Border Collies!

[stevinski]

Heya Guys!!!,
a friend of mine at school is gonna have a litter of puppies that will be 12 weeks old in the month that we want to get a dog, so i am thinking about getting one off him.
The puppies are pedigree border collies and £350
I was just wondering if anyone had any experience with them?
are they hard to train?
hard to potty train?
are they good family pets?
i want to do agility with it as well.

P.S soz for starting loads of threads about different breeds, its just i want to pick the breed thats right for me and well i want to hear from peeps with experience.

 

[casablanca1]

My current dog is a Border/Beardie mix, and my first dog was a Bearded Collie - based on that, I'd say the herding breeds are intelligent dogs who learn fast and are easy to train, but are headstrong and tend toward going their own way. ie, it's easy to train them initially, but it's hard to get them to be obedient. That can go for housetraining; I had a terrier who would have rather died than broken her training. Not the two herders, they were good as long as they got out a lot, but if I was a little late getting home....

In general, they love being outside in the cold, they have a ton of energy, and they're very drawn to people, are shadow dogs who follow you around the house. They might be too much for a small child, and their tendency to herd (including nips to get you going faster) humans has to be corrected, but otherwise would be good family dogs.

They would be great agility dogs. My Beardie could jump twice her height; and my current mutt is built roughly like a Slinky, runs like a scalded cat and lives to go over, under, and (occasionally) through obstacles.

 

[juliefurry]

border collies need LOTS of mental activity. They need lots of exercise. I hear they are smart though and fairly easy to train but I have never had personal experience with one though. If you can not give them a lot of time to use their brains, and run around, then I would reconsider.

 

[stevinski]

juliefurry, dont worry she can def get enough exercise, i plan on walking the dog as soon as i get home from school and letting him run around on a long leash.

 

[BlackDog]

juliefurry, dont worry she can def get enough exercise, i plan on walking the dog as soon as i get home from school and letting him run around on a long leash.

A 12 week old puppy is going to require more than a walk when you get home from school. When you get a puppy you are getting a baby. They will get into everything, poo and pee all over the house, run around everywhere, chew your favorite pair of shoes, and chase the cat (if you have one). A puupy need constant attention when they aren't crated, at twelve 12 weeks they can only be crated 2 or 3 hours at a time before they need to go potty outside. When you are home you will need to take him/her outside every cople of hours, which will usually include at night if you don't want to clean up a mess in the morning.

About your friends bc's the parents had health testing before they bred them? Can they prove their healthy with vet records? Do the dogs have their shots? Do the dogs come with health contracts?

 

[Fran27]

I'm going to repeat what Blackdog said... Were the parents health tested (for dysplasia, eyes at least)?

 

[gaddylovesdogs]

I have a border collie mix (you can see her in my signature at the right end ). She's a great dog. She is pretty easy to train - she is very intelligent and learns many commands within a few seconds or minutes. She is very high energy so she gets a nice long walk every day plus playtime with me and my other dogs. She also gets a daily training session. Some border collies will become destructive if they don't get enough exercise - my girl just turns into Ms. Annoying and bothers me until I walk her. She makes a great pet - she loves kids, gets along pretty well with my other dogs, loves people. She wasn't hard to potty train at all, just brought her out often and she learned within a day or two to ask to go outside when she needs to go to the bathroom. Oh, another thing to add, grooming is important with long-haired border collies. My girl has long fur mostly on her legs, belly, and chest. I brush her twice a day to get rid of any tangles.

 

[maui]

We have a BC mix, and we're in constant contact with pure bred BCs. We herd with our guy and he's grateful for it.

BCs need a lot of exercise. Exercise is not work. Exercise alone will not tire a. BC brain.

A walk to a BC would be like you learning the copy machine at work after getting your MBA and being demoted to using it all day for 8 hours (without listening to an mp3 player.)

A training walk for an hour with varying/demanding conditions could be fun for a BC. But what will you do in the evening with your BC? That was just the AM routine. Can you play "Find it!" any where in your home/yard? This is helpful. Throwing a ball back and forth is a great way to exercise a BC, if they like it, but it's not thinking, and will not fulfill their need to have a real job.

One thing we've learned is BC's need to think, not just work on the same thing over and over, they need to work out problems and use their brain. It's almost as if they are constantly figuring out a math word problem. Sometimes a BC who is only doing agility for their work may still get bored or a little obsessive compulsive. Because once they learn the equipment, then what?

What if your BC doesn't like agility, then what?

What might, and this is a might, not a definite, a lot of BC's do fine with agility. But, what might happen is a BC is bred with a personality that seems to pick up on patterns very quickly. For some people this is great. Your BC will tell you when you are running late, will tell you when you are not eating dinner at the correct time, will tell you what day of the week it is and why aren't we going to herding practice??! If your BC is bored this "telling you" may become distructive behavior after you leave. Are you ready for that? Are you ready for your BC to eat it's bed because you put it in the crate on a Wednesday and you never put your BC in a crate on Wednesday. Not every BC is like this, but they can be if left to their own devices.

We avoid this by altering our schedule frequently, making sure he thinks before we go anywhere, and make sure he herds the day before a long day at home.

There will be days when you will need to give him/her more than agility, teach them a new trick, give them buster cubes and kongs... but some BCs are not food oriented, then what? Burying bones in your backyard, taking a different class like freestyle, rally-O, tracking, etc, etc, etc. What about going out to a farm and letting your BC take a class in herding for an hour? It's an option, what they were bred to do, and incredibly calming to our guy. Not for everyone, but important to consider every angle here.

Personally, I find them incredibly easy to train. With the exception of what they are obsessed about. If the BC is obsessed about something, it might be wise to hire a trainer to give you professional advice on how to relax their interest into a managable situation. Or, embrace their obsession and capitalize on it for work.

Okay, now that I've been really negative and blunt. BC's steal my heart. I cannot imagine another breed or mix living in our home. I just love their little faces and adore how their eyes look at you as if they really comprehend English. I love them so much. It's important to take on a BC with love and patience because rehoming a bored BC is difficult.

My last question.... What is the health of the parents?


Maui

 

[RD]

It appears from your posts that you do not have a lot of experience with dogs. I personally would strongly advise against getting a Border Collie.

Yes, I believe the majority of novice handlers will find them difficult to work with. My Border Collie is my first BC, and while I think he's brilliant and a real hoot, he drives a lot of people up the wall. This is not to say that they are dim or disobedient: they learn incredibly quickly, but they are highly intelligent and manipulating, and if you don't keep an eye on what you're doing, your BC will take over the household. Under fair, consistent leadership they will flourish and I don't believe you will find a more dedicated worker. However, inconsistence is a sign of a fallible leader, and if your BC questions your abilities as boss and handler, you're going to have an, er.. interesting time with your dog. Border Collies are not what I would consider a dominant breed, but they are extremely clever and like all dogs, if they can get "on top", they will.
Their exercise requirements are vast, but not nearly so much as their need for mental stimulation. They are NOT a "walk once a day" breed. I give my Border Collie some good, hard exercise every few days, with decent runs/walks in between and it keeps him relaxed and in shape. However, the mental stimulation can never stop. Border Collies are easily bored, repetition (such as commands like sit, down, stay, come which never require them to use their minds) is incredibly dull to them.
To sum up a huge post of babbling... In my opinion, they are not for the novice handler. Especially one who can provide only a walk after school and a run on a long leash. I would consider a slightly mellower, more easy going and less intense breed if all you want is an agility dog. Nearly any breed can do agility, the most important thing is how compatible the dog will be with you at home.

 

[gaddylovesdogs]

The walk I give my girl is a mixture of exercise and training...we go over all her commands and work on her dog aggression (which is getting much better ). She gets lots of other training throughout the day. One thing I love about BCs is their intelligence, and how they display it. I can tell my girl to sit, and she'll sit, but every now and then she'll start lowering her legs (like when she'd go to lay down), with her ears up, looking at me like, "Okay, do you want me to sit straight up like this, or should I do a more relaxed sit?" Once she has a command perfectly polished we go on to a new one. If we don't she gets bored and starts to wander off mentally.

 

[bubbatd]

Make sure that they well socialize the pup and start it on potty training.

 

[AusCatDogs_4Ever]

Everyone is absolutly correct! Australian Cattle Dogs are very similar to Border Collies, and other herding breeds.

*They are suspicious of strangers, therefore need lots of socialization!
*They have lots of energy! They need lots of physical AND mental exercise.

Puppies are a lot of work, if you are at school 6 hours a day how can you train and housebreak your puppy? Maybe you should wait, or a great option is... adopt an older dog from a shelter that is already housebroken.

 

[stevinski]

my dad doesnt work so he says he can feed and hose train it in the day.

 

[RD]

...Steve, have you even read our posts? Feeding and house training are two of the things I spent the least amount of time on with my BC. He nearly housetrained himself!
Border Collies need a lot of attention. They are not content with a pat on the head a few times a day. They want to work with you for a few hours, until their mind is tired, and then they expect and DEMAND "quality time". This is when my Border Collie turns into a lap dog, and he doesn't take kindly to being ignored. If we won't pay attention to him, he relieves his frustration by chewing something up -- and it might be the walls, the table, the cabinets or, god forbid, his toys.

I really cannot emphasise enough that a BC is not a good dog for a first-time dog owner.

 

[stevinski]

ok so maybe a border collie isnt the right dog for me,

first-time dog owner.

this won't be our first dog, we've had a labrador and a sheltie in the past

 

[CanadianK9]

Labradors and Shelties are nowhere near the same maintenance of a border collie, I would advise a lower maintenance breed for you.

The 3 best words to describe a border collie are

Smart, Driven and ~~BoInG~~

To be beneficial to you and the dog maybe something not so complex, till you get some experience and the correct conditions for which to be fitting for the dogs needs.

 

[Julie]

ok so maybe a border collie isnt the right dog for me,



this won't be our first dog, we've had a labrador and a sheltie in the past

What happened to the labrador and the sheltie?

I can also vouch that a labrador (especially a working field lab) is a hard to handle dog. I bet they chew until at least 2 years old.

So I am just curious what happened to your first lab?

 

[Dizzy]

Ditto what everyone else has said.

They are GREAT dogs, but need lots of stimulation and exercise! They LOVE working for you.

Without the correct structure they can become extremely hyper and possibly destructive.

Saying that, we had a BC when I was growing up, and she was a fantastic dog

 

[stevinski]

the labrador (dusty) my parents had before i was born, she died about 5 years ago and the our sheltie (missy) was stolen and we never got her back.

 

[shabby_ko_ko]

"The walk I give my girl is a mixture of exercise and training...we go over all her commands and work on her dog aggression (which is getting much better )."

I have a border collie too, and mine has dog aggression aswell how did you work on that. My border collie's (Monty) aggressivness is not extreme, but he is only 11 months old and I don't want it to get worse. He is good with other dogs when they first meet, but then the dog will annoy him and he will bite the new dog. I also find he hates certain dogs and he tries to attack them right away, I have come to learn that these "certain" dogs are not neutered males. Could you give me some advice on working on the agressivness towards other dogs??

p.s. I do not "let" him bite other dogs and I do not ever let my dog off the leash when other dogs are around notice how I said "tries to attack". The only time Monty has bitten antoher dog was when Monty was on leash and the other dog (intact male) was off-leash and ran up to Monty.