Why is my Border Collie so protective of my infant, acting maternal?

Hello and thank you for using Pet Coach to address your questions about your pack. While both males and females can be protective and territorial, males tend to be the more likely of the two. Additionally, if Lady knows that Snowy is acting as the protector, she likely does not feel the need since he is doing it. I think dog Dads do know when its their litter. Possibly something about their smell? So I do believe Snowy knows these are his babies. What you should be careful about is that Snowy does not actually hurt Marley. So make sure the keep Marley separated whenever you are not there to supervise and also if the situation is becoming tense. Lastly, this protective behavior will likely decrease as Coco gets older. Then things will calm down. Please post again if you have any further questions!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! She is likely being very protective of you. Usually these behaviors can be corrected but this usually requires in person training by a qualified dog trainer. I recommend you consider contacting a qualified dog trainer to work with you in person. Good luck and have a good day!

Border collies tend to have a high predatory drive, but some of them will do well with cats. Unfortunately there isn’t really a way to know this without trying. I would be very guarded an make sure they are not left alone together for quite a while until you know how they will react to the cat. Best of luck and I hope things go well! Thank you for using Pet Coach.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! What a sweet heart Cooper is! There are some dogs that just have the intuition to pick up on people's pain and grief. I think you could breed for personality traits that would make a dog more likely to be a good therapy dog but it likely isn't genetic. It sounds like Cooper is just a great dog! Have a great night!

This can be normal behavior for herding breeds as well as with changes in the environment making that behavior stronger. You can try various enrichment activities such as callings, three balls, or increasing your dogs exercise to see if that helps. However given their breed and the current environment it will be difficult to stop the behavior all together. If the aggression escalates I recommend you keep them separated. You could also try working with a trainer one on one with your dog to see if they can identify specific triggers causing this behavior.

Oh dear! I'm sorry that you're having this problem with Billi. Owner-directed aggression is a complex behavior issue that can be quite serious, so I would recommend recommend asking your veterinarian to refer you to a veterinary behaviorist in your area - he/she can evaluate your dog in person and help you put together a detailed training plan to work on this problem. In general, I can tell you that the best way to deal with this problem is ny identifying what situations tend to trigger the aggression, then either avoiding them or working with her to teach her to be more comfortable with these triggers so that she doesn't feel the need to growl or snap. This would always involve reward-based training, never any kind of punishment as this is likely to make things worse. If your husband is petting her and she growls, she's asking him to stop - he should listen to her and leave her alone at that point, rather than continuing to antagonize her with more petting. This often leads to increased aggression (such as snapping or biting) from the dog, since her communications signals are being ignored. The behaviorist can help you understand why she gets upset in these situations so that you can learn to avoid them or help her be more comfortable.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! He is likely a mixed breed dog though he is likely mostly a shepherd mix. He will possibly bark at strangers though he may not. Some dogs show those signs towards animals but not towards people. Good luck!