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Hello everyone, myself and my husband have just got ourselves a red border collie at 10 weeks old. We call him Copper. He is a delightful little pup, loves attention, loves to be held and have human contact, he communicates with us in his own ways and is proving to be an extremely clever little boy! It is intended that he will be a worker dog with our sheep (we live on a farm). However we are complete newbies at this and frankly, we don’t have a clue what to do! My husband feels confident in training him and is planning on training him for his sheepdog duties in a few months (is this correct timing?) but we aren’t sure how to treat him as a pup. Of course, we do know how to look after a puppy (we both had dogs in our parent’s houses) but we have been told that if we over indulge our new pup and treat him as a “pet” e.g. let him inside the house (he has a lovely space in our garden and shed to run about in!), carry him etc we will ruin the work ethic and he will evidently fail at being a sheepdog He stays in a big kennel and shed in our garden and has plenty of room, my husband goes out to see and talk to him or walk him around the house every hour. Copper is finding separation very hard and will cry for a few minutes when my husband walks away. Also, I am trying to keep my distance from the pup (which I am finding so difficult as I am very fond of him) so he can build a good relationship with my husband for training. Is this also the right thing to do? Are there any basic rules or “dos” and “donts” we need to know when looking after a stockdog pup? I understand this is a long read but I would greatly appreciate any help or advice! We are based in Ireland Many thanks
