Think of your Border Collie as a child and talk to your Border Collie the same way when they do something they are not supposed to do. When you catch your Border Collie doing something wrong, tell it ‘no’ and redirect the behavior to something it is allowed to do, and praise and reward.
An example of this is if you catch your Border Collie lying on the couch, tell it to ‘get down’ and praise and reward when it does. Doing this you teach your Border Collie to happily do as you ask. There is no point telling your Border Collie it is a bad dog or to get off, when you can simply tell it to get down. You only create a negative atmosphere and stress you can well do without....
To reprimand correctly, use your voice in a short, sharp reprimand. Never hit, kick, slap, or physically correct your Border Collie. Why? Physically punishing your Border Collie can cause your Border Collie to become a fear aggressive, timid, manic, or an aggressive Border Collie and you can cause each other injury. Walk away without a word if you are losing your temper. Come back later and try again.
Reprimanding, or correcting, your Border Collie is a necessary part of your life and training together. What is important is how you reprimand your Border Collie. Today positive reinforcement is the most common way to train your Border Collie. The last thing we want to do is use punishment as a reprimand so positive reinforcement allows you to withhold the reward when your Border Collie does not do as it asks. This helps to build a strong bond and trust between you both.
When you first start training you teach your Border Collie what you want by using treats and praise as a reward. At this stage it is simple. You either give the treat to reward your Border Collie’s desired response or you withhold the treat if the response is not what you asked for.
Once your Border Collie understands your commands you need to change your feedback to reward or reprimand if it does not do what you ask.
Your Border Collie is not fully trained until it obeys your commands every single time. To test your Border Collie, ask it to repeat a command, such as sit, up to 20 times during a 10 minute period. If your Border Collie does it every single time then you know it is fully trained. If not, you know there is still some training to do. Always remember to reward and praise good behaviour.
When you reprimand your Border Collie, the reprimand needs to be strong enough to get the desired result without harming the trust between the two of you. When you reprimand your Border Collie must understand:
For example, you tell your Border Collie to sit and it just stands there ignoring you. How would you reprimand it? You can tell it to sit again in a strong, firm voice so it automatically sits or you can scoop up its behind and help it to sit as you repeat the command.
Keep your reprimand words short and simple, such as:
Here are some basics to keep in mind when reprimanding your Border Collie during your training sessions:
If you have put the hard work into training your Border Collie the basics of obedience, there should rarely be a time when a physical reprimand is needed. A well placed verbal reprimand should be enough for your Border Collie to behave itself instantly. If it is not, then help your Border Collie by showing it what you want and keep practising its responses to your commands.
Border Collie’s are a very sensitive dog breed and all they want to do is please you. Always take a look at what you are doing if you are having trouble in any part of your training. Almost 99 percent of the time we have problems with our Border Collie’s behaviour it comes down to something we are or are not doing, and a lack of consistency and clarity.
Most of all, remember do not punish your Border Collie for your mistakes.