Border Collie pup problems

[chazmod]

Hi,
I have a 4.5 month old BC pup and am having some problems training him.
I have the following problems.
*he pulls cloths off the clothesline and will often grab hold of the clothes you are wearing, pull and tear them
*he does not seem to be able to learn the come command, and will only sit sometimes on commmand, mostly when standing directly in front of him.
*i am having difficulty teaching him the down command. when this is said he tends to sit instead.
If anyone has any solutions to hese problems please help,
thanks
chazmod

[Brown]

Hello Chazmod,

As for the pulling of clothes, i would suggest a choker chain. Whenever it bites on the clothes, just give it a good tug on the chain and firmly say "NO!".

I used to be really against the idea of choker chain, till i send my dog for training. The choker chain works wonders if you use it correctly. I sent my dog for training when it is about 8 months old. Till today, he is about 2.5 years old, he still remembers the commands, except for some mischief. http://petshub.com/ubb/smile.gif

For the "Come" command, http://petshub.com/dogs/tr/come_here.shtml

For the "Down" command, http://petshub.com/dogs/tr/lay_down.shtml

There are quite a compliation of trainings for dogs here. http://petshub.com/dogs/tr

Hope this is of help to you. Do keep us informed of the progress and good luck!

[Heinz57]

Hi, Chazmod :-)

He's still a pup and full of energy so be patient with him as much as possible. You are, indeed fortunate, because according to many surveys, Border Collies are the most intelligent breed dogs, so once he's trained, he'll never forget.

As far as the 'No' command is concerned. I'll tell you what worked for me and you can try it if you wish.

My lab/mix pup, Snowball liked to play tug-o-war with socks. If she was anywhere near you when you picked up a sock, she would attach herself to the other end. When that happened, I took her head firmly in my hands, looked her straight in the eye and growled the word 'No'. I even showed my teeth. I didn't yell, I just growled in a low voice, 'No'.

I know it sounds wild, and you're probably thinking that you wouldn't want to do this in front of friend or relatives, but it works. LOL

The reason behind it is this: Your dog doesn't know you're human. He just thinks your another really big, smart, two legged dog that he can't understand. In a pack, the lead dog will make eye contact with another dog, and if that other dog looks away, that dog is submissive to the leader of the pack. Well, YOU are the leader of your pack, you see? When you force eye contact with your Border Collie you're telling him you're the leader of the pack and what he is doing is unacceptable to you. If you continue to do this when he's nearby often enough, he'll get the point real fast.

Also remember that 1. He's a kid and doesn't know any better until you make him understand. 2. He's extremely intelligent and gets bored really quick if he doesn't have anything to do. You let him choose what he wants to do, and he gets destructive with your clothing.

So play with him as much as you can. Constantly reward him for the good things he does. When you say 'no' and immediately after he releases whatever he's got, tell him he's a good boy and scruff up his neck or throw a ball or give him a small treat. Trust me, he'll pick up on positive reinforcement right away.