Hello all, first post on this site. I have a 4 mo old female border collie pup and I am beginning to look into my options for training. She is my first border collie but not my first dog. I am quite familiar with the breed and as far as I can tell she has fantastic instincts, which should be expected since both her parents are working cattle dogs. She seems to have a strong 'herding' drive without the 'chasing' or 'biting' drive that you sometimes see now. Anyways, I was unsure which direction I was going to go with her training but the older she gets, the more obvious it becomes that she would be happiest working livestock.
So my first question is, does anyone know any trainers in the Raleigh or Greensboro area that work with border collies? I found one in Raleigh on the internet but read that they only train loose eyed dogs which certainly would not include border collies.
Next question, what age do most people start this kind of training? It seems like the actual training should wait until she's older for her safety and that of the other animals, but should she be introduced to livestock sooner?
And my final question, is it common or possible to have a working livestock dog also trained and competitive in agility? It seems like one shouldn't interfere with the other too much, since the concepts are completely different.
Thanks!
