Although the Rough Collie is highly intelligent, it can still be challenging to raise well. It sheds heavily, may have a relatively fragile constitution, and can become ill easily. Trainer He Jun has shared many insights about how to train this breed more effectively.
He Jun is known in China as an early builder of positive training methods and is a senior level pet trainer. He has worked in dog training centers in Hong Kong and with the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Australia, and he has also served as a training consultant for a number of professional pet magazines. The following ideas summarize his approach to Rough Collie training.
What is positive training for Rough Collie behavior?
Most people grow up with the idea of rewarding correct actions and punishing wrong ones. But the core of positive training is different: reward the correct behavior and ignore the incorrect one, without even giving the dog a disgusted look. This is one of the biggest differences between positive training and traditional training, which often relies on punishment.
The goal of punishment is to reduce unwanted behavior, but animals and humans do not share the same behavioral logic. Some things humans think are unacceptable are not understandable from the dogs point of view. For example, when a Rough Collie barks at a stranger, many people punish the barking. But if the same family lived in an isolated rural area, they would probably want the dog to bark as an alarm. Dogs entered human society in part because barking is useful. It warns people of danger. If a dog barked and was punished, it would not necessarily think barking itself was wrong. It might only think the performance was not good enough, and the barking could even intensify.
Over many years of experience, positive trainers have found that punishment often increases unwanted behavior instead of reducing it. Toilet behavior is one example. Some Rough Collies do very well as puppies, but after one or two mistakes in adulthood, punishment can cause the entire elimination habit to collapse. Dogs are not machines, and occasional mistakes are normal. The same is true of urinating on the bed, chasing cars, chasing children, or guarding food. Many of these behaviors become worse when beaten.
Punishment has many disadvantages. Even if the dog understands it, punishment only says what the owner does not want. It does not explain what behavior the owner would prefer. Positive training, in contrast, uses simple methods to obtain the desired behavior, making the process easier for both dog and owner.
Another issue is force. Before discussing force, it helps to understand the broader definition of punishment. Any aversive stimulus, anything the dog dislikes, functions as punishment. Some owners force their Rough Collie through paw wiping, brushing, blow drying, injections, or grooming procedures. From the dogs point of view, these can all be ongoing aversive experiences. Physical hitting and scolding go beyond correction and become mistreatment. Even things owners think are affectionate, such as forcing the dog to shake hands or accept being hugged, may still feel coercive to the dog.
How do you train a Rough Collie to use the toilet on schedule and in the right place?
One reason Rough Collies can live harmoniously with humans is that they can learn to hold urine and adapt to our living arrangements. Toilet training is one of the most important parts of behavior training, and one especially important principle is that punishment must not be used. Some puppies are brought home very young and expected to eliminate perfectly on schedule, but at that age they are basically like infants. No one would punish a human baby for not controlling urination perfectly.
Before the dog comes home, the owner should already prepare the place where the Rough Collie is meant to urinate. The first location where a dog urinates in the home is very important. The dog should be taught to eliminate through reward. In a typical living room of about twenty square meters, a dog toilet area may only be 0.24 square meters, so expecting the dog to find that small area immediately is a challenge. This is why positive trainers often begin with a pen or fenced enclosure and a very small controlled area. Common equipment includes a fence, dog toilet tray with a mesh top, travel crate, dog bed, water system, and very importantly chewing toys. Some people use cages instead of airline crates, but crates often provide a better sense of security.
When the puppy is about to wake up, the owner can wake it, open the crate, and reward it the moment it urinates outside the crate in the correct place. Every reward opportunity should be captured. Puppies of different ages sleep for different lengths of time, so timing can be planned around those cycles. As accuracy improves, the fenced area can gradually be enlarged. If the dog continues to eliminate accurately in the larger area, the owner can then add a signal so the dog learns to eliminate on cue.
If no cue is added, some owners notice that the dogs elimination is delayed more and more, because the dog learns that once it finishes, the walk ends and it has to go home. That can make the dog postpone the behavior intentionally.
He Jun also points out that elimination in dogs is not only waste removal. Dogs are scent based social animals, and urination is part of scent exchange. It is almost like a social network for dogs. A dog urinates on a landmark, another dog smells it, and then perhaps urinates there too. This social function means that owners should distinguish between a genuine house training problem and an emotional or social need being expressed through urination.
If an owner catches the dog urinating in the living room and hits it, the dog may not learn that it should not urinate indoors. Instead, it may learn not to urinate in front of the owner and begin going behind sofas or on beds. That is why punishment is not a workable solution.
How do you teach a Rough Collie not to chew household items?
First, determine whether the chewing happens mainly when the owner is not at home. In behavior work, two behaviors are especially good at self reinforcement: barking and chewing. Dogs often find both behaviors soothing. They are stress release behaviors, just as humans may smoke or bite their nails under pressure. Positive trainers often find that dogs chew most when left alone. Rough Collies are social animals, and isolation can create stress. Sometimes they simply miss the owner, and some of the objects they chew carry the owners scent. The dog has no concept of the objects monetary or emotional value. It only knows that chewing helps reduce stress.
Because either barking or chewing must be allowed some outlet, many owners choose controlled chewing. Suitable chew toys should be provided, ideally with food integrated into them. Some owners say their dogs already have many chew toys but do not like them. Often that simply means the toy is not combined properly with food or movement. Food dispensing toys can be especially useful, because they keep the dog engaged for longer.
He Jun criticizes the common habit of feeding dogs at a fixed time in a bowl and letting them finish instantly. A dogs nature is to search for food. If the entire daily task is finished in one minute at the bowl, the dog may spend the rest of the day with nothing meaningful to do. From the dogs point of view, it makes no difference where food is placed, so long as it is available. Owners use bowls because they seem hygienic, but trainers often recommend hiding or placing food inside chew toys. In this way the Rough Collie gradually learns to focus on the chew toy instead of chewing other household items.
The dogs total daily food amount does not need to change. It can simply be distributed through multiple food toys so the Rough Collie has purposeful activity as part of daily life.
What if a Rough Collie suddenly barks at the outside world or under the sofa?
Barking at the outside and barking at the sofa are not exactly the same issue. Dogs hear far better than humans, so a Rough Collie may bark outside because it hears footsteps or another dog even when the owner hears nothing. Barking under the sofa may relate to one of the dogs fear periods. Dogs go through several fear phases in development. A dog that has walked past the same trash can every day may suddenly bark at it one day because a fear period has begun. Owners cannot always predict when these phases occur, so during such times it is best not to make big life changes such as moving house or traveling if it can be avoided. In other cases, the dog may hear insects, mice, or some other sound that people cannot detect.
What if the Rough Collie goes with anyone instead of following the owner?
First, always use a leash outside. Second, this behavior is seen more often in young dogs. A young Rough Collie is naturally curious about other dogs and wants to approach and learn, which is normal. If an adult Rough Collie still shows the same problem, the owner should consider the relationship between owner and dog. Excessive punishment can weaken that bond. Another cause may be too little interaction. The dog should learn that the owners presence is more rewarding and interesting than that of other people.
We cannot discover every problem or solve every difficulty. The only real solution is to treat the Rough Collie with a better attitude. Humans and dogs cannot communicate through language in the same direct way, so we must observe carefully. Too often, animals are punished, misunderstood, or even made to pay a terrible price before humans finally understand what they actually need.