A friend of my husband came over for a visit. He brought his eight-year-old daughter with him. I was out in the sheep field giving a lesson. Decker had been put up, due to wining, which I can't stand. So due to the wining, he lost his chance to herd sheep that day.

After I was finished giving the lesson, All of the dogs were released to play and go potty. Shelby, my friend's daughter was throwing the ball for the dogs. All of them were having fun except Decker, he was still on the front porch, in his crate. I released him but kept him on leash.

I let him run and play with the border collies, chasing the ball but keeping the leash on him, and making sure there was no aggression with him. After about 7-8 minutes, he went for Shelby. I saw him lunge for her legs. Our friend and I went for him. He was disciplined for the action, urinating from lack of confidence. NOT ON MY WATCH!

I have been meaning to buy a wire muzzle for him, and it has now been ordered. And I have decided that since kids got him scared like this, kids are what is going to take to help him out of it. He will learn to trust kids.

One way to achieve this is to have kids interact with him. Walking him, throwing a ball, feeding treats, petting are all ways of helping him, with petting being the very last obstacle in his rehabilitation.

So that is the new plan, muzzle him, so he can't hurt anyone, and let kids do their magic, all with my supervision.

I am hosting a fun trial here in a couple of weeks. There will be kids here watching and helping with the fun trial, so I am going to take advantage of the situation. Wired for safety, Decker is going to be immersed in kids. The local 4H dog group is coming to the trial to serve lunch. They will have free time to watch some of the trial and I will ask if anyone would like to help Decker. I hope this does the job.