Sniffing Phobia
As border collies go, Jackson is pretty mellow. However, he is not immune from neuroses. He has recently developed a fear of sniffing. Yes, you read that correctly, the sound of sniffing frightens him. 1 or 2 sniffs that are spaced apart do not bother him. Repeated, close together sniffs, on the other hand, alarm him to no end. He gets all “squirrelly” and cowardly, and his immediate fear response is to cling to me. My husband thinks its hysterical to sniff around him, and then I have to remind him to be nice.
However, we have learned that we can use this to our advantage. Jackson has still not gotten over the addition of Cheyenne. He plays with her outside when we are not looking, but he is not thrilled that she is around. Sometimes, her mere presence annoys him and she seems to thrive on irritating him by sticking her face right up to his and wagging her tail. He will growl and show his teeth, sometimes excessively. Telling him to stop is useless. So now, we sniff. It works like a charm, he stops everytime.