Before you bring your new puppy home, you need to have a plan of action to ensure that everything goes as smoothly as possible.
Here is a list of things to consider:

Choose a vet

Decide who you will use for your puppy’s shots and care. Did you know that you cannot walk your puppy until they have certain shots? This is to make sure they do not come into contact with any other dog or their urine and feces since they could get sick without the protection of the vaccines. You may also choose to have them spayed or neutered when they are old enough.

Food

Decide which food you will feed them and where you will get it. There are some very good options for frozen raw food as well as kibble.

Training

Think about how you will train your Border Collie. You can choose to read articles and watch videos to tackle the job yourself, or you can hire a trainer to work with you. Training for a Border collie puppy is very important because they are very energetic and need to be taught discipline. We would highly recommend hiring an experienced dog trainer so that you can watch and learn from them while they use techniques that are specific to your dog.

Play time and toys

How will you entertain your Border Collie? These are work dogs so they need a lot of exercise and have to be kept occupied otherwise they might damage your house or dig up your flowers in the back yard. Chew toys are essential to keep them from chewing on your shoes or possessions and interactive toys like balls, tug toys, and mind games will be needed to keep them busy. See all the best toys we have tried with our border collie and see videos of her playing with them here.

Prepare your home

Make sure there are no holes in your fence so that they cannot get out of your yard, and check on the internet to see if you have any plants that could be poisonous to a dog.

Sleep

Where will your dog sleep? Some people find it best to put them in a kennel overnight, while others prefer to give them a bed in a particular room of your house. Depending on the type of property you have and the climate where you live, you may want them to sleep outside all the time.

House Training

How will you train your dog to go to the bathroom outside and not make any mistakes in the house? Some people use puppy pads to train them indoors, but then they might assume that all matts and carpets are for going to the bathroom. We feel it is best to train them in one spot in the back yard to minimize damage to your lawn, especially if you have a female dog. Their urine can cause your lawn to have many spots that are burnt and that doesn’t look very good. However, if you do allow your dog to use the entire yard, it really helps to fertilize your lawn at least 3 times a year so that it can be healthy enough to overcome the spots.

Barking while walking

When your dog has all the proper shots, you will want to start walking her at least a couple of times a day. Watch your dog’s body language when approaching another dog or other people. If they appear to be nervous or aggressive, try and distract them with treats and attention while praising them for being good while passing the other dog. This will help to desensitize them to their fear and actually make them enjoy meeting other dogs and people because they will be rewarded. If this doesn’t work, you may need to resort to using a muzzle temporarily, and eventually you will only have to show them the muzzle when they are starting to display bad behavior, and they will stop because they do not want to wear it.