Dog Health Questions: Can anyone suggest a good resource for border collie training?

I have a border collie puppy. She is absolutely adorable, but is proving to be the most challenging puppy I have ever had to train. My "generic" dog training books aren't breed specific or even appropriate for this family of dog breeds.

I used to have an Aussie. It just seemed like training came naturally to her. I swear this Border Collie has the K9 equivalent to ADHD. The training methods I used with my other dogs just don't seem to be working well. Anything from leash behavior, to potty training, to biting.

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Recommended Answer:
I totally know where you're coming from! Got a Border Collie too, Shadow is now just 1 year old and I have been persuing proper obedience classes with her since she was 4 months old. In my obedience classes, we use the clicker method, which is a means to target the desired behavior, then you add a cue (i.e. sit) and eventually phase out the clicker. This is a positive reinforcement based method and I have found it to work extremely well with my border collie. I still do corrections, but this method means I don't need to do them nearly as often.

As for that high energy drive, now that my bc is a year old, we have started playing frisbee with her. This is totally free, with the exception of buying a few good frisbees (preferrably ones made for dogs as they are gentler on the mouth than normal types). There are competitions around (just had one this past weekend in Comstock Park, totally free to participate) and it's a great way to excercise a border collie and give that endless energy a focus. I actually take Shadow out to play a few rounds of frisbee before training classes and I find that little bit helps her focus much better during our obedience training.

Border Collies are definitely a handful of a breed, but dedication from you to channel that endless supply of energy will help in your training process. Of course, a good trainer to help you learn good methods is also priceless.

Also, you may consider talking to your breeder. A good breeder will also be an invaluable resource and help get you on the right track. They should be able to suggest good trainers and methods that will be beneficial to you and your dog.

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• Border collies are high energy dogs and really need a lot of exercise. They are also extremely smart and get bored quickly. I suspect the training methods you are using are just plain boring to her. You are dealing with a super-smart kid who needs the accelerated gifted student class because she is acting up.
  
  My suggestion is to go through basic obedience training in a class setting and then get her involved in a dog sport like agility or flyball. This will release her energy and get her responding to commands. She literally needs more challenge.
  
  As for housetraining, I strongly recommend crate training. it works really well and I have had great success with it.