Border Collies

 i didnt own a pure bred border collie.... ours was a collieXsheltie(not sure what her father was exactly but some KIND of collie).. she was very very easy to control. very sensetive to your tone of voice. followed hand signals very well..... all i had to do was point at a spot and she would go there.

by far she was the easiest dog i'd ever trained. we brought her home as an 8 week old puppy, fresh off a goat farm... 

i cant say she was a BC, or like a BC because i've only been around stock BCs or the one mean aggressive BC my stepmom's aunt owned. she had to lock her in the garage when she had company.. so going by standards..... my collie was hyper but only when allowed to be hyper. does that make sense? she would skitter and run all over the place in excitement until you said. then she would just drop to the floor and "freeze".. and wait for your next move. she was also sneaky and would try to outwit you. she wasnt TOO bad about entertaining herself with your collection of autographed baseballs.... but she would knock over the garbage if you left her alone too long with it.

lol sometimes i miss having a dog that easy to work with. but it was probably just her being unique. however i had a ton of time on my hands when we got her. every day we learned a new trick or command. and i didnt have children.... something Maggie would only tolerate because i told her to.

     I don't have "tons" of experience with BC, but they've been sharing my life for about 10 years. I currently have 7 of the rascals, and they range in age from 14 years down to almost 2 years. Someone once told me that a BC is like a perpetual two year old child, into everything!!  Each one is such an individual character: Bill,who is a few months shy of ten, has always been the responsible one. He takes care of lambs and pups, and hates any loud voices or gunshots. He trys to do everything right, and gets upset when you give him a correction.

     Mirk is our hard dog and is eight. My DH says he has a heeler brain. He loves toys and playing, and is a real problem solver. He is the most guarrelsome of the crew, and has a tendency to take out his frustration on the sheep. Even my parrot will shout "NO Mirk! if he hears any growling.

     Tease is nearly eight and is a gentle, quiet girl. She is shy around strangers, and will frequently scare them when she tries to approach as she is a smiler. She is an outstanding stock dog and reads the sheep really well. Tease's mother is Cassie, who is almost 14, and I got her at 4 years of age as a started sheepdog. She was a feared biter at the trials, and supposedly bit a number of people. She's never given me any problems, and she loves respectful children. She taught me a lot about sheepdog trialing.

     Boo who just turned 3 is our goofball. He is an absolute toy fanatic!  He's fast as ligntning, can leap 6 feet into the air, and I constantly worry he'll hurt himself. When you take him to sheep, he will suddenly becomes a sensible workman. If I can ever get enough time to focus on his training, I feel he could do great things.

    The final two are Jodi and Glory, the coming two year olds. They are sisters and like night and day. Jodi is nearly black with just a tiny bit of white, Glory is white with a few black patches. On sheep Jodi is a natural driver, Glory fetches. Jodi is a clinger, Glory is independent, and they love to wrestle and play with each other.

     All of them have a wonderful grasp of english and they learn new things incredibly fast. With my dogs when you do something once with them, it is then an expected part of the day. On the road if you take them to a park to play after work, the next day tails are awagging and they are looking for you to stop at the park again.

     I could go on and on! LOL. Thanks for giving me an excuse to talk about my "kids"!

I have only known two really well.  They belong to a friend of mine who has a small cattle operation and I mean small, 30 to 50 cows.  He bought both dogs as pups from working stock.  I started the first one with her basic obedience and she was a "natural" as far as working the cows.  Good thing because I  wasn't prepared to learn how to train a herding dog. LOL His second dog (first is now retired) he bought as a started dog from a woman in North Texas who is very active in BC's and Becca probably knows her but I can't think of her name.  Very nice dog.  Both of these dogs have great temperments with dogs and people.  Neither is hyper in the least but they get to do their herding thing almost every day (the senior dog rides on the 4 wheeler to supervise) and that has to make a huge difference.  I personally wouldn't get a BC unless I planned to actively participate in herding or agility or some other activity to allow the dog the outlet for his energy and brainpower.

ETA after reading my own post,lol, the second dog was not a puppy puppy, she was I think six months when he bought her.

Thanks everyone....who needs an excuse to talk about there fur kids??? I miss my Tucker. *sigh*

I need to look for a 'pet quality' breeding/pup or rescue dog(theres one called Spy on CBCR that I LOVE!)....But, any tips on keeping there minds working?

I've only really known two BCs in my life. The first belonged to my grandparents. He was a rescue, with a poor temperament and never socialized as a baby before he came to them, and before a lot of the rehab training we have now. He was a great dog, but bit every member of the family at least once, and walked 6 miles+ a day until well into his 14th year.

The second, is a dog in one of my classes, who's owner really isn't a good fit for her. (This BC is a whole heck of a lot of dog). This dog's sire is a Scottish National trial champion (or something, since I know jack about working titles), and she has very strong working lines. She is so smart, so much fun to work with (I work with her here and there), just an awesome dog, so much potential, I'd love to bring her home with me if her owner would give her up and DH wouldn't have a heart attack. However, she is reactive, and gets boreder very easily. Without clear leadership, she does whatever she wants. Her owners have another BC who is very mellow and sweet and I don't think they were expecting as much dog as they got. Fortunately, they love her to death and are trying their best.

I love the BCs, and don't mean to be negative, but I think adopting one take a lot of thought since their needs are so specific. If I had a BC, we'd do agility, obedience and herding. That seems to be the general program for my friends with them, and they are training daily. Even then, some of them are a real handful.

Good luck with your search. Searching for your next dog is so much fun!
 

misstrouble

But, any tips on keeping there minds working?

If you end up with one that needs that kind of stimulation, plan on clicker training and coming up with new ways to challenge their brains.  There's a whole bunch of ways to do that and you'll have to find out which one your dog really seems to click with.  Woobie is much more BC like than my purebred Indie.  Woobie does best with learning new tricks.  He's not as good at sorting things out and just seemed to get confused and frustrated with games like 101 things to do with a box.  Indie on the other hand LOVES that game and you can really see his brain working, sorting things out and enjoying it.  There's a light in his eyes.  Activity levels vary as well.  Indie's a couch potato and is happy with a short walk and some snuggle time.  If he could meet crowds of people and get attention every day, that'd be heaven for him.  Woobie is my energizer bunny, much more BC like in that regard, he needs to GO and then GO GO GO some more.  I've TRIED to tire him out.  It's taken HOURS at the dog park playing with his friends.  I haven't been able to walk long enough or far enough to wear him out myself.

I'm a moderator on a forum at http://allbordercollies.com/forums/, lots of "pet" BC owners there who can share their experiences with you.   

BCmixes - I HOPE I dont end up with a dog like that! I would seriously envest in some Tug-A-Jubs and Kongs and such. If we move, there should be plenty of trails for hiking and IF I can get back to riding horses again, there would be that too. By the time I get another BC....the time avalible for training and exersize should not be an issue.

He's gotten more manageable as he's matured.  He's not a chewer (that's Indie's dept.) and those types of toys don't interest him in the least.  He's a mover.  Honestly, if I lived further north, I'd find someone with a sled team and rehome him (sadly) because that is what he lives for, pulling and moving.  I know it'd be heaven for him.  If I wasn't afraid of crashing and killing myself, I'd take up rollerblading and letting him pull me, he'd love that too.  I'm thinking of trying to teach him to run alongside a bike with me, but it's REAL important I don't get injured so that would have to be done really carefully.

They're great dogs, I love BCs, but they do need activity, that's one thing that's pretty universal in the breed.  All the people I know with them are active themselves and do lots of things with their dogs to keep them exercised and healthy. 

 Most BCs need a JOB more than they need physical activity.  By "job" I don't mean chasing a frisbee or herding sheep.  I mean structure and routine.  These things are so important to BCs, they are so sensitive and pick up on the slightest change in their environment very quickly.  Dell is part BC, and maybe in some homes she would need to be run and run and run until she was half dead with exhaustion before she would switch off.... but I CAN'T provide that level of activity, and I have discovered that, with the right handling, she doesn't really need that.  What she needs more than anything else, is definition in her life.... structure and routine. 

Chuffy

 Most BCs need a JOB more than they need physical activity.  By "job" I don't mean chasing a frisbee or herding sheep.  I mean structure and routine.  These things are so important to BCs, they are so sensitive and pick up on the slightest change in their environment very quickly.  Dell is part BC, and maybe in some homes she would need to be run and run and run until she was half dead with exhaustion before she would switch off.... but I CAN'T provide that level of activity, and I have discovered that, with the right handling, she doesn't really need that.  What she needs more than anything else, is definition in her life.... structure and routine. 

I only have one bc so I'm no expert, but I've found this to be very true with mine. He's actually pretty laid back activity wise...he can go go go, but he's happy to sleep all day too if that's what I'm doing. He thrives on structure though. We do the same routine every day and lately if I'm late with something he has started pacing and looking at me, for example, the kids are out of school this week, so our normal up at 6 and eat has been pushed back a couple of hours and he notices that. He likes to know what's next and he likes to do what I'm doing....and he has an incredible vocabulary of words that he understands, most of which I didn't even teach him on purpose, so that's neat.

Thanks Becca!

It's funny how either a) your dog adjusts to your life or b) you adjust your life to your dog.  I'm glad I don't have the OCD strain of BCs.  My guys are pretty easy going, my life is never ordered, structured or on time, they seem to go with the flow and the only time they seem irritated is if there's several days without their routine walks or some training.  The disrupted routine of the holidays and visitors didn't bother them at all.  Friends with them also report their particular BCs are very easy going so long as they're doing *something*.  They're definitely not the decorative dog that lies around looking pretty that alot of people seem to want. 

People complain about their dogs having issues like chewing, not minding them, being fearful or nervous or reactive, and many times they don't realize that it's how Border Collies deal with that lack of routine.  They say, "Oh, my dog does just fine laying around in the back yard" or "My dogs don't need all that stuff" but then I notice they talk about these little issues.

How can you avoid all that when you don't work your dogs on livstock, which is the obvious solution?  Well, after fifteen years of working with Border Collies (as opposed to people who only recently adopted their first Border Collie, who tend not to see these connections because they are not looking for them or buy into the myth that it's "normal";), I've noticed that what all well-adjusted Border Collies - and indeed all well-adjusted working breed dogs - have in common, is a strong sense of purpose.  Perhaps it's not tied in specificially to a clock schedule, but there is a predictable pattern to their lives.

Border Collies can't get that when they don't see much of you - whether it's because you work a lot, go to school a lot, or whether they spend a lot of time in the kennel or back yard.  This is why I emphasize this as the number one thing that people thinking of getting a Border Collie, need to know. 

You can be wheelchair bound, and own a Border Collie, if you make an effort to include that dog in your daily life.  But you can't get one and stick them in the back yard and sit on the computer all day, or watching TV, and then be surprised to see problems.