I am little confused.

MrDesi · 04-02-2006, 11:51 AM

Hello everyone. As some of you may remember Princi recently made a friend (or should I say best friend), and he is a male Collie mix (I believe). He is older than her but obviously smaller. I will draw a mental picture for you guys so that I explain myself as clearly as possible.

In my neighborhood the houses are in huge U shaped lot, and in the middle of the U there is a huge field and everyone's fenced backyards face the field. Princess and her new buddy Jack play in this field quite often and we also go for walks together.

The other day while they were playing out in the field the couple invited me to come into their house to have a sit and talk. I went into the house and we left Jack and Princi in their fenced backyard. After about 15 mintues I heard a loud yelp frrom Princi and looked out the window to see Princi running away from Jack. We immediately went to the backyard and Jack's owner laid Jack down on his back and told him NO! a few times. After this they just went on playing with each other again, however, I did see Princi being cautious of Jack for about an hour after that.

Do you guys think it was because Princi was in "his" backyard for the first time and he was being protective of "his" home?

Also, I have never seen Princi get "upset" at any dog when he/she tries to show dominance, nor has she tried to be dominant with any other dog (she just wants to play no matter what or who it is).

Could this be because she has yet to mature mentally/physically?

Thanks
Naveen

**brumwolf** · 04-02-2006, 01:43 PM

I have seen this type of behaviour from a collie v dobe before,collies tend to naturally herd in open field type situations and he was probably trying to do that and she was having none of it, the scream was probably down to him trying to pin her and the fact that she is still not mature as you say.Sooner or later she will realise that she is the big dog and then she will definately have none of it then you will have to careful she doesn't fight back if he tries to pin her.

MrDesi · 04-02-2006, 02:26 PM

Thanks brumwolf, I see what you mean by him trying to pin her or get her to go in a certain direction as he would in a herding situation by nipping at her sides. He did grow up in huge farm. Until this insidence I never felt that he was trying to hurt her nor did she ever react with a yelp, so that got me concerned.

I say she is not mature yet because she is 14 months and I have read and heard that female dobies don't fully mature mentally and physically until after the age of 2, sometimes 3. Is this somewhat correct?

Thanks
Naveen

micdobe · 04-02-2006, 03:57 PM

I saw this behavior too, in the only Collie my puppy Monte has met so far. It was in a puppy playdate held by a local trainer, there was a male Rough Collie named Dutch, he and Monte were about the same size, and he kept trying to herd Monte. Monte didn't like it, hackled up, and moved away for awhile, then finally just charged at Dutch to get him away from him.

**brumwolf** · 04-02-2006, 07:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrDesi

Thanks brumwolf, I see what you mean by him trying to pin her or get her to go in a certain direction as he would in a herding situation by nipping at her sides. He did grow up in huge farm. Until this insidence I never felt that he was trying to hurt her nor did she ever react with a yelp, so that got me concerned.

I say she is not mature yet because she is 14 months and I have read and heard that female dobies don't fully mature mentally and physically until after the age of 2, sometimes 3. Is this somewhat correct?

Thanks
Naveen

Yes Tia is 21 months now and is only just starting to show little signs of wanting to be the alpha in my pack instead of Amber,i have to be careful now that play doesn't get overly rough or i may have big battle on my hands.
Chelsie is the hippie she just wants peace and love.