The herding instinct cannot be “trained” out of a Border Collie. Children need to be taught not to run from the dog. This is successful with older children, but may prove difficult with a younger child.
A herding instinct is a behavioral trait bred into the Border Collie over several hundred years.
The Border Collie’s herding style is gathering/fetching and it herds by circling livestock and bringing it back to its handler.
A Border Collie tends not to use force initially, but when non-physical methods of moving stock don’t work, the Border Collie will escalate to increased force – barking, nipping, and eventually gripping and biting in its attempts to manage stubborn livestock.
The Border Collie’s herding abilities are amazing. View the video of Border Collies at work below.
Sheep herding requires physical stamina and endurance and can entail day long running across miles of farmland. If you can’t provide work for your Borer Collie to do, you do need to find another outlet for your dog to channel his boundless energy, and you need to have the time to do something with your dog every day.