Rusty pet pawrents worry they're teaching their 1-year-old Border Collie bad habits when her energy knows no bounds, they all learn that growing up looks differently for every pup

Briana Viser • Writer and Editor

Jul 30, 2026 6:45 AM EDT

Puppy training can look differently depending on the pup, so there's no rushing or expectation, only love, gentleness, and care.

Everyone is different. Every single person is wired differently, built differently, and needs different things. It may seem tempting to follow a formula, or put someone in a box, but it won't lead anywhere good. Everyone needs their own way of doing things, and even two siblings who grow up together in the same area, with the same parents don't always grow up into the same person. In fact, they usually end up so different that it's like they didn't have the same parents at all! In the story below, we take that notion and apply it not to people but to dogs. The family below adopted a border collie. She's one now, which is still a young puppy, but they want to make sure they're not teaching her bad habits while she's still so malleable to learn. First of all, happy birthday to this cutie. Secondly, the matter of the situation is that she's too hyper with toys.

They don't want her to be bored and unhappy, but they also see how she's not able to calm down. She's still crazy, hyper, and absolutely obsessed with playing fetch or goalie. She even tries to play with their cats, and just runs around going crazy if she doesn't get attention. She's not destructive, but they still worry about her high energy and if there's something they can do to help her. Her sister is completely different. She's more like a cat than a dog in the sense that she's super chill, she sleeps at their feet, and she doesn't even care about toys. She even naps all day the way a cat does!

It's their first dog in 25 years, so they're a bit rusty. They question whether they can harness her energy in some other way, and if there is another way then what is it. They know they can't get rid of the cats, so they go to ask the internet what is there to do. Read the full story below.

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