Border Collies, Australian Shepherds, All Herding breeds, Tell Me About Yours

[sourland]

Be prepared.

 

[pennyJo1960]

You right but can be trained to do other things part nature part nurture is never been a truer statement hard do on mature animal

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Me too!! Seems quite a perfect description of a Border Collie LOL

Always “on” and ready to work and if you don’t want to, they’ll make their own work!



true!!

and they sound lovely!!





Seems you are definitely ready for one!!

I’m kind of the opposite... had too many stubborn dogs and ready for a nice, obedient, easy to train one lol

Maybe BC isn’t the best bet.

But they seem like excellent dogs.

Definitely seem like a challenge though. Libby and Gator are/were definitely thinkers. Always calculating and trying to figure out WHY they should do something and usually always had to have something in it for them LOL

But they’re also Pyrenees mixes (alone with a few other things, Gator was Lab/Pyr, Libby is Lab, Pyr, Boxer, and we think BC) so the stubbornness likely comes from the Pyr.

Hopefully BCs have the smarts but more willing to listen?

Oh and Libby always finds loopholes in the rules LOL

My favorite is when you tell her “in the bed” and then eventually she gets bored or hot or whatever and will army crawl almost all the way off the bed until just one paw or two paws are touching it, back legs barely on it, then she’ll look at you like “what? Technically I’m still on it”

I remember one time DB & SIL watched her do this and then told her to get back on and she backed all the way back up and onto the bed but she didn’t get up to do so, she just crawled backwards all the way

Gator I used to sometimes negotiate with him just like you would a toddler.

I love dogs you can negotiate/argue/have a conversation with LOL

I swear he understood every word you say. Libby too. Franklin not so much but he’s a good boy and tries hard LOL



Me too lol so fun.

And I was wondering too.







He sounds amazing and hilarious.





Is this the type of dog you mean @Shadrach ??

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I would just laugh my ass off if that happened to me. Some people are too stuck up lol



x2!!

I’m still on the fence though lol



Just out of curiosity, do you think they should all be actual working farm dogs with sheep and stuff or is giving them an alternate job/outlet like agility, nose work, obedience, trick training, etc. or even as a service dog good too? Or even herding something like chickens or goats.

Cause I know some people just keep them locked in a crate all day or only go for a walks around the block daily or in a city apartment and I do think that’s cruel but wondering if all jobs besides sheep or cattle herding are cruel... wouldn’t want one being miserable.

We don’t have a ton of land but also not in a city either. We have almost 3 acres and are set back in the woods. So plenty of room for exercise but we also have tons of areas to hike and swim and stuff off leash too.

And I love training/keeping dogs busy and entertained lol

Oddly, it’s fun to me



Sounds like you are definitely ready for one then!! I think you should do it.



I love that video.



I love them.





I wonder if agility and nose work and trick training will be enough of a job for one... plus lots of hiking/swimming/off leash running.

Thanks Kelsey for all that information. I didn't know about Welsh collies.

I'm certainly open to change my mind. Not many other breeds meet my criteria. Another Australian shepherd would, but they can be pushy. I may just fall back to another one, but I'm liking the sharp look of the border collie. They can't all be nuts, especially since I plan to provide tons of exercise, both mental and physical. My dogs will run for miles when I'm out with them. They always come in tired and nap until we go back out.

Used to Chuck the ball for Frankie until she was exhausted. I was up for playing longer than the dog, so an active one is fine with me.

 

[chickens really]

People we know got two Border Collie pups. Cattle farm in the next pasture. The female herded them the male chased them. Team work. Both dogs now live on the cattle farm still to this day. They needed real jobs.

 

[pennyJo1960]

Most all breeds need a job

 

[chickens really]

Most all breeds need a job

All my dogs have jobs here...

 

[chickens really]

Lisa I know your going to make the right decision.
Wasn't long ago you wanted a hound too. Just keep waiting and that perfect dog will come..

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Be prepared.

I am. You have beagles? I find hounds challenging.

 

[chickens really]

Any other breeds your interested in Lisa?

 

[ShrekDawg]

The second one, one of my daughters got. She got called Moona. She was half the size of Gimli and a lot brighter. I've watched Moona walk along a privet hedge 6 foot off the ground and not once sink in to it.
There is a walk along the Cornish coastline (Cornwall UK) We did about 20 miles one day on the map. What the map doesn't take into account is the ups and downs. Moona and Gimli would run on ahead, then run back to the end of the human line, then run on ahead again. They must have covered three times the distance of the humans and every time Moona came back to herd the humans, she would make sure she went between the humans and the cliff edge.

Seems like a very smart dog!!!

Be prepared.

Hopefully they are not all like that lol

You right but can be trained to do other things part nature part nurture is never been a truer statement hard do on mature animal

Yeah, hopefully if I go with one I can find a slightly calmer one but I usually ignore most demand behaviors/expect them to be calm in the house anyway so it’s not a huge deal to me. BCs are smart so should hopefully catch on quickly with plenty of exercise haha

Thanks Kelsey for all that information. I didn't know about Welsh collies.

I'm certainly open to change my mind. Not many other breeds meet my criteria. Another Australian shepherd would, but they can be pushy. I may just fall back to another one, but I'm liking the sharp look of the border collie. They can't all be nuts, especially since I plan to provide tons of exercise, both mental and physical. My dogs will run for miles when I'm out with them. They always come in tired and nap until we go back out.

Used to Chuck the ball for Frankie until she was exhausted. I was up for playing longer than the dog, so an active one is fine with me.

No problem! I didn’t either but was curious and Googled lol I have heard of Scotch Collies and I believe there’s an Old Time Scotch Collie association and I’ve heard of English Shepherds as well as people just referring to “farm Collie” or similar. Seems all the collie breeds and even Aussies share a similar history and many look nearly identical too especially since most have no real standard and different lines can look very different and very similar to another breed. It gets very confusing, at least to me. Lol

People we know got two Border Collie pups. Cattle farm in the next pasture. The female herded them the male chased them. Team work. Both dogs now live on the cattle farm still to this day. They needed real jobs.

That’s awesome they didn’t get annoyed and took them in haha

I’m kind of questioning it because I somewhat worry I wouldn’t be enough but I also know I’d likely provide a way better home than most of the people that get them so idk.

Most all breeds need a job

Very true. Even Labs and Goldens.

I seriously thought I was going to get a Golden for my next dog, had finally decided, or even a slightly less demanding herding breed like an Aussie, and I still might, have an excellent Golden breeder I want a pup from but haven’t made contact yet, and there’s a 7 month old purebred Aussie on Petfinder right now, so I’m still on the fence about everything, also considering going smaller, like under 20 pounds, but now @oldhenlikesdogs has me seriously thinking about a Border Collie lol

I absolutely love training and working with dogs and I think it would be really fun to have a dog that was super engaged in the training and wanted to learn/work.

Gator liked it to a point but would eventually get bored plus there had to be something in it for him haha

Seems BCs won’t get bored of it and would gladly work/train all day if I let them