Territorial? Growling? Barking? Not Sure What To Think......
Lily my OES has started to show small signs of being a bit protective & territorial. Lily is about to turn 8 months old. I've seen her growl a couple times at strangers walking through the neighborhood and just recently chemlawn the company that sprays our yard called to tell me they tried to spray and the big white and black dog wouldn't let them in the back yard. I have 4 dogs in total. Lily is the only black and white one and the only OES. The lawn people always call ahead of time to let us know they are coming. This time they forgot. We have a doggy door so the dogs can come and go as they please. When the guy told me the black and white dog wouldn't let him in the yard I specificly asked "The Old English Sheepdog?" He replied "Yes" and said she was seriously growling and barking and how he was scared of her. Ya, I had to laugh because Lily is so far from being scary!! On the 3rd my husband and I took Lily to the park where they set off the fire works in our community. I knew she would probably be freaked out at first from the loud bangs of the fireworks but since she doesn't seem to be bothered by thunderstorms I thought she could probably handle it. At first she wasn't exactly thrilled but after about 10 minutes she actually became facinated with the fire works and sat there watching them with us. Of course when you bring an OES out in public everyone wants to see and touch them. We had tons and tons of people pointing, saying how cute she was, etc.... Lily seemed perfectly fine. Until.......... someone started to approach her, or us I should say. Didn't matter if it was little kids, adults, really elderly people. As soon as they started to get close she started to growl and then to bark. This is something I have never seen her do before. We took her back to the park last night for the 4th of July celebration. She didn't even flench when the fireworks went off this time. Infact there were fireworks going off all around us and she did GREAT! Of course then people started to approach us because they wanted to pet her and again Lily was like "I DON'T THINK SO" and began barking, and growling again. Even weirder was that several of our family members were there. They had never even met Lily before. When they walked up to pet her she didn't do anything except wag her tail and get excited. Typical Lily behavior. No growling, no barking. It's as if she knew they were related to us or something. I know dogs have a good sense about them but outside of our family she would not let anyone near her. Well, one elderly man came up to us and Lily was fine with him but that was it. No one else could or would get near her I should say for fear she might bite them. Do OES bite? Not in play, but for protection? The bahvior really has me puzzled. I'm not punishing her for the behavior because really I guess she should be some what protective but I've never had a dog do this before. I guess the real question should be....... Is this something I really need to watch out for? I would freak if I took her to petsmart and she bit a kid. By the way, we take her to petsmart all the time and she has never done anything even close to biting. Lily is an amazing dog. Very sound mind, super smart, and oh sooooo sweet!! I can't imagine her hurting a fly! Let me know what you all think and if this is typical sheepy behavior. Maybe its a case of "Her bark is bigger than her bite?" lol Thanks everyone!! |
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| Sorry you are having this issue with your 8 month old puppy, Lilly. I am no expert, but first, I would take her to the vet and have her looked over. If this is a new behavior, it could be health related. Have you called your breeder to discuss this? She may have some insight on the litter and the temperament of the mom and dad. Is Lilly in a puppy class? If so, ask the trainer what you could do to make Lilly more at ease with strangers. If you are not in any type of classes, I would suggest you begin as soon as you can. And finally, it could be just a maturing stage, but, if it were me, I would find out how to stop this aggesive behavior, before it DOES become a problem. Old English sheepdogs are very sensitive and need firm direction on what is acceptable. Good Luck and keeps us posted. I am sure many members will chime in on your problem.  |
Quote: Do OES bite? Not in play, but for protection? The bahvior really has me puzzled. I'm not punishing her for the behavior because really I guess she should be some what protective but I've never had a dog do this before. Old English Sheepdogs are dogs so of course they can and do bite. One bit a delivery driver last week and is now quarantined for 10 days. The owner is left needing to decide what to do with her. Quote: And finally, it could be just a maturing stage, but, if it were me, I would find out how to stop this aggesive behavior, before it DOES become a problem. I agree. I am not a professional trainer, I just live with 7 dogs. But I don't believe that aggressive displays are an acceptable behavior for a pet. Even the sweetest dog can defend it's owner in a time of need so it's not something the average pet owner needs to encourage/permit a dog to do. If it were me, I'd quickly bring in a humane trainer to observe this behavior and help you address this challenge immediately. She's found something that works for her... I'd think that ignoring the behavior indicates it's acceptable. I should add that it's always best for a dog to growl rather than bypassing the warning and going for a bite. |
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