Border Collies are high-energy, incredibly intelligent dogs who want to please their owners. Channel that energy and intelligence into consistent, positive training for your faithful friend, and you’ll be nurturing a delightful, well-behaved, and incredibly loyal dog!
Below are ten of my top tips for training a Border Collie:
1. Start training early
Begin basic training as soon as possible. The sooner you start, the easier it will be to shape the behaviour you want from them. Remember, you have one brilliant dog – if you don’t start training the good habits, they will create their own bad habits.
2. Be Consistent
Your smart pooch is like an elephant – they don’t forget. So be consistent and use the same commands and cues throughout your training. Border Collies are incredibly smart, and with consistency, they’ll quickly pick up on your expectations!
3. Use Positive Reinforcement
Be kind to your dog. Make them WANT to please you by rewarding them positively with praise, treats, toys or playtime whenever they perform a desired behaviour. Positive reinforcement encourages them to repeat the behaviour, so find out what they like and use it to shape the behaviour you want.
4. Provide mental stimulation
Border Collies thrive on using their brains. They love challenges which make them think, so give them puzzle toys, scent work, and interactive games to keep their minds engaged. Mental exercise is as important as physical exercise, and ten minutes of scent work can tire them out as much as a 30-minute walk.
5. Provide physical exercise
Border Collies need a good combination of mental and physical exercise. Collies were bred to run about the hills all day. So make sure you give them enough physical exercise to burn off excess energy and prevent frustration and boredom.
6. Train Impulse Control
Collies are bred to be vigilant and ready to spring into action very quickly. Watch a Collie herding a flock of sheep and see how fast the Collie moves when one of the sheep tries to move away from the flock. Teaching your dog to wait patiently and control their impulses is so important. There are many ways to build impulse control; however, beginning with “Leave It” and “Stay” is excellent for developing self-control.
7. Provide early socialisation
Expose your Border Collie to as wide a variety of environments as possible. Your Collie needs to experience as many sights, sounds, smells, textures, people, and other dogs as possible, together with a variety of stimuli. Socialisation is essential for your Collie to grow into a well-rounded, confident dog.
8. Keep your training short and sweet
Keep your training sessions short, and make sure they are fun. A few minutes, a few times a day, where the dog is having fun is much more effective than 20 minutes of one intense training session with a dog who is not enjoying it. You want your dog to be enthusiastic and want to work with you instead of having to be corralled into it.
9. Patience and Persistence
There is no rush. A dog that has had fun makes a successful training session, so focus on it being a positive experience, take your time, and have patience. If you’ve had a tough day and lack the patience to train, postpone your training until you feel ready.
10. Set your dog up for success
Help build your dog’s confidence by setting small, achievable goals. They’ll thrive on the positivity of their successes, gaining much more from the positive encouragement they receive when they meet these goals than from feeling discouraged when they miss the mark.
