Learn to listen to your dog

Taking part in a discussion on Facebook today has made me look back to the amazing dog that I lost in March, Red. The conversation was regarding the potential of stress in repeated ball chasing in collies, due to their herding nature, and it is an interesting subject to ponder, not least because of the collies that I have had.

The girls that I had back when we had sheep did not have an issue with showing stress when playing fetch, although as they were working dogs, they had an outlet to finish the herding behaviours (and technically satisfy what predatory motor patterns have been bred to retain in them) but the blue boys have not been workers. This got me thinking about individuality, and how it can so often be overlooked.

How many times do you see a particular dog mentioned along with words like 'Well, he's a German Shepherd' or whatever breed this dog is? Yes, breed traits obviously exist, and they are incredibly important to keep in mind when choosing what type of dog you want. You need to be able to fulfill any dog's requirement to satisfy their instinctive needs, including any relating to their breed. What needs to be remembered is that not every member of every breed will always display those breed traits strongly.

Red was a purebred border collie. He came from a farm, from working stock. He then grew up with us, around working dogs and seeing sheep on a regular basis. Throughout his young life, we introduced concepts and ideas designed to prepare him for a working life alongside our experienced dogs, preparing him to take over as they aged and slowed down.

And then, one day, we took him out to work.

He took one look at the field of sheep and Dillan doing what a Dillan did best, working her little heart out. He promptly said 'Thanks, but no,' and decamped home at speed to pick up a tennis ball.

Red was the first to really teach me to listen to my dogs. He was an absolute sweetheart, as long as you respected his opinions. Of these he had many, and held them strongly. There were times we disagreed, when we HAD to do things he didn't like, for things like health reasons. We learned how to rub along doing these things - he would grumble at me the entire time I did whatever it was, then do one almighty WOOF right in my face when it was over, and would fetch a toy for an immediate energetic game.

He did like to make his opinions known 😁

Red did not fulfill any of the criteria we originally selected him for, but instead grew and evolved into his own character. The saying goes that you don't get the dog you want, you get the dog you need. That was true with Red. He taught me to listen, to understand, to respect his needs and wants and opinions. He taught me to respect individuality and to work with it. He taught me that my relationship with my dogs could be so much closer if I fully allowed them to be themselves, and didn't force them to follow the path I had in mind for them.

Red was the beginning of teaching me to be able to accept and work with a dog like Finn. Without the lessons learned from my beautiful, opinionated, grumpy old man I think I might have given up rather than strike out on the path I follow now, with the learning I have in place and continue to develop, the people that I have met, the feeling that I can help others (helped very much by a messenger conversation the other night with someone lovely who told me not to underestimate the effect I have - you know who you are, but I do need to let you know just how much that buoyed me up 😘 ) and the book published. I credit Finn with having started this new life, and he was a big catalyst in making the switch to what I do now, but none of it would be possible without that beautiful soul that came before him.

News in the world of the Minion: new book coming soon. 'Conversations with Collies' is a humorous collection of memories from my history with dogs, re-imagined with the dog's side of the conversation. Currently at the proof-reading stage, and awaiting illustrations, I hope to have a release date soon!