Now you are the proud owner of a Border Collie, it is time to put your house rules into place. Discipline is about being one step ahead of your Border Collie, and being kind but firm.
One day your Border Collie may be a well behaved Border Collie and the next it may be up to all sorts of things that drive you crazy. It is worth understanding that a Border Collie’s behaviour can change. Where you did not have a problem one day there is a new one today, and things that have been a problems simply disappear. Your Border Collie’s behaviour may be an enigma so you need to understand the behaviour and be consistent in the way you discipline your Border Collie....
Putting the training into you Border Collie is one of the most important things you can do for your Border Collie. It helps to prevent all sorts of problems from developing and helps you to deal with any problems that pop up.
A trained Border Collie will listen to you, have confidence, be friendly with people and other animals, and be a delightful companion to live with.
A Border Collie with little or no training will become destructive, continually bark for attention, and generally drive you and everyone else around it absolutely crazy.
Start training your Border Collie the day it comes home, before it learns any bad habits and becomes more difficult handle and deal with.
Think about this. If your Border Collie puppy pulls when you are walking it and you do not correct the behaviour while it is still a Border Collie puppy, how can you expect it not to pull when it gets older? There is an old saying that could not be truer, “Only let your Border Collie puppy do what you want it to do as an adult Border Collie”.
The reason for this is that while it is cute behaviour when a Border Collie puppy jumps up on people for attention it is not going to be welcome behaviour when it gets older. Cute Border Collie puppy behaviour is often dangerous or destructive behaviour in an adult Border Collie.
Also make socialisation part of your Border Collie’s training. Something as simple as taking your Border Collie for a walk through a busy shopping area, where you can meet all sorts of people and other dogs, is a great, fun exercise for your Border Collie. Familiarise your Border Collie with the world and do not keep it locked up in the backyard.
Your Border Collie is very intelligent, while this is great it also can make life difficult. Border Collie’s are quick to learn, but because they can think for themselves they can often be stubborn. A Border Collie is fairly independent which makes them more difficult to train.
Knowing and understanding your Border Collie, helps you know how to handle any problems and discipline while training. You are your Border Collie’s pack leader and you need to show your Border Collie respect. But, your Border Collie must respect you too.
Simple things to show your Border Collie you are the leader is to show respect for its intelligence, and set house rules for their behaviour. Be consistent. And, of course, show your Border Collie lots of love and affection.
If your Border Collie decides to be stubborn, be patient. Do not give up. Keep training. You may even have to get help to find the best way to get your Border Collie to listen and respond to you.
Border Collie’s are full on and flat out so use this energy in your training to make it fun and productive. Turn your training in to play and use your Border Collie’s natural high prey drive as motivation. Because you Border Collie is so smart, you are going to have to find ways to outsmart it.
A key to training your Border Collie is to make yourself the most interesting thing in the world. Make your Border Collie want to do whatever it is you are training it to do. Make it fun. A Border Collie’s favourite thing in the world is to play.
If you Border Collie loves to chase a ball, use a release word and throw the ball as a reward when your Border Collie responds to your command.
Giving your Border Collie lots of love and training, will make your Border Collie happy. Ignore your Border Collie and it will be the most destructive Border Collie in the world and you have no hope of getting it to listen to you.
There are many things you can do to help your Border Collie learn respect for you:
Play at your Border Collie puppy’s Level. When you play at your Border Collie’s level it helps your Border Collie to see you as the pack leader when you are standing and training. If your Border Collie puppy initiates play while you are standing this can become habit and unwanted jumping can develop.
Teach your Border Collie puppy you are the Pack Leader from the Beginning. There is no need to be aggressive about your dominant role. Treat your Border Collie puppy kindly, consistently, firmly and with love, and reward good behaviour and your Border Collie puppy will soon worship the ground you walk on. Make sure obedience training is fun and rewarding for both of you.
Always Eat First. Your Border Collie should always eat after you do. Pack leaders always eat first.
Keep Training Times Short. There is no point spending 30 minutes at a time teaching your Border Collie, as young Border Collies have short attention spans. Train frequently for 5 to 10 minutes to get the best out of your Border Collie. Always end on a positive note.
Start Training in a Familiar Area. When you first start training your Border Collie start off in an area it is familiar with and has few distractions. Once your Border Collie becomes more focused on you and the training, train in different places with different distractions so it learns to obey you no matter what else is going on around it.
Speak Firmly not Angrily. Always speak firmly to your Border Collie when training. Encourage it and do not give into what your Border Collie wants. But never get angry or yell at your Border Collie as it will not achieve anything more than making your training a misery and much harder the next time.
Reward your Border Collie after Training. Always reward your Border Collie after each training session and make sure you finish each session on a positive note. If you have trouble teaching your Border Collie something, give a command you know your Border Collie understands and will do well to finish the session so you can give your Border Collie a reward. The best reward is a big game. Throw a ball or its favourite toys around, play a game of tug, run around together. The more you play with your Border Collie, the more your Border Collie will listen to you because you become the keeper of all the good times and fun.
Use only One Word Commands. Only use one word commands like sit, come, drop. Doing this keeps it simple and lets you give multiple commands easily. For example, call your Border Collie with a come and then throw in a drop command and your Border Collie should drop to the ground almost instantaneously. While this sort of training may not be used in a pet household, it can come in handy in a potentially dangerous situation.
Teach your Border Collie to Wait. Teaching your Border Collie to wait is handy for many situations, especially for when visitors arrive. To stop your Border Collie charging the front door in barking excitement, put it into a sit and tell it to wait. Only release your Border Collie when your visitors are safely in the door.
Dealing with the desire to chase moving things. Your Border Collie has a strong instinct to chase anything moving, a Border Collie can be off like a shot, if off lead in an open, public area. Once your Border Collie starts to chase, you do not have much chance of catching it. Do not take the risk with having your Border Collie off lead unless it is in a fenced area or you are absolutely certain it will not take off and leave you behind, in a panic. This is where the 'with me' command will come in handy. As well as well practiced 'come' command.