Border Collie owners…what should I know?

Hello just got a border collie pup, from working farm collie/parents, what have we let ourselves in for? Had a few dogs before not collies but anything we should be on the lookout for? Training tips and so on……… 😀

They go mad if you leave them alone too much. hth

They are bonkers?!

On a more serious note, they can be quite aggressive with people and other dogs if not socialised properly. If they are though, then they are generally very gentle and lots of fun!

they're psycho's.

great working dogs, but I wouldnt have one in the house. Sorry 🙁

might be worth checking the basics:

it SHOULD have 4 legs, a tail, and a head.
generaly they come with two eyes, and some teeth at one end, and one of those things you keep teatowels in at the other

the usually look like this, though the paintjobs vary

I hope one of you is home at all times, or else you are going to be in for a rough ride.

Also sign up for some puppy training classes, as you need to socialize him/her with other dogs asap to ensure he/she knows how to play properly

Watch out for the ones where their eye's don't match
Mental!!!
can be a great family dog if trained properly
Had one when I was growing up, Mum was always at home and she was walked a lot though as above

Best kept on a working farm

Attention, socialising at an early age and LOTS of exercise and you will have a great dog. A big plus about then is that the license is cheaper due to them being black and white. IGMC.

Make sure you buy reinforced sidewalls………

Also you must not overwalk them as you can shag a puppies hips, so lots (4 or 5) 45 minute walks max are needed.

This book is good as well http://www.amazon.co.uk/Think-Dog-Owners-Canine-Psychology/dp/1844031209 as it will help you learn how to send clear signals to the dog without confusing it, as ultimately it will want to please you, and the only thing getting in the way is you.

what richc said but once its an adult it needs to be ran raged often.
not every day mind this is why most farmers keep a few of em.
given the chance they will run untill they are broken.so be carefull if you go on the bike with it.

he/she will be great fun, but you have 2 years of very hard heartbreaking/hair tearing out frustration to get the reward.

Another top tip I got told was to knacker out your puppy without **** it's hips, is find somewhere for them to swim/paddle as the cold and the swimming absolutely kills them, without actually causing them any hip damage. That way you at least get a quiet evening so you can watch the telly/read without being constantly tested by the dog.

Hope you like walking, lots of walking.

This sounds worse than having kids 🙂

Yep, we have 3 on a working farm at home. they're all house trained, and work trained too. they are high maintenance and very intelligent animals, and therefore very sensitive.
if they arent exercised enough then can get pretty neurotic – our old dog went mental when it was too old to round up the sheep, and saw the other dogs doing all the work.
make sure you dont feed with too much protein as this has been known to affect the mental side of things, they are perfectly happy on dry food and dont need the extra nutrition.
overall though, they are great pets and I would never choose a different breed. if you put the effort in, they will reward you.

As Kitz says, very intelligent but very sensitive.

They don't necessarily need A LOT of physical exercise (although once they're adults, they'll definitely take it), but they DO need a lot of mental exercise/ stimulation. It's very easy to wear out a BC, but it's not with physical exercise (they'll just get fitter) you need to work their brain.

When they're young 12 weeks – 12 months, limit the physical exercise (or you'll be damaging their joints) but MAX out on the supervised socialisation and training/ mental stimulation; sit/ stay, recall, "find your toys" etc.

We've got one and he's fantastic. Needs walking often otherwise he just gets in your way pestering, but even if it's just 10 minutes it will do as a stop gap. Don't go crazy while they're young with day long epics though. SWMBO used to take ours out with the horse when he was 1 and 2 years old and he has stiff hips these days if we take him out too far or fast. If it's a dog get it neutered and then he won't go running off and it'll calm him down too.

Great dogs – hope you enjoy it.

Yeah, toy playing is a major activity!
Mine can find individual toys on request. 💡
Also, if he brings you one and you ignore him, he just gets a different one. Eventually you end up with 20 toys and annoyed dog on your lap!

I'm inclined to say that this is a question you should have asked prior to acquiring said dog. You need lots of time and patience and all the other things mentioned above. Persevere with the training or you'll end up with a dog like my parents'.

Brilliant dogs. Not low maintenance though. If that's likely to be a big deal then either take it back or go and get another. We had one, and it got bored easily, so we got another and they kept each other company very nicely. We still did loads of obedience and flyball training to keep their minds occupied in addition to a couple of decent walks every day. Decent enclosed garden and a dogflap will help too. Have fun.

Keep the brain active with some agility. They pick it up really quickly and love it as for them its working without the sheep.

Keep an eye on them round children as they try to round them up and can sometimes nip, you don't want the parents of said kid accusing your dog of biting little Jonny 🙁

Great dogs and they are full of beans, our 11 year old one is like a puppy. The more you put in work wise with training, exercise etc the more you will get out of them…… can i post a pic of mine now ?

Keep an eye on them round children as they try to round them up

I think this is ace. I think I'd deliberately let mine loose in a playground 'by accident' just to watch this happen if I had one.

I've spent many a lunch hour chasing mine round the park trying to get it back on a lead as it herds kids into various groups 🙄

You haven't said much about where you live/are planning to exercise it etc – do you have plenty of space?

I'll admit to mixed feelings on border collies, mostly because I was bitten by one which had a moronic owner – he kept 2 border collies in a London suburb and thought it was a good idea to let them off the lead in a park which had a cycle path running across it…
On the other hand, I've met a woman who seems to have a small pack of collies (4 or 5, last time I saw her) and lets them off the lead in the Surrey Hills. The first time I saw them, I expected trouble, but she said something to them, so quietly I couldn't hear it from 20 metres away, and all the dogs were lying down immediately. It was still a little unnerving being watched by that many dogs, but they were perfectly behaved.

Basically, a lot depends on the type of owner you want to be.

Bonkers dogs (got 2 short haired, apparently more energetic!) as everyone else has said, play play play, where are we going what are we doing what's that let's got play play play come on let's go……… You get the idea!

I have just (well 3 weeks ago) got a rescue dog (not a collie, but a retriever), and we are teaching him to be nice as he is 90% good & 10% bastard. We are playing some games with him, but any suggestions on games to play to knacker him out would be much appreciated 😉

He's appears to be pretty bright and I am wondering if the 10% bad is caused by him being bored, he has over 3 hours of walks a day so he is at his limit for exercise as he is only 10 months old.

There a god faithful dog.
Go a bit cuckoo with old age like {but who doesnt like}
Gets a bit obsessed with there owners..follow them around the house.24-7
BUT a Great dog..
Heres my SHEP 14 last week

Cute mode

Naughty mode

Knackered mode…

More pics now COME ON !!

Not sure this will work but I guess someone can sort it for me….
http://www.flickr.com/photos/31451585@N08/3675592710/

mtbfix – Member
I'm inclined to say that this is a question you should have asked prior to acquiring said dog. You need lots of time and patience and all the other things mentioned above. Persevere with the training or you'll end up with a dog like my parents'.

Are your parents VERY naughty?

RichC

3 hours a day? For a 10 month old?

That's WAY too much physical exercise for a dog so young.

maybe consider getting some sheep

I miss my collie like mad (split with missus and can't have her at the mo') She's 5 now and has mellowed into a great pet, but probably because she has always been kept occupied. Ours was/is very good at flyball and agility and picked things up so quickly at puppy classes that the other owners thought she was pre-programmed 😀

Can sometimes be a bit funny with very young kids (which is strange as she grew up with our 3 year-old no problem) and she did eat some of her own pups last year (that was a very bad day!) but like any "domestic" dog they are still animals and they will do lots of things that you won't/can't understand….

As above, if you have the time and energy, they are brilliant dogs

they are lovely dogs but working dogs and not stay at home pets. I had one as a lid, but they get really frustrated if not exercised alot. On the farm they tend to follow the farmer arpound all day – often following the tractor all day long. they would probably make a great trail dog though

Get some sheep then they will be happy otherwise you will never see the real dog. Bit sad really for those that are kept as pets but the difference from watching a working dog to a pet is amazing. Same goes for Labradors funnily enough. Would never have believed that they move so fast when doing what they were bred for.

We have 5 pups at the moment, they are 2 week old, along with our 2 farm bred parents.

I have always had Border Collies from being a young lad, great dog, and great family pets if trained properly.

Some good comments above, only thing i will say is give it plenty of exercise but don't over do it, they will go until they can't walk through exhaustion.( i once saw someone do that, but thats a different story for another time!!)

The other thing is make sure you let it know who is the Boss from very young, even though there cute as pups, they soon become unruly and it is very hard to get them out of bad habits.

And watch your heels, because when they nip you to round you up it can hurt!

I had mine 2 yrs and although he was a brilliant dog, he could be quite distructive if left alone too long, I let him go back to the breeder I had him from for free as he could not cope with us being out at work during the day, the breeder gave him to a retired couple that did not want a pup but wanted a collie..
Fantastic dog if you dont have to work , or, you can take them with you.

mine is 6 months old and going through a phase of barking me awake at 2 in the morning for his breakfast 😯

first time we let him off the lead we thought he wouldn't stop running, he must have ran about a mile out of sight, waited five minutes and he came back running at exactly the same speed……funniest thing i've ever seen.

He's mad as a brush and has oodles of energy, i can hear him destroying his cage as we speak…….also very true about eh toys, he loves playing fetch for hours at a time

some photos:

when we got him