The
Border Collie is listed as the most intelligent of all dog breeds. I
have worked with Border Collies a great deal in my life. They in fact
NEED daily training because they love to work and work for you, their
master. They also should not be locked up in a cage/pen as the Border
Collie needs to move to be happy. Another thing is to daily play games
of Fetch, Flyball, Frisbee, Agility with this intelligent breed. Fun
for the dog but most important, it is not just Games to the dog but
exciting WORK!!!
First you
are going to teach it the Basic Commands, Sit, Stay, Down, Come and
Heel. Once you have that down Pat, you can begin working in earnest on
"No More Harassing Livestock".
A
well trained Border Collie is a pleasure to see.
The only bad Border Collies I have ever come across where the result of
the Owner, not the dog. The owners always seem to think hollering at a
dog, screaming at a dog, kicking a dog, tying it up, locking it up
should teach a dog instead of being GOOD DOG OWNERS and taking the DAILY
and DEDICATED time to teach it Basic Obedience.
You have no idea how
many horses end up seriously injured because of Border Collies,
Australian Shepherds or other such working breeds. To start with, this
is still just a pup!!! Can you imagine the harassment he is going to
cause once fully mature??? Start daily training NOW before he is to
mature and set in his ways to break him of these herding habits.
(1) Savage dog bites/serious wounds/death to livestock
are most often caused by other breeds such as German Shepherds, Rotti's
and other such breeds bred as Guard dogs. But: Border Collies have
chewed the limbs off of young
newborn livestock as
well as other serious bites. Keep in mind here when I talk about
"Livestock", I am talking about large breed cattle, horses, etc. So you
can see why I am so concerned with Miniature horses.
(2) An
untrained Herding breed of dog such as a Border Collie will put animals
through fences just as quick as other breeds of dogs.
(3)
An untrained Herding breed such as Border Collies can cause
starvation/dehydration
in animals by preventing them from getting to feed and water on a
continual basis.
(4) An untrained
Herding breed such as the Border Collie can cause such continual "Mental
Stress" in livestock that pregnant animals may ABORT. Or fail to get
pregnant in the first place.
(5) An untrained
Herding breed such as the Border Collie can cause livestock/ horses to
kick frantically when even the owner attempts to pick up their hind feet
for hoof trimming. The horse becomes so afraid of anything/anyone
touching it, especially its hind legs or perhaps even the front
region that it will fight the slightest touch.
I
could go on and on but I think you understand what I am saying. These
are all PROVEN FACTS
from untrained Border Collies, not
just other breeds that may cause Mental or Physical injury to livestock.
Remember the big 4
when training any animal. Patience, Kindness, Consistency and
Repetition. All 4 combined never fails to work.
It is up to you, the
owner to take the time to daily work on training this great and highly
intelligent breed of dog. This dog deserves to be trained. He deserves
to work with and for his master. He wants to learn so teach him.
DAILY!!!