What Type of Owner does a Border Collie Need?

The best type of owner for a Border Collie is one that welcomes it into their family as young pup and meets all its needs with love and commitment.

If you are Border Collie owner who likes to laze around the house in your leisure time or spends lot of time out with friends, then your Border Collie is not going to be a very happy dog.

Or, if you have young children and you are inexperienced with the Border Collie breed, how are you going to train your dog? What are you going to do when you have problems with your dog herding the children? Do you have any idea what to do to train your Border Collie puppy to give it mental stimulation and exercise?

A Border Collie is a hyperactive breed that is intelligent and thinks. A Border Collie is happiest when it is with you and has a job to do....

Is a Border Collie Right for You?

If you want a dog that:

• - is a medium size and weight
  - is robust and easy to groom and care for
  - is high energy and thrives on a lot of exercise and training
  - can learn almost anything once it is trained
  - will play for hours
  - is a loyal and loving companion
  - is highly intelligent

If you want all these things in your family pet, then a Border Collie may be the right dog for you and your family.

If you do not want:

• - an intense, full on dog that will drive you crazy with destructive and obsessive behavior if you do not exercise and mentally stimulate it
  - a dog that is compulsive and chases things that move including cars, children, and so on
  - a dog that develops separation anxiety when left alone too often- a timid dog if it is not well socialised
  - a dog that leaves its hair everywhere

If you do not want any of these things, then a Border Collie is probably not the right breed of dog for you.

What makes Border Collies Difficult to Train

Border Collies are incredibly intelligent and all they want is to please their pack leader and they learn quickly. A Border Collie is a difficult dog to train if you have never trained one before.

Because Border Collies are so smart some will be:

• - manipulative and end up training you
• - dominating and wilful and challenge you for the position of pack leader
• - so sensitive they shut down if you are too hard on them
• - hyper-reactive of everything around them

Border Collies anticipate your every move and will lie, sit, and come at any movement of your hand or mouth
If you are not prepared to at least take your Border Collie to the local dog obedience club for training then maybe a Border Collie is not right for you.

On the other hand, if you are looking for a dog to be part of your life, to go with you everywhere, be part of your active family, or to compete in dog sports with, then you may just be the perfect pack leader for a Border Collie.