Border Collie training depends on consistency in every word and action. Training can involve house training and simple obedience training common to any breed of dog, or specialized training for using your Border Collie as a herding dog. Border Collies are highly intelligent dogs that need solid training; always wanting to be busy, Border Collies crave tasks to perform to keep them out of trouble.

Generally speaking, dogs of any breed between seven and twelve weeks of age are most likely to take to training. Younger puppies are likely to be too immature to retain any training. Waiting until after your dog is more than twelve weeks old to begin even basic training often means that you will need to first "un-train" any unwanted behaviors. Basics of socialization and obedience, commonly referred to as "Puppy Kindergarten" or other very basic training is the best way to begin training your Border Collie. Wait until around six months of age to start formal obedience training, after your Border Collie has successfully learning basic commands such as "sit" and "stay."

Border Collies are very intelligent and intuitive dogs that learn best when training is very consistent. Using the exact same command or signal helps reinforce the proper response. Even a slight difference in a gesture or tone can be "over analyzed" by a Border Collie and interpreted to mean something entirely different than you intended. All praise should be extremely enthusiastic and almost theatrical in nature. Border Collies thrive on this kind of praise and respond much better to positive reinforcement than punishment or negative reinforcement. To get your Border Collie to repeat her good behavior you must really let her know it was good. To get her to stop poor behavior, ignore it entirely.

Border Collies have an innate drive to herd. All purebred Border Collies have this instinct, although the degree each dog will display varies. In the absence of sheep, other pets or children will suffice, and this is where most pet Border Collies get themselves into trouble. For this reason, Border Collies generally are not recommended for homes with young children. Older children can be taught to act and react properly around a Border Collie to minimize potential issues, but the Border Collie simply cannot be trained not to herd. In homes without young children, this herding instinct can be channeled into activities such as flyball or agility training, making the Border Collie a good choice as a pet.