A graduate of Penn State University, Hayley Ninnis hopes to have her own company some day. Outside of her studies, Hayley Ninnis is busy training her new border collie rescue, Zeke.
Border collies learn quickly and love to please their human friends. With a little training, they can master a wide range of tricks and tasks. Consider these training tips as you work with your border collie.
- Chose a training space where distractions will be minimal. Border collies are highly intelligent, but they are also easily distracted. For this reason, it is also a good idea to include only one human in early training sessions.
- Use positive reinforcement. Border collies should be rewarded with verbal praise and their favorite toy or treat after successfully completing a task. Bad behavior should be discouraged with a firm “no,” rather than shouting or hitting.
- Be consistent. To help your dog learn tricks, use the same command every time. When discouraging unwanted behavior, such as getting on the couch, it is also important to correct the behavior every single time.
Border collies learn quickly and love to please their human friends. With a little training, they can master a wide range of tricks and tasks. Consider these training tips as you work with your border collie.
- Chose a training space where distractions will be minimal. Border collies are highly intelligent, but they are also easily distracted. For this reason, it is also a good idea to include only one human in early training sessions.
- Use positive reinforcement. Border collies should be rewarded with verbal praise and their favorite toy or treat after successfully completing a task. Bad behavior should be discouraged with a firm “no,” rather than shouting or hitting.
- Be consistent. To help your dog learn tricks, use the same command every time. When discouraging unwanted behavior, such as getting on the couch, it is also important to correct the behavior every single time.
