hi i have an adorable 6yr old border collie called ben ,he is absolutely brilliant and much loved but has developed strange behaviour when my husbands nephew comes round with his 2 female yorkshire terriers , he jumps up on the sofa and almost tries to hide behind our backs and if we dont pay him attention he taps us with his paw or pushes himself under our hands for us to stroke an pat him .these other dogs are no threat to him and hardly pay any attention to him and in the summer he would happily play with them in the garden but couple of mnths now he has started doing this . is he jealous of these dogs !! am really baffled so any advice would be great ...thank you lucy n ben x

try taking the 3 out for a walk as soon as they arrive, before they come in the house,

something that Ceasar did in the dog thing on discovery , that way they get used to each other etc, will have to be done a few times ,

after a short will he will look forward to it and relise they are no threat

they often go for walks together and no problem there ,just if my o/h nephew turns up un anounced thats when he does this . not always convenient to take them out together when he turns up as im often cooking or dealing with the children .

can you get the nephew to do the walk etc

yes that probably would be a good idea , so why do you think he acts like this if he is fine in the summer /spring autumn mnths when they can play in the garden , thought dogs liked to show who,s boss in there own homes !!

some dogs develop strange habits

my youngest 1 , gold one on the left, has a strange one,

both get walks everyday with a oversized Airdale who is just a big bundle of fun , wifes best m8 dog, yet if the airdale tries to enter our lounge our one go's mad @ him biting his legs and chases poor old Max out the lounge yet the other older one just ignores it , in 8 years we have neve been able to change it , yet anyone else and kids can do what they like in our home, had other dogs in here and he does nothing,

so stupid when their out together they play together like the best of mates

Well, I suspect he is protecting his home, but in a gentle way, and I also suspect he is looking to you as leader for reassurance that he is getting it right. He's taking his place beside you, in a slightly elevated position, which gives him a sense of more power, and a good clear view of what is going on in his territory.

Trouble with borders is, bless them all I love em, their behaviour can be so peculiar sometimes. They are so clever, they make up their own minds if you let them, but if you could talk to him in English for 30 minutes, he'd be able to perfectly explain away this behaviour we see as a bit well, irrational. I should just reassure him (provided he is allowed on the settee) and leave it alone. If you make a big issue out of it then it could become a problem later on. And of course any sign of aggression needs to be checked. But you sound as though you have a fantastic border there.

The only other thing I would consider, and this is not nice, but should be considered, has your nephew perhaps disciplined him in a way he is not used to? Even perhaps ticked him off for something he is normally allowed to do? He might even be reacting to your nephew as he knows this is someone who has to be obeyed. And then looking to you again for reassurance that he is right.

Answer me one question, when you have him out for a walk and he's being good, by your side, on the lead, if there is something that startles either you or him, perhaps a strange noise, or a dog approaching displaying bad behaviour, does he put his nose in your hand at all then? Perhaps even if you are just walking along happily, does he do it at all then? Because when these dogs, that's a moment when you know you've made a slight break through with them, and they are beginning to respect and trust and look to you for reassurance.

I hope you have many more happy years with him, he sounds delightful.

WOW !!!! have just seen the reply from jackieandwayne and cant believe how spot on you are with this . Nephew really tries to be overpowering with ben ( cant control his own 2 dogs) and ben really does not like him at all so yes perhaps the behaviour is directed at him and not his dogs ( all makes sense now ) , when he goes for walks he often runs ahead but if we go out of sight he is very quickly with us , if other people are about with dogs he is with us and i feel very safe with him knowing if needed he would definately protect us , he is so loveable and everyone that meets him say what a well behaved dog he is , he is adorable and im so proud .Oh and nephew has moved so no longer see him or his dogs lol

Very pleased to hear this - the best way to talk to your dog - whatever the breed or circumstances - is to learn their behaviour and body language. It makes perfect sense really, dog's do not speak humanese, they have to read us to understand us, and especially with rescue dogs, this can take some time for both owner and dog. Where people don't understand this need it all goes belly up because owner gets frustrated that dog will not obey but dog cannot yet understand what is needed.

If you can stomach the smarmy so and so have a watch of Ceasar Milan when he's on - it actually hurts me to admit he is very good! Better still look out for Dog Borstal, and have a watch of Robert Aleyn. You can have a go at being like Mick Martin of you like, but do try and avoid the police garb won't you?!

Never forget your little angel is 10 timis clevere that you are!