I Concede the Point . . . Border Collies are Easy to Train . . . As Long As . . .

After many years of staring back cross-eyed whenever someone stated that Border Collies are easy to train (for competitive dog sports/performance), I finally concede the point.  Yes Border Collies are easy to train . . . 

As Long As . . . 

. . . you have a Border Collie with a stable and rock solid temperament, training a Border Collie is easy.

 . . . you have a Border Collie who has the capacity to learn to take environmental challenges in stride (running dogs, thunder, etc.), training a Border Collie is easy.

. . . you have a Border Collie who can, without being taught, become intently interested in something in motion and then break his focus away from it to go on with life in his right mind, training a Border Collie is easy.

. . . you have a Border Collie who has natural resilience, training a Border Collie is easy.

. . . you have a Border Collie who is not bothered by the presence of other dogs, people, children, etc., training a Border Collie is easy.

 

. . . you have a Border Collie who trusts you, and can relax and be in the moment with you in every situation, training a Border Collie is easy.

. . . you have a Border Collie who has enough of a sense of self-preservation to be mindful of what he is doing, but not so much self-preservation that he is worried about what he is doing, training a Border Collie is easy.

 

. . . you have the experience to recognize potential issues when the earliest glimmers of their development appear and you have the know-how to casually move the dog past them so they don’t become a problem, training a Border Collie is easy.

  . . . you have experience with other dogs in the sport venues of your choice and you have some idea of how to train a dog to participate in that sport with at least some degree of skill, training a Border Collie is easy.

 . . . you have patience and are willing to work continually, often starting with the tiniest steps of training a behavior, training a Border Collie is easy.

 . . . you are willing to figure out your dog’s learning style and tailor your training to capitalize on your individual dog’s strengths throughout the learning process, training a Border Collie is easy.

 

. . . you are able to recognize when your dog understands a particular skill naturally and with ease, and when your dog needs more time on foundation to master a fundamental before moving on, training a Border Collie is easy.

. . . you have a healthy sense of humor, training a Border Collie is easy.

. . . you know how to let your dog be an active participant in the learning process while providing enough guidance that he doesn’t end up going in circles (physically or mentally!), training a Border Collie is easy.

 

Finally . . . if your personal expectation of “easy” really is, “reasonably do-able without having to take an excessive amount of steps to even make it remotely possible”, training a Border Collie is easy.