Border Collie Toys: The Best Puzzle, Enrichment, Fetch and Herding Toys

The best Border Collie toys give the dog a job to solve, chase or herd. Puzzle feeders, treat toys, a flirt pole, a sturdy fetch ball and a herding ball cover almost everything a Border Collie needs from playtime, and a few cheap household games fill in the gaps.

Plush squeakers and chew bones come lower on the list. A Border Collie gets bored with a toy that does nothing, and a bored Border Collie finds its own work, usually in your shoes or your sofa.

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Border Collie Toys at a Glance

Toy	Type	What it does for a Border Collie
Trixie Chess Level 3	Puzzle	Hard multi-step treat puzzle
Nina Ottosson Dog Casino	Puzzle	Locked drawers the dog has to open
ZippyPaws Burrow	Hide and seek	Pull plush animals out of a log
KONG Classic	Treat and chew	Stuffable, bounces unpredictably
KONG Wobbler	Treat dispenser	Feeds kibble out slowly as it is knocked around
Outward Hound Tail Teaser	Flirt pole	Chase and tug in a small space
Chuckit! Ultra Ball	Fetch	Tough rubber ball that floats
Chuckit! Ball Launcher	Fetch	Longer throws with less arm
ZippyPaws Donutz	Plush fetch	Soft, squeaky, no stuffing
Herding ball	Herding	Big ball the dog pushes and steers

What Toys Do Border Collies Like?

Border Collies like toys that move, hide food or let them work with you. Fetch balls, flirt poles, tug toys, puzzle feeders and herding balls tap into the chase and problem-solving drive the breed was bred for. Toys that just sit there, like most plush animals, tend to get ignored or shredded.

That makes sense when you look at the breed’s history. Border Collies were bred to gather and move sheep all day, reading the flock and taking direction from a shepherd. The Border Collie temperament still carries that drive, so the best toys give it somewhere to go.

Every dog is a little different, though. Buy two or three types, watch what your dog keeps coming back to, and build from there.

Best Puzzle Toys for Border Collies

Puzzle toys hide treats behind flaps, sliders, drawers or knobs, and the dog has to work out how to reach them. They are the best toys for mental stimulation because they tire the brain rather than the legs. Most brands sort their puzzles by level, and a Border Collie can usually skip level 1.

They don’t replace a run, but 10 to 15 minutes on a hard puzzle can settle a dog surprisingly well. Always stay in the room the first few times so your dog doesn’t decide the answer is to chew the puzzle apart.

Here is a Border Collie working on a Nina Ottosson Dog Worker puzzle:

Trixie Chess Game, Level 3

The Trixie Chess dog puzzle is one of the harder interactive puzzle toys in Trixie’s line. Some pieces slide to uncover treats and others lift off, so the dog has to try more than one move.

Trixie sorts its dog puzzles from level 1 to level 3, with the difficulty going up at each step. For a Border Collie, level 3 is the place to start. If your dog has never seen a puzzle before, give a level 2 a week or two first so it learns that pushing and lifting pays off.

Nina Ottosson Dog Casino

The Nina Ottosson Dog Casino, now sold by Outward Hound, is a level 3 puzzle with six treat drawers. Bone-shaped pieces lock the drawers, so your dog has to twist a bone out of the way before it can pull a drawer open.

You can leave the bones unlocked for the first few sessions, then lock them once your dog gets the idea. Owners of less driven dogs often say these puzzles are too hard. For a Border Collie, that extra difficulty is the whole point.

ZippyPaws Burrow (Hide and Seek)

The ZippyPaws Burrow is a plush log with three holes and three squeaky chipmunks inside. Your dog noses and digs the chipmunks out, then you stuff them back in and start again.

You wouldn’t expect a Border Collie to love a toy this simple, but mine plays with it over and over. Each chipmunk also works as a small fetch toy. It is plush, so it isn’t indestructible, but dogs get so focused on what’s inside that it tends to hold up better than you’d think.

Here’s a Border Collie getting the squirrels out of a similar toy:

Best Enrichment Toys for Border Collies

Enrichment toys make your dog work for food or sniff it out, which keeps a Border Collie busy when you can’t play. The classic options are a stuffable rubber toy, a treat-dispensing toy and a snuffle mat. You can feed part of the daily kibble through them instead of a bowl.

Feeding this way also slows down fast eaters. If you go this route, take the food out of the daily ration so your dog doesn’t gain weight. The Border Collie feeding guide covers how much to feed and which treats work well.

KONG Classic

The KONG Classic is a hollow natural rubber toy shaped a bit like a snowman with no arms. You fill the middle with treats, kibble mixed with something sticky, or KONG’s own spray filling, which is sold separately.

Freezing a stuffed KONG makes it last much longer. If treats aren’t the goal, it also makes a great fetch toy because the odd shape bounces in random directions. I have had KONGs with all my dogs for years, and they rarely wear out. The only time you need a new one is when your dog loses the old one.

KONG Wobbler

The KONG Wobbler looks like an oversized KONG, but it stands up on a weighted base. It unscrews so you can pour in kibble or small treats, and a hole in the side lets food fall out only when the dog knocks it over.

A food-motivated Border Collie will push this toy around the room until every last piece is out. It’s loud on hard floors, so it’s better on a rug. This version is sized for medium and large dogs, which suits an adult Border Collie.

Snuffle Mats

A snuffle mat is a rubber base covered in strips of fleece. You scatter kibble or treats between the strips and your dog has to sniff them out, much like foraging in long grass.

Sniffing is hard mental work for a dog, which is why a short session on a snuffle mat can calm a wound-up Border Collie. Pick one with a solid backing and put it away after use, because a bored dog will happily pull the fleece strips out.

Interactive Toys for Border Collies

Interactive toys need you on the other end, and that is exactly why Border Collies love them. A flirt pole and a tug toy turn a few minutes in the yard or living room into hard exercise. They also make great rewards during Border Collie training, since a quick game of tug often beats a food treat.

Outward Hound Tail Teaser (Flirt Pole)

The Outward Hound Tail Teaser is basically a giant cat wand for dogs. A 36-inch wand has a squeaky plush lure on a cord, and you swing it along the ground, in circles and up in the air while your dog chases it.

Border Collies love this toy because it feeds their urge to chase. You barely have to move, and your dog gets a real workout, so it’s handy on bad-weather days or when you can’t fit in a long walk. Keep sessions short, let your dog “win” the lure now and then, and avoid lots of high jumps and sharp turns with young puppies.

Tug Toys

If my Border Collie could play tug of war with me for hours and do nothing else, he would. I don’t have the time or stamina for that, but a few rounds a day go a long way.

Rope tugs, rubber rings and figure-eight rubber tugs all work. Teach a solid “drop it” so the game has clear rules, and stop if your dog starts grabbing hands instead of the toy.

Best Fetch Toys for Border Collies

Fetch is the default game for most Border Collies, and the right ball makes it safer and more fun. A tough rubber ball that floats and a ball launcher cover most needs, and a soft frisbee or flying toy adds variety. Anything you can throw that fits safely in your dog’s mouth works.

One of my dog’s favorite toys was a Zinger toy, a stuffed animal with a loop at the front and an elastic cord at the back. It worked like a slingshot and flew a long way with almost no effort. I’m not sure that brand is still around, but similar slingshot toys are.

Chuckit! Ultra Ball

You might wonder why you’d pay for a ball when there’s an old tennis ball in the garage. I thought the same until I tried the Chuckit! Ultra Ball.

It’s a solid rubber ball in a bright color that’s easy to spot in the grass. It bounces hard, so your Border Collie will be chasing it for a while, and it floats, which makes it good for lake and beach days. The medium size is about the size of a tennis ball, which suits most adult Border Collies.

Chuckit! Ball Launcher

The Chuckit! Classic launcher is less a toy and more a long, flexible arm. You set the ball in the cup at the end and throw with a normal overhand motion, and the ball goes much farther than you could throw it by hand.

The best part is that you never touch the slobbery ball. You press the cup over it on the ground and it clicks into place. The 26-inch model comes with a medium ball and works with the Ultra Balls above.

ZippyPaws Donutz

The ZippyPaws Donutz is a plush donut with a squeaker and no stuffing. Let me say up front that this one is not for heavy chewers.

For a Border Collie that knows not to destroy every toy, though, it’s a funny and fun fetch toy. It looks like your dog is carrying a giant donut. It’s one of my collie’s favorite fetch toys. You can throw it like a frisbee, and he squeaks it all the way back.

Are Tennis Balls Safe for Border Collies?

Tennis balls are fine for an occasional game, but they aren’t the best choice for daily fetch. The fuzzy felt picks up sand and grit, and over years of chewing that grit can wear down a dog’s teeth.

A reader who has raised eight Border Collies pointed this out in the comments, and it changed my advice. If your dog plays fetch most days, use a smooth rubber ball like the Chuckit! Ultra Ball instead. Never use a ball small enough to slip into the back of the throat.

Herding Toys for Border Collies

A herding ball is a large, hard ball your Border Collie pushes with its nose and shoulder, a bit like moving a stubborn sheep. Most are too big to bite, which is the point: the dog has to steer and circle instead of grabbing. They are the closest thing to herding work for a dog that will never see livestock.

There is even a dog sport built around this. In Treibball, which started in Germany in 2005, dogs push large exercise balls into a goal on the handler’s cues. You don’t need to compete to use the idea in your yard.

Choose a herding ball sized so your dog can’t get its mouth around it. Start on grass, reward any push, then teach “go around” and “push” cues. Some Border Collies get very intense with these balls, so keep sessions short and end on a calm note.

Best Chew Toys for Border Collies

The safest chew toys for Border Collies are hard rubber toys, like a KONG, that are sized so they can’t be swallowed. Natural chews such as bully sticks and antlers are popular, but watch your dog closely with anything edible or hard enough to crack a tooth.

I don’t give my own Border Collie many chew toys. He chews and chews until his gums bleed, then keeps going, and he will eat a chew that isn’t meant to be eaten. Edible chews disappeared in a couple of hours, which got expensive fast.

If your dog is a power chewer, stick to rubber toys rated for tough chewers and take them away once they start to break apart. A stuffed, frozen KONG usually gives the same satisfaction with less risk.

Toys for Border Collie Puppies

Border Collie puppies need softer toys than adults, plus plenty of short play sessions. Rubber teething toys, small puzzle feeders, soft tugs and a stuffed KONG in the puppy size are good picks. Skip the flirt pole and long ball sessions until your vet says the joints are ready.

Puppies also need to learn that toys are for chewing and hands are not. The Border Collie puppy guide covers teething, nipping and how much play a young puppy can handle.

Brain Games for Border Collies (No Toy Needed)

You don’t need to buy anything to mentally stimulate a Border Collie. Short training games use the same brainpower as a puzzle toy and build your bond at the same time. Ten minutes of brain games can tire a Border Collie as much as a long walk.

Good games to play with a Border Collie:

1. Find it. Hide treats around a room, then send your dog to search. Make the hiding spots harder over time.
2. The shell game. Hide a treat under one of three cups, shuffle, and let your dog pick.
3. Name the toys. Teach your dog the names of two toys, then ask for one by name. A Border Collie named Chaser learned the names of 1,022 toys.
4. Hide and seek. Have someone hold your dog while you hide, then call once.
5. New tricks. Spin, bow, back up, put toys away in a basket. Each new trick is a puzzle.

These games matter even more if you live in a small space. The guide to Border Collies in apartments has more ideas for dogs without a yard.

How to Keep a Border Collie Busy

Mix physical exercise, mental work and calm time every day. A Border Collie that runs hard but never thinks, or thinks but never runs, tends to invent its own jobs, like barking at everything or herding the kids.

A simple routine works for most homes:

• A long walk, run or fetch session in the morning.
• A puzzle toy, snuffle mat or stuffed KONG at breakfast or when you leave.
• A short training or brain game session in the afternoon.
• A flirt pole, tug or herding ball session in the evening.
• A quiet settle on a comfortable dog bed afterward.

How much running your dog needs depends on age and fitness. The guide on how much exercise a Border Collie needs breaks it down by life stage.

Rotate toys too. Keep most of them in a closet and bring out two or three at a time. Old toys feel new again after a week away, and a Border Collie notices.

Border Collie Toys FAQ

What toys do Border Collies like best?

Most Border Collies like toys that move or make them think. Fetch balls, flirt poles, tug ropes, puzzle feeders and herding balls are usually the favorites. Plush toys that just sit there tend to get ignored or torn apart. Try a few types and watch which ones your dog brings back to you.

What are the best puzzle toys for Border Collies?

Level 3 puzzles like the Trixie Chess Game and the Nina Ottosson Dog Casino are good choices because they take several steps to solve. Most Border Collies breeze through level 1 puzzles. Start with level 2 if your dog is new to puzzles, then move up within a couple of weeks.

How do you mentally stimulate a Border Collie?

Give your dog problems to solve every day. Puzzle toys, snuffle mats, stuffed KONGs, scent games like find it, and short trick training sessions all work the brain. Ten to fifteen minutes of focused mental work can tire a Border Collie as much as a long walk, and it helps prevent problem behavior.

Are tennis balls bad for Border Collies?

Tennis balls are fine now and then, but not ideal for daily fetch. The felt traps sand and grit, which can slowly wear down teeth over years of chewing. A smooth rubber ball like the Chuckit! Ultra Ball is a better everyday choice. Always pick a ball too big to be swallowed.

Do Border Collies need herding toys?

They don’t need them, but many love them. A herding ball lets a Border Collie push, steer and circle something big, which is close to the work the breed was bred for. It’s a good outlet for dogs that try to herd children, cars or other pets. Keep sessions short if your dog gets very intense.

What toys keep a Border Collie busy when you’re gone?

A frozen stuffed KONG, a KONG Wobbler or a sturdy treat-dispensing toy are the safest choices for alone time. Avoid plush toys, ropes and puzzles with small parts when nobody is watching. Give a good walk first, because no toy will keep an under-exercised Border Collie calm for long.