HI, my name is Paula and I have a 3 year old female border collie, aussie mix Dixie. We have had her since she was about 6 weeks old. She has never been real comfortable around children. We always assumed it was because most of the time children are running around and unpredictable and with her herding nature would just want them to be calm and quite. She has recently been starting to nip or attempt to nip at them even when people are being calm, has not actually made contact with flesh. She knows she is wrong (as she is VERY SMART) and we scold her by making her go lay down or I will grad her muzzle and look her in the eyes and tell her no and she is bad very sternly. I am not sure how to break this. She was not around children very much as a puppy, as my daughter was 15 when we got her. We have socialized her A LOT, she has always gone with us to all of my daughters softball games, we take her camping, pretty much where ever we go she goes. She is very good with other dogs, just some adults (who speak load) and children. Any advise? Thanks
If she was not around young children very much it could be that she is nervous of them. They are small and move differently/more quickly than adults and that freaks them out when they aren't used to being around them, hence the snapping as a warning for them to keep their distance. Punishing her is not the answer, and can make things worse. I would look into getting a behaviorist who will have a better insight on how to help.
Grabbing her muzzle and staring into her eyes is likely to be interpreted as confrontation by your dog. As @GsdSlave suggests this could make things worse by tempting her to retaliate against the punishment. Would it be possible to give her a 'time out' to show her that this kind of behaviour is wrong, or does it usually happen when you are outdoors? I think you are right in thinking that it is the quick movement and high voices of children which are triggering her herding instincts. A behaviourist will be able to offer help, but I suspect that this will always be something that you will have to bear in mind, and be prepared to manage when there are children around.
