27/07/2024
This is a must read article for anyone with a collie or other high drive breeds...
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/pnza3Fm3nHrUuvKM/
FOR ANYONE WHO MAY HAVE PREVIOUSLY MISSED THIS, our breed expert Carol Price today revisits the subject of more acute or chronic mental over-arousal in Border collies; why it happens, how it may affect their behaviour, and how to better manage it in your dog.
GOT A DOG WHO WON’T ‘WIND DOWN’? FINDING THE ‘OFF’ SWITCH IN A BORDER COLLIE
A common concern owners have about their collies is that they appear to have no ‘off’ switch and can find it very difficult to settle or wind down, even after having “loads of exercise”. So I am going to look at this issue in more detail in this feature, as well as what might be done to give people calmer dogs to live with.
CHRONIC HYPER-STIMULATION
First, often what owners may label a ‘crazy’ or ‘hyper’ collie is just a dog who is being more persistently – or even chronically – mentally over-stimulated. It is important to understand that Border collies are dogs with exceptionally sensitive arousal mechanisms. Meaning it takes very little in the way of external sensory stimulation – particularly sound and movement, but also light or a more sudden sense of something ‘crowding’ their personal space – to trigger more active physical responses in them, which will then continue as long as the stimulation sources exist.
This level of sensitivity, in turn, is part and parcel of their whole inner wiring, and more supreme level of responsiveness as sheepdogs. Both mentally and physically, they constantly need to remain one step ahead of the livestock around them, always trying to out-guess, out-think or outmanoeuvre them or anticipate what their next move might be, in order to counter-balance it well in advance with the right response of their own.
And as long as some source of sensory stimulation exists in a collie’s environment, they may feel a need to respond to it in some way. Different dogs may have their own stimulation thresholds, in terms of how little it may take – in the way of sound or movement say – to trigger some physical reaction in them.
However, sometimes owners will not always understand the link between the level of sensory stimulation they are continuing to expose their collie to, and their dog’s resultant inability to better settle or rest. And they may view their dog’s ongoing restlessness or agitation, instead, as a sign that they still need far more exercise to wear them out. So they then try to give them even more physical/mental stimulation in the way of exercise or ball games only to find that at the end of this their dog is even more ‘buzzed’ than before. Because what the dog actually needs is LESS sensory/physical stimulation in order to better wind down and not MORE. (More on this a bit later).
ADDICTED TO AROUSAL
It is also important to understand how quickly collies can become addicted to the state of higher mental arousal, because of all the feelgood neurochemicals that accompany this. So you may find yourself with a dog who is constantly trying to prompt you into giving them more physical/mental stimulation to better maintain this state of arousal.
A typical example of this may be a dog who comes back with you from a long walk, then goes straight to get a toy and wants you to keep throwing it for them. You may read this as a dog who is not yet tired enough, whereas I would read it as a dog trying maintain their higher state of mental arousal.
Conversely, some dogs may become more hardened self-stimulators; seeking out different sources of sensory stimulation for themselves, which is how many more obsessive patterns of behaviour – like constantly eyeing/chasing anything that might move – take off in them, and can then become increasingly more addictive or compulsive.
PUPPIES
Border collie puppies can be particularly easily over-stimulated, not just because of their increasingly higher energy levels as they grow, but also because they are yet to learn how to better check their own arousal levels, through more persistent impulse control exercises or training (covered before on this page).
Moreover the ‘over-excited’ mental state in a Border collie puppy is what then also triggers all the other less desirable behaviours like nipping or destroying things, as the pup constantly seeks some outlet or target on which to vent their excitement upon.
It must also be realised that Border collie puppies tend to be at their most ‘manic’ when they are most tired. And when this state is reached in a puppy they must not be stimulated any further. Rather, they should be put in a darker, quieter place until they are finally able to wind down again.
BREAKING THE AROUSAL HABIT CYCLE
If you are to have a dog with a better ‘off’ switch, in general, then several things need to happen. The first is improved training, as earlier highlighted, which teaches your dog to not only exert better control over their own emotional states/arousal levels, but to also find a more controlled mental state – as opposed to a more aroused one - far more rewarding.
The kind of both Focus and Impulse Control training you need to do with your dog to achieve this – as well as other basic Control exercises – are outlined in my book on training collies at the end of this feature, and have also been covered before on this page.
For if you cannot get your dog to do basic things like lie down and stay down when asked, or go to their bed when asked, or stop doing whatever it is they are doing when asked, or be quiet when asked – instead of barking/whining etc. – you will always struggle to own a calmer dog.
ROUTINE AND ‘UP’ AND ‘DOWN’ TIME
Another crucial factor in owning a calmer collie is establishing a more set routine of ‘up’ and ‘down’ times during the day, from puppyhood onwards. For if your dog learns that at roughly the same times every day there will be physical/mental exercise on offer (e.g., walks, training, play) and at other times there will not, this makes it that much easier for them to train their minds to rest during the non-activity times.
Conversely, greater unpredictably and uncertainty about what will happen and when in their lives makes dogs more restless and stressed, and thus far less likely to settle.
Also get out of arousal-prolonging habits like throwing toys for your dog during periods – such as after a walk, or during the evening – when you really need them to settle instead. It can also help to have a specific area or place set up for your dog, in a quieter part of the home, that your dog comes to associate with ‘rest’.
THE STRESS FACTOR
Some collies are less able to settle because they are carrying particularly high stress loads, which can be common in rescue dogs, or suffering from greater sensory over-loading. The same factors can also make many collies far more phobic or reactive in their daily behaviour. They may also be more likely to indulge in increasingly obsessive behaviour patterns as a coping mechanism.
Dogs like these may need greater time to return their minds to better balance, and dogs suffering from greater stress/sensory overloading may also benefit from a special Sensory Detox programme I have devised for collies with such issues. This appears in BOOK THREE of my BREED APART trilogy on BEHAVIOUR. All you need to know about training collies from puppyhood onwards – including focus, impulse control training and wider control training – appears in BOOK TWO – ESSENTIAL LIFE SKILLS & LEARNING.
All text © Carol Price 2024
Carol Price collie books: In the UK from: https://performancedog.co.uk/product-category/books-and-dvds/authors/carol-price/ In the USA from: https://www.dogwise.com/ # and https://www.cleanrun.com/product/border_collies_a_breed_apart_book_1_secrets_of_the_working_mind/index.cfm In Canada from https://4mymerles.com/collections/books In Australia from: https://gameondogs.com.au/ And in the Netherlands and Belgium from: https://mediaboek.nl/border-collies-a-breed-apart-book-1.html
