BCs, good dogs?

[ShrekDawg]

hi everyone. i was thinking of getting another dog, there are many breeds im considering and the border collie's one of them, are they good dogs? ive heard theyre real smart and stuff but have to have a "job" or something to do and lots of exercise and stuff or they can be destructive, that because they are herding dogs they sometimes try to herd things like children and stuff and can sometimes nip at their heels (if the herding instinct is strong enough in them), that they can sometimes have a high prey drive (and therefore not nessicarially be good w/small animals/cats and/or chase them), but that they are/can be very good family dogs and great compaions if you can handle/know how to deal with them, is any/all of this true?... we have a cat and a rabbit so they must at least be good with the cat (the rabbit's upstairs so they dont nessicarially have to interact as they can be easily seperated if need be, this applies to any dog we get, not just BC). also there not really any little "children" around (except maybe my 8 yr old cousin who lives in PA and sometimes might visit in the summer, or if we go up to PA for holidays and/or to visit and we decide to take the dog and whatnot), but aside from that its just me (16), my 13 yr old lil bro, and my 19 yr old older bro who's back from college for the summer ( i think he got out like may 11) but there are kids in the neighborhood as well as other dogs so any dog we get would need to be good with kids and other dogs, or at least tolerate them. until now we've only had a golden, and (then) a lab and are currently dogless as our lab passed july 1 2009, (almost a year ago), we had to put him down due to age and stuff he was 13 yrs old, he was a great dog. its been almost a year though so we are thinking of maybe getting another dog realatively soon. we have a huge yard though and lots of places nearby to exercise said dog and ive always wanted to try agility and/or flyball or something andwere prob gonna take some sort of obediance/socialazation class or something and i helped to train our last dog and we/i love animals so that (exercise, training, and loving/caring for the dog, and stuff) shouldnt be a problem so, are BCs good dogs (for this type of situation) or not?, any help, advice or tips or anything would be very much appreciated... thank you

 

[bock]

I have been considering getting one myself, but have heard they are not good with smaller pets. They are VERY loyal though.

 

[Luke0987654321]

i have a border collie,
his name is domino, he is 6 years old now,
and is the friendliest, calmest, loveliest dog we have had, you have to bring him for a walk at least every two days, because if not he gets very anxious, and starts trying to herd the hens, (not a nice idea), hes good with the cats, and is terrified of the kittens

over all, he is a great dog to have, and i :highly recomend this breed of dog. i hope you have a good time whatever the breed you choose to get.


luke.

 

[ShrekDawg]

thank you for your help everyone. so there are calmer, or more highstrung, or more herding/working oriented bloodlines and/or demeanors and personalities within each dog (as with most dogs) that i would have to choose from and decide whats best for my particular situation, but they are good dogs, right? also they could learn to accept or at least tolerate the cat as another family member if we got the dog as a puppy and trained/socialized it properly to the cat, slowly over time, right? they sound like great dogs but i just wasnt too sure about the energy level but there are calmer strands/lines and dogs and as long as i provide it with plenty of physical and mental stimulation, training, and/or a job to do it should be fine, correct? we have a large yard and plenty of places to exercise, swim, go hiking, walk, etc and i love animals so i could most likely very easily play with the dog for a while so there shouldnt be too much of a problem if we properly train and exercise it? i will have to further look into BCs, ive looked into numerous dog breeds before, including BCs, and found some good info, but i will have to delve into it even further. maybe ill get another lab and/or a lab/BC mix or something, or maybe ill just rescue a mutt from a shelter or something, im not really sure but whatever i do decide to do, ill be sure to properly research and "do my homework" before getting any dog, so that it does not wind up back where it came from (i dont think we would do that/return the dog, but still, i will be sure research before getting a dog again). thank you for you help/advise.

 

[lceh]

Check out English Shepherds (http://www.englishshepherd.org/ or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Shepherd), also known as "the BC with an 'off' switch". We just got our first ES and couldn't be happier with his temperament.

 

[dreamwallaby]

I train dogs and unless you have a lot of time to devote to exercise and training, a BC would not be a good pet. This is a wonderful breed but they do have a working mentality and very much need a job. There are some, obviously ,that are more mellow, like the previous poster's but the reason these dogs excell at herding, frisbee and agility is they are highly energetic and extremly smart. A great combo for those jobs, but not a good combo for just a dog around the house.

 

[RiverOtter]

BCs are very good dogs and very bad pets.
Yes, it is true that they need lots of focused mental stimulation, lots of exercise, can be bad with other pets and can be nippy (they are 'heeling', fine for driving stubborn cattle, bad for kids) and if they don't get these things they can get a little mental.
Basically, intelligence in a dog is like having TNT. Fine if you have a use for it, otherwise nothing but a destructive force.
BCs should come with a warning label "For Professional Use Only"

Having said that, I'm on my second BC mix. Love them. But I have trained dogs professionally, I called my first BCX my "business card". And there are mellower strains out there. Just know that it is mellow only compared to other BCs!!! If you're looking for a mellow one, I'd recommend at the youngest an older pup, as they are dogs who have a very clear "childhood" and "adulthood" and more then one happy go lucky puppy has turned into a serious working dog who needs a job once past adolescence.

It sounds like you are the kind of pet owner who will put time into one, and that's the only way it will work. Because even if you know and love them, they try your patience. At lest every third day I think; If Deacon "drives" me to the garden One More Time I'm going to kick his furry tail into next week.

Of course, I don't, but it's very tempting when I'm carrying full water jugs down to the garden and get that heel pinch. Because not only do I slosh water all over my legs but then have to stop what I'm doing for an unplanned training session (I am the Alpha, not livestock that needs hurried along)

So just be very aware of what you're getting into and don't be taken in by that pretty, black and white dog. Just remember, TNT in a pretty package will still destroy your house

 

[Becky89*]

I have a four year old black and White Male Border Collie and he is the best companion I've every had. I grew up with Border Collies, because they are my mother's favorite breed. She as a nine year old Red and White female that is never to far away from her.

Rose (mom's dog) and Rocket ( my dog) are great at putting in my birds at night. I love watching Rocket trying to put the ducks in, he pushes them with his head and kinda nudges them back into the barn. Rose and Rocket are great around little kids. My ten year old cousin Amanda loves to play stick with Rose and if she falls asleep on the floor Rose lays down right beside her as a protecter. Rocket is my hip attachment where I go he goes, he loves ridding in the truck. He is also somewhat good at agility.

Border Collies do require a lot of attention, because they have the energy to go 23 hours a day 365 days a year. When I was little before Rose and Rocket we had a female black and white named Tazz and she would run circles around the chicken coop to ware off energy. She ran the circle so often that she made a ditch and its still there today.

My mom Bred Rose for three years and two of the litters were Rocket's. She's had every color border collie, Blue Merel, Red Merel, Red& white Tri, Black and white Tri, Red and white, Black and white.


I love Border Collies

 

[babyblue]

I have honestly been ruined on the breed because of the neighborhood dogs. they are untrained, unworked, spend 90% of their time on a chain, look like they crawled out of a sewer and when they do get lose they chase attack and bite every single livestock animal in town with the exception of my old horse who would throughly enjoy stomping them to death. if a human gets in between them and their prey the human will get bit. the neighbors breed the things so its even worse to have a huge pack of 10 or more lose.


could the breed, with time and training make good dogs...yes. but there is constant work and time to be put into these dogs.

 

[patandchickens]

we have a large yard and plenty of places to exercise, swim, go hiking, walk, etc and i love animals so i could most likely very easily play with the dog for a while so there shouldnt be too much of a problem if we properly train and exercise it?

It is not so much a matter of the supply of space and love and willingness -- IMO it is mainly a matter of how much ACTUAL TIME you will spend ACTUALLY EXERCISING AND DOING THINGS WITH the dog. Realistically, I mean.

They just *are* high-maintenance dogs, with relatively few exceptions.

JMHO,

Pat​