Help! Border collies terrorizing horses and chickens

You've gotten some good ideas here, but the basics are that those pups shouldn't ever be loose with the stock!!!! You need a long line, and work with them one at a time, and Never off the line. Every time they do something you don't like, you have to have some control to stop it. Every time they do something, it is a lesson - good or bad, it's a lesson they've learned. If you can't control them, they can't be loose. Period.!!! None of us that raise working dogs allow the bad behaviors to be learned. Pups are either on a line, or penned up. It will take work, lots of it. They are doing what their instincts tell them, but you have to be able to control what they do and when. As others have said, two pups is a recipe for untrained, out of control dogs. They work for and with each other, rather than you. BC's are very receptive to training, but it has to be consistent and firm. They also (as others have said) are not guardian dogs. They are dogs that gather and hold stock - then learn to bring them to the handler. They will always revert to that behavior, given the chance. They may learn to mellow out, but shouldn't be trusted loose with stock until they're old and "chilled out".

Our last BC came from working lines and had a very strong herding drive. But he really did not settle down in to a good working dog until he was around 3 yrs. old. We sent him to several nationally known trainers in our area but there is no way I would ever have turned him loose in the same area as any of our stock when he was a youngster. He would have done exactly what you describe your pups as doing - harassing the stock. We originally obtained him to work sheep and while he did great in a small pen with them he just was not very interested in them out in the field.

We sent him out one day after some cattle and boy did he excel! Turned out to be the best cattle dog we ever had. He was great at not only moving them but could drive them as well. Give your pups some time, keep them tethered to you at all times when you are working around the farm so you can control them. If all else fails, like others have said, they may not make good farm dogs but they may excel at obedience or something else.

Here are a couple of pics of Keb on the job. He was my husband's right-hand man until we lost him to cancer.

For - 4 - solid - months I walked my bird dog pup on a leash so he would not bother the chickens. I scolded him every time he snapped a point at them because pointing is part of how they hunt and he was obviously fixating on chickens as prey. Then I let him off the leash but watched from the window and again I scolded him for acting like chickens were prey. He was one repressed dog!

THEN, one time when I praised him for chasing a rabbit I could see the light go on. Rabbit hunting was allowed! So the it became his beloved past time to chase the rabbits and hunt the raccoons and possums. (fortunately the yard was fenced or he would have run in front of a car: the dog was obsessed with hunting) When he cornered the possums I not only praised him I gave him dog treats once he had calmed down.

He was a very useful dog until he was too old and crippled to patrol the 1 acre yard.

It was a LOT of work when he was a pup, and he was a VERY high energy dog, but he did a very good job for me and it was worth it. Back then I free ranged, and when the neighbor lost 25 chickens one year, that year I only lost one. Also there was very little rabbit damage in the garden. The dog was bred to hunt, and once he realized what prey was allowed he went after it heart and soul.