JBK Border Collies

30/08/2024

That one friend that always shows up Unannounced 🤪😎

26/08/2024

Happy National Dog Day 🥰
From a few of my Border Collies ♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️

23/08/2024

BEST FRIENDS 🥰🥰 Two JBK Border Collies 🥰 Two peas in a pod 🫛 😍 checking in today

19/08/2024

19/08/2024

Today our breed expert Carol Price looks at how well the original Border collie ‘template’ has survived

DOGS THAT STOOD THE TEST OF TIME – The remarkable resilience of the Border collie breed

We have long loved this wonderful old picture (beautifully colourised by one of our followers, Brent Fletcher) of Adam Telfer with Old H**p lying faithfully at his feet and, standing, another of his dogs, Brig Moss.

Many followers will know that Old H**p (1893-1901), owned by Telfer, and originating from Northumberland in the far north of England, is credited with being the main founding dog of the modern Border collie breed as we know it, with so many dogs today tracing their ancestry directly back to him.

Old H**p’s working style and prowess was also legendary, and past observers have been credited with saying of him that “none who saw him ever forgot him. Almost faultless in his work…he was born with such knowledge of his craft that he never required training and went to his work naturally.”

A TIMELESS LOOK
What, perhaps, is just as remarkable is how the basic design and construction of the Border collie has stood the test of time. You could look at the dogs in this picture, from over 120 years ago, and still easily find Border collies today, all over the world, who look much the same. Which is more than can be said for so many other traditional working breeds, whose basic physical construction – and sometimes also, sadly, wider health - has changed so drastically, over time, in the name of prevailing fashion or more exaggerated features for the show ring.

The modern ‘show’ collie, in terms of basic construction, brainpower and level of innate working instinct or character is now – in many people’s opinion – light years away from the original kind of dog this breed started out as. With the emphasis so strongly put on aesthetic appeal, as opposed to a dog who clearly looks like it can still fulfil the working role it was originally designed for.

WORKING BREEDING
What has mostly saved the ‘original’ Border collie over time, in terms of its inherent construction and character, is the more deliberate preservation of working bloodlines.

In the UK, for example, we have the International Sheep Dog Society (ISDS) to thank for ensuring dogs registered with them come down only from past working bloodlines (which can still originate back to Old H**p), or enter on merit – i.e. proven working ability.

Thus, regardless of what other genetic changes may be made elsewhere to BCs for show purposes, say, or other pursuits, the pure essence of the ‘working’ collie remains more fenced off in its own gene pool, which others may then choose to use if they wish to. The same kind of dual registry system for Border collies – i.e. one for working dogs, another for show dogs (Kennel Clubs) – can be seen in many other countries across the world.

The dogs you will see who are owned and worked by our resident shepherd on this page, Cathy Cassie, are also classic ISDS dogs.

While everyone, of course, may have a more personal preference, when it comes to the type of Border collie they most favour, or desire, I have to admit my heart is still stuck on the kind of dogs you see in this picture, with Adam Telfer. Not just their basic construction, and tireless athletic build, but also the soul, heart, grace, elegance, intelligence and unflagging devotion that also comes across so clearly in their whole demeanour. Dogs whose bloodlines still survived and carried on through two World Wars, and more than a century of massive human social change. And who stood the test of time because so much about them was just so utterly unique and special.

Meanwhile, far more on the origins and history of the Border collie breed, and how it came to be the dog we know today, appears in the first book in my BREED APART trilogy, SECRETS OF THE WORKING MIND
All text © Carol Price 2024
Carol Price collie books: In the UK from: https://performancedog.co.uk/product-category/books-and-dvds/authors/carol-price/ In the USA from: https://www.dogwise.com/ # and https://www.cleanrun.com/product/border_collies_a_breed_apart_book_1_secrets_of_the_working_mind/index.cfm In Canada from https://4mymerles.com/collections/books In Australia from: https://gameondogs.com.au/ And in the Netherlands and Belgium from: https://mediaboek.nl/border-collies-a-breed-apart-book-1.html

15/08/2024

Email [email protected]
For information. No questions answered on this thread.
7/13/24

15/08/2024

Let’s set the scene. This may become a bit sensitive for some, and I apologise in advance.

You’re out somewhere. You might be at a restaurant, a bar, a public park on a sunny day enjoying the sunshine with your family. It may be that you’re on your way home from work or trying to catch the bus. You’re just minding your own business.

Suddenly, a person comes straight up to you. They give you anxiety. What is this person going to do? I don’t know! The person is walking with a friend and the friend sees you’re a bit anxious and calls out to you saying “Don’t stress, she/he’s all good!’’ ��But they keep approaching you. And when they finally reach you they randomly hug you. Touch you. Walk circles around you. Start talking to you. Don’t let you leave.

What would you call that? Harassment? Assault in severe cases?
How would this make you feel?

Now, after the initial shock you find your courage and you ask the person to go away. Leave you alone. But the person doesn’t stop and instead touches your arm or your hair. “Oh come on, we’re alright. I’m not doing anything bad I’m friendly! Just let me be around you.’’��You get upset and might push the person. Shout at them. If you’re a bit more of an assertive person you might punch them. Who knows.
�Then the person and the friend get upset. Well? WHY are you here then? What are you doing in this public space if you don’t like being around other people? You have no business to be here, minding your own business in this park with your family without allowing me to sit with you, play with you, touch you, talk to you. Actually, you know what you should do? You should be more social! You should go more often to random groups of people.

_______
Do you see what I did there?
If you thought any of the above situation is not okay (and I sure as heck hope you do), then why do we think it’s okay to let dogs run up to strange dogs and say ‘It’s okay he’s friendly’?

What we do in the dog world is the exact opposite what we should be doing. We label the harassed dog as aggressive and the harassing dog as the victim.

Dogs have emotions. They have feelings. They have their own characters and personalities. There are many, many dogs that are not interested in making new friends or being with dogs they don’t know they can trust.

And sure, some dogs love playing with other dogs. Those are the extraverted dogs. Just like we have people that LOVE hugging or love making new friends even as adults, but to be honest.. how many of those people do you know? I think if you put it into a % its lower than the people that rather just are with their select group of people and be left alone by random strangers in public spaces.

So don’t assume the dog your dog is running towards on the beach, is willing to play with your dog. Being in a public space means you need to have your dog under effective control. And if you can’t call your dog back, it should be on a long line until you can.

15/08/2024

There’s a reason it’s called dog trainING. It’s an ongoing process. It’s not exactly a course we go through with our dogs and that’s it, done for life.

Even as a dog trainer and most professions, you continue your learning and education to keep progressing, gaining confidence in your skills and keep you on top form.

How many of us have forgotten the languages we learnt at school? 🙋🏼‍♀️ I haven’t used French or German since my school days so I can only really remember a few words. If we don’t keep training and practicing with our dogs those neuro-pathways won’t be strong enough to use the skills when we really need them.

Sometimes our dogs need a little refresher on the basics. Just the other week my baby dog Daiquiri needed to go back on the long line and have some reminders on her recall.

Our dogs enjoy training and the opportunity for reinforcement. We did breed them to do jobs after all!

Training is also a great way of mentally enriching our dogs and strengthening our bond with them. My goal is to train with my dogs every day, even if it’s just for a few minutes whilst I wait for the kettle to boil whilst making a cuppa tea, or incorporated into our walks and daily life.

Training is an ever evolving process, so enjoy the journey and make it a fun time for you and your dog!

15/08/2024

Sometimes it’s easy for us humans to only see the behaviour that is occurring in our dogs. It can be embarrassing when our dog is barking and lunging at something, or frustrating when our dog barks at the noises going past our house. In that moment all WE want is the behaviour to stop. But what is going on in our dogs brain? What do THEY want?

We need to look at the bigger picture and look from our dogs viewpoint. All behaviour has a purpose and a function. When an event happens, or stimulus (the thing/object) presents itself this goes to our dogs brain, they PERCEIVE it and come to a conclusion about it. So for example, your dog sees another dog. That’s a piece of information, our dog then perceives this information based on its past learning and reinforcement history to make a conclusion on what is happening and how they feel they need to act. So for some dogs it will be happy times, seen a dog let’s play. For others it will be, oh no dogs are scary I don’t want to be here. It could be happy times but I can’t get to that dog because this leash is preventing me. How the dog perceives the stimulus will result in the behaviour displayed. So for our reactive dogs, here is where we might see barking, lunging, growling etc.

Now we understand where the behaviour is coming from and what the dog is perceiving we can think about how to address any unwanted behaviours. Training starts at the beginning of this chain, at the stimulus and how the dog is perceiving it. Not at the end with the behaviour. So yes, we may want the behaviour to change but what is our dog trying to tell us about how they feel and perceive this stimulus? What can we do to help our dog handle this stimulus in a more appropriate way for us? We need to start here at the beginning instead of at the end.

13/08/2024

This is my Favorite Orren Mixer Painting.
“Miss N Cash”
The Athlete ♥️♥️

12/08/2024

TODAY OUR BREED EXPERT Carol Price considers whether we ever really know what our dogs are thinking or feeling

WHAT OUR DOGS THINK OR FEEL – Do we ever really get it right?

I have spent a greater part of my life trying to understand and ‘read’ dogs – and Border collies in particular. Trying to gauge from their body language and behaviour, or just the subtlest outward signs, what they may really be thinking or feeling inside. As such insights are the key to dogs and humans living more harmonious lives together.

With greater experience of dogs, and time spent watching them, you can certainly gain greater accuracy in reading how their outward behaviour reflects their inner intentions or emotional state. But I am still not sure if we, as humans, can ever get it right all the time. Any more than being human means you will always be able to predict what another human is really thinking, or is capable of. There will always be that margin of doubt.

Dogs, like us, also remain distinct individuals. And may often be driven by more primal instincts and impulses they can exert less conscious control over, or those which may seem far less rational or logical to the human mind. And we have to factor all this into our wider understanding of dogs.

THE EVOLUTIONARY IMPERATIVE
Interestingly, it is only relatively recently, as we have come to live with dogs on more intimate terms, or even as family members, that we have begun to give far more thought to what they are really thinking or feeling and why, as their behaviour has a far more immediate impact on our own lives.

Prior to this, when dogs mostly lived more distanced lives from us – in kennels, say, or outbuildings – there was less motivation, perhaps, to preoccupy ourselves with their deeper psychological or emotional motivations or welfare. Especially if we also did not have to take them out daily into wider human and canine society, where any cracks or flaws in their social characters immediately became more obvious.

Over millennia, too, the evolutionary imperative has always been for dogs to become ever better at reading humans, rather than the other way around. As in their ability to best gauge our likely emotional states, or immediate intentions or expectations of them, often lay their own survival.

PRESUMPTIONS
The presumption that dogs should always be able to adapt their behaviour to our own expectations or desires, without us doing more to understand them in return, can still linger quite stubbornly in many canine circles.

Similarly, people will constantly tell me that their dogs are ‘coping fine’ with this or that particular situation or experience they have inflicted on them, when all the evidence before me in their behaviour, and body language, screams otherwise. So often with dogs we will see what we want to see, or want to believe, about their feelings, as opposed to what is really there. In case it becomes more uncomfortable or less convenient for us to acknowledge.

THE EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE OF DOGS
Incredibly, even the possibility that other animals, including dogs, could experience different emotions, or emotional states, much like ourselves, has only been more widely acknowledged in relatively recent times.

And when Charles Darwin first suggested as much in 1872, in his book, ‘The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals’, he was greatly ridiculed by many. But now the different basic emotional states of dogs – like fear, rage, happiness, frustration or anxiety – are pretty commonly accepted and recognised by most dog owners. So it is just the more sophisticated emotional states or thinking processes in dogs we are still debating about.

WHO SETS THE LIMITS?
I am constantly intrigued by human beings who take it upon themselves to set the limit on what a dog is capable of thinking, feeling or knowing. Without ever having been a dog themselves, or being able to prove, more definitively, why dogs can’t know or feel particular things. And so often, too, the more prevailing or acceptable ‘theories’ you may be given about dog behaviour will clash with what you can see with your own eyes.

For a lot of my life, for instance, I was told things like ‘dogs can’t use powers of reasoning’. Yet time after time I would have dogs who left a ball behind on a walk somewhere, then instantly remember on the way back where they had left it. Or I would be told that dogs don’t ‘grieve’ for other dogs they have lived with or formed strong bonds with when they die. But I have seen this process for myself so many times. Dogs not eating, pining, constantly looking for their lost companion or seeking out the places where they expect them to be, and believe it to be real.

I also believe it is always better to over-estimate, rather than under-estimate, the emotional intelligence of dogs, and what they are truly capable of thinking or feeling, as it is the latter that tends to cause dogs most harm. The human capacity to deem some ‘other’ being inherently less worthy than themselves is also the basis on which so much suffering gets inflicted on both people, and animals, by other humans, worldwide.

A DIFFERENT DIMENSION
When you live long enough with dogs as sensitive and intuitive as Border collies, you also get to realise that they inhabit sensory realms or dimensions far less accessible to ourselves and wherein we, by comparison, are relatively primitive beings.

It is a far more primal and intense sensory world, where their perceptions of things like scent, atmospheric energy, light patterns, movement or sound infinitely outclass our own. And so often with a collie you can feel like that character in a film who can’t hear or see the ‘ghosts’ around you, when your companion so clearly can. So you just have to try to get better at knowing when they are around.

Ultimately, there is no short cut to better understanding what our dogs are really thinking or feeling. It really is all about time spent together and shared experience, persistent observation and most of all a willingness to accept the reality of what they may be telling us, as opposed to what we might find more convenient to believe.

Dogs also know when they are more greatly understood by people. And from that will always come the richest and happiest of relationships you will ever share with them.

Meanwhile, far more on the psychology and sensory world of the Border collie appears in BOOK ONE (blue cover) of my BREED APART trilogy – SECRETS OF THE WORKING MIND.
All text © Carol Price 2024
Carol Price collie books: In the UK from: https://performancedog.co.uk/product-category/books-and-dvds/authors/carol-price/ In the USA from: https://www.dogwise.com/ # and https://www.cleanrun.com/product/border_collies_a_breed_apart_book_1_secrets_of_the_working_mind/index.cfm In Canada from https://4mymerles.com/collections/books In Australia from: https://gameondogs.com.au/ And in the Netherlands and Belgium from: https://mediaboek.nl/border-collies-a-breed-apart-book-1.html

11/08/2024

11/08/2024

Please listen to this MULTIPLE TIMES. Absolutely love Casar 💞

11/08/2024

So someone ask me what is the best disinfecting product for crates and kennel floors. This is it !!!!!
Sorry could remember who ask. So I’m telling everyone 🥸🥸
KennelSol link below 👇🏼
FYI…. BLEACH IS TOXIC, especially mixed with Urine (Ammonia) ☠️

10/08/2024

Nails 😳 Start with teaching your dog from the day you get them. Messaging their feet, giving to pressure and release. Start with a back foot first! They are less sensitive!! Personally I don’t cut my dogs nails. I use a Diamond Bit Dremel to grind them weekly to bi weekly. If your dog isn’t very accepting. Do a back foot. Maybe just two nails. Relax and do a few more in a little while. RELAX, BREATHE, Stop baby talking to your dog. Just carry on conversation in a normal voice. You are making trimming your dogs nails 10 times worse because they are feeding off your vibes.
JBK

09/08/2024

Becoming a better trainer and handler is often separated by the details.
Many trainers work towards the same goals using different methods. When the situation is difficult or a dog is under adversity, the quality of your work and the attitude of your dog, reveals the effectiveness of your process.

How you train and your success as a teacher is not only the method you employ but how you go about it, including your mindset, effort, communication skills and patience.
A dog’s ‘try’ and heart is ultimately a reflection of his desire and enjoyment.
You can often tell from a dogs attitude if his training was positive by how he reacts, especially in challenging situations; if he's happy to fulfill his commands or if he responds with sullenness or avoidance.

Dogs can be trained with many different styles and techniques.
There is a big difference though between a dog that has been trained only through drilling and a dog that has been trained intuitively.
When the work is enjoyable and the task is fully understood, it becomes your dogs idea to want to please.
When he is mentally invested and you have a connection, you get his heart and a partnership is formed❤️

macraeway.com

09/08/2024

WHY WON'T YOUR DOG COME BACK WHEN YOU CALL? Today our breed expert looks at:

RECALL TRAINING & PROBLEMS IN BORDER COLLIES

Is there anything more frustrating than a dog who refuses to come back when you call them, or the sight of a defiant collie bottom disappearing into the distance, while seemingly ‘deaf’ to any command you give them? Dogs who won’t come back when called are also more likely to get into danger, or have less free and fulfilling lives, as a result of having to spend more time on a lead or line.

A good recall in a dog can be a lifelong joy, and a poor one a never-ending worry. So this feature is going to look in more depth at what could have gone wrong with your dog’s recall training, or responses, and how you might greatly improve both.

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF RECALL
Whether or not they always realise it, recall is one of those responses in dogs that so many owners take for granted. Or imagine should just naturally exist. I.e. they see it as just a simple matter of, when I call a dog it should come to me. When my answer to that is, why? Why should a dog come back to you when there might be something ten times more interesting or important – at least to them – to focus on instead? Or, what have you done to make returning to you the most rewarding thing any dog can do, in any situation?

So a basic first problem can be how we approach the action of recall in dogs ourselves. Believing it should either be a completely ‘natural’ (as opposed to more purposefully trained in) response in them, or something they should do out of some kind of deeper 'respect' for us as their owner. Rather than because they have been consistently taught to find this response intensely rewarding.

MAKING IT PERSONAL
Making recall a far more personal issue, or battle, between yourself and your dog, is also where everything so often goes wrong. Because it inspires so much greater anger or frustration in an owner, which then passes down to the dog and - somewhat self-defeatingly – can then make them even less keen to return to you when called, due to the hostility they have associated this response with in the past.

When recall fails, it's also always going to be easier to blame faults in our dog's intrinsic character (e.g. they're naturally more stubborn/wilful etc.) than the quality of our own training.

EARLY MISTAKES
In my experience, the two commonest mistakes owners will make with recall training is not laying down the foundations for good future recalls in their dogs early enough - of which more in a moment - and letting a dog off a lead BEFORE their recall training is complete. You always train excellent recall responses into dogs first, THEN let them off the lead, as long as those responses remain reliable.

Anything else has a greater capacity for disaster. For you give dogs ample opportunity to learn, instead, the rewards of persistently evading your control once off the lead. Which can then become the main lesson they learn and take into future walks with you.

EARLY BEGINNINGS
Recall training should also begin with puppies from the moment you get them. Before beginning it, you must also have the clearest idea in your head about what you wish to achieve. First, you want a dog who more constantly keeps their focus on you - which will always make them easier to recall to you in any situation - and second you want a dog who finds returning to you, on command, a consistently rewarding experience. If you get both these early basic elements right, and keep working on them daily, you have the perfect foundations for a dog with excellent recalls later.

My earliest recall training actually just involves walking around with pockets full of treats and waiting for a puppy to focus on me and follow me, of their own accord, to get one. Next, you need to put specific words and sounds to the actions you wish to keep perpetually encouraging and repeating in your dog (i.e. watching you and coming to you).

So every time a puppy focuses on me I say ‘watch’ and reward this, and every time they come to me I will say their name and a specific word in a specific tone – like ‘come!’ – and constantly praise and reward this. These words/specific voice tone then become the basis of their recall cues or commands later.

It is VERY important to understand that the only thing you want to perpetually reinforce and reward in your dog, in early recall training, is more ready focus on you, and coming to you, of their own accord. And the more consistently you name, praise and heavily reward such responses in your young dog, the more ingrained or automatic they should eventually become.

You will also use your same special recall sound or cue just before you give your dog their meal, or a toy or treat, or go for a walk, or anything they find intensely pleasant, ever further motivating your dog to come quickly to you when they hear it.

NEXT STEP
Next, once this is all going well, go out in the garden with your dog on a long training line, and try recalling them to you with your special word(s)/sound in the same way several times; praising and heavily rewarding them with toys or treats for any speedier responses to you on command. If they won't come quickly try running away from them more excitedly, and getting them on the line to follow you, like it is all one big game. Stick at around 5 to 6 good recall responses then leave it until the next training session.

You never want your dog to discover there is any alternative, or better, course of action than returning to you when called. Nor do you want them to feel more persecuted by too many recalls one after another. Always finish a good recall session with much praise for your dog for returning quickly to you, and a lovely treat, toy and game.

Only from this point can you then try testing your recall training when you go out. If your dog still shows consistently good recalls when out, and off their training line, not only is this a credit to your training but your dog can have ever more freedom out on walks. If your dog's recalls rapidly deteriorate once off the line, they must go back on the line again to stop them further worsening, and to more gradually improve them again with further training.

It is also vital to teach dogs how to maintain good recalls, even in the face of ever increasing surrounding distractions, like other dogs or people, or things they might otherwise want to fixate on and chase. Recall training should also be constantly ongoing throughout a dog’s life; remembering to keep rewarding them, with treats or a toy, every so often on a walk whenever they check back to look at you, or come to you, to keep their motivation to keep repeating these actions high.

WHY RECALL FAILS
Commonest reasons why recall responses fail in Border collies – or indeed any dog - is first, because all the detailed early groundwork of recall training, as I previously outlined, has not been adequately completed, to the point where more constantly watching you and coming to you when called become more automatic, or conditioned, behaviours in your dog, even before you leave the home environment.

And If these behaviours have not been conditioned strongly enough into your dog, earlier on, this means not only that other distractions may rapidly override your training, in their head, once they are out, but no amount of shouting at them on your part will make them return any quicker.

Also keep remembering that your dog’s NAME, in itself, is not a recall command. The only thing that’s a recall command is a specific word or sound you have consistently trained your dog to associate with returning to you, and finding this incredibly rewarding.

Do not try to recall a dog while they are intently sniffing something on a walk, or locked in some kind of more intense encounter with another dog, as their ‘hearing switch’ will be off. Wait instead for that moment when the dog’s attention lifts off the scent, or other dog, and returns your way, if only for a fleeting second – and then try recalling then. If a dog will not respond to a recall command the first or second time it is used, that command is likely to have lost its effectiveness or value, due to the all-important association between the recall action/sound/reward getting weakened in some way. And you may need to begin your recall training again with an entirely different sound or command.

BEING GOOD TO BE AROUND
Getting cross or annoyed with dogs who take their time to come back to you also greatly deters them, in future, from coming back any faster to you another time. Dogs also quickly get wise to owners grabbing them more suddenly by the collar, to put a lead on and go home, and get very good at dodging these attempts to catch them another time. But ultimately you have created this problem via allowing your dog to associate recalls - or returning responses to you - with more negative, rather than positive, experiences.

I hope this feature has made people aware of how much of a 'science' good recall training in dogs can be, how early on you must start the basics of it with dogs and, as well as consistently rewarding good recall responses in dogs throughout their lives, how easy it is to corrupt the same responses by our own less insightful actions or behaviours.

Meanwhile far more on all aspects of collie focus, recall and control training appears in the SECOND book (red cover) in my BORDER COLLIES: A BREED APART trilogy: ESSENTIAL LIFE SKILLS AND LEARNING.
All text © Carol Price 2024
Carol Price collie books: In the UK from: https://performancedog.co.uk/product-category/books-and-dvds/authors/carol-price/ In the USA from: https://www.dogwise.com/ # and https://www.cleanrun.com/product/border_collies_a_breed_apart_book_1_secrets_of_the_working_mind/index.cfm In Canada from https://4mymerles.com/collections/books In Australia from: https://gameondogs.com.au/ And in the Netherlands and Belgium from: https://mediaboek.nl/border-collies-a-breed-apart-book-1.html