20/12/2024
Very, very interesting..
TODAY OUR BREED EXPERT Carol Price looks at the issue of ‘personal space’ - and its defence - in Border collies and how this natural impulse in the breed is so often misunderstood
COLLIES AND CONFRONTATION: BETTER UNDERSTANDING AND RESPECTING YOUR DOG’S ‘PERSONAL SPACE’
The sheepdog videos we regularly feature on this page from our resident shepherd, Cathy Cassie, have, we hope, often proved invaluable in better understanding Border collies in general. In terms of their inherent instincts, characteristics and impulses as a breed, and why these are so essential for the job they were originally born to do – i.e. managing and controlling livestock.
It’s equally important to realise that, even when we take these dogs away from their working roles, and own them more as companion dogs, or pets, the original drives and instincts of the ‘working’ dog inside them will still remain. All of which have to be better understood, and managed, if we are to live with them most successfully.
INSTINCTS OF THE ‘INNER’ SHEEPDOG
In the past, on this page, I have looked at what ‘working’ instinct really is, in Border collies, and how impulses – if not compulsions – in these dogs to ‘eye’, stalk, chase or herd moving things have to be sufficiently understood, rechannelled and controlled if they are going to be owned as social companions instead.
But another aspect of the collie ‘working’ mind I want to look at today is how these dogs may often respond to confrontation, or any more sudden invasion of ‘personal’ space as this, again, can have some real relevance for pet owners.
When you watch sheepdogs working livestock, you will notice that when a sheep suddenly moves too closely into the dog’s head area or personal space, or mounts a challenge, there can be an instant reflex in the dog to lunge out and nip, in order to protect themselves. The dog doesn’t consciously think about this first. It is just a more automatic self-defence reaction to having their personal space suddenly threatened.
DEFENCE OF SPACE IN THE PET ENVIRONMENT
For if not better challenged back immediately, in this way, or kept at a greater distance away, livestock can cause these dogs serious harm. Which is why control of personal space, and control of movement are, instinctively, such strong compulsions for many Border collies.
And once we understand this, we can also better understand some of the behaviours this might lead to in the pet environment. Like defensive nipping, if we move into their space too fast, or approach them in a more animated or hostile way, especially if they are already in a more heightened state of mental arousal. As the more aroused – excited, frustrated, anxious, stressed afraid – the dog, the more ‘defence-reactive’ they can also become.
How often have collie owners had the experience of someone more suddenly invading their dog’s space to touch them, uninvited, because they are “always great with dogs”, only for that person to be greeted with a rather more hostile defence reaction? Or your dog mounting the same response towards other dogs who suddenly invade their personal space in a more unwelcome way? Any more sudden sense of ‘crowding’, in fact, can be enough to flick their defence switch.
It can take a somewhat higher degree of social tolerance, and experience, for dogs to switch such natural defence reactions off, or mute them down, and also more intense social training from puppyhood. Because often such reactive habits in social environments get learned or acquired early in life by collies, and then become progressively more ingrained.
DEFENDING SPACES
The same defence reactions can also occur in collies if someone tries to remove them more aggressively, or forcibly, from resources or more strategic parts of the home (front door area, hallways, stair landings) they want to maintain control of. When the key is to no longer allow them access to such areas, if they ever exhibit this kind of behaviour.
When dogs are in more restricted spaces or situations – like in a car, or on a lead – the instinct to guard personal space can become even more intensified, due to the option of ‘escape’ from any oncoming threat now being denied them.
Of course collies can vary tremendously in terms of how sensitive they are to having their personal space invaded, and what their reaction might be when this occurs. Ranging from showing a greater reluctance, or unhappiness, about being cuddled or groomed by an owner, for example, to all out aggression at the slightest perception of threat. For actions like grooming, or going to the vet, can also greatly threaten the dog’s sense of personal space, as well as their inner compulsion to protect it.
FACTORS INFLUENCING DEFENSIVENESS
Over and above the more inherent nature of the individual dog, how a dog responds to confrontation, or closer invasions of personal space, can also be down to many other things. From genetic factors, or how stressed or aroused the dog already happens to be, to whether they are experiencing some ongoing source of pain, illness or discomfort, where a sense of greater vulnerability triggers the response. But it can also be down to how much respect has been shown by owners in the past to the dog’s personal space boundaries.
For dogs who expect more hostile or less welcome invasions of their personal space by an owner or other household members at any time are more likely to develop a more anxious/defensive mindset.
The reality is, also, that while some collies may more actively seek affectionate forms of engagement with you, other dogs may prefer not to, and are happier to be mostly left in their own space. There is nothing ‘wrong’ with dogs like these. It is just the way they are wired, and we have to respect this.
TRUST
Collies can be trained to be less sensitive and reactive towards things like people or dogs moving into their headspace. Just like humans have to train themselves to cope with being in more tightly crowded space or places without freaking out. But in the case of more individual owner-dog relationships, vital trust also has to be built. For the more a dog trusts you, the more personal space they are likely to tolerate you entering.
Trust can take time to build. But having lived with Border collies now for so long, it is virtually second nature for me to always invite them into my space, rather than more suddenly invade theirs. Whether I am about to take them for a walk, or do something inherently less pleasant, for them, like clean their teeth, the element of the dog still choosing for themselves to come to me is so important.
People use their greater size, or perceived ‘higher’ status, to crash through dogs’ personal space boundaries all the time. Usually because it is ‘quicker’ to get them to do something this way, or shove them here or there. But they rarely consider the mental fallout this can have on the dog concerned, either shorter or longer term.
And trust in dog-human relationships is ultimately like trust in any other kind of relationship. Only when it is missing do a lot of other things then start to go wrong.
Meanwhile, all aspects of ‘working’ thinking and behaviour in Border collies – including any issues with ‘confrontation’ - is covered in BOOK ONE of my BORDER COLLIES – A BREED APART trilogy (blue cover), SECRETS OF THE WORKING MIND:
All text ©Carol Price 2024
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
