Border-Collie

bonjourjoe

We adopted a year old border collie a couple of months ago and have to agree with the others that if you don't entertain him enough (in his opinion of course!) then he can be a real !!!!!! - not naughty or bad just mischievous. If he's not spent enough time in the garden or had a long enough walk then he'll often mess upstairs, just to remind us he's there and to get some attention. Thankfully we've more or less got that problem under control - and he's also learnt to tell us when he's fed up so that he gets the right sort of attention!

We take him on a mammoth walk every other day and the quick park outings inbetween - having said that he's constantly in and out of the garden playing with the kids so we do try to keep him entertained even if it's not just walking... someone warned us that as BCs can do upward of 50 miles a day you'll never exhaust them, the best way to tire them out is to mentally stimulate them so we play hide and seek with his favourite cuddly toys (and the kids!), or get him chasing around the garden following whistled instructions etc.

The difference in him since we got him has been huge - he was abandoned which I don't understand from one viewpoint as he is the most placid cuddly dog you could ever wish to meet and is so funny and brilliant with the kids... he is however a real handful and does need lots and lots of attention... and as others have said if you don't give it to him in the day then you often find yourself trying to deal with him at 3am when he's decided he's lonely and wants a cuddle! I can see why his previous family couldn't cope - and in a way I'm glad they couldn't - it's our gain and we wouldn't be without him

Youdontseeme

We had a rescue lab/collie cross who was the most laid back we had, except when he went into what we called "collie mode" and have a mad half hour then he was a total nutter!

You could always tell when it was about to happen as his eyes literally changed shape from adorable lab to devil collie eyes lol then he would generally cause ciaos for a good half hour, usually by throwing himself down the stairs headbutting the radiator on the half landing then hurling himself do the bottom only to run up and do it all over again knocking over anything in his path (have you ever been head butted by a dog??? man that hurts!)

His mad half hours were a general source of amusement for me and my sister though I think it drove my mother mad.

A fun dog, but one that was useless at being left alone for even the smallest amount of time, as he was super destructive even though he used get good 2/3 hr walks a a day. Thing is if you were home with him he barely moved out of his bed!

My Dad ended up taking him to work with him everyday which he loved as he basically slept under his desk all day only waking up to be made a fuss of.

I think most breeds have a little bit of crazy in them but all the collies and collie xs I have known appear to be the worst for psychotic moments!

YDSM

Barneysmom

My Barney is a sweetheart, he's 9 years old and I've never for one day regretted having him.

We bought him for £50 including teddy bears, bed, food, collar and lead and bowls when he was 12 weeks old.
The people who'd bought him decided they didn't really want a dog.

He's been marvellous apart from when he was little and he was was teething, he totally destroyed a very old Sherlock Holmes book and shredded 4 brand new rolls of wallpaper amongst other things.

we do go for good walks along the canal at weekends and in the week he has a good run on the heath.
He runs round with a teddy bear hanging form his mouth.

Go for it, you'll never be loved more.

gratefulforhelp_2

He he. mine ate two pairs of shoes, the remote control and the knob off my Aunt's butter dish and all the butter.