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Hello, My boy is two and a half years old. He was rescued from a shelter at 5 months and I have no back story on his life before we got him. He is a very friendly dog, loves people and other dogs, completely housebroken, doesn't bark too much. He knows sit, lay down, stay, come (although not reliable and he is NOT off leash), but I am really struggling to train him anything new. Every time I put him in a sit to try something he just lays down and gives up instead of trying to do what I'm asking (even with a treat lure). Sometimes he even gets a weird vibe and just leaves the room and goes and lays down (even if I have treats out). We have never used physical punishment, never yell at him, nothing like that but he is so timid with us. He is pretty noise phobic about sneezes and raised voices (even if never directed at him) and the typical dog stuff like thunderstorms and fireworks. I just want him to trust me and feel confident that I have his best interests in mind. I'd love to get him into agility or herding but without being able to train him/keep his attention I don't know how that would be possible. Anyone out there with a shy BC? How did you build trust and confidence?

Hello, hope this finds everyone well. This will be my first post as a first Border Collie owner. I have had Maggie (now 6 mos) for about 2 months now, and it has definitely changed my lifestyle (for the good!). Training has been great, I'm amazed at how quick she picks up everything I teach her and am excited about the prospect of her being a super awesome companion. I have been going back and forth about crate training her. She knows 'Place' and we have her in our room for when we're away and/or when we go to bed where she has her own bed. What I'm wondering, is it more advisable to crate train her especially for when she gets older? Thank you in advance!

Hey everyone, I need advice, I am going through a very hard time with my beloved 1y 6m old BC. We live in a 55 sqm flat, we play in the morning 10-11am, then in the afternoon 5-6pm then she gets a poddy walk at 11pm. She has been really good until recently -the past month we did flat renovations, fixed the bathroom. She was good most days, certain days she would be very attention demanding, she would steal tools just to get attention. Now that the works are finished, she still continues to be very not settled, she wants attention every 10minutes, even after being exercised. Our walks haven't been good either, I cannot take her far (I live in a city) because in November I decided that it's finally time to teach her to stop pulling the lead, so now every time she pulls I stop. Our walks are very slow so I only take her on her walks and cannot take her with me on strolls :(. I also love going climbing, but I stopped taking her with me because all she does is bark at me while I'm on the wall, regardless of how much she's been exercised before. To make things worse she's not really affectionate to me. I only use positive reinforcement, I would never hit her. And over the past 2 days she has stopped listening to me. I have had a very unstable /not settled life - I changed country with her when she was 6 months old,then had to fully renovate a flat, my routine sometimes changes 2-3 times a month. My friends who have dogs think my dog is special and super difficult. The trainer at the local dog hotel where I leave her when I go on holiday thinks she's amazing and well trained, my friend who is a dog trainer thinks I don't stimulate her enough, but I know when I do and don't. I think she is constantly testing me and wants to be the boss, she wants my attention. Any tips? What should I do, I love this dog, but I almost don't feel like the right owner

I have an 11 month old BC puppy, who I re-homed from another family when she was 6 months old. She spent most of her first 6 months on farm properties and I feel like she had never really experienced all of the sights and sounds of a suburban area until she moved in with us. As a result, she was very reactive to strangers and other dogs at first (lunging and barking). We have taken her to obedience classes and we have been doing a lot of training with her. She is no longer reactive to strangers during the daytime and she is slowly getting more comfortable passing other dogs (we are slowly closing in the space between us and them and rewarding her with lots of treats in the process). However, we live in a country that only gets a few hours of daylight during the winter months. I've noticed that she seems a little skittish in the dark and tends to be reactive to passers by. Our trainer told us it's not unusual for dogs of her age to go through a fear phase, with darkness being a common fear. I take her for her evening walk a little later when I know there will be less people around. Tonight, we were walking down a short and narrow, snowy footpath (a route that we take most evenings). All of a sudden a woman came out of her house and was following us down the path. My pup stopped and turned around and I could tell by her body language that she was nervous. Then, out of nowhere a guy appeared at the bottom of the footpath and started to walk up towards us. She panicked and was running in circles on her leash and I fell over backwards on the ice. I managed to regain my balance and hold on to her. She had dropped to the ground which is generally what she does before she starts barking and lunging at a person. I was trying to get her attention with treats, but the space between her and the guy was just too close for her. I thought he would see me struggling and give us a little space, but instead he walked right towards us, and of course, she jumped up and started barking / lunging. I explained to him that she was very nervous, but he totally ignored me. He continued to try and get past us and I couldn't move at all because she was pulling so hard and the ground was so slippery. In future, do you think it would be a good idea for me to ask people to stop and give us some space to pass to avoid getting caught in a situation like this? I usually avoid narrow paths and stick to the wider roads while we're in training, but this one is so short and we've been walking down it every night for weeks without any events. Do you have any advice on how to better handle these situations in future?

I have a border collie that wants to play fetch with my other dog, but my boyfriend said do not play fetch with him because it will mess up his training. How accurate is this? Does playing fetch really mess up an 8 month old puppy training? He is training to be a cow dog.

Hi there everyone, I am hoping you can give me some tips to help my 10 month old, Sunny, with his couch zoomies. I have visited the boards many times over the last few months (although this is my first post), and all the wonderful tips and advice has really helped, so thank you all!! For a bit of background info, we do allow Sunny on the couches for snuggles and snoozes. He also has a bed in the living area which is where we are trying to get him to lay when he has treats and toys, instead of the couches (a work in progress, but not the main concern). The main concern is that when he gets really excited about something, he races around the living room and flies from couch to couch. My question is how do I best go about catching him to put him in his crate for a time out? I try to avoid chasing him as best I can, as he loves it and its turned into a game for him at this point. We also have a fairly small open living/dining and kitchen space, so we often end up at opposite ends of the dining table, just waiting for the other to make a move, and then going round and round in circles. Honestly, sometimes its almost comical, but it really is something we need to work on. Most times its only out of pure luck that I manage to pounce on him at just the right moment before he races off again. Sometimes he will flop down after wearing himself out and I can slide up next to him on the couch and grab him. But he is starting to anticipate this and take off again. We have also recently upgraded his crate to a larger size, which now stays permanently in our bedroom. He previous crate was smaller and easier to move from the bedroom to the living room and vice versa as needed during the day (bedroom for nighttime and living room for day time). So previously when he had an episode of the couch zoomies, he would be caught (through great effort) and put in his crate in the living room for a time out. Now though, on top of just trying to catch him, we have to get him from the living room to his crate in the bedroom, which is down a short hallway. Lately, once I catch him I have been putting him on his lead and walking him (most times with some resistance on his part) down the hallway to his crate. Aside from over excitement, the couch zoomies are also triggered when he realises he is going to get a time out for something else he has done, so he will take off before we can get to him. I really appreciate any advice you are able to give me Thanks so much, Marissa & Sunny.

My husband and I adopted a BC 5 months ago. He is a male 2 year old. When we first got him, he was perfect. He was introduced to my mother-in-Law’s dog (cockapoo) the second day we had him and he has always been fine with him. He also seems to be fine with the neighbors dogs. After a month of easy walks and near perfect behavior our dog started becoming aggressive towards other dogs. He lunges and barks at other dogs and can be challenging to control at times. We tried avoiding other dogs. We tried distracting and positive reinforcement (not effectively). We switched to a no-pull vest, which was a game-changer for a few weeks. Then it was ineffective. We began working with a trainer as soon as we could get in with someone. We have tried pinch collars and are now encouraged to use a shock collar to correct his behavior. He still lunges and barks aggressively at other dogs. I really hate shocking him. I am worried it is driving our training backwards. I know a lot of his behavior is because it’s part of his breed and he might be trying to heard dogs. I also know it’s harder to train dogs when they are older. Other than the dog aggression, he is the sweetest dog. He’s gentle and loving towards all humans. I honestly don’t know if we should switch trainers and try a new approach or continue with the shock collar. Please don’t judge, I’m just trying to do what the trainer told me but all of you seem very knowledgeable.

Hi I need some advice regarding my 6.5 month old collie please. He's been doing so well and I can walk with him off lead almost anywhere, he is very responsive so I can't fault him there. The issue I have is when we meet with my friends dogs (two collies too) and my dog is OBSESSED with the younger of them (they are all males btw), if we are throwing a ball for them he will only chase and copy the other dog, circling/ herding him and nothing can break his focus. I've tried all sorts...running around manic to get his attention, having his favourite toys, favourite treats, loud noises etc. NOTHING will break his focus and he just will state at this dog and constantly run just behind him (or weave Infront). Any advice how to prevent this, and what he's doing? I'm assuming herding but it's only with this dog, and the other dog ignores him but starts growling after a while. It's annoying for me as I can only get him to follow me to leave with his lead on and he pulls against me to break off, then when the other dog is out of sight...he goes back to bring good as gold! Thanks

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

Hi, I am glad that I found this board, it has already been so helpful and I love reading the posts. I hope that you guys can offer some reassurance and advice based on some of my worries, concerns/questions Background: I live in a village with my husband, close to woods and not too far from the Lake District. My husband and I love going on local walks and enjoy going for hikes in the lake district. We have always said that we'd like to get a dog, and a border collie is my favourite breed, so when for health reasons I decided to take a long career break, we decided to get our puppy - I have lots of time to be with her and train her. We bought our black and white border collie puppy home on Saturday (9 weeks, now 10 weeks), from a local farm. Initially I wanted to do lots of research and carefully select a breeder but when we visited this farm, owned by very welcoming family, we fell in love with our puppy and generally got a good feeling about the place. Unfortunately, although she was chipped, flea and wormed, their vets advised against giving these puppies their first vaccination (as they had with previous litters) until they went to their new homes. I was told that this was due to different vaccine strains. Also having lived in a barn with her litter mates and her mum, seeing very few people or traffic she has had very little socialisation. After a few days of settling in, I took my girl for her first vaccination on Monday. It wasn't a good experience for her because she was scared due to the traffic on the way in, scared by a large dog that came too close in the waiting room, causing her to bark, and then because she was so spooked she barked at the vet aswell. Overall a stressful experience, and one that I so wish had gone differently for her. Generally I have been amazed by her, at how fast she has seemed to settle with us and how quickly she is picking up toilet training. I have a crate for her, so at night (or during the day when she's tired/ needs to calm down) I place her in it, close the door and cover it over with a blanket. I leave her with a night light, and although I feel now she could go through the night, I do get up at about 3am to take her out for a wee. I wouldn't say she is "crate trained" as she doesn't go in there of her own accord to go to sleep, but I do feed her in their for positive reinforcement and when placing her in I always reassure and praise her. Putting her in her crate is met with some whining now, but she soon settles down. In the day time, over the last few days, I have tended to spend most of my time with her. At the moment she is confined to one room, and I have a blanket that I have placed at the foot of the settee where she plays either by her-self or more often than not with me. She has soft toys, chew toys and he odd ball, but I tend to only allow a few toys out at a time and rotate them so shes not bored or over-stimulated. When I feel she is calm I do some basic command training like sit and down, with treats, which she has picked up quickly, and we have a good routine for toilet training, where at the same time I'm teaching her to sit on a mat to wait whilst I put my shoes on, and not bite the lead when I attach it. She is doing really well. My worries/anxieties are first her lack of socialisation, especially with other dogs (I have had people over to meet her and she has been really happy and affectionate), and cars. I have started carrying her down my quiet road every day, giving her reassurance but she does get very scared as we approach the main road. Is this normal for this age? Also I'm not sure how much time to spend with her. She goes in her crate when I am not there and have to do other things for myself and chores in the house. I feel that the crate gives her a safe place to be when i'm not there, and she can't be destructive when not supervised, and also at times I feel that she does get abit overstimulated so I feel her crate is good for calming her down. When I'm not giving her attention, she has started to push the boundaries and chew on things she shouldn't - like chair legs, and furniture. I tell her No firmly, or say down and place her down. I do also distract her with something else but its like its something that's stuck in her head that she wants to repeat again and again to test me. Is this normal, and am I doing the right thing with preventing her from being destructive? I would appreciate your advice going forward. I love her, she is a lovely pup, I just want her to be happy, and grow up confident with good manners. Thanks

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Hi, I appreciate this might of come up in previous feeds, but I can't find specific answers. We are about to adopt a 12 week old bc puppy. It hasn't had much excercise up to now and current owner isn't coping with it. I was trying to find out how much excercise we can safely give him a he developes. I have in the past gone with the rule of thumb 5mins for every month, but im not sure if that is sufficent for a bc? Can anyone advice? Also, I've read that bc need a lot of mental stimulation, can you advice on what we can do? We already have two 15 year old westies, who have short walks and play fetch & find, good game for their breed, is this good for bc? Or can you suggest something for herders? Many thank in advance

Hi everyone! I’ve been a longtime (and I mean really longtime) lurker here, but never made an account till now! So hi! I live in southern Ontario, and at the start of September I’m about to pick up my first border collie! 1. I need some naming help! Hes a male blue merle who’s got lots of nice big spots on him (see photos) Right now I’m really liking the names River, Haiku, Dipper (as in the Big Dipper constellation — I have a cat named Orion), and Quinn (this one the least). I like the nature/outdoorsy names for sure. I like how River reflects his blue but im not totally set. And other ideas?? 2. Advice for when I first get him Ive gone through the various first time/puppy threads but I’m just wondering what you would suggest as the first things I should do with him! Trainingwise, socialization, leash, etc. I’m hoping that he’ll be able to be off leash, to be outgoing and not fearful.. any thing I can do to start shaping that? (Obvs some pups are more sociable than others, but there are things we can do to help!) i grew up with 2 Siberian huskies so I’m well aware of the whole “when your dog is smarter than you...” complex. Thanks in advance!

Hello! I posted about my beautiful Merle Border Collie female, Rogue, weeks ago. I feel that it’s only right to update her progress on this forum and gather some more information/advice via comments because they helped immensely! Compared to where she was when the last post was written, Rogue has truly blossomed into a wonderful dog. She is so loving. She has stopped submissively urinating for the most part, and only does it in small quantities when she is extremely frightened (i.e. stranger comes into home and she is caught off guard). She roams off leash in our yard and does extremely well with listening and staying close. She definitely knows who her people are! She loves to burn energy. Sometimes when a man asks if they can pet her, I will make them stand where they are and not approach her. She will go up to sniff him with excitement and apprehensiveness, with her tail slightly between her legs, but will open up upon realizing that he means well and just wants to pet her! We had a friend over just the other night who happened to be male, and she ran right up to him and sat between his knees so he could pet her. We always tell our male counterparts to not go up to her, even though it can be hard because she is such a beautiful dog! She approaches many more people now instead of scurrying away. We are so proud of her progress! She likes to spend time in her kennel. We leave the door open to give her access whenever she likes. She will sometimes take a bone into her kennel and chew it in there. Sometimes she spend a bit more time than we would like her to spend in her kennel. I am home for the majority of the day, everyday. Therefore, I leave the kennel door open so she can come out if she would like. She typically comes out and roams the house freely when I am home, but tends to recede back into her safe space when my fiancé gets home from work. He has been doing his best with not approaching her, and mostly just living out his daily routines in front of her. She is comfortable with me, but sometimes I will hear some rattling and find her in her kennel, head poking out of the entrance rested on top of some toys. I leave her be. I want her to feel that she has a ‘safe space’ that’s all her own and she never has to feel scared in. But I will always keep the door open so she knows she can come out. She’s been coming out more and more each day when he is home. Hopefully in a few weeks, she will be able to approach him without as much fear! It has been a long process but she has adjusted little by little, and it is truly awesome to sometimes sit back and think about how far she has come and how far she can still go! I love my Rogue!

Hey Hey, Kilo and I would first off like to say thanks for welcoming us into this wonderful community. Kilo is my first BC and is 4 months old. He's a joy to have and I'm learning as much from him as he is from me everyday. It's been a learning curve, but he's nearly house-broken, he knows MANY basic tricks (Sit, Down, Paw, Other Paw, Roll-over), and I'm working on introducing him to the Halti. Before anyone says anything in regards to my choice to keep him as a companion pet, I have done my research and am aware of the high energy and drive behind this breed as well as their needs to be worked and mentally stimulated. Also, I am a (almost graduated) Vet Tech. Currently our schedule looks like, as I'm in college (well exam time for 2 more weeks): Morning (upon wake up at 6:30-7:30am) a 10-15 minute walk outside to get him a chance to use the bathroom he gets his breakfast in a Kong Gyro treat puzzle ball while I eat my breakfast and get ready for class 5-10 minutes of trick training/practice in crate with frozen peanut butter to top the rest of his breakfast in a standard puppy Kong. (I don't leave till almost 8-9) Lunchtime (12-1pm) 20-30 minute walk break from crate to play fetch or play with toys and cuddle 2-3 baby carrots in crate for afternoon Early Evening ( following class at 4-5pm) 1 hour + of walking and fetch/run in a fenced soccer field depending on weather Dinner in Kong Gyro Training of tricks Play throughout the evening Bathroom breaks as required throughout the night Before Bed (9:30-10pm) 20-30 minute walk for bathroom and to wear off any last energy crate at 10:30pm (he tends to sleep through the night fine) I'm just here to see what else, as I'll be out shortly for the summer, I can do with him or teach him. I'm interested in getting him the Jolly Ball Egg to kick around our backyard at home with my parent's dog (12 year old miniature cockapoo). Also, I'm looking to get into running again this summer (a knee injury threw me off track this past year) so that I'm back up to par for next summer to start running with him (so that he doesn't over-stress his growing joints) and I'm looking to build him an agility course also to start next summer. Currently,m we are working on the stay command, not chasing my cat (2 year old tuxedo cat) and, as I said, slowly working on integrating the Halti so we can progress to having him focused and WORKING while we are on walks. This schedule seems to work best for us both, but I'm up for any additional thoughts on providing added enrichment. Thanks from both of us,