(Part 3) Top products from r/BorderCollie

The thing is....in the old house she (as far as we could tell) did just fine being crated. I think its the feeling of a new place like "oh no, where am I? where did you go? am I alone?"

I don't think I do "crate games"...please elaborate! :)

and she doesn't get as much exercise as she use to because of my new job, but she does get some at least a little bit everyday. ...but she is a mix, and isn't as crazy hyper as everyone else acts like their full bloods are...When I get home, I let her out for a bit, but it's so hot here, she usually wants to go back in....then we'll train for a bit, and she usually just chills after that. if she gets restless, we play, we train, I let her in the yard to run, take her places, and of course the local bark park! she sleeps a lot! I mean, a lot! but she's like a switch, she can sleep all day, or she can run all day....and crash at night--she's pretty much down with anything.

I LOVE the skype Idea....now i just need a laptop! lol or a wireless web cam in the dogs' bedroom

and I have 2 kennels...the one she is breaking out of is a pop up wire one. it has hooks that connect the sides together, but she is able to wiggle them out and bust through. when I got home today, she was 1 hook away from being free! lol It's the new one. Trying to figure out a way to use it to help her...not harm her.(kinda like this one--size may be bigger). and we have a plastic Vari-kennel that is medium sized, it fits her pretty snug now.

and yes. she has eaten some of the plastic off the rim of the vari-kennel....and that's just since we've moved. I know for a fact it was there when packing up. we can't give her a blanker or anything, she will tear it into little strings and swallow them.--this is why I'm thinking if I do leave her out...to place a few "hidden" kongs around the house to keep her occupied. like she goes looking for "trouble" and finds a kong....not sure if that's a good thought o put in her head though! :/

I guess when I'm the first to get home, I usually do this:: walk in, don't speak to her, walk calmly through the room, to the bathroom, use it, walk out, let her out CALMLY, but she still freaks. I don't know why I don't wait longer. I've even told my fiance to do so....damn. why did I not see that....but he is usually the first one home, so it doesn't happen often, but when it does....I should wait longer. she isn't barking, but she is wiggling in the down position (obvious signs of excitement)

TRAINING

As for training, if you are really against going to puppy class, I'd pick up a book. I think an easy to read/follow book is; 51 Puppy Tricks. It's well written and easy to follow--... it does a great job of explaining tricks in levels, and has some cool ones in there. I have this book and I refer to it for ideas. There is also '101 dog tricks'

Some tips about training;

• Training should ALWAYS be fun. This is how you get a puppy to be happy to do it. Do not yell, scold, or get frustrated with your puppy. If you find yourself getting frustrated, stop training, take a break.
  
  
• SOCIALIZATION. From 8-12 weeks, this is when a puppy is most open to being socialized. You need to teach them everything, but because they don't have all their shots, you have to be safe about it. The dog will need to meet children, meet black people, fat people, asian people, white people, skinny people, tall people, short people, tall dogs, small dogs, medium dogs, people with sunglasses, people with hats, skateboards, bikes, wagons, loud noises, kitchen noises, STAIRS, STAIRS, STAIRS, elevators, cars, moving cars, MOVING CARS, SERIOUSLY, MOVING CARS-- you don't want a border that wants to herd cars. That will not end well.
  
  Socialization is the most IMPORTANT PART of a dogs life. From 8-12 weeks you should be DEDICATED to socializing your puppy. DEDICATED. There is nothing worse than a dog that was not socialized properly and now is aggressive or scared. These are the dogs that get surrendered to shelters. SOCIALIZE YOUR PUPPY -- with everything. Now, socialization does not mean your puppy has to interact, just that she needs to be exposed to the item.
  
  
• Chewing: Puppies are chew monsters. Do not YELL at them for chewing. That doesn't TEACH them anything. It tells them chewing is bad, but not what they should chew on. With my puppies, when I catch them chewing on something I tell them a firm 'NO' and then GIVE THEM SOMETHING they are supposed to chew on. This teaches them to chew on their TOYS and BONES and that it's not appropriate to chew on furniture. This is a hard battle, but be persistent. You will eventually win out. Blue chewed for 4 weeks on anything and everything and it never felt like I was getting through-- but then one day it was like 'BOOM, I GET IT' and I haven't had a problem since. Providing plenty of toys in different areas will also help motivate them to chew on the toy and not the furniture. Don't be afraid to change out toys. Toys that have been down for 30 mintes-- put those away, and put out new ones. Engage your puppy in play with appropriate toys.
  NEVER, EVER, EVER use something as a toy ou don't want your puppy to eventually chew one. This means that OLD SHOES, TOWELS, ETC are out of the question. Do not use them. You can't give your puppy and old shoe and then get MAD when they chew on your new shoes :) ...
  
  
• Come: One of the most important commands. Never, EVER, EVER get mad at your puppy when they come to you. Seriously. You want your dog to think coming to you is the best thing in the world and every time it's a PAAARTAAAY.
  
• Potty training: See "Buy a Crate" under Items. It has useful potty training advice.
  
  
• Start training your dog as soon as you get them. Puppies can learn. They aren't "too little". After giving them a few days to acclimate, start working on some basics like 'come', 'sit', 'touch', 'loose-leash walking', 'lay', etc. If you don't know how to do this; PUPPY TRAINING CLASS/BOOK and or YOUTUBE. :)
  
  If you have any more questions, feel free to ask me. I would be more than happy to give you advice, and/or make a video for you on showing the training.
  

Congrats on your new pup-to-be! And thank you for doing so much research, there aren't nearly enough people who do their homework first :-)

My favorite potty training resource:

Why Crate Train

ABCs of Crate Training

Dos and Don'ts of Crate Training


I, too, highly recommend The Other End of the Leash

Books I also really like:

Training Your Superpuppy - it's pretty basic but it covers a little bit of a lot of topics

My Smart Puppy I really like this for a puppy training book- it comes with a DVD as well which I found very helpful

101 Dog Tricks - For some fun training and bonding exercises. There is a puppy version, but I found that my Border Collies have been able to keep up with the 'adult' book just fine. I also really like Kyra's Do More With Your Dog, just a fun book if you're looking for more activities with your dog or just to learn about other canine activities.

The Dog Wars - It's not a training book but more of a dog politics book, but it should be required reading for any Border Collie enthusiast IMO

If you have any interest in working livestock...

A Way of Life

Top Trainers Talk About Starting A Sheepdog

Herding Dogs

Talking Sheepdogs: Training Your Working Border Collie

Stockdog Savvy

Also-

Collie Psychology - I just found this book online while looking for links for the others. I know nothing about it, but reading the description looks like it could be interesting (anyone know anything about it?)

Edit: Really... once again, I'm the only comment here with a downvote?! If you've got a problem with the things I post, say it to me. Raise an issue, start a discussion. Christ.

Best way to keep your dog mentally stimulated is find a nice, moist, small training treat and get to work on some commands. Google a few you'd like to teach her. These are the treats that I find most dogs cannot resist!

No problem. Thanks u/sible, I wish you and your soon to be new pup the same!

I'm not sure if you are interested, but I would recommend checking this book out, I found it had a lot of great insights/information for Border Collies specifically.
https://www.amazon.com/Barbara-Sykes-Training-Border-Collies/dp/1847978894/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1518734902&sr=8-13&keywords=border+collie

I second the jolly ball. If you dislike the handle, Hubble has one with a rope through it.

Hubble also has a planet dog orbee soccer ball he loves, it is smaller than a regular soccer ball (about as big as those kid's size ones they make) but it's durable and great.

Lastly there are remote control options but they are pricier and I haven't personally tried them yet, maybe I will this summer.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0002DK9OW?pc_redir=1395120294&robot_redir=1

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000BP751G

http://www.inthecompanyofdogs.com/itemdy00.aspx?T1=D13290&utm_source=shoppingcom&utm_medium=comparison&utm_campaign=datafeed&srccode=NXCDC2

We’ve never used pee pads. We take them out every 15 minutes to start, like for a day, then increase the time between outdoor visits. Set your alarm and get up a few times during the night for a while. The dog will be trained in a few days for the most part. There might be a few accidents in the next few months.

Edit add: Dogs seem to develop preferred places to go. Ours will only go on grass. So the job is to shape that preference.

Puppy Primer by Patricia McConnell is s great book & I highly recommend it! Dr. McConnell has had and trained many BC’s herself.

Like others said, Nylabones do the trick. Our BC would chew on hers for hours. She never chewed on anything else in the house that she wasn't supposed to. We also gave her a megalast chew toy that she really likes. We can play for a while and she could take chew breaks when she needed to. Since she chewed the ears, feet, and tail off, it looks llike a dildo now :/

Side note, Penn tennis balls have been the only ones she hasn't torn apart within a few days.

We had the same issue with our border collie but we bought this and he doesn't pull at all now.

PetSafe Easy Walk Dog Harness, Red/Black, Large https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000BHT5OE/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_eU8hDbEKRZ7MA

Dog Agility Equipment... https://www.amazon.com/dp/1450505147?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
It has a teeter totter multiple jumps cat walks and many others. I highly suggest it for a backyard course. I built the jump and bought a tunnel and mine loves it

It's the PetSafe Easy Walk. We got ours at PetSmart

link: https://www.petsmart.com/dog/collars-harnesses-and-leashes/harnesses/petsafe-easy-walk-dog-harness-9378.html

It seems you can get one on Amazon too.

link: https://www.amazon.com/PetSafe-Harness-medium-BLACK-SILVER/dp/B001PO2EO0?th=1

I ve seen this on Amazon, which is rather recent and has good reviews. Has anyone gone through it?

The Border Collie: Your Essential Guide From Puppy To Senior Dog (Best of Breed)

https://www.amazon.com/Border-Collie-Essential-Guide-Senior/dp/1910488011

Bogey's kennel is like this one. He weighs 48 pounds (~22 kg).

My first border collie used to baby her toys. She'd carry them around with her everywhere and even sleep with them. By the time she was a year old she still had toys that I had gotten her at birth. My second border collie is a bit more of a "let's see how fast I can shred it" type. Unfortunately my second BC chewed up many of my first BC's favorites (which she pouted about for days). MORE unfortunately is that now my first BC has learned that shredding toys is indeed a fun thing to do.


I've found that no toy is "indestructible" for a border collie. The [rope toys] (http://www.amazon.com/Flossy-Cottonblend-3-Knot-Medium-20-Inch/dp/B001GIEZLA/ref=sr_1_1?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1404189615&sr=1-1&keywords=rope+toy), kongs, and real bones (not the rawhide ones) tend to last longer though. We now have sets of toys they are allowed to gnaw away at whenever they want, and toys they are only allowed to play with while under supervision.

Gentle leader is a brand name for a head collar.