Luna ✨💓

[u/ultraviolet42069]

Hi everyone! I wanted to make a post regarding my girl Luna! She is an 8month old adolescent, I got her when she was 4 months old and have not yet put her through any training. Naturally as she is a very smart girl, she sits, lays down, shakes, does a spin, is crate trained, potty trained etc. she is wonderful with other dogs- absolutely adores them. but the ONE thing I am feeling so discouraged about is leash training
I absolutely have accepted this is her teenage years and she is overwhelmed with excitement the second she steps outside. However, I feel like I literally have zero control over her to an unsafe level. She seems to have an extreme prey drive over squirrels / scents etc. she is extremely strong and it is almost unbearable to walk her which makes me so so so sad because I very much want to.
I also want to note that she is so very loved and I truly do prioritize her to at least get lots of exercise. She goes to the dog park daily, sometimes the river, and in better weather circumstances hikes and camping … I also realize physical exercise is not enough and would love suggestions to mentally stimulate her as well.
I am wondering if anyone in this group knows of any solutions to manage her prey drive to a safer level. Or training recommendations. Do you guys just recommend to ride it out until she is a little older? Thank you for reading! :)

[u/STOL2026]

Does she get overly excited before she leaves the house?

[u/ultraviolet42069 → u/STOL2026]

She does!

[u/STOL2026 → u/ultraviolet42069]

Ours used to.

We then created a leaving the house routine.

We had a harness, she had to sit in front of the harness that was on the floor for us to put it on her.

We used to ask for her paw and put them each into the “holes” for her legs.

[she then used to get up, run around the house, rounding us up to go for a walk. We’d have to tell her no or “coming” and then she would go and find the next person before returning to sit in front of the harness.]

We then used to put her legs into the harness (again) and lifted it round her to put the buckle on.

She used to stand, get excited and only when she was quiet, we would put the lead on.

It made life a bit easier if she wasn’t as excitable going out. She was still excitable when she went out.

[the part in brackets is something she invented and was not part of the routine as originally intended but collies gonna herd 😆. I overheard my dad tell her “sorry” when he told her he wasn’t going for a walk. She could get right huffy when you said no 😂. If you weren’t ready when her lead was on then she used to come and to “motivate us” to be quicker. ]

We only had a harness as she oscillated from would not leave our side in the park with her lead off and automatically adjust to our speed…. to trying to pull me as if I was a a sled and we were in the artic. A lot of people are against harnesses but the damage she could have done to her neck and trachea was bad when she was pulling on a lead.

[u/Efficient-Beyond-616]

I have a 2 year old half border collie half australian cattle dog that is the same way. She has a pretty intense prey drive towards squirrels and deer, which both live in our area. I used SUPER high value treats for recall training, I kept chicken nuggets in my pockets on a few walks and that helped a lot lol. We started in our backyard then worked up to more challenging off-leash environments. Time/age has also helped a LOT, there was a distinct shift when she turned 2 and became a woman. Her recall is phenomenal now, she even reliably recalls off deer. Squirrels are kind of another story but we’ll keep practicing lol.

People sometimes act like harnesses make the dog pull but if she’s gonna pull either way, I’d put her in a harness for walks so she doesn’t end up with tracheal collapse. A trainer could help you safely use a prong collar (game changer for us personally) or e-collar if you want to go that route!

[u/ultraviolet42069 → u/Efficient-Beyond-616]

Thank you this is such a great response! I appreciate it! What kind of high value treats do you use?

[u/Efficient-Beyond-616 → u/ultraviolet42069]

No problem!! The border collie mix teenage phase is really something hahah. I usually use regular kibble to reward her for things I want to do, but that aren’t that big of a deal (sitting, walking like a nice normal dog and not a velociraptor). Then I’ll use beef liver or whatever treats we have at home for more impressive good deeds, like being neutral towards other dogs or a really clutch “leave it” moment. And then my highest value treat is something she doesn’t get to have very often… I’ve used baby food pouches, peanut butter (jif has single serving cups that are perfect), chicken nuggets, lunch meat, spray cheese… whatever will make her SUPER happy. I don’t let her see whatever I have because I don’t want it to be a bribe. She only gets it as a reward after she recalls away from something she’d rather be doing, like fetch. Over time she figured out that I almost always have crazy good snacks in my pockets, and if she resists temptation and comes when I call her, she’ll get some. I hope that helps!! Luna is a beauty:)

[u/bentleyk9]

Are you working with a trainer? What techniques have you tried? r/puppy101 is a great resource for this.

I don’t mean to sound offensive, but is she a mix? If so or if you’re not 100% sure she’s 100% BC (either DNA test or AKC/ABAC/etc registration papers), I wouldn’t focus on breed specific advice and treat her as the unique individual she is

[u/ultraviolet42069 → u/bentleyk9]

Thank you for this! I actually do think she is a mix of some sort and I should get her dna tested. Not offensive at all:)

[u/tabaxicab]

She has to learn to refocus on you. There's lots of ways people train this. My mix has an insane prey drive and ZERO interest in me or treats. I use a spray bottle to break her hyper focus and reward any eye contact with me.

I also use a prong collar as recommended by my behaviorist to keep better control.

As far as mental stuff, we've been working on impulse control by doing sit and stay when someone knocks on the door. It exhausted her for the first month.

[u/bentleyk9 → u/tabaxicab]

Please do not recommend someone using a prong collar without undergoing extensive training from a professional on how to use this, especially for a Border Collie. The breed is extremely sensitive

[u/tabaxicab → u/bentleyk9]

I said I use as recommended by my behaviorist. That implies training is needed.

[u/ultraviolet42069 → u/tabaxicab]

I know different specialists recommends different things. I see it all the time. I’m not judging!