While they are rightly considered one of the most intelligent dog breeds, training Border Collies can be quite a frustrating task if you don’t understand their particular traits and idiosyncrasies. It is often commented on the breed that you should never teach a Border Collie puppy a trick that you are not prepared to live with for the remainder of their 12 to 15 years that they will be with you.
The trick to training Border Collies is to be absolutely consistent. Because they can be so perceptive, they often receive commands based on verbal communications AND combined hand signals. Let me give you an example.
If the first time you teach a Border Collie to sit, imagine the scenario, you say sit and without registering it you extend your right hand with your index finger pointing at the dog. The dog sits down and you call him good boy and give him a treat.
The next day he tells him to sit down and instead of extending his right hand, he extends his left and shows him his palm. Most dogs sit, but because the particular breed is so perceptive, it turns its head the way dogs do when trying to figure out what you want.
This is a simplified example, but it gives a general idea of how you can get frustrated with your dog if you don’t adopt consistency in your training methods.