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Why Collies Can Drive You Mad And the key to owning them successfully as pets |
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Written by Carol Price
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 Six years ago, I was driven to write my book, Understanding the Border collie, out of a lifelong passion for this truly exceptional working breed, and also a growing despair at the host of psychological and behavioural problems these dogs were experiencing in their more modern role as ‘pets'.
At the time it struck me that there was really no book around that sufficiently explained to people exactly what is was about the unique nature and instincts of the Border collie that could make it that more challenging, or demanding, a pet dog to own, and how the key to a far more rewarding life with collies lay in knowing how to better manage and train them from earliest puppyhood onwards.
One of the biggest problems less well-informed or experienced owners of these dogs face is simply not appreciating their basic genetic needs, drives and psychology as a breed. The Border collie was never originally designed to be a ‘pet'. It was designed to be the most talented and exceptional sheep-herding dog the world has ever seen—which it still remains today.
When you breed a dog for such a purpose, then you deliberately heighten, through successive generations of selective breeding, specific genetic traits that best equip it for this role, which in sheepdogs would typically include the following:
· Strong eye, stalk, chase, herd and ‘nip' instincts or reflexes
· High levels of mental reactivity and sensitivity
· High levels of physical stamina
· An intense appetite for ‘work'
· A strong desire to work only for one ‘boss' or handler—i.e. the shepherd
· A personality that is quite forceful and pushy, in order for the dog to suitably intimidate, or enforce its will upon, livestock that is larger, or greater in numbers, than itself
On the face of it, you shouldn't have to be a genius to work out that if you take a dog with these kinds of inborn genetic traits, and stick it instead into a pet home where there is scant understanding or accommodation of them, then it's only a matter of time before ‘problems' are going to ensue.
But still people keep on being surprised that this happens. They end up with collies who become progressively more neurotic, or aggressive, or destructive, or who develop intensely manic and obsessive patterns of behaviour, and they can't understand why.
When you know how incomparably rewarding Border collies can be to own, as workmates and companions, when they are properly bred, raised, handled and trained, and how often they only go wrong simply because they haven't been given these advantages in life, it can break your heart.
One of the main reasons why there are so many ‘problem' or unwanted pet collies around today is not just because they are inappropriately managed and trained by their owners, but because they have been originally acquired from the wrong backgrounds or sources.
In recent years a huge number of inherently inferior Border collies—in terms of temperament, but also sometimes health status, too—have been flooded on to the pet market by puppy farmers and other unscrupulous breeders seeking to cash in on their current popularity. Such breeders have calculated—often quite rightly, as it happens—that the average would-be collie owner, with a head full of romantic images about the breed, hasn't a clue as to the sort of person, and background, they should, and should not, get their dog from, and thus cannot see the link between a dog that has been bred badly, and raised inappropriately, and one that turns into a total nightmare or liability as a future pet.
Much of my work today as a canine behaviourist, writer and Border collie specialist, involves making people far more aware of the ‘right' and ‘wrong' places to get these dogs from, as Border collies can be hard enough work as it is, without the added handicap of a genetically dodgy temperament to cope with as well. And as long as there's a market for such sadly disadvantaged and troubled dogs, somebody's going to keep on producing them.
Very often I will see owners on the verge of getting rid of their Border collies, or even having them euthanased, simply out of desperation about the way they behave. And when I can help these people see how much happier, and more successful, their lives can be with these dogs through improved understanding of them, plus better everyday management and training of them, it is an intensely rewarding experience.
When I first wrote Understanding the Border Collie, which has since been consistently revised and updated over the years, I never expected it would become the best-seller it has. But it's nice to think how many owners of Border collies and collie-crosses out are so keen to know more about how their dogs tick, or how to manage their behaviour more successfully.
Ultimately, the Border collie is an exceptionally special dog that requires equally special understanding and handling on the part of anyone who wants to own it. For me owning Border collies has always been a total privilege. There are always going to be times when they test your patience or resolve, but even when they are behaving at their very silliest or maddest, I still know that there is no other dog I would trust to go that extra mile for me when it counts, and no other dog I would want to do that mile with in return.
© Carol Price 2005. No part of this feature may be reproduced in any form without specific permission from the author.
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