We live in uncertain times and are relooking at our mental health which is so impacted by the Pandemic. All the noise out there does a job covering up the need to pay attention to ourselves, fully. I do think, that most of us understand we need to take care of our mental state, our emotions. There is plenty of laughing, right now, at the crazies. However, being kind and making sure we are secure is the way with most people, if we turn away from our devices long enough. For me, a sense of purpose and the connections are all important. And, I don’t think this is any less important for our dogs.
Anthropologists tell us that we coevolved with dogs and suggest that is why we have such a strong relationship with them. Putting aside how dogs evolved from wolves, our thousands of years of living together creates a deep bond that has created perhaps needs which are similar. As a farmer and lover and student of nature I will by no means say that other animals don’t have “needs” ” intelligence” and “emotions”. What I mean is, dogs and humans may share and I believe do share strong bonds, emotional similarities.
I believe it is not enough for a dog to have a physically secure and loving home. A dog should be mentally stimulated and have a sense of purpose to be mentally healthy. Now that is a strong statement. There are many different types of dogs, breeds, and individuals. So, we can say that what stimulation is needed and what a sense of purpose is, is probably as varied as the complex human species is. We now have dogs that are a long way from functioning as what we call ” working dogs” that do have instincts and abilities to move life forward on a daily basis for human and canine. “Work” as we call it in our modern society is just “life” in many other societies. Therefore we have “working” and “non-working” breeds or dogs in modern times.
Our Family has had mixed breeds and now more so the Border Collies. I have to say, that every one of them is or was different. They all need attention, though in different amounts and ways. The Border Collies are such a variable breed that each, even of our current dogs responds to the want to get something done and the need to socialize as an individual differently. I do take care to make sure that all our six dogs, five Border Collies, and a mix breed, feel like a valued member of our “pack-family”. We actually have a group exercise to enforce our bonds which is great fun.
Our Border Collies love their “work” and being outside and for the most part, enjoy learning their craft. We work on our herding training throughout the year and it is a joy to work with them gaining more and more skill, on the homestead, and with the wild goose control. It took a while to figure out where our mix-breeds mindset and instincts lay. But over time we found that this intence guy gained deep satisfaction not only in his daily roughhousing with our son but great joy in guarding our sheep and poultry. He gets all proud when he has chased a hawk away from the chickens or a rabbet from the vegetables. He actually can do a little herding too and loves to take part in some of our goose control work.