We’ve got ourselves a male Border Collie pup. He’s 13 weeks now, we’ve had him from 8 weeks old. He’s been great so far other than the usual puppy problems but generally we are doing quite well with him…. I think.

We have a 3 year old Westie too but sadly is going through meningitis, which isn’t looking good for him so far despite ongoing medication. It’s a blow as we wanted the two of them to be company for one another but we have to face the prospect that may not be the case.

Anyway, i’m aware that border collies can be difficult dogs due to their intelligence and desire to work and be constantly stimulated so we want to do as much as we can to get things right. So any collie owners who could offer up some tips and advice specific to the breed?

They need a lot of walking. Luckily if you feel tired some days, just find a big field and pretend that your about to throw a ball, both of my parents collies would do a massive circle around me and then crouch in wait for the throw – they essentially wear themselves out when doing this!

Plenty of toys seemed to be a good thing, name the toys as well, the dogs go and get exactly what you say 🙂

We have 13yr old collie. Well exercised helps – though can’t be too hard at that age. We have constant supply of new toys for him to figure out – sometimes rotating them so hide for a bit then reintroduce. We have to puzzle him a bit like putting them into odd places so he has to figure it out.
You will end up having to spell words soon as they bloody well know too much.

Well exercise isn’t a problem. The motivation for getting a collie was our upcoming house move – small cottage surrounded by acres of open land. So he’ll have plenty of space to explore freely.

We took the sellers advice to let him off the lead on his first ever walk. We were nervous but the seller was quite right that his nervousness of this new big world would mean he wouldn’t venture far from us. Worked out well so far.

In regard to toys, do you go for toys that offer some sort of ‘puzzle’ for them?

My mum used to have a collie. The problem with trying to tire the dog out with exercise is that you just end up with a very fit dog who wants even more exercise. I was told that brain exercise is the key. Kong toys include things that can be filled with treats which the dog has to work out how to get to.

I once saw a tv programme about how intelligent different dog breeds are. They hid food under paper cups with the dog watching then filmed what the dog did. Half of them just looked baffled, another one tried every cup in turn, the collie went straight to the right cup like it was all too easy.

Border collies were bred to respond to command and work under close control. Any play that reproduces this sort of relationship should keep your pup happy and healthy. Collies excel at agility, fly-ball and obedience work. My colleague’s dog was an excellent football goalkeeper.

I have two (one Kelpie, one Collie rescue), they are both about 3yrs old now. Having two helps alot, especially on walks as they race around together instead of just following me. Things I try to do to keep them entertained:

* Walks – 2 x 1hr per day (when he’s old enough) – Change the route if possible day to day
* Bike instead of walk (again once he is old enough)
* Teach them games – such as finding the hidden training dummy – to play in the house for wet days
* Feed some of their food in a Kong or similar
* If fed alone scatter some of the food in the garden
* Rotate chew toys
* Mine live outside during the day and have toys and obstacles to climb on / hide in
* Training – brain work tires them out hugely – it’s great 🙂 Do some of the walk on a lead, practice heel work – it sounds odd, but training tires them more than just running.
* Agility (again when old enough – 18 months / 2 yrs)
* Let them see / investigate / take part in as much as possible, it uses their brain. Walks through the town / village on a lead are just as good as running off it.
* Teach him to chase something ‘safe’ as soon as possible (balls, sticks) One of mine didn’t get this and has fixed on bikes and cars which is hard to break.

In answer to your question about toys – puzzles are great, but my Kelpie has razor teeth and wrecked everything, so be imaginative. A treat in a cardboard box or old sock. Charity shop soft toy (without sharp eyes or bean fillings) work well if you are going through them at a rate of knots. Anything you can hide food or a treat in.

Collies (& Kelpies) are ace 😀

Mines a lazy bugger bless her. Very protective of the family. But She was mistreated as a pup so has problems!she is so clever with toys treat balls ect we have to rotate them to stop her getting fed up. When walking she will go for miles when out took her up Scafell Pike once she loved it.

still got the scars on my lower leg from where a farm collie, off the leash, mistook me for a ball 🙁

kcal – yes – it is (was) an issue with one of mine 🙁

I have got her to the point where she comes straight to me when she sees a bike or car, but she is like a coiled spring wanting to go after it. The work / chase instinct has to be given an outlet while they are still young. Whisky was 9 months when I got her, and she was already a bike chaser. She has never bitten anyone, but the rider can’t be expected to know that. She hasn’t given chase for the last year or so, but I still can’t relax with her, I have to keep working on it.

My springer x collie is very intelligent, but unfortunately obsessed with cows, sheep and rabbits – can’t let him off the lead in a non-confined space as he’d be gone all day chasing them. He’s got no interest in chasing bikes or cars luckily. His favourite trick is to wait silently at a field gate and wait for the cows to come over to him. When they get within about 2m he’ll suddenly jump and bark and send the whole lot stampeding. I guess it’s great fun (and also a sign of a badly trained dog, I know).
He also refuses to play fetch (he just looks at the thrown object with contempt) and can be very possessive over toys. He was well socialised as a pup but was attacked by a pair of larger dogs when he about 2 and ever since, has been really wary around big dogs – he’s fine with smaller ones although he’s a bit cautious of jack russells as one of them has bitten him in the past. It’s weird how they remember traumatic incidents – anyone know how you do PTSD counselling for a dog?