Chloe's snapping at the kids

[Giselle]

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

[Canis-Lupess]

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.

[Blackrose]

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.

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.

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

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.

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.)

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.

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.