I have been slightly under the weather with a bout of shingles 🙈.
There was lots of help and sympathy from my friends and family and it’s certainly at times when life takes a strange turn that we need the support of of our collie loving friends. For that I am immensely grateful.
One of the things that each of my friends told me is that I need to rest….which of course got me thinking about the subject of restorative rest and sleep for our collies.
There’s a rule of thumb that suggests dogs should sleep for 18 hours a day, well that’s my reincarnation sorted ! Bring it on !
On a more serious note, one of the things that often crop up in consults with clients new and old is the concern that sleep and rest are not on their collie’s agenda.
This can make for a stressful relationship, a collie following you to the loo is pretty standard but the wall of death off the sofas, constant hassle to play with the ball when you need to put your feet up and barking for attention are extremely wearing.
It is in a collie’s nature to enjoy repetitive behaviours, no farmer needs a collie that says ‘I went up that hill for sheep yesterday ….you go yourself if you’re so keen!’
We have selectively bred the genes that love to work, work until they compromise their own health and would give their life to work for their human.
This is how we have created the border collie, to work in all weathers, to not worry about the terrain or the surrounding distractions, when they are on …they are ON!
Little comfort this brings though if we are living with a collie that can’t settle down to enjoy a full episode of The Archers or Countryfile, apart from not knowing what jobs to complete the following day, they will have little concentration or physical capacity to do those tasks with insufficient rest.
And as anybody who has lived with toddlers, puppies or collies will know….an overtired being is a grumpy being.
There’s a few things we can do to mitigate that can make a huge difference.
- Never have toys available in a space where you wish to be calm and settled
- Make sure your collie has a comfy space to be snuggled up if you want them to chill in a certain room
- Make sure they have been fed and emptied before you go to settle down
- Make sure they have had ‘cool down’ in another room if you have been playing or walking together
- Make sure that everybody understands the protocols you are working on, sometimes family members can be harder to train than the dogs 🙈😂
- Use a lead if you need to in order to prevent zoomies in that space
- Provide a satisfying chew or bone to keep your collie in the desired place, consider tying the chew or bone to a table leg etc so it can’t be dragged onto the sofa if you prefer it stay on the floor.
- Using a pen to contain your collie is helpful, they can see you, you can give them a cuddle but it limits the potential for speedy manoeuvres or lunging at folks if they dare to move or get up .
- One of the biggest changes you can make is giving your collie a calm, quite solitary space where they can switch off and not see any of the movements that drive them to think about work.
A collie on a farm (which in the mind of your collie, they still are) will be very busy at certain times, maybe they will spend 8 hours out on the fields or hills collecting sheep or moving sheep or holding sheep in places for the shepherd. Once those sheep are in the new location or have been checked over there is no further use for the collie for that day, week, fortnight maybe. During those down times the collies are generally left to be calm and recover from the exertions, physical and mental of the previous chores.
Most farm collies do not live in a busy household of Alexa, music, phones and washing machines. Their life is often one of complete involvement with the farm or resting, they too will chase the postman or passing flies given the opportunity.
Somewhere in the middle is the sweet spot I think for our collies.
They need enough brain stimulation, they need enough physical activity BUT they also need enough rest. It can be a rocky road and rough time to introduce your collie to a ‘den’ or sleeping space they can use during the day but my goodness, what a change it can make to your collie’s disposition and energy levels.
Coupling this restorative rest with collie instinct activities is the key to the best physical and mental wellbeing for both ends of the lead.
Does your collie have a safe space to go and relax without human contact?
Do you need to retrain your evening routine?
Do you need more collie instinct tip activities?
Would you like more ideas about helping your collie to be calmer in the house?
Have a think about some of the ideas I have mentioned in this article, maybe a couple of simple changes will make the difference for you and your collie.
Of course, I am here to help you make the plan if you are not sure where to start or how to engage the collie instinct in ways that can be safe and rewarding for you you both.
Enjoy the rest with your collie.