Dear Alecia,
Today, my dad dropped off a load of garbage at the dump and came away with a puppy that someone had left behind. Our best guestimate is that the puppy is about ten weeks old, and we think she is a Border Collie. Fortunately, we have livestock and room for her to run, but if my dad had not just retired we would be unable to keep and handle a stock dog of questionable parentage, ability, and intent. As it is, though, she’s already won her way into our hearts.
My question is, how soon should we start training her, and what is the best way to start? We absolutely cannot have an out-of-control dog that chases our own or neighbors’ livestock. Also, we have an elderly family dog with a rather antisocial temperament and a very willful nature. How do we ensure that the two get along and that the elder does not train the younger out of all usefulness, obedience, and respect for boundaries? We are dealing with two very different breed types here. Sorry for the long-winded question! –Katrina
Dear Katrina,
Congrats on your newest family member. There is never too early to start training a puppy. If that puppy was with its dog mom, he/she would be trained every day, consistently throughout the day. While your puppy can only handle about 30 seconds to 1 minute of training at a time, if you break your day down into mini-training sessions throughout the day before you know it, you will have a well-developed puppy who has a far greater attention span and is far more consistent due to your consistency. Just work gently with the pup and start teaching her small things where you show her what you want so that she starts learning your words and her commands. Each day you can increase the time you spend by another 30 seconds. In no time she will be working for you for 5-10 minutes.
The thing with border collies is that they must have a clear leader who assists them in learning to harness their energy and who understands their need to work. That is after all what they were born to do. In terms of livestock, spend some time every day with your pup around livestock, have patience as your pup will naturally be curious and may either want to chase or run away. If you take your pup around livestock everyday she will begin to get used to it, the younger the better as you want her to be friendly and courteous.
If she lunges toward the livestock or goes to chase, simply find a way to use your body to get in front of her and block her from being able to chase so that she pays more attention to you and diverts her attention from the livestock. Having her around them everyday and rewarding her for having patience around livestock will assist her in knowing she does not need to chase. In addition, make sure she gets plenty of exercise and you may want to consider agility training with her to increase her focus on a totally different kind of work.
As for your elderly family dog, allow her to correct the pup on basic dog manners, as this will ensure a level of respect that only another dog can teach. Make sure she is not too rough on the pup. Allow the pup to learn clear boundaries but make sure that the humans do the majority of the individual command training.
Stick with it, be consistent, help her focus with small sessions throughout the day and have a clear picture of what you want her to know and be confident in yourself that you are doing a great job.
Paws Up!
Alecia
Alecia Evans is the inventor of The Walk In Sync™ Humane Dog Walking and Training System with her exclusive 5 Minute Manners Makeovers using the Walk In Sync™ Harness and Accu-Grip Leash, along with her Walk In Sync™ 3 Easy Steps to teach any human/dog duos to Walk In Sync in just minutes.
The former host of the award-winning GrassRoots Aspen TV Series, The Whole Animal-An Alternative Approach to Animal Care, Alecia takes a natural approach to dog training and health care. Her work has been featured on Fox and Friends, The Sandra Glosser Show, NY 1, and in Aspen Magazine, DogTipper.com, The New York Daily News and Woof Report.
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