Robbie is a pure bred border collie, not registered though. He is affectionate with those he loves and hugs and loves nothing more than to be with his people. He loves car and truck rides, but then he becomes overly possessive of his vehicle when another dog is around outside and he will not listen or stop .He nearly goes through the windshield, crawling over everything in the way. I can hurt him to get his attention and still he will not quit. This is very bad. He has a shock collar and I have thought I should put it on him when we are driving so I can control those terrible outbursts. Sometimes I have not been able to get out of my vehicle until the dog is away from the outside.
But, he is learning how to bring the sheep in. It is my fault, not his, that progress is slow, because I do not know how to properly train him. He is cattle bred and wants to push from the front as cattle dogs often do, but for sheep, he needs to come from behind. Robbie is very intelligent, as most border collies are. He learns tricks in one session and remembers them well. That does not always mean he will perform the trick though, not if he does not want to. But he wants to the majority of the time, because he gets praise and pets and love and that is what he enjoys the most. I have not trained any dogs with food rewards, just with love and so far, it has worked. Robbie is very loving and soaks up the praise which makes him want to please even more.
Robbie was housetrained without being house trained. He just did not mess in the house. He knew. He sleeps in the house, but is not allowed in many of the rooms or near any furniture. I believe farm dogs, who run through everything on the farm, should be relegated to a washable surface. There are days when the place he sleeps looks like the outside, the dirt and debris is so thick. Robbie is my 11th border collie and my farm helper and companion. I love that dog!
But, he is learning how to bring the sheep in. It is my fault, not his, that progress is slow, because I do not know how to properly train him. He is cattle bred and wants to push from the front as cattle dogs often do, but for sheep, he needs to come from behind. Robbie is very intelligent, as most border collies are. He learns tricks in one session and remembers them well. That does not always mean he will perform the trick though, not if he does not want to. But he wants to the majority of the time, because he gets praise and pets and love and that is what he enjoys the most. I have not trained any dogs with food rewards, just with love and so far, it has worked. Robbie is very loving and soaks up the praise which makes him want to please even more.
Robbie was housetrained without being house trained. He just did not mess in the house. He knew. He sleeps in the house, but is not allowed in many of the rooms or near any furniture. I believe farm dogs, who run through everything on the farm, should be relegated to a washable surface. There are days when the place he sleeps looks like the outside, the dirt and debris is so thick. Robbie is my 11th border collie and my farm helper and companion. I love that dog!
It has been very hot the last week. Robbie loves water. I was filling the cow's water trough and he jumped in. That was cold water, but he did not mind. He stayed in until the trough was almost full.
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