Dog Obedience Training Tips

Dog barking seems to a problem for all dog owners. Owners that cannot control their dogs, and the neighbors within earshot, have to deal with the noise day and night, but there are solutions. Getting control of your dog can help prevent a lot of problems, both with your dogs barking and your neighbors complaining. However, the first thing that is needed is to figure out why the dog is barking to begin with. Border Collies bark for many different reasons. Picking the right one and focusing on the training to fix the problem is very important.

Barking can be a good thing. Having a dog that barks a warning to let you know that there is something going on that he knows about and is wanting you to know about is a good thing, but barking excessively for no good reason is a habit that can become problematic. When your Border Collie is barking about something particular, reward him and let him know that you have listened to his urgent warning. Barking to let you know that someone is outside the door, or an animal is in your garden destroying it, deserves some kind of recognition. When he performs these actions, pet him and tell him he did a good job, then give your Border Collie a command, such as “enough”, to signal that you are aware of the warning. When he quiets down, reward him for becoming silent.

Problematic barking needs to be discouraged. For example, if your Border Collie is barking because another dog walked past the drive way, you should make it understood that the barking is unacceptable. A good way to do this is by telling your dog “no” in a stern voice and walking away from the area that he is trying to call your attention to. Do not yell at your dog, or hit them. This enforces fear and will make your dog frightened of you. They will not listen to you and will bark more aggressively out of fear. You can also use a squirt bottle method. Whenever your dog is barking without reason, squirt them with a water bottle and tell them “no”. This will let the Border Collie know that the reason that they were barking was unacceptable.

Some Border Collies will bark to get your attention. If they feel that they are not being paid enough attention or are wanting a treat for something, they will begin to bark noisily and will not stop until they get what they want. There are many different ways to handle this, however, bending to their will is not one of them. When they begin barking to get your attention, ignore them completely and walk away. Do not pet them, do not feed them. If you do, you will only instill in them that it is appropriate to act this way, and it is certainly not. Wait for them to get quiet and calm down, then reward them for their silence. Ignoring the barking without yelling at them can be a bit difficult, but after several times of doing this, they will eventually get the message.

Of all the dog breeds the Border Collie could be one of the most destructive dogs when it comes to digging. They can make your back yard look like the Grand Canyon in one day. Breaking a Border Collie of digging completely has been compared to pulling teeth. This breed is very intelligent and energetic. So, in this case a lot of owners have succumbed to the phrase, ” If you can’t beat them, join them.”. This not saying let them destroy your entire yard, but let them have a small piece to themselves. This will allow your Border Collie to do something that it really wants and enjoys, as well as provide lots of exercise.

The first thing you will need to do is decide what part of your yard you would like to donate for the purpose. Once that is complete, you will need to dig out an area no smaller then four feet, by four feet and about one foot in depth. Then lay out boards around the perimeter, fill with a mixture of soft dirt and soil. If you like you can even plant grass or even just through out bird seed. This is basically a doggy sand box. Once you have it set up, go out and bury your Border Collies favorite toys as well as, so dog treats. Then take your Border Collie out and start to dig, act very excited and playful. Once you have dug up one of the treasures show it off, soon your Border Collie will be finding treasures on its own. Keep hiding things there every day for about a week or so, or until your Border Collie seems to be very interested in digging in that one spot. Then you can hide treats randomly to keep him guessing. Also until you are sure that it has worked you want to make sure that you don’t let you Border Collie out unsupervised. That way you can see when he is digging in a inappropriate place. When you catch him in the act, sternly say “NO” and take them to their “sand box.” If you try and scold them after the fact they will not know what they did wrong and it will just confuse them.

Although you can’t prevent digging throughout the entire yard. There are measures you can take to discourage unwanted digging. Such as, placing rocks in the garden area and around the fences. You can also, attach hardware cloth or chicken wire around your plants and at the base of the fence line. These will feel unpleasant on the pads of their paws. If that does work you can spread ground pepper in the areas you do not with for your Border Collie to dig and it with be unpleasant for them and they will not go back to those areas. With these techniques your Border Collie will be broken from digging in unwanted spaces and you will not have to fear for your garden.

The Border Collie is probably one of the most energetic breeds of dog. They are bred for herding, therefore, required lots of exercise and should not be purchased lightly. When you have a Border Collie you will need to put about 2 hours a day at minimum into there exercise daily to keep them under control. One of the most common issues for Border Collies due to lack of exercise is biting. Since these are herding dogs and have a lot of energy, if not exercised properly they can start to try and herd their owners or anything else that moves and that can lead to aggression.

Watching a little Border Collie puppy run around growling, chasing and nipping at everything that moves may seem cute, but remember this behavior if not controlled at a young age will only get worse. In an ideal situation you want to start training at a young age you want them to know that biting is not okay. To start when your Border Collie puppy bites say, “Stop” in a very stern voice, then “No bite” in a lower tone. Then walk away, don’t touch the puppy again until it has calmed down. As soon as it has calmed down go directly over and give the puppy praise. It will eventually learn that biting is bad. If this continues, try putting a few screws or coins in a jar or a can. Then when the puppy goes to bite shake it, and say, “No Bite”, the noise should startle your Border Collie puppy. The Border Collie puppy will then associate biting you with the unpleasant sound and stop.

With an adult Border Collie biting is usually a sign of being bored and anxiousness due to lack of exercise, as well as, fear and anxiety. This can be dealt with by providing your Border Collie with plenty of activities. Border Collies love to work and do very well with agility or anything else that your Border Collie can view as a job. Your Border Collie should be have at least two, forty-five minute walks, and twenty of those minutes should be running free in a safe enclosed area playing fetch or Frisbee. As well as, two, thirty minute sessions of agility or something else that will be challenging for your Border Collie. This has to be done every day rain or shine, your Border Collie will not care what the weather is. This will keep your Border Collie from getting aggressive due to boredom.

If you find that your Border Collie is aggressive to new people and other animals, this is probably because of anxiety or fear of new things. The best way to work with Border Collies that are like this is to socialize them. This is because the main reason that they are acting this way is because they were not properly socialized. To properly socialize your Border Collie you will need to start off slow. First introduce two or three dogs with owners, make sure your Border Collie as well as the other dogs are on leashes. Walk your Dog back and forth close to the other dogs, if your Border Collie starts to seem agitated pull him out of the group immediately and place him somewhere he feels safe and give him praise. Gradually increase the number of strangers as your Border Collie become more accustomed to strangers, whether it be dogs or other people. This will taken some time, but eventually your Border Collie will learn to socialize and will calmer and less aggressive. So, no matter what the aggression issue is, there is always a solution to be found.

One of the most important things to understand about Border Collies is that they are very intelligent and energetic dogs. They love to keep moving, running around in pastures and working out puzzles. They are aware of every movement made around them. So, understandably if there energetic nature is suppressed they will look for the closest outlet. Unfortunately it will probably be with you brand new pair of shoes or your sofa. Border Collie’s need to be both mentally and physically stimulated and when that does not occur they may become destructive when there is not a task to be done, they are bred herders after all. Border Collie’s were bred to assist ranchers in herding in the flock. For this energetic breed running two miles is just the warm up.

The first thing that you want to do is remove everything that your Border Collie will chew up, major house keeping is required. Anything left on the floor is free game and a potential chew toy. However this does not by any means, mean that you should lock your Border Collie in a room or completely isolated, this is the worst thing possible for a Border Collie. This means actually picking up everything that could be harmful to your Border Collie, such as any electrical wires, chemical bottles, etc. Replace these items with approved chew toys, you will want to make sure that it is really durable rubber preferably that way it can’t chew it up and possibly ingest something harmful to your Border Collie. If your dog becomes partial to a shoe or a rug there are ways to correctly discourage this behavior. Start with a stern NO! When you see it chewing and only when you catch it, you will only manage to confuse it otherwise. Never scold or hit any dog, but especially a Border Collie, because they are so intelligent they will learn not to trust you and even fear you and that could lead to aggression issues. Also when you see your Border Collie chewing on something it is not suppose to you can remove it when you say “no” and replace it with its toy. After you see your Border Collie choosing the appropriate chew toy reward it with attention and eventually you Border Collie will learn that by chewing only on its chew toys that it will be loved on and played with.

Your Border Collie is very intelligent and therefore bored easily. So, chewing is one way to stem the boredom. Border Collie’s will also chew as puppies when they are teething. When that occurs you can take one of it’s toys and put it in the freezer for a little bit and then give it to you puppy that will help break the teeth through as well as, sooth the pain from teething. No matter what you choose just remember never, ever hit or smack your dog. It will not understand and will frighten your Border Collie, and that should not be that desire for any dog owner.