Board & train
Does board and train help with herding children?
Herding is a job, not a vice. Many dogs bred to move sheep see children sprinting across the yard and read it as work, so the circling, the crouch and the heel nip can look purposeful. A board and train cannot un-breed that. It can work on the stop, the recall and the place that give you a way to end the shift, and show you how to give the brain something better to do.
Last reviewed October 4, 2026
Stop before chase
A stop, a recall and a job that is not the kids.
On-Leash Foundations, two weeks at $1,865 plus GST, lists heel, place, sit, stay and down, and working around everyday distractions, a sensible base for a herding dog learning to wait. Functional Off-Leash, three weeks at $3,030 plus GST, lists reliable recall around distractions, off-leash manners and distraction training, with an Educator remote collar included. For a dog already in motion after a child, recall around distractions is the skill that counts; place is what the dog does while the game carries on without it.
What the program cannot change is the dog's reading of fast, squealing movement as something to be organized. In our experience that often stays with the dog for life, and the aim is not to erase it but to give it a stop and an outlet: structured fetch, tug with rules, long heel work, a place command during play. Nor can a program change your yard. If the dog and running children share space without an adult between them, no curriculum covers that gap.
- Heel and place as base
- Recall around distractions listed
- Outlets, not only corrections
- Barrier when children run
Backyard rules
When the children run, the dog is already secured.
The owner takes over two things: the management and the outlet. Management means the dog is on a leash held by an adult, on place, or behind a gate before a game of tag starts, not after the first nip. Children do not run a recall, call the dog off a chase, or stand still while it circles them. Outlets mean the dog gets its job from you every day, so the kids are not the only moving thing worth watching.
At the consultation, ask how heel and place are proofed around movement, and how the remote collar is taught to you if Functional Off-Leash is recommended. Say whether the dog has made contact. A nip that has broken skin, or a dog who stiffens and growls when a child approaches, calls for a full assessment, and Behaviour Rehab is the program built for that kind of concern. A growl is information, never something to punish. A smaller program is recommended when it is enough.
Asked and answered
The questions people ask us.
Does board and train fix herding children?
It does not remove the herding instinct. It works on a stop, heel, place and a recall around distractions, then teaches you the management and outlets that keep kids off the dog's to-do list. The instinct stays; the behaviour gets a different channel to go into.
Which board and train program is for herding children?
On-Leash Foundations, two weeks at $1,865 plus GST, works on heel, place, sit, stay and down around everyday distractions. Functional Off-Leash, three weeks at $3,030 plus GST, works on reliable recall around distractions and off-leash manners, remote collar included. Which one gets recommended is settled at the consultation, and the smaller one is recommended when it is enough.
Is a herding children training program different from stopping heel nipping?
Heel nipping is often one piece of herding, and the same skills apply: a stop, a recall and a place to go while people move. The difference is scale. A dog gathering a group of running children is working a whole scene, so the yard management matters as much as the interrupt; more on the behaviour is in our guide on why dogs herd children.
Can my kids help with herding children training after board and train?
No. Children stay out of every session and every trial run, and they do not run to see whether the dog will chase. An adult handles the training, and the children's job is to keep games away from the dog until it is secured; if the dog nips or growls, bring it to a professional rather than to the children.
Keep reading
Give the herding brain a job
Tell us the breed, the ages and what happens when the kids run. Book a consultation and we will recommend the program.
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