Border collie-worried

Hi everyone

I would just like to express some concerns i have been having recently about my boyfriends families border collie. You have seen picture of him before and all I have seen is a lovely but very laid back dog not what I would say a normal 18 month old border collie.

Just recently I have heard on more than two occasions that Harry the border collie has bitten not to pierce skin his mother said it was more of a 'snap' her husband when he has tried to move her from the family bed. The collie has also growled at my OH and his brother when they have tried to remove him from the bed but he has never done this to me.

My thoughts on this are that maybe the reason he does this is because he is very spoilt I think he feels he is the leader of the pack and the reason he may not have growled at me is because I have always shown my position to him as higher.

More worringly the mother was also snapped at the other day by him when she was looking through his fur as he had some scabs on his back. This would not explain my theory as she is the leader of the pack but she does sleep with him and pamper him. They have even been known to move off a chair as he wanted to sit on it.

He gets lots of food scraps and eat Frolic only. He is wormed and flea. The mother will not take him to the vets as she feels the scabs are either his shampoo or his flea treatment but what if it is a course to his recent agression? What also concerns me is his lack of energy Kia is 18 months old and is still as lively as ever always wanting to play. While the collie who I am sorry he is around 2-3 now is very laid back sleeps alot and then occasionally will go very hyper.

What are your views? Also what advice can I give without coursing offense to my OH parents? They are lovely people just not that knowledgable when it comes to dogs.

I think you already know the answer to this one don't you?The dog needs proper training, proper diet and a trip to the Vet

I would suggest that as tactfully as possible you persue the idea of veterinary attention to clear up the dog's skin problems - with luck the Vet will also suggest a better/different and more appropriate food. My Vet has a big poster in the waiting room with the addresses of local behaviourists, But the dog must be taken in hand before he gets worse, both in his health and his attitude, or someone is going to get badly hurt. Kath.

This is shouting to me that first thing to do is a thyroid panel :

Hypothyroidism. Insufficient thyroid hormone production caused by disease of the thyroid glands. Symptoms include hair loss, obesity, lethargy, cold intolerance and skin infections.

More indepth reading here, pertinent to aggression which you could maybe print out for them :

http://www.beaconforhealth.org/Thyroid-Aggression.htm

Whether it turns out to be a thyroid problem or not, [ and bearing in mind I dont have the benefit of having seen him in the flesh ], I do think there is a health issue at source here, he may be in pain or even just mild discomfort and the scabs could well be just a symptom rather than the cause.

Yes many collies can be laid back / relaxed dogs but this sounds a bit deeper than that - a dog which is generally laid back doesnt tend to be snappy or grumpy - but one which is more in the realms of lethargic - particularly of a more usually very lively `hyper` breed - certainly can be.


Re the Frolic - as I understand it the sugar content is rather high, [ I can`t for the life of me find info on the actual contents and content percentages ], and there could easily be something else in there causing a problem to him which might be affecting skin or yes even temperament.

So first things first I do think whats happening warrants a trip to the vet for a full and thorough health check - I would advise not just any vet be consulted either, but a particularly collie savvy one if possible, and preferably an additional one-to-one with someone from a collie rescue who will have seen all sorts of collie behaviours both health and non-health related who should be able to assess and advise on working through things, and / or a collie-savvy behaviourist.
Sorry to bang on about `collie-savvy` but it really is relevent ime.

thankyou for the adive i have sent this thread to my OH in an email and told him to read it and see if he wants to take what has been said further.