The Urban Herder - Herding Breed Specialist

The Urban Herder - Herding Breed Specialist Helping herding breeds thrive in The Urban Environment. We cover all of Yorkshire.
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For years, Border Collie owners have been told some version of:“You need to tire them out.”So we walk further.Throw the ...
05/09/2026

For years, Border Collie owners have been told some version of:

“You need to tire them out.”

So we walk further.

Throw the ball more.

Find another activity.

And wonder why we're living with a dog who somehow seems fitter than us and even more wired. 😂

Meeting a Collie's needs isn't just about how much exercise they get.

It's about how they get to use their body and brain, and whether they have enough recovery afterwards.

Mine still run, swim, play, train and generally cause chaos.

But they also sleep. They have quiet days. They get time to sniff, think and do absolutely nothing.

That balance matters.

💬 Comment CALM for my free Calm Collie Checklist.

Border Collie enrichment • Border Collie exercise • Herding breed behaviour • Reactive Border Collie • Collie mental stimulation

04/09/2026

When a Collie is constantly frustrated, I don’t just want to know what happened on the walk that day.

I want to look at the bigger picture.

What does their week look like?

How do they exercise?

Do they get opportunities to problem solve?

Are they constantly exposed to environments they find difficult?

Do they ever get the chance to just be a dog?

Meeting needs isn’t a magic cure for reactivity. A dog can have a brilliant, fulfilling life and still need help with fear, frustration or over-arousal.

But ignoring breed needs can leave a big piece of the puzzle missing.

Training makes a lot more sense when you understand the dog you’re actually living with.

💬 Comment COMMUNITY to join the waitlist for The Collie Collective. Doors open on 27th September, and you’ll be the first to know when you join the list.

Border Collie frustration • Reactive Border Collie • Border Collie behaviour • Breed specific dog training • Herding breed enrichment

02/09/2026

Enrichment doesn’t have to mean buying another toy.

Some of the best sessions I do with my own Collies are built around the things they already naturally enjoy.

Watching.

Searching.

Stalking.

Moving around objects.

Working away from me and then coming back into the game.

The difference is that I’m putting structure around those behaviours rather than just creating more and more excitement.

If your Collie loves movement, for example, you don’t necessarily need to ban every moving game. But it can be worth looking at how you’re using movement.

Are they endlessly chasing?

Or are they getting opportunities to pause, think, problem solve and control themselves as part of the game?

💾 Save this for later.

Border Collie enrichment • Herding games for dogs • Border Collie mental stimulation • Working dog enrichment • Breed specific dog training”

One of the biggest things I teach my Collies isn’t obedience.It’s how to do absolutely nothing.Because a lot of reactive...
02/09/2026

One of the biggest things I teach my Collies isn’t obedience.

It’s how to do absolutely nothing.

Because a lot of reactive and sensitive Collies don’t struggle because they haven’t learnt enough commands.

They know sit. They know down. They might have a brilliant heel when there’s nothing exciting around.

The harder part is switching off.m

If your Collie spends the day watching out of the window, following every movement, reacting to every sound or constantly looking for the next thing to do, they’re already practising being on.

Then we take that same dog outside and expect them to calmly cope when another dog appears. Or a bike goes past. Or a runner suddenly comes around the corner.

That’s a big ask.

For me, calm in public starts at home.

Can your Collie settle while you’re making dinner?

Can they lie down while visitors move around?

Can they watch something happen without feeling like they need to get involved?

Can they have a day where nothing exciting happens and be okay with that?

This doesn’t mean your Collie should never have a job or an outlet. Far from it. They’re a working breed with busy brains, and meeting those needs matters.

But so does teaching them that they don’t have to be doing something all the time.

That they can rest.

That they can watch the world go by.

That not every movement needs a response.

It isn’t the flashiest part of Border Collie training, but learning to settle can change so much for a dog who spends life permanently switched on.

Sometimes the best thing you can teach your Collie isn’t another command.

It’s that they’re allowed to just… be.

Comment CALM and I’ll send you my free Calm Collie Checklist 🖤

Reactive Border Collie • Border Collie Training • Teaching a Dog to Settle • Collie Behaviour • Reactive Dog Training

01/09/2026

My Collies have made this very obvious to me over the years: you can put boundaries around instinctive behaviour, but pretending those instincts don’t exist isn’t particularly useful.

A Collie who loves movement might need to learn not to chase cars.

That doesn’t mean they should never get to interact with movement in a controlled, appropriate way.

A dog who loves to stalk and watch doesn’t necessarily need constant correction for looking.

They might benefit from activities that allow them to use that part of their brain constructively.

The key is finding the balance between fulfilment and boundaries.

We’re not handing them a free pass to chase everything that moves. We’re giving them appropriate opportunities to be dogs, while teaching them how to cope with the real world too.

👇 What’s your Collie’s favourite activity?

Border Collie instincts • Herding behaviour • Border Collie enrichment • Breed specific dog training • Working dog behaviour”

30/08/2026

Bear’s progress is one of those reminders I wish every owner of a teenage Border Collie could see.

He struggled with people. Other male dogs were difficult, and being an entire male added another challenge.

We didn’t rush him into busy environments and hope he’d figure it out.

We built the skills first, then gradually asked more of him.

Now he can walk through busy town centres, settle in a pub and be off lead around other dogs.

Has he become a dog who never has a wobble? No.

That’s not the goal.

The goal is a dog who has the skills, confidence and experience to cope when life gets busy.

Adolescence can be a messy stage, but it isn’t the finished product.

💬 Comment CALM and I’ll send you my free Calm Collie Checklist.

Border Collie adolescence • Teenage Border Collie • Border Collie training • Reactive Border Collie • Border Collie behaviour

If you’re currently wondering what happened to your lovely, trainable Border Collie… welcome to adolescence. 😂Suddenly, ...
29/08/2026

If you’re currently wondering what happened to your lovely, trainable Border Collie… welcome to adolescence. 😂

Suddenly, the recall is questionable. Everything outside is fascinating. Their emotions are bigger, their attention span is shorter, and some days it feels like you’re training a completely different dog.

The temptation is to push harder.

But in my experience, teenage Collies usually need three things: patience, predictability and plenty of practice.

They might know the skill — but that doesn’t mean they can perform it in every environment, on every day, with every distraction.

Go back to the foundations. Make things easier when they need it. Celebrate the small wins and remember that progress during adolescence is rarely a straight line.

💬 Need help with your adolescent Collie? Comment CALM and I’ll send you my free Calm Collie Checklist.

Teenage Border Collie • Border Collie adolescence • Adolescent dog training • Border Collie behaviour • Reactive Border Collie

If your adolescent Collie has suddenly become a bit… much, you’re not alone. 🫠One minute you’ve got a puppy who seems to...
29/08/2026

If your adolescent Collie has suddenly become a bit… much, you’re not alone. 🫠

One minute you’ve got a puppy who seems to be coping brilliantly.

Then adolescence arrives and suddenly they’re noticing EVERYTHING.

Dogs they used to ignore.
People in the distance.
Random noises.
Movement.
Things you’ve never even seen them react to before.

It can be tempting to respond by doing more. More walks, more training, more exposure, more obedience.

But with nervous or reactive adolescent Collies, I’d be looking at three things first:

Confidence — are they getting regular experiences where they can succeed and make good choices?

Recovery — can they come back down after something has worried or excited them?

Decompression — do they actually have enough time away from stimulation to switch off?

Your teenage Collie doesn’t need to be pushed through every difficult situation.

They need opportunities to learn “I can handle this” without constantly being overwhelmed.

And honestly, sometimes the best thing you can do is make life a little easier for a while.

Adolescence is messy. It doesn’t mean you’ve ruined your dog, and it doesn’t mean they’ll be like this forever.

If you’ve got an adolescent or teenage Border Collie who’s suddenly struggling with things they used to cope with, comment CALM and I’ll send you my free Calm Collie Checklist 🖤

Adolescent Border Collie • Teenage Collie Training • Nervous Border Collie • Reactive Border Collie • Border Collie Behaviour

28/08/2026

The small wins are easy to miss when you’re living with the dog every day.

You remember the bark.

You remember the reaction.

You remember the walk that went horribly wrong.

But did you notice they recovered quicker afterwards?

Did you notice they looked at the dog before barking instead of immediately exploding?

Did you notice the check-in they offered without being asked?

That’s the stuff I want you to start watching for.

Especially during adolescence.

Because progress isn’t always dramatic. Sometimes it’s one extra second of thinking before reacting.

And those seconds add up.

💬 Comment CALM for my free Calm Collie Checklist.

Border Collie training progress • Teenage Border Collie • Reactive dog training • Adolescent dog behaviour • Border Collie behaviour

27/08/2026

One of the biggest things I teach my Collies isn’t obedience.

It’s how to do absolutely nothing.

Because a lot of reactive and sensitive Collies don’t struggle because they haven’t learnt enough commands.

They know sit. They know down. They might have a brilliant heel when there’s nothing exciting around.

The harder part is switching off.m

If your Collie spends the day watching out of the window, following every movement, reacting to every sound or constantly looking for the next thing to do, they’re already practising being on.

Then we take that same dog outside and expect them to calmly cope when another dog appears. Or a bike goes past. Or a runner suddenly comes around the corner.

That’s a big ask.

For me, calm in public starts at home.

Can your Collie settle while you’re making dinner?

Can they lie down while visitors move around?

Can they watch something happen without feeling like they need to get involved?

Can they have a day where nothing exciting happens and be okay with that?

This doesn’t mean your Collie should never have a job or an outlet. Far from it. They’re a working breed with busy brains, and meeting those needs matters.

But so does teaching them that they don’t have to be doing something all the time.

That they can rest.

That they can watch the world go by.

That not every movement needs a response.

It isn’t the flashiest part of Border Collie training, but learning to settle can change so much for a dog who spends life permanently switched on.

Sometimes the best thing you can teach your Collie isn’t another command.

It’s that they’re allowed to just… be.

Comment CALM and I’ll send you my free Calm Collie Checklist 🖤

Reactive Border Collie • Border Collie Training • Teaching a Dog to Settle • Collie Behaviour • Reactive Dog Training

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