Temperament Theory

"To be or not to be, that is the question. Whether it be nobler in the heart of suffer
the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune or to take up arms against a sea of troubles" William Shakespeare.

WARY STORY: Beau is a Wary who learned in his first home that his pessimistic outlook on life was one hundred percent correct. His owner always did just exactly the wrong things around Beau. Whenever Beau practiced being Upbeat and happy, his owner teased and poked Beau, making Beau terrified of any feelings of happiness.

Beau had turned into a dog who snarled whenever he felt the least little bit happy. I had to give Beau three times the normal length of the peace & quiet routine to calm him enough into accepting extremely short doses of positive interaction. Any time happiness was too much for him to handle, he'd freeze and then snarl. I learned to pay attention when he'd freeze and immediately do withdrawal of attention.

Rescue cannot easily help a Wary become more Upbeat. Since a Wary is predominantly a Feeling Type, a Wary needs a relationship first and then he can concentrate on learning tasks and goals. Once Beau understood the basics of withdrawal of attention and how to use this to cope with Upbeat feelings, my main goal was to find him the right adopter and then teach his adopter how to work with Beau.

Mike Spangler's Beau. Photo by Ruth Ottiger.

THRILL: Being physically and emotionally close to his/her person.

ANXIETY: Separation anxiety. This type of dog gets grouchy or panicky when his/her main person is unavailable.

WARY
Approaches new situations carefully, expecting to meet danger or deception.

WARY/BOLD
A dog who cautiously hesitates (feeling) and then goes towards a new situation (action). A good cattle dog.

WARY/SHY
A dog who cautiously hesitates (feeling) and then goes away from a new situation (action). A good obedience competitor.

SHADOW
They don't trust intense feelings of happiness. This distrust makes them awkward and panicky if they do Upbeat without lots of small practice sessions. Their awkwardness manifests itself in frenzied barking, rushing and leaping at people, and having difficulty stopping these actions on their own.

SHADOW STORY: Roland's family wanted him to feel happy and secure. So they tried giving him activities and training in a bouncy, flooding, all-positive manner. Roland tried his best to be a happy, jolly dog, but he was so bad at it that he had panic attacks and spells of hysterical behavior. Things got so bad that Roland's family drove the two hours it takes to get from their home to mine to take lessons. Roland was relieved to be able to prove to his family that "grizzly bears" really do exist and that his new trainer (Val) was proof of this fact!

The one thing that helped calm Roland more than anything else was when Hobo came to live with him. Hobo is a Bold/Wary Border Collie. Roland is more relaxed and self-assured because he trusts Hobo to not only be aware of all "grizzly bears" but to also be capable of scaring them all away.

Rob Kleidman and Roland. Photo by Ruth Ottiger.

TRAINING RECOMMENDATIONS: Playtraining Your Dog by Patricia Gail Burnham, in small doses to teach the Wary how to practice and be comfortable in a more Upbeat lifestyle. Warys who are slowly introduced to Upbeat ways, with loads of acknowledgments that you realize life can hold many hidden dangers and deceptions, love living in an Upbeat style. See also Herding Behaviors.

Shameless manipulation is a positive and very useful coping skill for Wary dogs to learn. Here Smokey demonstrates
his manipulative skills. Photo by Pat Reynolds

TRAINING EQUIPMENT: A small or fine pinch collar for use during Upbeat lessons, for the dog's own protection. A twenty foot lead to teach distance work as this type of dog has difficulty working away from his/her person.

CLICKER: A clicker is a particularly appropriate choice for use in teaching Warys that "grizzly bears" can be approachable. As with the Shys, Warys need to take many tiny steps and have many very short practice sessions to learn to cope with their shadow feelings. Using a clicker can help accomplish more tiny steps in a shorter period of time because the Wary knows precisely what he is being rewarded for. Warys like that. It is also good for their confidence levels if they feel they have some control over being "right."

ACKNOWLEDGMENT: Acknowledge that the world is full of "grizzly bears" and then slowly teach the dog how to stop and smell the roses in between searches for new grizzly bear sightings.

PROBLEM PREVENTIONS: Tons of practice at leaving and returning to the dog in sporadic intervals. Tiny little lessons in happiness. Coping mechanisms for scary situations. Lots of tiny socialization exercises with other people and animals. Teach this dog how to properly guard his/her territory and possessions because this Type of dog will be too protective of everything s/he needs and loves.

AGGRESSION: Possession aggression and territorial aggression. They worry too much about losing things.

HUG: Hug therapy without picking them up. Picking them up entails too much loss of control for them to comfortably deal with. Do hug therapy on the floor and go very slow about moving them into the different positions. Only transfer them to other people while under your direct supervision and make it clear to the dog that you expect him/her to behave during this experience. Reward the transfer by transferring back to you.

DRUG: Very short-term use of Fort Dodge brand Acepromazine in cases of intense separation anxiety. Amitriptyline (anti-anxiety medication) as a long-term use drug for extreme Warys.

CAREER CHOICES: First they have to find a soulmate, then they can do anything, as long as they know their soulmate will never abandon them. Loves to observe life before making a decision as to whether to join in on an activity. A poetic kind of dog. The Wary/Bold could be a good cattle-herding dog, all Warys could be a companion for Wary people, competition dog (if the effort has been taken to teach the dog to work at a distance from his/her person).

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BORDER COLLIE BEHAVIORS: A TEMPERAMENT THEORY Wary Dogs

by Val Maurer

BORDER COLLIE BEHAVIORS:
A TEMPERAMENT THEORY
Wary Dogs