simple affectionate behavior

Question
Hi:

We have a 9-month-old male border collie.  It is our second border collie and
we are much better prepared for this dog.  My question is simple.  When I rub
Bennie's chest with one finger he puts his paw on my forearm.  Is this related
to the "give me your paw" as this is something we have done since he was 120
weeks so we could calmly trim his nails. This is not s problem, rather we are
just curious.

Answer
Hi, Bill,

Thanks for the question. It's an interesting one.

My feeling is that he's trying to move your hand further down his chest to just below the end of the ribcage. There's a "pleasure" spot there. It's why dogs like having their bellies rubbed. Try rubbing Benny a little further down and see if he still does the paw thing. If he does, then I would say he's doing it either as a gesture of affection, or a sign of very slight nervous tension.

But try further down. I'd be interested to know what happens.

LCK