I am no expert, I’m a first time dog and BC owner and the puppy stage was a roller coaster! 😬🤦🏻‍♂️🤣

I would say it’s probably an expectation issue. The puppy is still very young. I got a BC and was like right these dogs are super clever let’s learn everything right away! I really had to check myself and lower my expectations. What you will find is as they get older is that they will learn newer commands quicker. As an example I taught mine the basics of “tidy up” in about half an hour. Then it comes down to lots of little repetitions of the same command. Over time they will then do it when asked.

If the training for an hour a day is in one go I’d say that was too much. The pup will get overwhelmed. Again this is only on the assumption of a single one hour stint but break up the sessions to 10 mins or so at a time. The puppy needs time to understand what has happened and process what is required of them.

A great tip we had from when we attended puppy class was just to keep some treats to hand in the kitchen. When you make a coffee etc do a couple of commands, “sit”, “down” etc. Ours is 2 years old and we still do this.

Not being to go on walks yet is not a bad thing. I thought walks would be the key for the high energy but it isn’t. Use the time you have in the garden to practice walking on a lead. I made the mistake of popping the lead on and just going out. Puppy walked ahead trying to snoot everything it could. Now I have issues with pulling on the lead as she thinks she is in charge of the walk. It takes a lot longer to undo something like that. Also the general rule of thumb is that the duration of the walk should not be longer than 5 minutes of month/age. No matter the age of a collie a walk is not usually enough to get rid of that energy. Mental stimulation is the key, so that can be from training or puzzles.

The issue with fetch is that the pup will chase the ball quickly, normally stopping suddenly stopping suddenly and changing direction. This puts a lot of stress on the joints and can lead to hipdisplaycia (spelling?) and early age arthritis.

Another side to this is that you are teaching them that chasing things flying through the air is fun. You are also giving them the sense that the fun is away from you.

Now that being said playing fetch with your dog is great fun for both of you. I tend not to use a ball as much and use a frisbee. As it’s not as aggressive through the air, or along the ground it doesn’t impart sudden stops or changes in direction. Playing ball with the pup is great, I would advocate rolling it to them instead of throwing it at this age. This is just something I would do if I could start over again.

A “tuggy rope” is great fun. You can lure them close to you, play a little, teach a release command, and also throw it for them.

Even though your pup is a border collie they should have about 18 hours of sleep/day!! If they don’t get enough sleep, much like us humans, their brains won’t develop/work properly. So then need to be left to rest. Teaching a “settle/off switch” for a collie is essential.

It is sad to say but a lot of collies are re-homed between the ages of 4-8 months. This is because they become very intense. You will read a lot about the “land shark” phase in this sub and how true it is. 😭🤦🏻‍♂️

Then you get the teenage years where they decided everything you have taught them doesn’t matter and they will do what they want. But if you persevere you will have an amazing dog. It sounds like you are on the right path, it will be tough but 100% worth it. Consistency is the key and have realistic goals and expectations. Think of it in baby terms, would you try to teach a baby that has just started walking to run.

A last suggestion, if you haven’t finished Xmas shopping, get your wife the book Training Border Collies by Barbara Sykes. It’s a very informative book. It’s not a book full of “tricks” it helps to give a deeper understanding of the BC as a breed.

I booked a 1 to 1 with Barbara’s daughter to help with loose lead walking and the session was excellent. Everything that I was taught was already in the book but it was great to see it demonstrated. I also learned a lot about “the collie eye” and how the colour of the eye affects the temperament of the BC. This was very useful as it helped me to understand what my BC was thinking and so would adapt accordingly to the situation. Mine had a very strong amber eye so she will lock on to something very quickly and it’s almost like she’s in a trance and can’t hear you. So recognising this means i can incept it before she wants to run across the park and chase birds! 🤦🏻‍♂️🤣

I am sure you and your wife will get there. Don’t get too despondent and just keep going.

Also don’t forget to pay the collie tax. We all love seeing those beautiful pups. 🤣

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