My collie reacts when dogs run up to us - what do I do?
“My border collie growls and snaps when a dog runs up to us, how can we fix this?” 😓
This and variations of it are among the most common issues I hear from pet working dog owners. It can be really embarrassing and make you feel judged by other owners for your apparently “aggressive” or “rude” dog. And yes, there are things we can do to reduce this issue, but it’s also so important to understand that this sort of reaction isn’t out of the range of what is considered normal - it might not even be as big of an issue as it seems in the moment if we think about it from what a dog actually is.
Important to note: this post is in reference specifically to dogs reacting to a rude dog who is in their face invading their space, NOT leash reactivity etc at a distance which is a different thing requiring a bit more intervention.
🌟 First things first, growling in this particular context isn’t inherently bad.
In natural life an organisms primary goal is to survive & thrive to pass on their genetics - therefore in normal uninterrupted economy of behaviour they tend to do the route that best achieves their goal with minimal risk of injury, ie using the growl or non-contact snap to reduce the conflict and ask for space rather than heading straight to a fight that could risk serious injury or death. Reducing conflict is a good thing! Hence why in most cases when people ask me to “fix the dogs growling” I’d rather we look at the “why is the dog growling and can we also help them feel like they don’t need to do that” rather than simply correcting the growl in isolation and removing that option without also offering support.
🌟 Secondly, our expectations of our pet dogs is pretty wild compared to what their traditional lifestyles would be like.
Until the past couple of decades, we never had this expectation that our dogs would enjoy playing or interacting with other dogs outside of a a set family/trusted friend group. For a lot of breeds we expected neutrality (eg a gun dog that couldn’t go on a shoot around other hunters dogs would be a liability), some breeds were even developed specifically not to socialise well with outsiders (hello livestock guardian breeds protecting their flock or pit bull terriers developed at one point to fight other dogs for sport), but we never had this dog park idea of “hey dog, we’re going to go here and there’ll be all these rude dogs you don’t know that run right up into your space and you’re supposed to find it fun - this play with them is your exercise for the day”. This is one of the biggest issues I have with the dog park mentality and traditional doggy daycares - it’s just not how most dogs are designed to interact, being confined to a space with random dogs and being expected to mostly focus on each other and be behaviourally healthy through that. Frequently this is where these issues are formed and reinforced through repetition - the dog is repeatedly put in an uncomfortable position where more subtle body language is missed, so the growling and snapping is the thing they’ve learned works reliably for them in getting the relief they want.
Most dogs are going to do better when the focus is on something else (eg on a walk, exploring different enviornments together) and they just happen to be doing that activity alongside other dogs who are also being managed appropriately.
🌟 Finally there’s the genetic aspect. On the one hand, herding dogs being especially spatially sensitive with larger personal space bubbles, so very aware of any change in the area around them and ready to respond. Typically (in the case of eye dogs) preferring to play the stalky game than the direct body contact games other types of dogs often enjoy.
Further to this, in the working life a collie that REALLY loves to play with other dogs could be a real nuisance. Nothing is worse than being out the back of the farm needing your dog ready to bring in a runaway sheep (or bulls in my case!), meanwhile they’re off goofing around with the other dogs wasting their energy and not paying attention to what’s going on. Sure they need to be able to coexist because it’s also a pain in the ass to manage an outright aggressive dog when running a team of working dogs, but overly social behaviours aren’t what is being selected for in breeding. The better dogs tend to be more neutral. That is slowly shifting as these breeds become less selectively bred for outright working ability in many lines, but generations of selective breeding don’t disappear immediately especially when the physical people choose are so closely intertwined to behaviour at a genetic level - if you’re breeding for dogs who look like border collies you’re going to get dogs who generally behave like border collies whether you mean to or not.
💫 Yeah that’s cool and all but it still sucks in the moment - what do we actually do about it? 💫
1️⃣ Understand who your dog is and respect it. If we chose to get a breed that has been selected for certain traits, we don’t expect those traits to disappear just because they’re now in a pet context. Work with the dog we have, and set them up for success in environments that we both enjoy - so rather than forcing your dog into the dog park or daycare where they’re not really a good fit, try looking for more activity oriented things such as areas where you walk through and explore together (not just stand and talk to other owners) or attending a well run dog sport club for some beginner classes where we can be around other dogs without the expectation of direct interaction. Some dogs are disco dogs, some are library dogs - both can thrive and be great dogs in their own right when we support them with the right environment.
2️⃣ Reduce your dogs need to growl etc in the first place. We know they don’t enjoy rude dogs - let’s advocate for their space proactively by stepping in front of them and pushing the other dog away ourselves rather than leaving them to deal with it on their own & practicing the undesired behaviour. When the dog feels safer and like you’ve got this, there’s less need for them to use and find reinforcement (ie space) in these sort of tactics and we can instead be aware of and reinforce more toned down communication (eg subtle changes in body language prior to the growl and snap).
3️⃣ Find appropriate socialisation opportunities to practice appropriate interactions. This could look like finding some friends with well balanced dogs to go walking with, joining a dog club for some controlled interactions, or linking up with a pack walker or trainers socialisation service to set up some appropriate interactions. This gives controlled opportunities to get more comfortable with dogs in their space, feeling more confident that we don’t necessarily need to growl and push them away because the interactions are appropriate, and generally practice that neutrality around other dogs. Depending on the dog and the level of the issue we may need to add some additional communication from our side here regarding “no, this other really well balanced dog is actually being appropriate in this scenario and your response isn’t actually appropriate here” but this is very dependent on the dog/context and reading the situation in front of us, and best done with trusted dogs rather than attempting it with that random terrier that rushes up at the park.
Behaviour like this is our dogs communicating. Rather than rushing to shut it down instantly, let’s take a moment to listen to what they’re telling us before we respond.
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