toy as a reward, but you can't work up to that unless Chloe understands 'Give' well enough. If she's getting too amped up and won't give up her toy, stop. Just stand there and hold the toy. She will stop trying to tug it from you and will stand there with the toy in her mouth. Say 'Give', treat, resume play. Eventually, she'll let go when you stop playing, and you can in turn use that to cement your 'Give'. It's doable and it does require a lot of treating, but, in the end, you have a dog who *wants* to give up her items. And if Chloe wants to give up her items, there's no more reason left for her to growl or snap at people.

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Also, for a collie/aussie mix, 45 minutes when you get home from school might not actually be enough for a dog thats a cross between two high energy breeds. When you say collie, which collie breed do you mean? There are four of them and they can be quite different.

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She is part Collie, as in Lassie. She probably does need a longer walk, but I'm scared that it will be too much for her joints. I've been told over and over again that heavily exercising a dog before they are at least one year old can cause all sorts of joint problems. I'd love to start jogging and doing agility with her as well, but her only being six months shoots that down. But for all of her flaws, she does walk well on a leash.
After the walk, she lays down for a little bit depending on what kind of activity is going on in the house (if me and just one other person are the only people here, she lays down and sleeps until dinner time, and then after a brief play session she is out again, but if there is a lot of people moving about, and with a family of seven that is quite often, she is still hyper and a pain in the rear). Generally she'll get a couple of fetch sessions coupled with obedience work, and maybe a short 10min walk around our field, before bed.

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I didn't read all the post admittedly but where aggression is concerned and, especially with kids, it is much wiser to have a pet behaviourist come in person and see her with their own eyes around all members of the family and perhaps arrange for a visitor so they can see the dog with them.

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It would be a struggle for me to afford a behaviourist. I'll do it if I absolutely have to, but I'm going to try and work it out on my own before doing anything. Not only would it be hard for me to afford, I can't find any in my area.

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I don't carry around Bacon Bits in my pocket all day long either, but teaching new behaviors always requires heavy treating for the first few weeks/months and then gradually fading it out to mere jackpotting every now and then. If Chloe only gives up her objects for food, don't give up and assume that the food will become a crutch. Furthermore, you're right. You can use the play with the toy as a reward, but you can't work up to that unless Chloe understands 'Give' well enough. If she's getting too amped up and won't give up her toy, stop. Just stand there and hold the toy. She will stop trying to tug it from you and will stand there with the toy in her mouth. Say 'Give', treat, resume play. Eventually, she'll let go when you stop playing, and you can in turn use that to cement your 'Give'. It's doable and it does require a lot of treating, but, in the end, you have a dog who *wants* to give up her items. And if Chloe wants to give up her items, there's no more reason left for her to growl or snap at people.

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This was originally what I was doing. It got to the point where she'd stop tugging the toy when I stopped, but she would NOT let go of that toy until she saw that I had a treat ready for her. Once she saw the treat in my hand she'd spit the toy and take the treat. If I tried to trick her by acting like I had a treat in my hand, she'd give me a look like, "Phhhh, ya right. I've got you figured out lady," and she wouldn't let go of the toy.

While I'm going to be doing the main training with Chloe, here are the rules I'm setting up for everyone else to follow. Let me know what you think:

1. Dog cannot demand attention from humans.
a.) If Chloe comes up to you for attention, DO NOT give it to her. Have her do an obedience command first – sit, down, stay, shake, etc. Then you can pet her on YOUR TERMS. If she jumps up, stop all affection immediately. Don't even scold her, just ignore her. When she gets off, give her a command and when she listens, you can pet her again.

b.) Don't set her up to fail. If talking to her in a baby voice gets her excited and jumping up, don't talk to her in a baby voice. If you know she will be bouncing around like an idiot when you walk in the door, ignore her (don't look at her, don't talk to her, don't do anything) until she is calm.

2. Dog is not to take things (anything) from humans.
a.) This includes food, toys, a shirt, anything. She is NOT allowed to jump up, or even attempt to jump up, and grab anything from you, even if it is one of her own toys. They aren't HER toys; they are YOUR toys that you are letting her play with.

b.) Don't set her up to fail. If you know she will try to eat your food, don't eat it on the floor where she can get to it. If she does jump up, firmly command her "off" and to "leave it". If she does it again, correct her with a growly, "Ah-ah! Leave it." and turn your back to her. Don't yell, hit, or scream, talk in a calm voice and turn your back to her. If she is trying to get one of the dog toys, you can let her have it WHEN she is sitting down calmly and isn't trying to get it.

3. Dog does not chase humans
a.) Even in play. Chasing is exciting, and exciting causes nipping, jumping, and barking. If you don't want her to chase a squealing toddler, then don't let her chase you.

b.) Don't set her up to fail. If you are running like a maniac through the house, she's going to want to chase you. Be calm. If she starts to chase you, stop dead. Turn your back on her. Ignore her. This may cause her to bark and nip at you. Still ignore her. She is chasing you because she wants to attention and wants to play. If you don't give her attention (yes, yelling at her IS attention) then she doesn't get rewarded for her actions. No reward, the behavior dies out. Once she is still, tell her to sit. Tell her good girl, give her a pat, and then be on your way.

4. Humans do not chase dog.
a.) EVER. Chasing a dog encourages it to run away from you. If she gets loose and takes off running, do you want her to think that you running after her is a game? If she is chewing on a sock and you chase her throughout the house to get it, you've just taught her the marvelous game of keep away.

b.) If she does get loose from you and you want her to come, act like you are throwing a party and happily call her name while running in the other direction. She'll come. If not, then she most definitely wouldn't have come if you were chasing her screaming bloody murder. If she tries to play keep away with an object, do the same thing.

5. Dog is not allowed on lap unless invited.
a.) see #1. Same rules apply.

6. Dog is not allowed to play with human unless invited.
a.) If Chloe brings up a toy to you to play with, that is great. But if you don't want to play with her, she needs to learn that she can't get her way. Just like with #1, play with her on your terms. You begin the game, you stop the game. If she keeps pushing the toy in your lap and won't leave you alone, follow the guidelines for #1.

7. Dog is not allowed to mouth human.
a.) This includes in play or if you are just walking. Depending on why she is mouthing you is how you should answer the issue.

b.) If she mouths you in play, yell, "Ouch!" and stop playing. Ignore her for about ten seconds, and then you can start the game again. If she mouths you for attention, ignore her or leave the room. She needs to learn that mouthing causes the attention and playtime to go away, not causes it to happen.

8. Humans give love, treats, and play time only when dog is calm and being "good" following the rules.
a.) This is self explanatory. If she isn't behaving, directing her by telling her what she needs to be doing and then rewarding her with petting and play time will help her become a better dog all together. Rewarding her while she is misbehaving will result in her misbehaving more often!

** If her behavior seems to get worse when you ignore her, this is actually a good thing! Just like if a toddler is pitching a fit and screaming its head off, it may get to the point it is gagging and throwing up before it finally stops because its tantrum isn't effective anymore. If you give in and pay attention to Chloe while she's pitching a fit, you have just reinforced that fit.

Ah, it looks like Chloe is a "show me the money" type of dog. In that case, it's a test of wit between you and Chloe. Basically, you have to stick it out. When you play with her and she's firmly grabbing onto the toy, I'd stop and wait. Even if you have to wait 5 minutes like a stock still statue, do it. Eventually, she HAS to loosen her grip because there's no more reason to hang on. As soon as she loosens her grip say "Give" and treat. As always, repeat repeat repeat. Since she inadvertently equates the presence of the treat to the behavior, take away the treat lure and wait for the behavior. Introduce the treat after the behavior, and that eliminates the "show me the money" attitude.

And those are good guidelines! Let's just hope your family can follow them :)

Ah, so she is crossed with a Rough collie then? So many people refer to these as just collies but sometimes refer to borders as just collies too so you never know which collie they mean. The proper name for the breed that lassie was is Rough Collie.

Actually, the only true collie is the Border collie because the other three are a result of crossing the original collie breed with totally different dogs. The Border collie is the only direct descendent of the original founding collie breed and still looks pretty much like it.

Yes, rough collies are generally more sedate than Borders but then the aussie side will up that energy a bit no doubt. For a growing dog, yes, too much exercise is bad but more regular shorter walks spread across the day are better than just one walk in a whole 24 hour period. Maybe try and split the time into two or three shorter walks so she doesn't spend so many consecutive hours stuck at home.

If Chloe was used to getting her way before, no doubt if you decide to start ignoring her, she'll try even harder to get what she was used to getting. This is bound to happen and the rules of starting as you mean to go on is the best advice when getting a new pup so that this doesn't occur in the first place. You'd have to stick rigidly to your plans and never give in if you want this to work. It won't go away overnight no doubt and being as fogs are individuals, nobody can say for sure how long it will be before she gets the message. It's just a case of slogging it out.

If she gets overly excited when people return home, you can do a little more than just ignore the behaviour until she has calmed. Make sure when she has calmed, you give her the attention in an inner room away from doorways and get her to sit for a food reward before she gets the attention. This way, when you get home, instead of rushing around you in the hallways or whatever, she'll probably make her way to the room she gets her reward and fuss in and wait for you to come in. This gives you chance to take your outdoor clobber off and sort yourself out before going in there and greeting her calmly. The food reward will be an incentive for her to make her way to that room straight away.

I sat down and talked to my family last night about Chloe, and everything went rather well. They had some questions and I answered them to the best of my ability.
I know that it sunk in a little bit because later that evening Chloe jumped up on Melanie, and instead of Melanie whining, "Chloe, stop it!" and pushing her away and then my mom yelling, "Andrea, come get your dog, she's jumping on Melanie!" (or even worse, her saying, "Hi Chloe!" and petting her), Mel stopped and turned her back on Chloe. Chloe stopped jumping up and then Mel turned back around, told Chloe to sit, and then pet her.
Its going to take a while and I'm probably going to have to constantly remind everyone what they are supposed to be doing, but hopefully after a while it will work.

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Ah, so she is crossed with a Rough collie then? So many people refer to these as just collies but sometimes refer to borders as just collies too so you never know which collie they mean. The proper name for the breed that lassie was is Rough Collie.

Actually, the only true collie is the Border collie because the other three are a result of crossing the original collie breed with totally different dogs. The Border collie is the only direct descendent of the original founding collie breed and still looks pretty much like it.

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I guess you learn something every day! I didn't know that.

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Ah, it looks like Chloe is a "show me the money" type of dog. In that case, it's a test of wit between you and Chloe. Basically, you have to stick it out. When you play with her and she's firmly grabbing onto the toy, I'd stop and wait. Even if you have to wait 5 minutes like a stock still statue, do it. Eventually, she HAS to loosen her grip because there's no more reason to hang on. As soon as she loosens her grip say "Give" and treat. As always, repeat repeat repeat. Since she inadvertently equates the presence of the treat to the behavior, take away the treat lure and wait for the behavior. Introduce the treat after the behavior, and that eliminates the "show me the money" attitude.

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I've been starting to do this and its been working so far. The only problem with that is when she just sits there and chews on the toy while I'm holding it and accidentally chomps my hand instead! (Her favorite fetch toy is a small squeeky 4-5in football...not alot of room for my hand and her mouth.)

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Yes, rough collies are generally more sedate than Borders but then the aussie side will up that energy a bit no doubt. For a growing dog, yes, too much exercise is bad but more regular shorter walks spread across the day are better than just one walk in a whole 24 hour period. Maybe try and split the time into two or three shorter walks so she doesn't spend so many consecutive hours stuck at home.

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I think I finally figured out an exercise plan to fit her and keep her tired out. I've upped her evening walk to an hour. We walk for about two miles and then around our field. After that she is content to lay down for about an hour or so. Then after she eats dinner she gets active again, so I sit down and play fetch with her for about fifteen minutes, only throwing in different obedience commands to tire her out mentally as well as physically. After that, she generally will lay back down and is ready to hang out for the rest of the night, the exception being if the kids get her hyper.
Since I'm not home during the morning/early afternoon, I don't have to worry about her then.