One of the first rules that a farmcollie pup must learn if the goal is
for him to be a loose on the farm type of dog is that the farm has
boundaries and he must stay home. As the pup follows you about your
property he is learning that you claim this territory. Later on
when he is loose on his own, you can expect him to go everywhere you have
allowed him to follow you. Therefore it is extremely important that
you never allow him to follow you where you do not wish him to go on his
own.
As you follow the old timers advice and take your pup with you while you
work on your farm, he will learn many things without any effort on
your part. With a little more attention and effort you can make these
lessons even more clear and relevant in the pups mind. As you are
walking near the boundary line, if he should venture over the line, a well
timed "AANGHKK" every time a foot falls outside the territory can
work wonders to solidify this boundary in the pup's mind! Praising him
when he returns to follow you more closely helps as well.
As you move livestock about the farm the pup learns where each kind of
livestock belongs. He may learn that when the chickens come into the flower
beds that Mom chases them back up around the barn and although you are
simultaneously teaching him not to chase chickens, he is developing a sense
of order about how it should be done. When Sweetheart was a pup of
around 8 months, we went to visit Erin and Dan and their large white rooster
caught Sweetie's eye. She found that it would run away from her if she
ran at it! What fun! I chased her down and grabbed her and
scruffed and rolled her and said "NO!" and that was
all it took to get through to her that she was not supposed to chase
chickens. A few hours later we watched out the window as she
walked nonchalantly around a group of chickens in the upper drive near the
barn. The chickens did not actually realize that they were being
herded, but she had gathered them into a nice little flock, and was
holding them back from entering the yard.
Hello everyone, Berger started
being very protective of us to the
point that he "held down" the guys
who are building our strawbale house
in front of my door. I was telling
them to come in but they felt too
scared that Berger may bite them.
Same with my neighbor. Next day
there were many suggestions about
how to handle that on this list so
I've been working on it with him and
it seems to work. No more barking
at the UPS guy, propane guy or the
builders. Same with the neighbors.
And when he goes back to bark I put
him in the next room where he can
see everybody but we ignore him
while he barks
I think that's it for now. Thanks
in advance for your suggestions.
Cecile
This is a common problem with
adolescent English Shepherd pups. As
soon as they bond tightly to you and learn
your general routine, they become
adolescents and start in with typical
adolescent delusions of grandeur!
The English Shepherd has been selected
for centuries to keep order on the farm he
watches the gates and keeps the appropriate
livestock in its pen. Should one of his
charges escape through a hole in the fence
and the owners are not there to see, he
drives them back in and sits in the hole and
waits for his owners to come fix the fence.
This is done not because of some 'inhibited
prey drive' that the dog has, but because of
a dominant pack instinct.
English Shepherds and other old fashioned
lines of farmcollies are also very
valuable to anyone who lives the farm life
because they protect your back and are very
in tune to anything out of the ordinary.
Rams, bulls or hogs can charge you.
Protective mama cows and sows are very
dangerous as well. It is great to have a
reactive English Shepherd watching your
back!
These are wonderful instincts and are
very characteristic of the breed, but they
can cause problems in situations where
guests or delivery people arrive.
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RE: [AWFA] Teaching pups how to behave in social situations
It seems to be a pretty common thing for adolescent pups, especially
males, to "offer" to protect their people and their territory from
visitors or passers by, bicyclists, delivery people, etc. How the owner
handles these initial offers to *repel all comers!* can make the
difference between a discerning, confident dog and one that chronically
overreacts.
Biggest thing, In my opinion, is leadership; When told by his owner
to stand down the dog should defer, and a reasonably biddable dog will,
provided that the dog trusts its owner and knows they have the situation
under control and that the dog is not expected to protect the people or
the territory. If this is not in question, the dog know he can relax and
let his owner handle the situation. If the owner has not, as the pack
alpha, formed a sufficient bond with the dog or earned the dog's respect
and confidence, no matter what he says or does the dog may be uneasy
with deferring to the owner's decisions/opinions of who/what is "ok" and
who/what is *NOT* and may behave anxiously or aggressively when it is
placed in the "uncomfortable) position of needing to control the
situation himself. Some harder-headed dogs, even with strong leaders,
need more convincing that everything's under control and they may (had
better!) safely stand down.
There is an adrenaline rush associated with high-energy or high-risk
stock work that I believe is addictive-Dog gets so off on the thrill of
the activity, positive response from the owner and the "winning" of the
altercation that they will tend to seek out opportunities to do it again
and again.
We see this when pups "get it" and begin to work in earnest just for
the joy of it, it is clear how important the work is to them, because
the harshest punishment for a dog that loves his job is to have it taken
away (why giving over-enthusiastic or rough pups a "time out" of the
action when they don't listen to the farmer works so well). We also see
it in dogs taken to herding lessons who then go out and chase the stock
because they've "turned on" and want that thrill and gratification
again.
Dominant, protective, territorial dogs get a similar thrill from
running off an intruder, whether it is a possum, a cat burglar or the
UPS guy ;-) This seems to me to be just as potentially addictive. The
time to lay down the rules about how to react to visitors, strangers
approaching in the park, the vet, joggers, etc, is THE DAY YOU BRING
HOME THE PUPPY. This isn't to say you should allow every idiot to let
their kid charge your new puppy and grab at it. Make allowances for him
as far as how much activity, travelling, jostling, etc, he has to endure
that first day or three. But I usually welcome these opportunities to
teach both the pup and the kid (and the idiot parent, lol) how these
social situations should be handled. You can pick pup up or ask the kids
to let him be if they are being too obnoxious, this will let the pup
know you can be depended on to protect him. But never, EVER coddle or
make allowances or excuses for the pup being rude.
How we handle an incident when the pup behaves rudely is important.
Never say "It's ok" or pet or soothe a pup that is being anal about
barking at those kids at the park, your company or your elderly neighbor
as they hobble out to their mailbox. Instead, treat it like any other
rude, inappropriate act- Think about it- Would you tell him "Aww, it's
ok" for him to hike his leg on your sofa? I think not ;-) Use a stern
voice and tell the pup *no*, no drama, no worries, and have him sit or
lie beside or slightly behind you while you talk to the visitor or
otherwise go about your business. Use sterner corrections or stronger
messages (banishment is a good one, ideally to a place where he is out
of the way but can observe your normal, matter-of-fact encounter with
the "intruder") and make it a point not to behave as though you are
worried or concerned; This would send the message something really is
amiss and may inspire him to increase his efforts to get rid of this
worrisome "intruder."
Never, ever allow a pup that is offering to protect you to position
himself between you and the visitor unless you want things to escalate-
Dogs are more responsive to body language than to words so, regardless
of what you're saying to him, if you have him positioned between you and
the "intruder" you are ASKING HIM TO PROTECT YOU.
Whether he receives a positive response from you- Crooning, petting,
or allowing him to assume the protective position between you and the
"intruder", even negative attention from you in the form of an exciting
drama reward- as well as whether the dog succeeds in "running off the
intruder" or "protecting his charges" (poor UPS guy dives into his truck
and drives off at high speed- Mission accomplished!), will dictate how
the dog behaves the next time.
-Tish
Blacksheep Homestead
RE: [AWFA] Teaching pups how to behave in social situations
Oh, well said, Tish!
Finnegan at 7 months is beginning to
feel his oats in terms of the joggers, the neighbors, the cyclists... He
certainly does seem to get a high off rushing to the edge of the road.
So I've started to keep him on a drag line, which seems to ground his
brain cells some, and lets him hear me give the flat "no" and "down".
This morning he barked (the Hooligan
roar is just starting to emerge) at the neighbor getting into her car
(an acre and a half away!) and then flopped into down position, rolling
his eyes at me over his shoulder. I guess we're halfway there....LOL
Sue
RE: [AWFA] Teaching pups how to behave in social situations
One thing that I have done with my dogs is to have
a "stand down" command of sorts. When a car pulls up in the driveway,
Skye will announce them by barking, Finn is quiet, just extremely ready
to greet them. I say "It's OK, you can say Hi" and then the dogs happily
go forward to meet and greet.
This really came in handy the other day.... I
heard Finn bark, more of a roar really and I could tell he meant it. I
ran outside and saw Finn holding four people at our side property line.
It turned out to be our neighbors who never come over, and Finn is used
to "visitors" pulling up in cars. I was about an acre away and I could
tell from that distance that it could easily escalate. (Picture Gandolf
in the Two Towers facing down the Balroc saying "YOU SHALL NOT PASS"!!)
Using my loudest voice, I yelled over "It's OK, you can say Hi" which
sounded really lame to the group of people held at bay I'm sure...But it
was like a switch was thrown, he looked over at me, hackles went down
and he ran over and started to sniff them and be petted. Two minutes
later, he was sitting in the one person's lap. He trusted my judgment
enough to let me handle the situation as I saw fit. And if I say they're
OK, they're OK.
Finn, at two years old, is just coming into his
protective mode. I'm not sure if it's the two year mark, or the litter
of pups on the ground but I am very thankful that I have used the "OK"
thing consistently and he took my word on it.
Judy
RE: [AWFA] Teaching pups how to behave in social situations
Good point, Judy, in similar situations a lot of owners yell at
the dogs using a mad, concerned tone, and this usually makes the dogs
think that the owners are barking sternly at the intruders too.
Elaine
RE: [AWFA] Teaching pups how to behave in social situations
Judy,
This is great! I'm going to remember this and
use it. You must have been so proud of him! How did you start this
training? Just by consistently saying that before letting them greet the
guests? Any hints for someone wanting to train a dog to do this?
I had my Malamute/Husky cross trained to
"ignore". He'd go on long horse back rides with me and other dogs would
come out and challenge him. I'd simply say, "Chick ignore" and he'd
stick his nose up in the air and we'd travel on. Of course, he had great
faith in the fact that if the dogs took it to far and came up behind him
to attack him, I'd whip my horse around and chase their butts home. :) I
actually did it more for the safety of the other dogs than him anyways.
Chick Bowdrie was 120+lbs of solid dog and he went straight for the
jugular if he felt the need to protect me. Not many felt the need to
contradict him as he resembled a very large white wolf. :)
Kimberly
RE: [AWFA] Teaching pups how to behave in social situations
It's exactly the same idea that you used with
Chick....Your dog respected you and had faith in your judgment. That
only comes with being a consistently effective leader.
Of course it also helps to say the words before
every happy friendly encounter with guests. So there is a certain amount
of conditioning going on....
Judy
Photos of a pup returning an escapee to
his pen.
