Border Collies

[bpence]

Well, we just acquired a 6-week old Border Collie puppy to go with our seven year old beagle/retriever and the cats. I kind of forgot what puppies were all about. Anyway........

I was wondering if anyone else out there has had much experience with Border Collies. My wife wanted another dog and we'd always talked about one of the working collies. From what we'd been able to gather prior to making the decision, apparantly these dogs are pretty intelligent, easy to train, will stay around home, and are generally good family dogs. Just our cup of tea. And about the right size at 30 - 35 lbs.

The parents of this little female are both border collies, the mom a registered border, and both are working dogs on a sheep farm (kind of cool when you think about it). We had her to the vet yesterday for puppy shots, worms, etc. and she checks out a-ok with all the parts in working order.

Any advice, suggestions, do's, don'ts for raising a Border Collie. The vet suggested we don't let her try and herd us around, which she's already been trying to do. I've raised and trained several dogs, and am really curious if there's anything anyone else has found that really works well with these dogs.

 

[MossRoad]

We had a border collie for about 14 years. She was a gentle dog with a great disposition. She was also dumber than a box of rocks when it came to glass on the inside and squirrels on the outside /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif Other than that one thing, she was pretty smart. You kind of have to watch the herding instinct. Expecially around a group of running children. The dog would chase them into a group then lay down. If one moved she'd jump up and get 'em back in a bunch. Never nipped at them, but you never know. Great dogs. Good luck.

 

[rmorgan]

Bob--

Congratulations!! But . . . You've got your hands full. Borders are the smartest dogs out there, and if you don't make clear from the get-go who leads the pack, it won't be you. They are like our Aussies in that they really, really need WORK to do, and space to do it in, and if they don't have both they can get depressed and angry, which leads them to figure out ways to take it out on you. For example, they are natural diggers, and one of their favorite forms of retribution is to dig where you don't want dug.

This is a quote from the website, bcrescue.org, which has a lot of stuff on BC training:

"When you got a Border Collie you signed up for a form of boot camp. These dogs are seven-day-a-week dogs, every day of the year. There is no vacation with a Border Collie nor is there time off for good behavior. Border Collies, like the postal saying goes, need to do something and 'neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, shall keep them from their appointed rounds.'"

So . . . have you bought the sheep yet?

 

[TresCrows]

I have owned 4 Collies, two which I still have and two Border Collies. These are very diffferent dogs even allowing for personality differences. Both breeds are exceeding intelligent. Border collies can be very INTENSE, they need to be doing something, love to chase balls and like and enjoy obediance work. Collies (Real collies like Lassie) are more laid back, generally could care less about fetching balls and tend to be shy of strangers. Collies are sheperd dogs/herders, Border collies are herders and tend to be more gregarious with strangers. Borders can be nippy as that is how the sheep are controlled, Collies can also be nippy but less so. Both breeds are excellent with children IF raised with them. No dog that is unaccustomed to children should be let loose with children who are unaccustomed to dogs--only bad things can result. I have found Collies to be very affectionate, tend to pick out a favorite human and can be telepathic for lack of a better description and bond very close to their family, Border collies are also great family dogs and in my opinion are less likely to pick a special favorite. Collies are active outdoors, very clean, do not dig, like to groom themselves and are very inactive indoors. Border collies can be super active outdoors and indoors, will sometimes dig, and not quite so persnkity about grooming themselves but still very, very clean dogs.
Anything I said is a generalization, dogs have individual personalities that are often so strong that they can overide "breed" behavoirs so the best thing is to start out with your new puppy indoctrinating it to your lifestyle and then go from there. It will be a give and take as the new puppy matures into your family the adjustments will be natural.
Oh, by the way, Books on dog intelligence have the Border as number 1. The top ten rounded out with others like Dobermans, Standard Poodles, Collies, Shepards and Golden Retievers (no particular order). Also, Shelties ARE NOT miniature Collies, they have no common recent ancestory and are a completely seperate breed. They are typically 25-40 lbs, Border collies are about 35-60 lbs and Collies are 60 to 90 lbs. Shelties can be hyper, shy, nippy and are extremely prone to picking ONE individual to bond with. They are also very smart dogs but are a bit bizzare to a Collie owner like me. They like being indoors and I have never seen one that was a good herder.
I have never seen a Collie, Border collie or Shelty that would press an attack once the immediate danger is passed, it is simply not within their personality or ability, their jaws are to light and they are simply lacking the aggressiveness, that said, Collies and to a lesser extent Border Collies are protective especially of children and their chosen favorite and will initiate a "first strike" if they deem it needed in rare circumstance and both breeds, especially the larger Collie (males especially) will aquit themselves well but will as stated cease the fight as soon as possible. Aggresivness is not their thing, they are to gentle to be fighters and are not equipped for it. Mine like to get on the couch with me and read magazines, one on one side and the other on the other side vying for whose head will be in my lap. They also like to chase squirrls limb to limb. They are great fun. My old Border Collie, Smokey, rode many miles with me as a kid in my boats and followed me through the woods on my adventures and would in fact place herself between me and percieved danger or strangers she was not sure of. She was a great friend. My big Collie male, Sam, was Mighty with Love, he is missed.
Good luck with the new puppy. J

 

[Hank]

Good luck with the puppy!!

We have never had Border Collies, but my wife's association with various civilian Search and Rescue groups has brought a few of them into our lives. She has looked high and low for a good Border to train for SAR and cadaver. Breeding is of the essence for these applications, and the Borders' drive makes them good dogs for this.

They can be trained very well. Depending on which "dog psychologist" you listen to, they are among the smartest three breeds (the other two being GSD's and Standard Poodles). We have had several of those other two breeds.

 

[kcbarnes]

We have 4 border collies and no regrets. I have had them referred to as obsessive compulsive in regards to the instinct to herd. We have not had it happen to us but one thing to watch is that they don't try and herd a car.

 

[ronjhall]

Bob
I have never owned a Border collie. But know several people that do. They are great dogs as others have said. The one common thing that I have seen with the owners that I know is that unless you have a lot of time and are good at training dogs you may have to send it and yourself to obedience school. /w3tcompact/icons/eyes.gif

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[Thomas]

My father had female Border Collie.."best I ever own".

Indeed there a good watch and very protective,also the favor one person.

Just don't feed them people food..maybe a treat here and there. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[budman72]

We've had a couple of border collies, along with Old English Sheepdogs and a Bearded Collie. The borders are the most intense, make sure she has something to keep her occupied, otherwise she will find something to do that you might not agree with. They aren't a breed for an apartment!

Other than that they are fantastic dogs, one of my favorite breeds. Keep an eye on her though, she might like to herd cars.

 

[njrqs]

OK - What do you call an "Aussie"?

My brother's wife wanted a dog and ended up with a (expensive) border collie.

They have 600m2 of land in the burbs and work all day so porr dog stays home alone.

It is a sook and thinks it is a person.

It's mind must be all screwed up. It can't even see out of the fence.

People should not be allowed to have working dogs like that in the burbs.

Cheers