What Daily Routines Keep Working Border Collies Focused?

Exercising Your Herding Dog

Border Collies are extremely active from the time they are puppies. Each day, you need to provide them with physical exercise to help them release their energy. It’s recommended that Border Collies get exercise for a couple of hours every day, which could include a walk, playing fetch, running, or other physically and mentally demanding activities. Because Border Collies have so much energy and enthusiasm, dog sports are great and often necessary to provide them with a direct way to offload it. Dogs involved in agility training and interactive play keep their mind busy while they’re letting out their energy. A herding dog has an instinct to herd other animals. Enrichment games that involve herding combine mental exercise with some running. Adding these activities to their weekly routines makes Border Collies much happier than dogs that are stuck at home. They may become anxious and begin chewing on items they’re not supposed to have, simply looking for stimulation. Playing with your Border Collie puppy is also crucial. As a pup, a Border Collie requires regular exercise and mental stimulation. Continue reading to learn more about other ways you can keep your herding pup focused and ready to work!

Keep Your Border Collie Happy

Border Collies are high-energy dogs bred for herding other animals. Because of this, they need physical exercise, mental stimulation, and generally prefer to have a job. A common sign that your Border Collies are not getting enough stimulation is if their behavior changes. They may become agitated and restless, marching back and forth in your home, playing with things they’re not supposed to, or having trouble focusing. If your dog is hyperactive and overly excited, they likely have pent-up energy that needs releasing through physical activity and mental exercise. Making a slight change in their routine should bring instant improvements. A Border Collie puppy has far different physical demands than older dogs, so monitor your dog’s behavior and energy levels and adjust accordingly as they age. Border Collies are strong, loyal, and intelligent companions and are incredible dogs when taken care of properly. To learn more about Border Collies and whether they’re the right dog for you, reach out to the Kuykendall's Border Collies team and speak with a professional trainer.

Building an Enrichment Program for Your Border Collie

The intelligence of Border Collies is what makes them a great working companion. Their herding instinct allows them to see problems and create solutions, which, with practice, can be strengthened over time. These intelligent dogs require physical activities as well as mental exercise. To keep Border Collies focused, create an enrichment program that includes mental stimulation, puzzle games, and more. If a dog as smart as a Border Collie is lacking in mental stimulation, they can become irritable and restless. If this mental boredom continues for a long time, you may see behavior problems like nipping, excessive barking, and trouble following simple commands. Training your dogs to do tricks is a great basic form of mental stimulation. Tricks require the dog to focus completely on the task at hand, and as a bonus, being rewarded and praised for their tricks makes them excited and happy. Scent work teaches your dogs to follow scents. Special treats are perfect to hide, as most dogs are highly motivated by food. Agility training is great for physical and mental exercise as it requires the dog to both focus and exert energy on the activity. Incorporate these activities into your dog’s daily and weekly routine to keep them focused and happy.

Activity Strategies for Border Collies

All of these different activities may start to feel like an impossible task for the owner; however, there are strategies you can use to incorporate caring for your Border Collie into the rest of your life. Instead of focusing on extreme physical activity, break up each activity into segments throughout the day. A daily run is a great way to expend some of the Border Collies' excess energy, but there’s no need to run for three hours. Short training sessions, physical games, job-focused tasks, puzzles, impulse control training, and other enrichment activities can all be combined in short sessions throughout each day. By breaking up their activities, Border Collies won’t find themselves in long periods of boredom throughout the day.

Puzzle Games Keep Border Collies Focused

Puzzle toys and enrichment toys give dogs a unique form of mental exercise. Solving puzzle toys requires hyper focus to remember what they’ve accomplished and figure out the next steps. There are tons of unique puzzle toys designed for intelligent dogs, which help keep them mentally stimulated. From complex puzzle boxes with latches and sliding doors to hide treats into simple treat balls that occupy their time for 20 minutes, these enrichment activities keep your Border Collie concentrated and content with their day-to-day life

Give Your Border Collie A Job!

Giving your Border Collie a job doesn’t have to be as complicated as you think. You may think they need to be herding other animals or chasing geese, but there are simple household activities you can give your dog. Playing fetch, having your dog clean up items on the ground, helping you with chores, or running agility courses are all “jobs” that Border Collies will love. By giving your Border Collie a job that it can complete at home, you can integrate these enrichment activities into your everyday life. Puzzles, enrichment activities, and “jobs “are all necessary parts of maintaining your Border Collie’s energy. Because Border Collies have so much energy and are so physically driven, they can be, at times, impossible to exhaust, leaving owners frustrated with a dog that’s hyperactive after hours of playing outside. Without these enrichment activities, Border Collies may end up becoming stronger and stronger through excess exercise, which is counterproductive for the owner. Incorporating these other activities that challenge the dog's mind works in tandem with physical exercise to ensure they have no excess pent-up energy. It may sound like the point of all of these activities is to completely exhaust your dog, but the real goal is to keep them happy and give them the lifestyle that fits them the most. Anyone thinking of bringing a Border Collie into their life must understand the unique demands that this breed requires.

Information on Kuykendall’s Training Program

Border Collies trained at Kuykendall’s go through a professionally crafted program that we have improved over many decades. We work with puppies, training them to follow commands, focus on their tasks, and understand the difference between work and play. Our dogs go through rigorous training, making them perfect farm dogs, competition dogs, dock dogs, therapy dogs, goose dogs, and more. Contact our team to learn more and get answers to any questions you have on our training program.

0 Comments