FOCUS, DRIVE AND MOTIVATION
If there’s one thing life with Border Collies has taught me both in the city and on the farm it’s this: they are born with focus and drive, but it’s not always on us. Their attention is naturally wired to the environment, movement, sound, patterns, potential jobs, anything but their human sometimes. And motivation? That’s not just about having energy. It’s about giving that energy a direction. A Collie with loads of drive but no direction will find their own “job” and that often means chasing cars, herding joggers, or reacting to everything that moves. But when we give that drive a structure and purpose, it becomes a powerful force for connection and learning.
Whether I’m out in the fields working dogs on sheep or coaching owners through their reactive Collie’s training struggles via Zoom, I see the same pattern over and over: dogs (and people) do best when they know what’s expected, why it matters, and how it’s delivered to them.
Focus is a skill we develop by meeting our dogs where they are not where we wish they were. It starts with letting go of rigid expectations and tuning in to what our dog is capable of right now. A dog that’s over-aroused, anxious, or overstimulated isn’t “being stubborn” they’re likely over threshold, and asking for more than they can give in that moment only sets everyone up for frustration.
Instead, we build focus through tiny wins: looking back at you instead of sniffing that patch of grass, choosing to stay with you when a person walks past, pausing before pulling at the end of that lead. Each of those moments is a brick in the wall of connection.
Add in consistent cues, clear, repeatable signals your dog can learn to trust and now you’re speaking a shared language. It’s about offering predictable patterns and rewards, so your dog learns that paying attention pays off.
Focus without motivation is not possible though.
Every Collie I’ve known has had drive. You see it in their eyes, their movement, their intensity. That need to do something, to solve a problem, to take action it’s hardwired. But drive without direction is like a powerful river without banks: all that energy spills everywhere, and often in ways that leave owners overwhelmed.
That’s where motivation comes in not just as fuel, but as a steering wheel. It’s our job to shape it, to give it purpose. It’s our job to lear what makes them tick and use it to channel that drive and to build focus.
Motivation is deeply individual. For some dogs, it’s chasing a ball. For others, it’s the opportunity to stalk or move something. Some Collies come alive when they feel understood when their person sees them, listens to them, and responds in a way that makes sense to their brain. And just like us, their motivation changes. Also what works on a quiet morning walk might fall flat in the middle of a busy park. Hormones, weather, health, training history, even your own energy they all play a role and we need to acknowledge that in our training journey.
Real motivation starts with relationship. It’s rooted in routines, in clear communication, in knowing how to offer the reward and when, not just having pockets full of it. And it doesn’t take a 4 weeks training course to build, if you Border Collie motivation is not just pleasing you, it’s going to take some work to get there.
And when that happens, you stop being just a handler. You become a partner. That’s when the real magic begins.
I’m going through all this with Tali, my 10 months old puppy which hopefully will be my herding partner but that I would also like to train in competitive obedience. She has drive, it’s in her lines, it’s in her brain.. she loves to respond to movement, she likes her food enough but when it comes to perform exercises for me she struggles to channel that drive and we fall apart.
I’m working hard on reward delivery, on knowing how to make things clear without asking too much of her so she sees the power in the rewards I’m offering without overwhelming her! We are getting there but it took a lot of study on my part on how to make it happen, and this is my job, so I understand the frustration you must be feeling if you have a dog with drive but that drive doesn’t deliver into focus and motivation!
I got you…I understand.
We can do this together, I can show you how I did it every time! Don’t think that because I’m a dog trainer things come easy and my dogs get trained in a few weeks. I go through the exact same journey you go through. And every single time I learn something more that I can pass on to you.
Do you feel like your dog’s drive needs channeling and that is what is missing in your dog training journey right now? Get in touch!
