Are Border Collies good with children?
I get asked often what I think about Border Collies living in a home with children. I wanted to share my
opinion here. I am posting this purely as my opinion and what I do with my dogs.
opinion here. I am posting this purely as my opinion and what I do with my dogs.
It is my opinion that a Border Collie living in a home with children is no different than wanting any other breed to live in a home
with children. If the parents who are educated about the breed there should be no problems. I think the biggest issue with a
Border Collie pup and living with kids is the herding aspect. When a BC is young they may start "eyeing" things that move and
that eyeing can turn into herding At first some owners think it is cute that their BC is herding the kids but it isn't so cute when a
30 plus pound BC is herding your kids or neighbors kids. If you do not "allow" your BC to stalk or herd you kids as pups it is
much easier to deal with instead of waiting until your pup is an adult dog. This means you need to stop your pup from herding
the kids when he is a pup. What I like to do is catch a pup in the thought of herding. Thought of herding? Yep as soon as I see
those eyes lock onto something and that head start to drop I get the pup to break his/her train of thought.. or instinct I guess you
would say. I will clap my hands, yell something like "WEEE" or whatever will get that pup to look at me so I can redirect him to
something else such as a game of ball or a good chew toy. If the pup is an older pup I will stomp my feet and tell him in a
growling tone "NO!" and then redirect him to something else. The key is to catch the pup before he tries to go in to herd the
kids, the bike, the cat or whatever he is going for.
I am a mother of 4 boys and to date NONE of my dogs herd my children. This does not stop them from wanting to herd
livestock but they do not herd my children no matter if my kids are running around or riding bikes, skateboards, etc. Herding of
the children is NOT allowed at my home. I have always had working bred BC's and my dogs do work sheep. Currently I have
both working, show and working/show crosses all love to herd, none herd my kids.
I have heard people say it is impossible to keep a working bred BC from herding kids because it is instinct. Yes it is instinct to
herd, but what does that have to do with herding children? I mean a BC with a lot of herding drive and no training will not win a
trial or be any use on a ranch. So in other words don't blame mother nature. This is one of those times when you should take a
rolled up newspaper and whack yourself in the head a few times repeating I will NOT be a lazy dog owner and I will train my
dog! :-) You can leave the newspaper out if you want but at least remember to Not be a lazy dog owner and TRAIN your dog.
Yes is can take work but that is part of owning a dog.
===============================================================
Just like with any breed Border Collies do have teeth and they can choose to bite a person and from what I have read most
bites are to children and are by a dog that child knows or lives with. Why? I think most dog bites and children are due to the
parents not being educated about the breed, not investing the time into training that dog properly and not teaching that child
DOG manners. YES there are some dogs who are just mean or aggressive dogs but those are the minority.
Children need to know how to live with the dog and learn space boundaries. We all have our days where we just don't want to
be messed with and dogs are no different. When we don't feel like being sat on we tell a person to just leave us alone and
dogs typically set off different signals we may not pick up on so quickly so chances are the dog sent the signals but the child
didn't understand or was not paying attention to those signals. Dog language is not the same as people language.
Just like with any breed your children should also learn a healthy respect for living with a dog. Kids should know the rules for
playing with the dogs, what is allowed and what is not. Your older kids should learn to not allow the BC pup to herd them and
not encourage the pup to herd them. ===============================================================
I personally raise my pups around my children in my home full of daily running, jumping, playing, loud and everything else little
boys do. My house is full of kids and Border Collies and I would not have it any other way.
~~Trish Boswell
G FORCE BORDER COLLIES
LOUISIANA, USA
with children. If the parents who are educated about the breed there should be no problems. I think the biggest issue with a
Border Collie pup and living with kids is the herding aspect. When a BC is young they may start "eyeing" things that move and
that eyeing can turn into herding At first some owners think it is cute that their BC is herding the kids but it isn't so cute when a
30 plus pound BC is herding your kids or neighbors kids. If you do not "allow" your BC to stalk or herd you kids as pups it is
much easier to deal with instead of waiting until your pup is an adult dog. This means you need to stop your pup from herding
the kids when he is a pup. What I like to do is catch a pup in the thought of herding. Thought of herding? Yep as soon as I see
those eyes lock onto something and that head start to drop I get the pup to break his/her train of thought.. or instinct I guess you
would say. I will clap my hands, yell something like "WEEE" or whatever will get that pup to look at me so I can redirect him to
something else such as a game of ball or a good chew toy. If the pup is an older pup I will stomp my feet and tell him in a
growling tone "NO!" and then redirect him to something else. The key is to catch the pup before he tries to go in to herd the
kids, the bike, the cat or whatever he is going for.
I am a mother of 4 boys and to date NONE of my dogs herd my children. This does not stop them from wanting to herd
livestock but they do not herd my children no matter if my kids are running around or riding bikes, skateboards, etc. Herding of
the children is NOT allowed at my home. I have always had working bred BC's and my dogs do work sheep. Currently I have
both working, show and working/show crosses all love to herd, none herd my kids.
I have heard people say it is impossible to keep a working bred BC from herding kids because it is instinct. Yes it is instinct to
herd, but what does that have to do with herding children? I mean a BC with a lot of herding drive and no training will not win a
trial or be any use on a ranch. So in other words don't blame mother nature. This is one of those times when you should take a
rolled up newspaper and whack yourself in the head a few times repeating I will NOT be a lazy dog owner and I will train my
dog! :-) You can leave the newspaper out if you want but at least remember to Not be a lazy dog owner and TRAIN your dog.
Yes is can take work but that is part of owning a dog.
===============================================================
Just like with any breed Border Collies do have teeth and they can choose to bite a person and from what I have read most
bites are to children and are by a dog that child knows or lives with. Why? I think most dog bites and children are due to the
parents not being educated about the breed, not investing the time into training that dog properly and not teaching that child
DOG manners. YES there are some dogs who are just mean or aggressive dogs but those are the minority.
Children need to know how to live with the dog and learn space boundaries. We all have our days where we just don't want to
be messed with and dogs are no different. When we don't feel like being sat on we tell a person to just leave us alone and
dogs typically set off different signals we may not pick up on so quickly so chances are the dog sent the signals but the child
didn't understand or was not paying attention to those signals. Dog language is not the same as people language.
Just like with any breed your children should also learn a healthy respect for living with a dog. Kids should know the rules for
playing with the dogs, what is allowed and what is not. Your older kids should learn to not allow the BC pup to herd them and
not encourage the pup to herd them. ===============================================================
I personally raise my pups around my children in my home full of daily running, jumping, playing, loud and everything else little
boys do. My house is full of kids and Border Collies and I would not have it any other way.
~~Trish Boswell
G FORCE BORDER COLLIES
LOUISIANA, USA
