Obsessive-compulsive border collies

If you know anything about border collies, you know that they can be quite obsessive-compulsive about things. They are herders, and herding dogs can get quite focused on the task at hand, whether it is herding sheep, chasing geese from parks and golf courses, or even ‘herding’ little children. Our first border collie, Tobie, had a terrible habit of wanting to herd anything that moved, and since we didn’t have any sheep or geese, or even young children, she would ‘herd’ the vacuum cleaner, the lawn mower, the wheel barrow, or just about anything that had wheels on it and moved!

We have witnessed this behaviour starting to exhibit itself in Will, but not Emma. She seems to be more cautious and moves away from moving things, like the vacuum cleaner. I think it’s more that she doesn’t like the loud noise and feels safer running away from it rather than at it. Will, on the other hand, wants to bark at the vacuum cleaner, and follows its movement. He doesn’t nip at it like Tobie used to, but it’s probably only a matter of time before he would.

After having lived with a dog whose behavior we were unable to control, we are determined to be better owners this time. We didn’t know how to break Tobie of these habits that had become so entrenched. We hope we can learn how to prevent this from happening in our two new puppies.

Conditioning

Jim noticed that Will seems to be better with the vacuum when he is not confined in his pen or crate. He was vacuuming out the pellet stove last weekend (his weekly chore) and had Will lie down, just a few feet away from him, while he did his vacuuming. Will was well-behaved and just lay there and watched, not barking.

We have learned that dogs learn best from repetition and conditioning. The more recent method of teaching dogs is known as the ‘lure and reward’ method, described very well in a book by Dr. Ian Dunbar, Before and After You Get A Puppy. I thought I would draw from this method to train Will to accept being near the noisy vacuum cleaner without barking at it or biting it.

You can download a free version of 'After You Get Your Puppy' here: http://www.dogstardaily.com/training/after-you-get-your-puppy

and you can also download a free version of 'Before You Get Your Puppy' here:

http://www.dogstardaily.com/training/you-get-your-puppy

I got the vacuum out to clean up the furry mess in the family room, and had Will stay in the room with me. As usual, his first reaction was to bark at the noisy contraption. For his reward, I used one of the really tasty chicken-flavoured treats that he loves (a Newman’s Own product that my thoughtful friend, Rosemary, gave me). I left the vacuum running in the room, and coaxed him closer to it, praising him for not barking, while telling him to 'leave it' and giving him one of the tasty treats. I repeated this a couple of times, until he seemed pretty comfortable with it running noisily beside him. I then got up and started to move it, slowly at first, not too close, but close enough for him to see it and react if he was going to. He moved around, and away, watching it all the time, but not barking at it, and not chasing it. Each time it came close to him, I told him to 'leave it', praised him and gave him a generous portion of the tasty treat. He was great with it! He still did not take his eyes off it, but did not bark and did not chase it. We will try this again, and next time I will have him lay down while it moves around him.

I feel like I made a major break-through today! This behavior is definitely not cured yet, but he has started on the road to being able to live with moving, noisy objects. We will have to repeat this again and again, and with patience, we may have a dog that does not behave in such an obsessive-compulsive manner. We can only hope!