A View to a Kill?
We often hear the claim that the Border Collie is exhibiting predatory behaviour on sheep. But are they really seeking to kill?
Ethologists trace certain behaviours exhibited by dogs to their ancestors, the proto-wolves. They compare the behaviours exhibited by wolves when hunting prey to those shown by our domestic dogs, and assert that we have selected dogs for exaggerated versions of some behaviours, and suppressed versions of others.
But this has led to the words “predatory” and “prey drive” being misapplied in common parlance, and nowhere more so than in describing the Border Collie. Through this language, these dogs are portrayed as determined and single-minded in their quest to conquer their prey. Yet, while we have selected some predatory behaviours and repurposed them for other ends, this does not mean that those behaviours, when exhibited by the working dog in certain situations, equate to predation.
Predation is carried out with the purpose of killing and consuming. If this is not the purpose of a manifestation of a particular behaviour, then we cannot describe that behaviour as predatory. The ancestral function of what the dogs is doing now well have been predatory, but we need to be more precise when describing what this animal is doing in this moment. Dogs in play may very well practice behaviours that are also predatory, but we would (we hope) never dream of describing your puppy as predating their sibling.
Why? Because words matter. They shape our perception of things. “My Border Collie predates cats” is a chilling utterance that ought to elicit for the welfare of one of those animals if it were true. “My Border Collie likes to manage the movement of cats” suggests that intervention may well be on the cards if the cat is not enjoying being managed (we have both known cats who have invited dogs to work them and who seem to have enjoyed the activity), but it doesn’t demonise the former and portray the latter as hapless victims. In a world where we are told that Border Collies are controlling, manipulative, and bossy, the last thing the Border Collie needs is another term that artificially accords moral weight to their way of being.
Your Border Collie is not predating cats or sheep or joggers or bicycles or cars or even their favourite toy. They are not anticipating the reward of a kill, but rather receiving a reward from controlling (or the potential that they might control) whichever one of those things is the object of their attention. In addition, your dog isn’t enacting a modified form of the predatory sequence; in fact, it’s barely a sequence at all – they can (and often do) jump in at any point, and can end at any point without the sequence having to run its course, or even select one event or action, like watching. One only has to watch the superb control exhibited by dogs working in collaboration with a human handler to recognise this – think of the variety of working tasks in which the dog engages: gathering the sheep towards the handler, driving them away, shedding one or more specific sheep away from the flock, helping to capture them within the pen, and then responding to a “that’ll do” and head home for a cup of tea.
Intent to kill or intent to gather?
The kill is not the purpose of the activity working the sheep, and sheep familiar with being worked by particular dogs will learn to read their dogs just as well as the dogs read the sheep. These sheep know when they will get away with ignoring the dogs, when they have the opportunity to stand their ground (quite literally), and when the dog’s instructions to move or to hold are non-netogiabile. Anyone who has watched a working Border Collie or watched a sheepdog trial will know that the sheep are moving away from the dog because they are uncomfortable with the proximity (or resisting because they are being urged away from familiar pastures), not because they are frightened for their lives. In fact, if sheep are frightened, they can’t be controlled and will likely scatter. We’ve all seen many a stalemate between dog and sheep where the sheep refuse to be managed, stand their ground (or stand up to the dog) and the dog won’t get up on them. This impasse would not happen in an interaction where the sheep are being predated.
But we only have to examine the dog’s body language to understand that predation is not what we’re seeing: instead of the hard stare, tense face, and rigid body language of a predator, we instead see more relaxed, fluid body language from ears to tail, even when stalking. Instead of the dog being so aroused by the potential outcome that they have blocked out any other environmental stimuli, we see dogs who are focussed on the process yet still attuned to the signals from their handler as well as to the movement of the flock. A dog who is trained to work sheep is experiencing their reward from this process: the partnership, the control, the responses of the sheep; if you have any doubt of this, just observe the anticipation that the dog demonstrates.
Your dog is not immediately catapulted into the role of a vicious killer whenever they spot a skateboarder, despite what that poor skateboarder might believe. If you understand what’s happening, then you will be better equipped to respond to it.
Intent to Kill
Dogs who are in the habit of chasing wildlife such as squirrels, rats, deer, rabbits, birds do not usually complete the kill because the prey is either faster than the dog or can escape. Whether this is ethical is a choice you need to consider: that critter is on the ground for a reason, seeking food, eating, grazing. When your dog chases they are going hungry.
The more they experience (the thrill of) chasing the more they will be seeking similar opportunities: every movement of a leaf, every cat, every small dog …. THIS will be the purpose of their walk.
The same dog that enjoys the wildlife chase can then becomes a sheep killer. Sheep are usually enclosed in a field, may be heavy in lamb and cannot escape. Any sheep that are chased or grabbed can die from their injuries.
This is predatory behaviour that is unmanaged and can be ANY dog from Poodle to Pug, from Labrador to Lurcher. Even a Collie untrained and running wild can be this chase-to-kill dog.
This is a VIDEO DIARY of a Farmer having to deal with yet another dog attack that has killed a lamb. …. “he was just chasing squirrels ….”
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