If you think you do not need house rules for your Border Collie puppy, then you had better think again.
It is all well and good to do whatever you like and raise your Border Collie puppy your way, but there are some things to keep in mind if you want your Border Collie to grow up with good manners...
There is nothing wrong with your Border Collie puppy sleeping on the furniture, but what are you going to do to stop you Border Collie sleeping on your new furniture when you want to replace it? Changing the rules just confuses your Border Collie. If you put the new furniture in the same position as the old, it will not understand your rule change as it just sees its bed in the same place it has always been.
It makes sense to give them their own bed away from your furniture if you are ever going to change the rules by replacing it.
The last thing you want is your Border Collie puppy to turn your into a toilet. Once your Border Collie puppy has a couple of accidents the smell will attract them if you do not clean it up properly.
Start toilet training your Border Collie the day it comes home. Take your Border Collie puppy outside when it wakes up, after eating and after play and give it a command like ‘go potty’. This does take patience, but when they do ‘go potty’ praise them lavishly and give them a treat. If you so this every time it will not be long before your Border Collie puppy is asking to go outside when he wants to relive itself.
Most of us have areas of our gardens that are our pride and joy and would be heartbroken if our Border Collie puppy came racing in covered in dirt. When you go to investigate you find your vegetable garden turned upside down, flowers with their heads pulled off, or those plants you spent hours planting a few days before pulled out by the roots.
This is normal Border Collie puppy behavior in most breeds but it is easy to avoid. Put up some temporary fencing around the areas your do not want your Border Collie puppy playing in. Do make sure you leave some space for your Border Collie puppy to play in, where it is okay to dig. Give your Border Collie puppy its own sandpit filled with toys and treats as its very own digging place.
When your Border Collie grows up you can take down the temporary fencing.
There are some things you need before your Border Collie puppy comes home. It does not have to be expensive and you may have a lot of things already around your home you can adapt.
Toys: Toilet rolls, cardboard boxes and soft plastic bottles made great toys for your Border Collie puppy so there is no need to go out and buy expensive toys. You can buy cheap toys at discount stores for only $2 and, mostly, these toys last just as long as the expensive ones. Do not give your Border Collie puppy an old shoe or anything else it is likely to pick up around the house as it is not going to know the difference between the item you gave it and the one left lying around the house.
Bowls: Make sure you have good water and food bowls and make sure you clean them regularly.
Bed: Get a good kennel for outside and when you are not at home. A kennel is also ideal if you want your Border Collie puppy to sleep outside. Also, get a good bed for inside the house so your Border Collie has its own special space when it comes in to visit.
When your Border Collie puppy first comes home, do not overwhelm it with too many toys. Spend a lot of time getting the Border Collie puppy to focus on you so it starts seeing you as its new pack leader.