Border Collie Club of ArizonaOur club will sponsor a broad spectrum of activities in which Border Col
06/02/2025
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FOR ANYONE NEEDING MORE ADVICE ON THIS, today our breed expert Carol Price revisits…
MISDIRECTED CHASE BEHAVIOUR IN THE BORDER COLLIE
In my books and on this page I always try to better explain what 'working instinct' really is in the Border collie; namely, a stronger and more genetically enhanced desire to eye, stalk, chase and herd or otherwise control moving things. And when these skills are in harmony with the purpose they were designed for – i.e. managing livestock – it is a truly beautiful thing to see, as viewers of our Cathy Cassie’s sheepdog videos on this page will know.
However, what some owners won't always realise is that this ‘working instinct’ - if not compulsion – is part and parcel of the dog and their whole inner wiring. So it will not be exclusively reserved for livestock. It may be directed at absolutely anything that moves. Thus it is the INSTINCT in the dog to chase moving things that is the most critical thing to understand and consider. Rather than the more individual TARGET the dog chooses to direct it upon. Which, in the absence of aforementioned livestock, can become anything from traffic, trains, birds and cyclists or runners to leaves, water or shadows.
TARGETING AND CONTROLLING THE INSTINCT
In a working environment, a shepherd will not only introduce a dog to sheep when they are still very young, to ensure they become the chosen moving target for them to focus upon, but they will also put in the necessary training required to better control the dog's inner instincts and movements around the sheep. Including the speed and direction at which they approach them, stopping them or dropping them in a 'down' to the ground when necessary, or calling them off the sheep and back to them when required.
LOSING CONTROL OF THE CHASE INSTINCT
What can so often go wrong with pet collies is that the instincts and drives in the dog are less well targeted or controlled, from the off. Sometimes only because they are less well understood. But this is the reason why ‘fixation, chase and herd’ behaviour in the dog can then so easily switch on to alternative – and usually less desirable - moving targets instead. This behaviour can then become ever more addictive and compulsive in the dog, and thus much harder for an owner to stop.
Very often I have come across owners of dogs like these who have been told by this trainer or that to do ‘everything they can to discourage chase behaviour in them’ by never allowing them to chase balls etc. But the collie brain doesn’t quite work like that. These dogs do not just stop wanting to chase things because you have taken away one thing they previously chased. They will just try to find something else to chase instead. For some dogs, with a particularly higher chase drive, it really is like an itch they constantly want to scratch. Dogs who are never allowed some outlet for their inborn instincts can also become very frustrated or stressed.
CONTROL TRAINING
So once again the key is, accept this instinct exists in your dog. Chasing is not something collies do to be ‘bad’ or because they want to defy you or give you a hard time. It is more of a natural compulsion they can struggle to resist.
Having accepted this, next, consider, what are you going to target this instinct upon in your dog, it you haven’t got livestock? And second, how are you going to better control it in them?
As I have outlined many times in my books and features, I choose a particular toy for my dogs to more exclusively fixate on, and which they are only allowed access to, when out, after showing me some more preferred behaviours first – i.e. focus (‘watch me’) ‘down’, ‘wait’. Over time, and with the right training, you want to get to the point where the dog will not only focus on your chosen ‘working’ target toy, and ignore any other possible chase targets around them, but you can also totally control your dog’s movements around the toy, or call them to you, and away from the toy (‘recall’) whenever you want.
Only through work like this will you gain ever better control of their chase drives.
From these basic starter exercises I then move on to even greater control training. Like 'DOWN ON THE MOVE', where you drop your dog into a down when they are running towards a chase object. And also the 'MID-CHASE RECALL', where you not only drop your dog into a down as they are running towards something, but then immediately recall the dog back to you. All this work not only helps you get ever better control of your dog’s behaviour and inner drives, but also helps you build an ever stronger working bond, or partnership, with them.
THE GOLDEN SECOND
Another thing that is so vital, when dealing with chase behaviour in your dog, is simple timing. And knowing how to better abort or redirect an action in them when it is still just a thought in their head. Too often owners may miss that 'golden second', just before a dog is about to chase something, and they are still able to stop them with an appropriately trained command – like ‘leave it!’ watch me!’. ‘down!’, ‘wait!’ - if they only intervened a bit faster.
Learning how to think at the speed of a Border collie is a challenge all of us owners face, and something we all have to keep working on over time. Accept that sometimes you will not be fast enough to stop them doing something. But most of the time, and especially with greater practice, you will – and that is still an achievement.
So basically we can see that by replicating the way a shepherd would work with a sheepdog - i.e. making sure the most appropriate moving target was picked for a dog early on, and then getting in place all the right training to control the dog's movements round this - we have the best chance of controlling our own collie's chase drives, too. It is also possible to retrain a collie off one moving but less appropriate target – like cyclists for instance – and on to another more legitimate one, over which you have far more control, like a ball. But it takes persistence.
Meanwhile, anyone who wants to know far more about the kind of control, focus and anti-chase training I have outlined for collies in this feature will find it covered in the SECOND book in my BORDER COLLIES: A BREED APART trilogy (ESSENTIAL LIFE SKILLS & LEARNING), which also further explains how you can redirect a dog off a 'wrong' chase target, and on to a more suitable one. And a more comprehensive insight into ‘working instinct’ and other genetic behaviours in collies appears in BOOK ONE - SECRETS OF THE WORKING MIND.
All text ©Carol Price 2025
Carol Price collie books: In the UK from: https://performancedog.co.uk/?s=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
