Collies in General

About collies... 

There a few differences with training a collie (rough or smooth) as compared to training other dog breeds. There also can be differences between different 'lines' of Collies. Many of the traits are exactly the same (ie. wanting to please their masters) but there are some differences that are important to know. Many of these things can cause difficulty if you do not know their origin, but they can also be a Collie’s greatest strength. These are the traits that we see consistently in our program at this time.

1. Collies are sensitive.
•They can never be hit, beaten, choked or yelled at. This hurts their feelings, which makes them shut down and often walk away or become afraid of you. They have a strong sense of right and wrong, if they know they have done wrong, a stern word or ‘break from training’ will suffice.
i. Con – If they were making an effort at what was requested and they get disciplined, they will shut down and walk off. Continued punishments if they are trying to please you may result in utter resentment and refusal to work for you.
ii. Pro – a stern word from their handler is often more than enough to stop an unwanted behavior.

2. Collies strive to understand the concept.
• They try to understand the why, not to simply memorize what you are asking (the what).
i. Con – They appear to take longer to ‘learn’ something and do not speed up their compliance with many repetitions.
ii. Pro – Once something is learned, it is in their minds forever. They are strong generalizers and can think their way through novel types of problems when needed (especially in emergencies). They also learn the concept of something (ie. Brace) and with practice can think to apply it in a great deal of different situations automatically, without always needing a verbal/visual cue.

3. Collies like to think about something before they do it.
• They take time to think prior to doing something, whether it is the first time they are being trained or the thousandth time you have asked.
i. Con – When training or performing a task, you must be patient. They need to be given time (count to 5 in your head) prior to you issuing a re-cue, luring or disciplining. They are often just thinking, rather than not understanding.
ii. Pro – Every single time you ask a Collie to do something, they will give it careful thought and often get very complex cues correct due to this thinking process.

4. A Collie will do something because they love you and want to please you, rather than because of any specific drive (tug, retrieve, etc.).
• They want to work because you ask them and working on developing a ‘drive’ may not increase the speed or nature of their compliance.
i. Con – A Collie may not really appear that interested in toys, fetching, etc. They rarely can be ‘tricked’ into doing something by using a ‘drive’ (ie. throw the ball, throw the ball, throw the keys).
ii. Pro - Even if a Collie doesn’t want to do something, it will often look at you with those ‘please don’t make me do this’ eyes. If you say gently, ‘yes, I want you to do it’ they will put their head down and do it, even if they don’t like it. They will also rarely go away from their people and get into trouble (ie. following a smell into the woods) because they would rather be near their people.

5. Collies are often ‘light-switch’ dogs
• They will lie at your feet and chill out, but as soon as you get up to do something they are up and ready to go.
i. Con – Does not ‘look’ rearing to go, all the time. They often wants to sleep ‘touching’ their person (to be aware when it is ‘time to go’), which may be a trip hazard when you first get up.
ii. Pro – When not working, will go into a virtual ‘sleep’ mode.

6. A Collie cares deeply for most living things
• They are especially attentive of children, babies and animals.
i. Con - That crying baby in the supermarket can drive them nuts because they want to go and help it and cannot do that when working. If your Collie’s tail goes up and it focus is suddenly elsewhere, see if there appears to be anything in trouble in the vicinity (ie. crying baby, screaming children) and that’s likely where the dog’s focus will be.
ii. Pro – They are incredibly gentle with babies, children and animals. When in a home with children, they will take special care and attention. They want to make sure that all animals in a home (ie. bunnies, children) are taken care of. They LOVE fetching diapers for babies or performing tasks that result in babies, children or animals being happy.

7. A Collie’s favorite game in the world is chase.
• A collie may like food, playing with a toy or fetching, but their favorite thing in the world is to chase someone who is running around (‘tag’ style).
i. Con – Extra training may be needed for a collie to quietly watch a children’s soccer game, especially if one of their children is in the game (see previous point, in that the other children are chasing their child)
ii. Pro – It’s a fun, good way to exercise. It is also a very quick way to reinforce (ie. when the Collie catches the Frisbee out of the air or gets the keys, you turn and run so that they can chase you. Also creates a very quick fetch return or solid ‘emergency’ recall).

8. Many Collies have a ‘teenage’ period.
• They act like they have never heard the word ‘sit’ (or ‘insert cue here’) in their life. This will pass. But ohhhhh my goodness is it frusterating when it hits.
i. Con – You may get very frustrated with your dog when it suddenly forgets every single thing you have taught it.
ii. Pro – Even in their worst teenage phase, they are still eager to work.

9. It is not uncommon for collies to be aloof to people they don’t know (but lots of our dogs are what the trainer called 'pathologically friendly') 
• This may or may not happen. But many collies do not care about other people, unless they have been taught that ‘other people’ are great (sources of reinforcement) from a young age.
i. Con – Unless taught otherwise, they may not ‘like’ being cuddled by strangers and may be indifferent to them (especially adults). But this does not translate into aggression, as it is simply a preference.
ii. Pro – If taught from a young age to ignore other people, then this maintains into their adult training without them ever becoming fearful or aggressive.

10. A Collie that does not want to move, will not be moved.
• When a Collie has decided it does not want to move in a certain direction, they somehow gain the mass of the sun; seeming to have gained the weight of a 200lb. dog.
i. Con – Getting them onto a grooming table, into a bathtub or forcing them to lay down may be a trial. They generally do not respond well to man-handling. This includes being forced into a sit/down (they will push back) or being grabbed and put into a position (ie. under a chair). They resent it and do not learn from it.
ii. Pro – They are natural balance dogs! They naturally brace against someone pushing or pulling on them, so they can brace people many times their own weight.