Border Collies

bpence · Oct 28, 2002

Thanks for all of the replies, suggestions, and encouragement. We've already discovered that she likes to herd just about anything that moves. Has tried my wife and I, the other dog, and the two cats (the cats let her know what they thought - a solid and well-placed whack across the nose). I gave her an old soccer ball to "herd" around, and believe it or not that kept her busy most of Saturday afternoon (between puppy naps of course). She's only 7 weeks old, and as of yesterday had learned the "sit" command, so we'll start with the "stay" and "come" commands this next week. Interesting in that she can stay very focused, or at least more so than most puppies I remember working with. She even goes to the back door now and whines to go outside when she needs to take care of business. My wife says she wishes I was that well behaved.

We've been keeping her in a cage at night - if she'd just quit whining and sleep through the night, but that's life with any puppy. And didn't we say that about our kids, too?

Justaplain · Oct 30, 2002

Wejust aquired a pup thjat is an intentional cross of BC and Collie. The Collie seems to take the "wire" out of the BC, that has been bred into them for trial work. So far she is great[3 mo]. She is outdoors most of the time with a half BC/Lab. There is an interesting cross. bcs

TresCrows · Oct 30, 2002

That border collie /collie cross is probably a great dog. When my first two collies passed away I went to the shelter thinking I would just pick me up a couple of puppies of whatever they had--what I found was Rottweiler/pitbull, pittbull/lab, pittbull/dobe, pittbull/whatever. I left in disgust feeling very sorry for those animals and the people who do such things. JR

crb478 · Nov 2, 2002

You need to give the dog plenty to do. I don't think you will ever get rid of the hearding instinct, but you can control it. Try to get the dog interested in a ball or a frisbie, but take it away when you are not there throwing it or when/before she gets bored with it. This way you can get the dog some exersize and give her something to do that will have meaning to her. Border Collies need to have some type of work to do and catching/retrieving a frisbie or a ball is a good substitute. They would prefer to herd so if you have something for them to herd that is best. If not you will need to get them out several times a day to run. They need enough land oto be able to run. I think you will be happier if you continue to crate train her until she is about 4-6 months old and she adapts to how you want her to behave. They are great dogs, but you have to work with them. You only get out of them what you put into them. Most are smart enough to do anything you may want or need them to do.

Volp · Nov 2, 2002

<font color=orange>It is hard to be humble when you own a Bordercollie</font color=orange>
Robert, you are a lucky man to have a bordercollie! We have had bordercollies for more than 30 years. They are very intelligent and usually top the working dog classes. However they are also "soft dogs" so you cant push them to hard or they will just lay down in protest. They need a lot of exercise but they can also relax for long periods. Both myself and my wife are doctors and has been working long days occasionally whith our bordercollie alone at our house. We have never had any problems because of this. The herding instinct varies and our dogs have hearded the family, cats and horses! They learn quickly how to behave. Our last bordercollie died last summer at an age of 15 and we must wait a few years until we retire to find a new as our son has moved from home and you cannot leave a puppy alone for long hours.
I have attached a photo of our last bordercollie "Kessie".
have almost anything for bordercollies.<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.bordercollie.org/core.html>The United States Border Collie Club has a lot of information.
Best of luck!

Volp · Nov 2, 2002

<font color=purple>"If It's Not A Border Collie I't Just A Dog"
</font color=purple>
I can not resist giving you an extra picture!
Sorry!

cowboydoc · Nov 4, 2002

I have had border collies for a number of years. They are great dogs. Mine are working dogs and when not working they stay in the kennel. I have never had any problems with them. But then again they get worked almost everyday too. You can teach them to control the herding instinct but is way beyond here. There is an excellent book that I will get the name of for you on raising and training border collies that I've used and read numerous times. It has about everything you'd ever want to know in it.