3 untrained 2 year old border collie

Question
We have 3 untrained border collies, they were purchased 2 years ago for my step son by his grandmother.  He was out during the summer and she bought them.  He played with them trained them then had to leave to return home.  She pretty much just feed them and made sure they received their shots.  The vet had to come to the farm to give them the shots.  They have a large play yard and barn.  She keeps fresh food and water for them.  She still works so she only gets to see them once a day to give them a treat.  They will come to the fence for the treat and she can pet them for a few minutes.  I can only get them to come to the fence and see me in the cool of the evening.  If I bring a treat once in a while they will take it from me.  Only a few times have I been able to pet them.  I have purchased a choke collar and leash, I plan on seperating them and working with them one by one.  I will only be able to do this on weekends because she lives 250 miles away.  Do you have any advice? I have slowly been going into there large area, sitting in there talking to them every chance I get.  They respond to my voice now by wagging and running up to the fence or around me if I am in the pen.  

Answer
Hi, Kathleen. I'm wondering, are these dogs going to stay with the grandmother or is the stepson going to ever get them? Why on earth would she have bought two dogs for someone who was only going to be around for a few months? Please don't interpret what I'm about to say wrong. I do not mean to come across as harsh or rude, but the grandmother must be awfully busy to only have time to dump food and pour water in their bowls and give them a treat once a day, and not spend any more time with the dogs. While I don't doubt that the dogs are being cared for and not neglected in the sense of the word, these dogs are basically living wild in their pen, and it sounds as if they are only there to be fed and vetted. They are serving no 'purpose' other than existing. Does that make sense? Being that they have been living with basically only their own company for the past two years, it may be very difficult to get them to bond with people, even though your stepson did spend a few months with them as puppies (I'm assuming they were puppies when the grandmother got them). However, if you are truly serious about training them, I would recommend that they be separated and kept separated (ie: they should not be able to even see each other) at all times until they are both fully trained. Do not tie them up, as this could make them aggressive; instead, they should each have their own kennel. I do not know what kind of stores you have in your area, but I got my kennel from Tractor Supply Company. It is 7 1/2 feet wide, by 13 feet long, and 6 feet high. We also purchased the roof kit for it (see http://www.fencemaster.com/accessor.htm). I think Lowe's carries the same brand of kennel, but I'm not sure how much they charge. I paid about $190 for it at TSC. It's not hard to put together, but you will need two people, and the box is heavy, so you may need a strong man to get the two kennels out of your vehicle and carry them to wherever you're going to assemble them. The dogs should, of course, have a dog house and access to food and water inside the kennels, but watch where you put the doghouse, as they might discover they can get on top of it and jump out of the kennel! 8^o LoL

Border collies are extremely smart animals, and do best if they have a 'job' to do. What kind of farm is it that they live on? Perhaps they can be trained to help the grandmother with any livestock that she has, or to help her inside the house if she has any special needs. After they're trained, perhaps they can go and live with your stepson, since they were, after all, a gift to him to begin with.

Have you ever trained a dog before, Kathleen? I ask because of the limited amount of time you're going to be able to spend with the dogs. It's not going to be easy, and it's going to take quite a while, only being able to train for a short time on weekends; ideally, you would want to spend time with them each day, reinforcing what you've already taught them. It may be easier and cheaper to have a local trainer in the area take them and get them trained for you. Remember, though, training never ends. Even if the dogs are trained when you get them back from the professional trainer (or after you've spent many months with each one), if they go back to living the way they are living now, all of that training time and effort and money is going to go down the drain. They will need to be interacted with every day so that they do not forget what they've learned, and to maintain that bond with humans. Otherwise they will revert back to the way they behave now.

Again, I hope I have not come across as being too harsh, or worse, rude. That certainly was not my intention, but it's so very hard to convey attitude over the internet, that sometimes the way things are written can come across the wrong way due to the reader not being able to hear inflection and tone of voice, and see facial expressions. If I have offended you in any way, please accept my apologies, as I did not mean to.

I wish you luck with the two dogs, and will be more than happy to give any specific training advice that you need, if you still choose to try and train them yourself.

Kristen