So, we went to the local pet store about three weeks ago looking for a dog. We knew we wanted a larger dog like a lab, German Shepard, Huskie etc. Well, this little white, black and brown fluff ball caught our eye. It was a non registered Border Collie female about 10 weeks old. I read a-lot about Border collies in the past, and really appreciated their intelligence and constant energy. I have two young boys who are full of energy, so I figured after we all fell in love with her in the little meet and greet area, we'd buy her. It took our new dog, which my son named Riley only three days, and she was sitting on command. Well, that's where the obedience stopped. She now pulls on the leash almost to the choking point. She bites my kids ankles, eats the cats poop, attacks the cat playfully, and displays agression when we come near her food. I read Cesar Milan's book and decided I wanted to be the "pack leader" and make the dog realize that Humans are dominant and Riley is submissive. Then I entered one of hundreds of Border Collie websites, and realized that most dogs, except for the occasional wolf are not pack animals, and Cesars approach, while effective in most cases isn't the right way to go about it. Clicker training was listed as the most sucessful method of positive reinforcement for all the dog species I read about. Unfortunately, I didn't see any results of clicker training Border Collies. I contacted a karen Pryor certified Training facility www.clickingwithcanines.com and spoke to Steve the owner of the facility. He feels confident he can train my dog well. I spoke to him on the phone for 35 minutes, and he is loaded with knowledge. So, if anyone at all is interested I'll update this blog with the results of training. My orientation is tomorrow night, march 26. I'll update in a weeks or so.
In the mean time has anyone else had experience with a Border Collie as a family dog?
BCs as family dogs
BCs, like many working breeds, can make either brilliant or difficult family pets, depending on what the owner puts in.
Clicker training is great for BCs, there are too many clicker trained BCs to count. Many, many, many impressive obedience, agility, tracking, Schutzhund, freestyle, Herding etc titles gained by clicker trained BCs.
Exercise is important, but perhaps more so, mental stimulation and clicker training gives plenty of that.
Two articles I have written might help:
http://positivepetzine.com/food_guarding
http://positivepetzine.com/tracking_nosework
Regards,
Aidan
http://www.PositivePetzine.com
Border Collies
Yes. I raised Border Collies for a while. They're wonderful, extremely smart and loving companions, but they need to run! They're a herding breed, and will chase, nip, and try to control everything around them.
My suggestion, re-read Caesar, take the dog out for a good run, or if you're not up to it, get a bike and exercise the Border Collie before you try and train it.
Being the pack leader is a state of mind, not an aggressive approach, and dogs DO love to follow a GOOD leader.
While I'm new to clicker training, I firmly believe in the precepts put forth in the philosophy, but I notice my new puppy is watching me every second, and follows every nuance of my facial expressions and body language.
In short, DOGS READ MINDS, because they study us so closely. While the tools included here are scientific, I believe one could, with a lot of practice, achieve the same results without the tools!
Pay half as much attention to your dog as your dog pays to you and you'll notice that indeed, you ARE the pack leader, and the dog is just waiting for you to show her what to do!
Dogs love to work, love to learn, and most importantly, love to spend one on one time with people. I've never seen a happier dog than a trained dog!
Good luck with your girl!