Does this mean I should keep border collie puppies locked up until they are over their chewing phase?  Absolutely not!  This is not only cruel; it will only make the problem worse.  Hence, what will happen is instead of having an out-of-control chomping puppy, you’ll have a fully grown destructive dog.  However, this doesn’t mean that you should let your pooch have free reign of your home either.  There is an effective way to control this behavior without being unfair to your pet and without losing every item you own.  Below are some helpful hints:

•    Provide your pooch with mental and physical stimulation.  One of the main reasons border-collies chew so much is because they are bored.  This is a very smart dog that has high energy.  Don’t forget they were originally bred for herding.  You must provide him with a good run, playtime, training and walks.

•    Give him teething toys.  You won’t be able to stop border collie puppies from chewing because part of the reason they do it is for comfort.   As their adult teeth begin to develop they will lose their baby teeth, which can cause their gums great discomfort.  Make sure you give them a variety of their own items to chew on.

•    Constructive discipline.  Only scold your fury friend when you catch him in the act of biting on something that isn’t his.  If you happen across a previously destroyed object, you can’t reprimand him because he won’t understand why you are upset.  Dogs associate your reactions to the last action they committed.  When you catch him tearing apart something that isn’t his, tell him “no” firmly and then give him one of his toys.  When he takes and begins to chew it, praise him to let him know this is acceptable.

•    Border collie puppies should be kept in a limited space when they are home alone.  Put him in a proper sized crate or board him up in an area of the house or in a room when he cannot be watched.  Make sure he has his own play things but keep all other objects safely out of the way.

•    Ensure you and your family members keep your items off the floor and room doors closed.  The last thing you want to do is unnecessarily tempt your buddy or risk his safety.

Remember, the more control you have over border collie puppies, the more tolerable the chewing phase will be.  Don’t get mad at your pup for being a dog.  Not every characteristic is pleasant, so to enjoy the good you need to manage the bad and accept natural canine behaviors.

Fetching a frisbee is probably one of the best border collie dog training activities your pet can learn.  This is because he can release a lot of his energy and can also exercise his mind as he won’t always be able to anticipate the direction the soaring toy will take.

How can you teach this activity?  It’s very simple.  For starters you will require a disc you can throw to your dog.  You can obtain one at the local or online pet or toy store.  However, it’s a good idea to purchase a soft (I.E. cloth) frisbee instead of one made from rubber or hard plastic.  The reason being most dogs can easily destroy plastic or may damage their teeth or mouth if they catch it and it splinters, etc.  Rubber, on the other hand, might not easily break but it does not have a flavor that appeals to most canines.

Second, make sure you have a few treats and take your dog into your backyard, a dog park or an area where he is permitted to run free without disturbing others.  Then follow these border collie dog training fetching guidelines:

•    Have him sit in front of you and let him smell the flying disc but don’t allow him to have it.

•    When you have your four-legged buddy’s interest, give the command “fetch” and immediately toss the frisbee.  You don’t need to launch it a great distance; just enough that your sheepdog needs to run to claim it.

•    As soon as he runs and collects it, encourage him with praise and have him come back to you.   When he comes back trade the frisbee for a treat and more praise.

After a few of these border collie dog training exercises he’ll catch on and you’ll have a great new game to play together.  Nevertheless, do keep in mind that while your pet will love this game, try not to throw the disk too high because you don’t want your pal jumping and twisting as this can lead to serious back injuries.   Also, don’t forget that balls are also fun to fetch!

After just a few weeks Issy show off some more of her dog training tricks…

You too can have a Border Collie link Issy. Click here to find out more.

Dazzle knows over 60 tricks most of which were clicker trained.  Free-shaping was also used. Here the trainer waits for behavior to be show naturally and build on that.

Dazzle’s next video show off a few more of of here repertoire.

Whilst you don’t need to train your Border Collie to these high standards all collies will benefit from regular obedience work to keep their brains active. An obedient dog is also a joy to own and a source of great pride.

Luckily Border Collie training is not that difficult as they are so receptive to training and love to please their owners.

The good new is, however, that border collie training isn’t too difficult to achieve because this sheepdog is a fast learner, loves to be given a task and enjoys a challenge.  This is one of the main reasons you often see border-collies in obstacle course competitions and why you may want to consider teaching your dog agility.

This is a sport that involves a handler directing a pooch through an obstacle course as quickly and accurately as possible, without the aid of treats or toys.  It is a true demonstration of a real working partnership between dog and owner.  The course mostly consists of jumps (I.E. tire jump, long jump, double and triple jump, etc.) and may include some or all of the following: A-frame, dogwalk, seesaw, tunnels, weave poles, pause box, and pause table.  Additional obstacles, such as a swing plank and a sway bridge may also exist but usually the diversity depends on which organization is hosting the event.

Regardless of the equipment that is used, understand that the dog’s physical and mental ability needs to be rigorously trained.  Therefore, you have to devote a substantial amount of time to this border collie training and subject your pet to a lot of hard work.  This means you need to think long and hard before deciding if competing is the right choice for you and your buddy.

Dogs can start agility lessons at a young age.  However, you must bear in mind that the safety of your pup is of utter importance.  You don’t want to do anything to injure the bone structure of a young canine because this can shorten his life span.   Hence, your pal should not undergo serious border collie training in the art of agility until they are old enough to endure it.  Usually a collie shouldn’t begin his obstacle course education until he is 18 months old.   That said, you should consult a professional instructor before you begin any lessons to ensure the safety of your pal.

Finally, you should know that you can still include agility in your border collie training even if you don’t want your four-legged friend to compete professionally.  Basic equipment is sold online and in pet stores, which will allow you to create a mini obstacle course in your backyard that can be lots of fun.

Before you consider rescuing any dog you need to ask one very important question – Why do so many dogs need rescuing?  Although abandonment, abuse and unfortunate circumstances that have caused an owner to give up their pet are common reasons, there are also individual circumstances that can occur that are directly related to characteristics of particular breeds.  In the case of a border collie rescue, for example, many of these canines have been relinquished because of their natural herding instinct.

These types of collies were bred with the instinct to herd livestock and it is a trait that can never be trained out of them.  If the instinct is strong enough, this pet is usually extremely incompatible with homes that have children.  The reason is that they don’t see kids as anything more than sheep without wool.  If a child decides to run around in the backyard, out the front door or appears to be making an “escape”, these dogs will dart in front of the kid to block their path and begin snarling, snapping, barking and may even bite in an effort to put the “sheep” back in line.  This naturally traumatizes a little boy or girl and frightens their parents who then choose to get rid of the “vicious” animal.

In addition, even in cases when the pooch doesn’t have an exceptionally dominant herding instinct, they may end up in a border collie rescue because the owners don’t know how to deal with his high energy and  keen intelligence.  If border-collies are not provided with stimulating activities and proper training they can become very destructive and neurotic.

Therefore, you need to understand that while this beautiful canine can be a wonderful companion he is not for every family.  Unless you and your children (if applicable) are prepared to train and give him the attention he requires to be a fantastic pet, don’t even consider a border collie rescue as an option.  After all, the whole point to rescuing is to provide the animal with a better life not another disappointment and surrendering to a shelter.

Your primary goal is to create a positive experience for the border collie puppy.  This can be achieved by teaching him a car ride is a normal event.    Your pooch may panic the first time you place him in the backseat of your automobile.  This is only a natural reaction because he doesn’t know what is going on nor does he recognize any of the smells.

Although he may whine and look at you with pitiful eyes, you need to ignore his behavior and remain calm.  You don’t want to start petting, fussing over or coddling your pup because this will only encourage his behavior.  If he seems really upset you can have someone sit in the back with him but don’t allow him upfront with you because this can be dangerous for driving.  Furthermore, he could be seriously injured should you abruptly stop or can be launched though the windshield if you are ever in an accident.  The backseat helps to keep him safe.

You will want to wait until your border collie puppy has settled in the seat before you begin your ride.  Turn on the engine once he is calmer and wait for a minute until he has been able to process the new feeling.  Then, slowly begin your drive.  Keep the trip slow and short.  You might find driving around the block to be sufficient.  When you return, park the car and then after a minute shut off the engine, praise your dog and provide him with a treat.  Next, step out of the vehicle and remove your pet and go into the house or the backyard for a good play as an extra reward.

You will want to keep up this process with your collie, prolonging the drive each time.  Moreover, you need to practice leaving your dog alone in the car for a few minutes to get him used to your absence should it ever occur that during your travels you will need to go somewhere an animal is not allowed.

Here are some final border collie puppy car-ride tips to remember:

• Consider buying a seatbelt harness for your pal to keep him strapped in.
• Don’t leave him in the car for a long period of time and never keep him locked in a vehicle in hot or freezing weather.  Also, make sure the windows are rolled down a crack to allow for fresh air.
• Take him on trips with different destinations.  The last thing you want to do is only take your four-legged friend to the vet because he’ll begin associating rides with a place he dreads going.
• Don’t let him stick his head out the window because this can lead to eye and ear infections.

It shouldn’t take long for a border collie puppy to enjoy traveling in cars, because the more places he’s allowed to travel with you, the happier he will be.

The first thing you need to understand is that border collie dogs were bred with a herding instinct.  Their main purpose was to herd livestock and even today they are considered to be the best herders of any dog.  The second thing you need to realize is that no matter what you do, you will never train this characteristic out of this canine.  It is part of his genetic makeup.

The instinct is stronger in some than in others, but the need to round-up and herd sheep will almost always overtake the dog and, the reality is, in the mind of this pooch, children are simply wool-less sheep.  Thus, without knowing how to control the issue, kids and border collies can be a disaster waiting to happen.

Why?  Basically the reason is the natural instincts of the two are completely incompatible.   Consider the following situation:  An excited child who was minding his/her own business or was playing with their sweet four legged friend, runs out the front door or into the backyard.  Suddenly, the border collie dogs herding nature kicks in and he wants to re-collect the escaped “sheep”.  He runs full tilt and blocks the child’s path, looking very threatening.

The child’s natural reaction is to become frightened, scream and run.  Unfortunately, this response only furthers the collie’s desire to put the “livestock” back in line and he will become even more ferocious, nipping at the kid’s heels or grabbing on to them to drag them back into the home.  Though the animal will find nothing wrong with his actions, the poor little boy or girl and any onlooker will be traumatized by the ordeal.

Therefore, in order for a child and border collie dogs to pleasantly exist together, you need to make sure you don’t inadvertently train your family pet to treat your children as farm animals.  This can be achieved by…

• Teaching him obedience and dominance training.  You need to make it clear to your canine where his place is in your pack.   Make sure you feed him after you and your family eat, walk through doors before him, etc.
• Telling your child to stay quiet, calm and stand still when the pooch attempts to herd them.  This will make him less likely to nip or bite and he’ll no longer think of the kid escaping and turn back into “normal” mode.
• Do not leave your kids unsupervised with the dog.   Especially those under the age of 10.

Thus, the answer as to whether or not border collie dogs are a good family pet is something that can only be determined by the individual owner.  If you are willing to fully understand this breed and are ready to put a full-time effort in to train this dog, as well as educate your children on how to react and respond to the pooch, you should have no major problems creating a happy and healthy environment where everyone gets along.

The following is a breakdown of the type of equipment you need for border collie care, and how often each task needs to be done:

Brushing – There are two coat types that a border-collie may have.  The first has sleek and relatively short fur, while the second has thick and course hair that can grow as long as three inches.  Both coats should be brushed often to help reduce shedding and move oils through the dog’s skin to keep the flesh moist and healthy.  That said, the longer haired variety should be brushed daily to ensure their fur stays free from knots.  Ideal tools include: steel pin and/or bristle hair brush and steel comb.

Nail trimming – As part of your regular border collie care routine, have your pet’s nails clipped once per month.  If you have difficulty performing this task yourself take him to a professional groomer or have your vet do it.  Tools that you can use for clippings are: scissor-style, guillotine-style or plier-style dog nail clippers.  In addition, you may also want to obtain a doggie nail file to round sharp edges and a canine solution that helps to clot blood in case you accidentally cut the quick.

Ear cleaning – Once every two weeks you should take a peek inside your pooch’s ears to make sure they are healthy.  Smell them for any strange foul odor, and pluck out some of the hairs by quickly pulling with your fingers to prevent hair from becoming matted, which can plug the ears and cause infections.  Do not stick a Q-tip inside your collie’s ear to collect wax.  If you notice wax on the surface simply use a clean, soft damp cloth to wipe the area.

Tooth brushing – Every few days you need to incorporate teeth brushing into your border collie care regimen.  Use a soft bristle toothbrush and toothpaste designed for dogs.  Be sure to pay special attention to their back teeth where plaque tends to buildup.  Oral hygiene is very important because you don’t want your dog suffering the symptoms of tooth decay and periodontal disease.

Bathing – Only bathe your border collie when it is absolutely necessary and refrain from washing him at all during the cold winter months.  On average, this breed should not be washed more than twice per year and a dry shampoo is often recommended.  To bathe your pal you should use tepid water, and shampoo and conditioner made especially for dogs.  Never use human hair care products on your animal as this could lead to serious skin problems.

As you can see, border collie care is really quite simple and not a time consuming process if done on a regular basis.  Therefore, instead of looking at the grooming process as a chore, make it a positive bonding experience for you and your companion.