We now find that most days our phone, and email, are very busy with calls from prospective new owners and supporters but also collie owners looking for help and advice. These calls can be of a minor nature or some urgency due to a serious behavioural problem.
Rarely do we have sufficent personal knowledge of the dog and household concerned and without this "hands on" involvement it could be counterproductive and maybe even dangerous offering specific advice. In addition despite our experience with dogs, and of course collies, those of us dealing with phone calls are not qualified behaviourists. Having said that we will always try to help in any way we can, whether by suggesting simple things to try or usually by pointing the person towards the help needed which can be given by a qualified expert in that area.
There are many individuals and organisations offering training and/or behavioural advice and a search of the internet will find a confusing array of advice. Do take care before commiting to any type of course that the advice and skills you will be shown are not only in the best interests of your dog but also will suit his or her own individual needs - for example a dog who is nervous, scared or aggressive with other dogs may not benefit from being thrust into a class environment without careful assessement by the trainer/behaviourist beforehand.
Asd a result it's difficult and potentially unhelpful to provide that individual advice by phone but we are happy to discuss your collies difficulties and provide some general information about the unique nature of collie behaviour, please contact our office on 01889 577058 Monday to Friday between 9am and 3pm. (The office is closed for phone calls at weekends on Bank Holidays).
If you have problems with a collie that you rehomed from BCT then please do call our office as above or email and someone will contact you - reception@bordercollietrustgb.org.uk
Other sources of advice are as Facebook grpup - Collieology founded by Carol Price who has also written several books on the subject (available in The Collie Shop)
A very interesting article - So What Is Your Collie Not Good At.....? gives a wonderful insight into the reasons for some collie behaviour. The author of this article, Sue Kinchin, subsequently wrote a book - You And Your Border Collie, donating all the profits to Border Collie Trust GB. A highly recommended read for every collie owner at just £11.99. Available from Amazon or from The Collie Shop
