The Border Collie Eye
River giving “The Eye”
If you have been around Border Collies for any length of time, you have probably seen the crouching stare known as “The Eye”.
For generations, Border Collies have been selectively bred for the herding of livestock and one part of the herding sequence is to 'eye' the stock. Many herding breeds use barking and movement to move stock. Australian Shepherds and Heelers are two good examples of this. The Border Collie herds much more quietly and systematically with a combination of circling and creeping up movements accompanied with “The Eye”. This is where the Border Collie stares to intimidate the sheep into moving in the direction they want or to hold the sheep from moving. A hard eye is really useful when herding but can be a problem if other dogs perceive the Border Collie stare to be a threat. Hence why some dogs will react to Border Collies alone or why your Border Collie will stare at the cat or other dogs. Though most high drive Border Collies will have some level of “The Eye”, depending on the heritage and bloodlines of an individual Border Collie, some have a much harder stare than others, while some don’t seem to have it at all. This is because overtime they were selectively or un-selectively bred for other characteristics and lost their herding instinct.
Why do they do this? When working sheep a Border Collie needs to stand their ground and use their eye on a ewe that may have turned to face them and stamp their feet. This unforgiving posture is meant to be intense and threatening but you can see why some hard eyed Collies do not like other dogs who stare back at them either. The Border Collie is only doing what instinct tells it but it is sometimes necessary for us to step in and redirect that intense stare. It is important early on that a command be implemented to let your Border Collie know “Leave it” or “all done”. Working Border Collies, no matter how strong their herding drive is, are able to give up the eye, lie down, or leave the herd with commands they have been trained to follow. You have to implement this same thing to help your Border Collie learn when enough is enough and leave something be. When they are not properly trained and left to their own devices, this turns into chasing cars, cats and staring down anything and everything that gets in their path. Overtime this command will quickly override his instinct to stare, chase, or herd and let him know to move on.
Another potential problem that can arise from a Collie eye is visual overstimulation. They generally were bred for really good eyesight. Their eyes, like ours, have a mix of rods and cones but the difference is that they have more rods and less cones. The rods are orientated in a more horizontal fashion which means they can detect movement at distances up to 900m. With eyes this sensitive to movement it is easy to see how a Border Collie can easily become over stimulated in our busy world. Some therefore need breaks from visual stimulation to help them be able to rest and switch off.
Understanding this amazing breed and what they were bred to do can really help when training or correcting behavior. By understanding what drives their behavior we can help them succeed in our busy world and enjoy a long and happy life with the world’s smartest dog at our side.
