Hi Crikit!

Totally agree with you about Border Collies. My Aunt and Uncle
got a border collie for the family dog and realized shortily
thereafter, what a mistake they made. My Uncle would bike
approx. 2 hours a day with the dog and that wasn't enough
to tire the dog out.

On the comment about staying away from all herding breeds
as first dogs though, IMO Collies do make good first time dogs,
especially the smooths, because you don't have huge grooming
requirements, like with the roughs. They're easy to train and
unlike some of the other herding breeds they don't have that
overwhelming working intensity. They seem to adapt their activity
level to the situation. So if I need Oz to hike with me for 2 hours,
he's good to go, but if I need for him to lay down and be calm
while I watch TV, he'll happily do that too. He does have a fenced
in yard to just go outside and full out run when he needs to burn
off some energy, so I'm sure that helps. They've got a friendly,
gentle nature, so they're great with kids, other dogs and other
pets.

Okay had to get my lil' plug in for Collies..

Par...