Are you a couch potato who likes to lounge around all day and do very little? If so, you are certainly not a suitable owner for the Border Collie, who is undoubtedly a workaholic! While this does not mean that he has to work in the traditional sense of herding, he does need plenty of challenging activity to keep him busy. Because of this, he is not an easy breed to live with. He will demand a great deal from you, so you must be prepared.
A Border Collie owner needs to be both physically active and mentally alert to meet this dogs needs. I urge you not to consider taking on a Border, however besotted you are by the breed, if you are not prepared to do everything in your power to keep the dogs mind and body active. If you confine him at home for long periods, he will almost certainly become destructive and may well become depressed, too. With a Border Collie, you have a veritable dynamo on your hands!
If you enjoy walking or jogging, that will be a big plus in the eyes of your Border Colliejust as long as you take him with you! Always remember, though, that a Border Collie will herd anything that moves, and that can include passing cars! This means that you must be prepared to train your dog well and provide for his safety. No matter how quickly a Border Collie learns, and this is a bright breed, these things will take dedication on your part. You have chosen a highly intel ligent breed, and you will not be able to appease a Border Collie by spending a lot of time training and exercising him one day and then slacking off the next. He will expect your time, attention and energy regularly. Remember that a bored or neglected Border Collie is likely to develop behavioral problems.
Your Border Collie will grasp concepts quickly, so never teach things that you do not want him to learn. If you have children, although it may be very tempting to train your dog to herd them up from time to time, he may just carry this to the extreme, in which case you will likely wish that you hadn't encouraged him in the first place. It is not unknown for a Border Collie to nip a child, purely to discipline the child as a member of the flock. This will not go over well with you or your child, so you must be firm and authoritative with your dogin a kind way, of course!
Indeed, a Border Collies herding instincts can be rather challenging for the entire family. A Border Collie is likely to treat a child as a straying sheep that has broken from the fold. It is essential, therefore, that as a good parent and Border Collie owner, you teach your child how to react to your dogs behavior. It is best if your child stands still and does not run away, for the dog will react accordingly. If the child runs away, the dog will instinctively take control of the situation and your child may be injured, albeit unintentionally, as a result. This experience can be very intimidating.
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