Training an Older Border Collie

I think it's often easier to teach an older dog. They have more of an attention span than a pup does and tend to be more tuned in to pleasing you.

Border Collies, as they get older, are usually EASIER to train than pups. Like Renee said, they have a longer attention span and they are more in tune to you. They might take a bit longer to catch on than a pup would, but in the long run I believe they are the 'shortcut' to training, because you don't have to deal with puppy attention span (or lack of it) and puppy hyperness..

Dealing with the Hyper-Pup, are you, Grace? How's little Dakota, that adorable little bouncing boy doing?

Umm.. HE'S great, but I haven't had a full night's sleep or sat down for more than 10 minutes at a time in a LONG time. (It's hard to believe I've only had him for 2 weeks, it seems like an eternity of puppyhood ahead)
Oh, and if I have to yell "DON'T EAT THAT!!" one more time... I'll probably just have to yell it even again, because he doesn't listen the first 400,000 times I say something.

My brother brought the movie "The Punisher" over last night, and he said I would like it, so I popped it in the DVD player and started watching it. I am not exaggerating, I had to re-start EVERY SINGLE TRACK because I would get up and unlatch the puppy's jaws from something. So, I put him on the leash about halfway through the movie because I was tired of watching the same thing over and over, and when I thought he was being still, he had 'scissored' through Ripley's nice leather leash, and was eating the rug. So I put him in the crate, 5 minutes later I hear barking, barking, barking, howling, barking, and I can't hear my movie. Mind you that EVERYONE else is in bed, and this is about 2AM. So I bring the crate into the room with me and use a squirt bottle on him every time he makes a peep.. And of course, during all of this, I'm missing the movie. About 3 hours into the 2-hour movie, I'm too exhausted to watch so I go to bed, and when I wake up in the morning my brother went home and took the movie with him.


But right now he's actually peacefull and sleeping, for once.. I hope he'll sleep until at least 6AM this morning, he's been whining, barking and pacing in his crate at about 4AM lately, and it drives me crazy because that's usually just a couple hours after I go to bed.

Want to raise a puppy for me and give it back when he's a year old?

But yeah, he's just being a pup, I can't say that I absolutely adore everything he does, but he'll be a great dog once he gets a bit older.

Sounds like you need a Bimmer to raise your puppy! I don't know how we'd have survived Shiva without him. Kharma (from DefenderFilas) is a much easier puppy to raise. She doesn't normally want to get up at the crack of dawn - much like her Aunt Buffy, who had to be dragged out of bed at 10:00 a.m. even as a pup. She's been waking me up lately, but that's another story Bimmer's the perfect nanny. He keeps order, but plays with them, too, and teaches them how to behave and be good dogs. And hunt! Oh, he's taught them to hunt!

I was considering asking my deadbeat neighbor if I could borrow his Carolina dog to keep Dakota in check. She reminds me of a strict old nanny.

How's your Dad taking to Dakota? Are they ganging up on you yet?

Dad likes him, he doesn't exactly care for Dakota's loud, rambunctious behavior but he like the dog himself.

And yes, they ganged up on me a LONG time ago. (Ripley and Koda I mean) Dakota can rip things up with great force, and Ripley can jump onto almost every surface in the house.

It's going to be interesting when Dakota realizes just WHAT he is. I've seen videos of Border Collies (and Aussies) working sheep, jumping up on the backs of the sheep in the corral and running across the top of them. Oh, you're going to have so much FUN when Dakota starts jumping. He'll figure it out sooner since Ripley's setting such a great example.

But, hey, at least he won't weigh 140 pounds! OOOF! Shiva's learned to jump/climb up on top of the hay bales and follow Bimmer around on the rows. She hasn't worked up the nerve to try some of his longer flying maneuvers yet, and I seriously hope she doesn't - she really doesn't have his aerial abilities! I REALLY hope she never tries to walk the barn rafters like he's been known to do, either.

See what kind of fun Dakota has in store for you?

ROFL I can just picture Shiva jumping up on something like a car or truck and caving it in.

I can't wait until he learns how high he can jump.. It'll be interesting trying to keep him in the yard, but he'll be so much FUN!

Oh, SHE HAS! You should see the roof of Charley's little red Toyota truck buckle when she jumps up on it! The hood is dented, too! The thing that almost got her killed was the gigandamundo Fila footprints from the back bumper, across the back window, roof and front hood of the 928!

And people complain about CATS jumping on the hood!

I find a rolled up newspaper to be one of the best training tools. My grandfather showed it to me a long time ago. I am not talking about beating the dog but rather a gentle slap to the muzzle. Although a bloodied nose would be going a little to far.

OMG what a character.. Too bad we don't live nearer to each other, I think Shiva and Kharma and Bimmer could teach Dakota a few things.

JamesPeterson.. WHY would you slap a dog with a newspaper while you're trying to teach it tricks?? Teaching tricks should be fun and entertaining for the dog, not miserable.

Bimmer teaching him things could be very good. . . Shiva and Kharma . . .? Some things you just might not want him to know. ROFL! One thing about it, he'd be the strongest Border Collie in the history of the breed just from playing and tussling with the Monster Puppies.