Ruby: Grooming, Welfare & Very Dedicated Owners

The Background

Ruby, a two-year-old Border Collie, joined us for our Reactivity Retreat after her owners, Ellie and Tom, reached a crisis point. They saw a severe decline in her behaviour after she was spayed at 6 months, and her levels of aggression increased to sustained attacks when they tried to handle her. Despite being SO committed, they understandably felt too afraid to navigate this, and grooming had become impossible. Being long-haired, her matting had worsened to the point of causing severe discomfort. Furthermore, Ruby had shown increasingly severe resource guarding towards food, space, and people. Despite multiple trainers, vet visits, and medication, they had never been given a clear, compassionate roadmap or the support to prioritise her grooming needs alongside behaviour modification, so they came to us to help.

Due to the severity of the situation, Ruby joined us a few days early. This was to give her humans a bit of a break and to help get her endorphins up around other stable dogs. Still, once she arrived, it became clear that we could not proceed with any behaviour modification until we addressed the matting and helped her feel comfortable in her body, before then working on helping her change her mindset. No one prior - not the vets, groomers, or previous trainers - had flagged the matting or discomfort as key contributors to Ruby’s escalating touch reactivity, even though she was clearly more reactive to these areas. So we got to work.

Our Observations 📝

Ruby’s discomfort was immediately apparent. Severely matted areas, particularly around her ears and private areas, caused her significant distress - you can get an idea of how bad it had got from the image.

Grooming was a major breakthrough moment. With patience and a calm setup, using Jess P’s years of experience and the trust she had built in us all, Ruby allowed significant grooming without the need to sedate. We chipped away slowly over the days she was with us, supporting and empowering her throughout the process. Her relief once the matting was removed was visible and profound. 

Ruby’s resource guarding behaviour was most evident around people and food, but it wasn’t constant; she was able to make excellent choices when not in a possessive state. A lot of her guarding body language was subtle and was being reinforced by her owners without them realising so decoding this for them was important.

She began to show trust through handling sessions, actively seeking reassurance and support. This allowed her humans to build confidence in handling her and helping keep up her new grooming regime.

Ruby built confidence and resilience over the weekend by participating in Social Walks. She learnt how to interact appropriately with the other dogs while also building confidence being handled by other humans.

Interest in lure work (where she actually herded the lure, instead of chasing it) and her love of food provided clear foundations to build upon, helping to form new behaviours.

Tom (dog dad), who initially lacked confidence, grew tremendously in his ability and belief. Their progress as a team was one of the highlights of the weekend for everyone attending.

🔐 Key Next Steps

Take a look at the steps we suggested Ruby and her humans take next. ⬇️

• Daily handling and grooming: Building on the skills developed during the weekend. Keep sessions short, structured, and rewarding. One person supports while the other handles. End on a high. They have carried this on every single day since getting home, and they are all doing so well!

• Use food wisely: High-value rewards for touch work to help build new, positive associations and pathways. Higher-calorie additions to her diet will support body condition as she continues to gain weight.

• Maintain structure: Ruby was defaulting to claiming their space and guarding them from other people, dogs, and sometimes each other. To help her understand her role in the pack, her humans need to be mindful of her invading and guarding their space so they can give appropriate feedback and clear structure. We have a whole lesson on understanding resource guarding here: Body Language Breakdown: Resource Guarding.

• Support breed needs: Her love of games and structured herding-style play helps channel her energy into positive outlets and her humans have already been doing wonders to build in lots of great games with her that she enjoys - they will tap into this to continue to build her endorphins while also working on our Conditioned Relaxation Course for the calming side of endorphins. Find out more in our Endorphins Webinar.

• Involve trusted others: Start small, with safe handling reps from familiar people, and generalise skills outside the home to expand Ruby’s confidence and build up her resilience. The more reps we can get in, the more we can help her realise that humans are an opportunity, not a threat.

• Utilise the community: The free month of coaching support included in the retreat provides an ideal opportunity to reflect, refine, and share wins. Ellie has been sharing videos of Ruby to continue developing their understanding and progress, and this means that our whole training team can continue to support them from across the UK.

A Truly Holistic Approach

Before we can start any kind of behaviour modification with a dog, we must consider the entire picture. We must understand how the dog is feeling, both physically and emotionally, before we even consider asking them to change.

Ruby joined us to work on touch-based reactivity, but ethically, we could not move forward until we addressed the discomfort. It has really brought home to our team something we need to keep talking about. Welfare must come first. It is not enough to ask, “What behaviour do we want to change?” We have to ask, “Is this dog feeling well enough for us to even start?”

If a dog is in pain or discomfort, and we jump in with behaviour modification techniques, we are not giving them a fair chance. Ruby showed us so clearly how much behaviour can shift once physical needs are met.

We are so proud of Ruby and her humans for everything they achieved over the weekend. They’re just getting started but they now have a whole community behind them, a plan in place, and most importantly, a dog who feels heard and cared for. 

Inspired? Come Join Us! 💜

Do you relate to this story? Perhaps you’re feeling lost on your own journey.

Ruby’s story is just one of many case studies and resources that live inside the Honest Hounds Education Zone.

We share real-life cases, tips & tricks, webinars and courses to help you start making progress - even when it feels impossible.

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You can join for just £6.99 a month. Or, if you’re not quite ready yet, keep following along. We’ll be here when you are ready!

📲 Use the code INSPIREDBYRUBY to get a whole month of our Education Zone for just £1

🫶 Go give them a follow at @rubythecollie22 to continue to watch them flourish!