Scatter feeding and stuffing is great for mental stimulation. For scatter feeding, start by putting a dry kibble or treat in a toy dispenser and let them try to get it out. Border Collies are very bright, however, and you may need to make the game a little more challenging by hiding their treats around the house instead. Make it increasingly difficult to keep them engaged and interested.
To do this, the only command you really need to perfect is to «stay» as you go and hide treats for them to look for. With our Collies, they took to the game and understood it pretty much instantly. We are quite competitive by nature so ended up hiding treats in most random places (like the bathtub) and they still haven’t lost a game!
20 Jobs for Your Border Collie
These jobs are great for your Border Collie. It’s easy to keep them busy, entertained and happy with some of the activities listed below.
Border Collies love to please you. When they can do this and play at the same time, their day is made. Regular fetch games will keep your Border Collie interested for a while, but an extreme approach will last longer.
Indoor Games for Border Collies
Border Collies are incredibly energetic dogs, so they need a lot of stimulation and exercise to be happy.
This can make it difficult to find activities you can do inside that meet their needs.
The right indoor games for this breed will entertain, excite and get them playing.
Training games with your Border Collie
Border Collies can learn very quickly if the training is fun and engaging so games are an important part of behavior management.
Well behaved dogs are the result of good socialization, early training and positive reinforcement and owners spending quality time with their Border Collies. Dogs that are not properly trained or disciplined often create behavioral problems. If your Border Collie is exhibiting behavioral problems, you may want to consider hiring a trainer or taking group dog training classes. Behavioral or behavior problems can stem from the dog’s natural instincts to guard its food, territory and self-defense and lead to destructive behavior.
Increase Socialization
Socializing a collie is very important for many reasons, mainly to keep it well behaved and naturally friendly to other dogs and strangers. The less exposure your collie has to new dogs, environments, and people, the more withdrawn and potentially aggressive she may become around them.
The second most important reason is, you guessed it… Mental stimulation. Interacting with new dogs and people provides an unparalleled dose of mental stimulation. Butt sniffing, playing, chasing, play fighting and even humming… These are all good for the mind.