Hello and welcome 

Thank you for asking about the BEST BORDER COLLIE CLUB 

The idea has come about because I have been working as a ‘non breed specific’ dog trainer for a number of years and have taught numerous border collies that have struggled to cope in a wide variety of situations. 

They really are a breed apart and are not well understood by many trainers and therefore some owners are offered advice that, whilst it may suit a different breed, certainly isn’t the most effective for a Border Collie. 
I had my first border collies when I was 19, 2 boys from a farm in Derbyshire, bred in a stable and pretty full on but very kind and ‘easy’ in many respects. 

In those days the only dog trainer that anybody had heard of was Barbara Woodhouse….(google her if you are under 40 😂). She was not what we would refer to now as a ‘positive or force free’ trainer !

So what I learned was poor and not useful, mainly anecdotes from other dog owners, tried teaching lead work with check chains etc….but they were happy boys, well loved and who lived to a good age

I had more collies, again from farms, 2 boys, same litter….same story except I wanted to learn how to train and what to train. 

I had the notion to teach them agility…but the sport was very much in its infancy and again, no positive, planned, confidence building training was on offer to me locally, so again….we had fun, we walked miles across the UK and Europe but no real progressive training. 
By now I am living in Norfolk and have seen my dogs age and decline, I suddenly get asked to rehome a rescue border collie (this is a whole story for another chapter🙈) on the back of a newspaper article my neighbour read to me. 

So I collected Bob, then Floss, next I got Red (all rehomed for reasons not their own) followed by posh boy (a planned puppy) Nibs, next came the rehome of Tog …and the arrival of Bee .

So, lots of variety of back story, lots of variety in age, temperament, confidence, skill and attitude….but all border collies

through and through. 

Now I have skilled myself ( and am constantly learning more) with the knowledge, understanding and activities to help my border collies, and yours, to live a fulfilled, happy, confident life where their oh so special traits can be utilised and loved. 
We know that if we suppress any innate instincts the true behaviours will show through if the situations demand. This is certainly true of our clever border collies. 

This is so often why we see the lunging, barking, laying perfectly still, herding and nipping….its what they do when they don’t know differently. 
I have trained border collies to top flight national agility competition standards, to find missing people, to find tiny items in scentwork tasks, to use their herding instincts around games as well as sheep, to work calmly in massively distracting situations and to be relaxed, happy fulfilled border collies. I know what it takes to help our border collies.

At the Best Border Collie Club we re going to have fun together, learning from our border collies and with our border collies. 

We may have sailed through life with previous border collies then suddenly WHAM!!! We get the genetics of thousands of years all poured into one fluffy bundle and life becomes a chaotic chase of nips and barks, lunges and spins.
So here’s what I have planned for us, for your border collie and for you, to build a team that can learn, work and walk together, being relaxed, calm and proud.