The Best Ways to Potty Train Border Collies

Nothing ruins the allure of owning a Border Collie more than unsightly potty mistakes on your home floor. You can train your Bordie Collie, at any age, to potty in appropriate places outside. Remember, yelling at your dog for its potty mistakes will accomplish nothing. Only careful and disciplined potty training will further your dog's development.

  1. Consistent Water and Food Feeding

    • Developing a consistent water and feeding time for your Border Collie aids in the dog's ability to urinate at a scheduled time. If you know roughly the time when your Border Collie needs to potty, you can set the dog outside in a designated area for that purpose. This method trains the dog to maintain predictable eating and elimination habits.

    Potty Phrase

    • Phrase words are an excellent way to associate, in your Border Collie's mind, the time for going to the bathroom. Phrase training begins with you deciding on a potty phrase you will say to your dog, such as "bathroom" or "potty" After saying the phrase, you must immediately take your Border Collie to a designated potty spot outside. Your dog will learn to wait for the phrase before going to the bathroom.

    Positive Reinforcement Training

    • Positive reinforcement training involves rewarding or praising your Border Collie whenever it uses the bathroom in an appropriate spot. If you set your dog outside to potty and the dog goes to the bathroom while you are there, pet the dog while lavishing it with verbal praise. You can use treats to reinforce the dog's behavior as well. Border Collies often do not understand negative words or scolding concerning their bathroom behavior. Negative actions may teach the dog that going to the bathroom in general is bad, instead of correcting where to go to the bathroom.

    Confinement Training

    • Placing your Border Colline, temporarily, in a small fenced off space in the house encourages the dog to use the restroom outside during designated times. The dog, hesitant to use the potty in such a small space, is encouraged to wait until you take it outside.