Now that I am back home, I am starting to look seriously into adding a new puppy to my household. My only dog now is a near two-year-old male rough coated border collie (cowdog lines). He has grown up around other dogs and gets along great. Over the last 15 weeks while I have been in Army training, he lived with two other dogs. Before that it was my roommate's two dogs and others that showed up at the workplace. My dog goes everywhere with me at work (I work at a horse trail ride facility) and the new one will too.
I need a breed that is very active as that is the type of lifestyle I lead. I know as a puppy activity will be limited so he/she can be allowed to grow and develop properly with minimal stress on the joints. However, once fully grown, I want a dog who can accompany me on long trail rides off leash (after proper obedience training), work all day long with me, and get along with horses and other dogs.
So far I have been considering another border collie or a working line German shepherd. I fostered a border collie/heeler mix last summer and she was an awesome dog and if I hadn't planned on being gone for 15 straight weeks, I would have kept her myself. Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated and looked into.