The fact that herding-working bred Border Collies excel at other venues is, in my opinion, a result of breeding to a herding-working standard.  Many of these traits which are bred into a herding-working dog are valuable assets in other dog sports.

However, even the best bred pup, when paired with an inept, impatient, incompetent, intolerant, edgy, unyielding handler may end up appearing to have little drive or work ethic.   I am fairly certain of this since I have first-hand experience with it.  Because I did not understand her, I “ruined” my third Border Collie and she would not herd for me.  When I met my husband, I gave him the dog to “try”, albeit I thought it was hopeless.  Because he did not have any formal training, his methods were quite unique and within a few training days, the dog was working beautifully for him.  I also think that a more average dog paired with an incredible trainer/handler can shine above her peers that were born with more natural ability.  This, too, has played out many times with clients’ dogs.  The clients do not have the handling skills that their dogs require and the dog appears to be quite frantic and / or lack luster.  With a competent handler, the dog will shine. 

I feel very strongly that the methods employed by a trainer/handler have a huge bearing on the true potential that a pup will show.  In my opinion, an exclusively-positive reinforcement process is ill suited to a breed whose work ethic is designed into the animal.  In early herding training one needs only to correct the behaviors that are wholly unacceptable and leave the pup alone to feel his instincts turn on.  There is no need to positively reinforce a behavior through luring or coaching.  But, the young dog needs the handler to clearly communicate which actions are not acceptable, and that is often best done through a correction method.  That doesn’t mean that the dog needs to be touched in any way (albeit a few dogs do need physical intervention), and it does not mean that the handler gets angry with the dog, but, it is still a “shut down” action on the part of the handler and it is interpreted by the dog as a correction and the dog adjusts accordingly and moves away from actions that are not allowed.

A young Border Collie is best served learning about boundaries the way that mama-dog explains them, with a warning then a negative consequence if the warning is not heeded.  This process of learning needs to continue throughout the dog’s life, in my opinion, and can be part of learning even during something as dissimilar to herding as Agility training.   I feel that a dog’s experience in learning something should include these rules:  Move in the appropriate direction, you will receive reward.  Move in the unacceptable direction, you will receive a consequence.  In this way, there is no ambiguity.  The “correction”, again, does not have to be physical, but it may be, and it doesn’t have to be severe; only significant enough to change the dog’s mind.  It is a dance that the trainer must perform – constantly shifting back and forth between methods to provide meaning to the exercise for the dog.  Most importantly, this taps into the dog’s natural work ethic, something that many other breeds do not possess at the level of a well-bred working Border Collie.   The less work ethic the student has, the more the methods must include luring and coaching.  When you move to an animal that has no work ethic (such as a wild species like a dolphin), the more one must use a method such as “clicker” type training.  A dolphin has no affinity to humans as a “leader” and has no natural need to submit to the human’s authority.  Dogs, on the other hand, are designed specifically to work for humans and to tap into that need is one way to create a high performer.

Of course, most of the qualities that I attempt to breed into my puppies cannot be measured in a baby puppy (under 8-10 weeks old).  Yet it is fairly common for me to receive inquiries about a puppy’s long-term potential when the puppies are that young.   I do believe that each puppy is different.  But, I also think that a good trainer/handler is able to adjust to the sorts of differences that exist in a well bred litter of puppies.  I personally do not worry myself about whether a puppy that I retain from a litter will have what it takes.  It’s a silly concern.  I did what I could to produce the puppy based on the selection of the parents – then the chips (or, in this example, the genes) fall where they may.  I have never had the same experience twice when working a dog in herding.  They are all different.  Even the three different pairs of siblings that I have kept over the years were quite different in both natural personality and their herding styles.  So, it requires constant adjustment of methods and techniques to help a dog become the best he can become.

I look at acquiring a puppy something like hiring a new employee.  The first step in the process is reading the resume.  It’s a piece of paper with some details about the person’s history.  This is like reading the pedigree and reviewing the health screen data of a potential new puppy.  Then, there’s the interview.  For folks who can come to visit with the puppies to select their pup in person, it happens before the puppies are 8 weeks old.  Pretty much, they are all fairly similar and they are all running about playfully.  There’s little chance to see anything extraordinary during that “interview”.  An interview with a human employee can be just as ambiguous.  Finally, as the boss, you hire the employee and it’s up to you to explain the rules of your office, do the initial training and properly supervise.  There may be behavioral issues that you feel a need to address (perhaps she isn’t all that timely and sometimes gets to work late).  And, you may also find out that she has a fairly bold personality (she seemed more reserved in the interview).  A good employer, that wants to get the most out of his employees, is able to adjust to personalities differences and is equally able to get the employees to work at their best potential.