5 Border Collie Puppy Training Tips You Should Know

Looking for Border Collie puppy training tips? Here are 5 tips you should know to train your dog to be obedient.

If you are reading this, then you must have just added a new member to your family. If your new puppy is a Border Collie you are making the right decision by choosing to train him while he is still young. When it comes to dog training, the sooner you begin teaching your dog, the easier and faster it will be.

If you are looking to have a good relationship with your puppy, make sure you are using the right training methods. No dog owner wants their dog to only listen to them because they are afraid of them. Instead, you would like your Collie puppy to listen to and obey you because he respects you.

For further and detailed guidelines on how to raise and train an obedient and happy Border Collie puppy, check out this guide. It talks about everything that a Border Collie owner ought to know about the dog breed.

Border Collie Puppy Obedience Training

Border Collies are known to be one of the smartest dog breeds in the world. The dogs are very perceptive and learn things quickly. Border Collies are very intelligent. They can know the exact things they can get away with as well as those that can make them get into trouble. These are some of the reasons that make it absolutely necessary for a Border Collie owner to remain consistent with teaching and training their dogs to listen to them.

There is a very misleading and damaging myth which claims that you really don’t require obedience training if your Border Collie doesn’t disobey you. This is not true because obedience training involves teaching your dog how to behave around other people. You will be teaching your Collie not to jump on you or other people, destroy your things and bite you or not to beg for food.

Don’t wait until your dog has formed some of these bad behaviors. It can be quite challenging and hard to undo bad habits than it is to reward good ones. Obedience training is not only helpful for solving behavior problems; it is can also be helpful in preventing them.

Border Collie Puppy Trick Training

Since Border Collies are intelligent dogs, they tend to learn things very quickly. However, when dealing with a Collie puppy, you can’t just begin training him with complicated tricks. Start off with simple tricks and then build on them in time.

Here is a breakdown on the ages at which you can teach certain tricks to your Border Collie.

  • 3-6 Months. At these ages, you can begin teaching your Collie puppy some basic things. For example, you can teach your Collie how to come to you on command, lay down, sit and other simple “tricks”. If the tricks you’re planning to teach involve too many steps or are too complicated, the Collie may end up confused.
  • 6-12 Months. At these ages, you can proceed to teach your puppy how to “roll over”, “speak”, “fetch” and other not-so-challenging tricks. Your puppy by now should have a better grasp of the basics. Therefore, learning new tricks should be a bit easier for him.
  • 1 Year and older. Everything is easy at this age. You can now teach your Collie to bring you the newspaper in the morning or ring a bell whenever he needs to go out.

5 Border Collie Puppy Training Tips

The following are some vital dog tips on how to train an obedient and healthy Border Collie.

Enforcement

Don’t ever make the mistake of introducing a command to your Border Collie that you don’t intend to continue using. For instance, don’t ask your Border Collie to stop eating things out of the garbage can when you’re not going to go to where he is and make him stop doing it.

border collie puppy training

Quiet Authority

Desist from using a loud voice when giving commands to your Border Collie. Your intention is for your voice to carry out authority without being aggressive and loud. Moreover, your Border Collie will respond well to commands without you having to raise your voice at them. Raising your voice is not good because it may cause your Border Collie to develop dominant and aggressive issues. This will make your dog not listen to you because he’ll start viewing himself as the “Alpha dog”.

Positivity Over Negativity

If possible, try applying positive reinforcement over negative reinforcement. Using positive reinforcement will make your Border Collie obey your commands out of affection rather than fear. This will also reduce your Border Collie’s stress levels, leaving you with a happy and healthy companion.

Less is More

When it comes to Border Collie obedience training, less is more.

When giving a command to your Border Collie, use very few words as possible. For instance, instead of telling him “go to the backyard” you could simply say “back”. Or instead of commanding your Collie to “sit down” you can just say “sit”. Using many words will only confuse your Border Collie and he may end up not knowing what to do.

Get them When Still Young

The best and most effective way to train your Border Collie is by doing it when he is still a young puppy. Border Collies are intelligent dogs and can also be taught new things as adults. However, if you wait for a long time, you will end up dealing with the bad habits they have been picking over the years. A Border Collie puppy will learn your commands and tricks faster than an adult would.

Common Questions on Puppy Training

Q: At what age can I begin training my Border Collie puppy?

A: Puppy training should begin as soon as you have brought your Collie home. This is because your puppy is constantly learning new things, regardless whether you have “officially” started training him or not. So, if you are not training him, you might be encouraging bad behavior without realizing it.

Q: What tricks should I teach my puppy first?

A: Before you start teaching your puppy any tricks, make sure that your Collie knows their name. You just can’t name your dog “Buster” and expect him to know that is his name. Every time you want to walk him or play with him, make sure you call your Collie by his name. If you are looking for an easy trick to begin with, “sit” will do.

Q: Why does my Border Collie puppy always confuse the name of every command?

A: It is not a usual thing for dogs to confuse commands, especially if you are giving him treats. If your dog always seems to cycle through everything he knows just to get a treat then he probably cannot associate command names to their actions. Practice every trick independently and make your dog perform them at least three to four times in a row. This is to help your dog associate the name of the command with its action. Another good way to ensure that your dog doesn’t confuse the name of commands and their actions (especially words that sound familiar) is by using hand signals.

Q: What guide book can I use for my Border Collie?

A: There are a number of good dog training books available but the Border Collie Owners Guide has everything you need combined. This is the only guide you’ll need as it covers everything; from the basics to the more advanced training techniques and tips.

The above Border Collie puppy training tips have been proven to be very effective over and over. The tips don’t work for Border Collies only, but also all kinds of dogs. Use the tips the next time you plan on training your Border Collie.

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