What are Border Collies like to live with?

[LeahMM]

If you get a border I sugjest getting a puppy. These dogs need to bond young or they don't truely bond.

I have to disagree with this statement. Two of my borders and 1 of my Aussies were rescues at 2 years old. With the obedience training and much time spent together the bonding was incredible. I did aquire Cody as a puppy and it was a horrible experience, never again will I get a puppy. The group I volunteer for has many wonderful adult Borders in foster care including Alex my foster. Good luck with your decision.

[cali]

when it comes to BCs its their breeding that matters. the ones that are bred FOR sports are the ones that are neurotic, it's because the breeder breed the highest drive most focased dogs they can find, for example Happys sister just had a litter of pups, Happys lines are known to have aggressive, extremly difficult to handle dogs, she was bred to the highest drive sport bred BC I have ever met, obvioulsy these pups are going to be insane and difficult.

a good working BC breeder shouldent have that problem, they cant very well have an aggrssive dogs that skittish of everything or trialing would be difficult as there is a test in herding trials that involves 2 dogs that dont know each other(one dog has to lift the sheep off the other) nor will the dogs succeed if they attack the sheep, or they are so crazy the sheep are frightend. but withing working breeders there is still a differnce, with sheep bred BC they will be calmer and lower to the ground, they are the ones that focas so intensly on everything. however cattle bred are a it more loopy, they are not as calm and quiet as the sheep bred because they have to keep animals 5 times their size in line, they are also more upright, and while they retain lots of focus they are not as obbessive.

for someones 1st BC a puppy is NOT reccomened, BC puppyhood is very trying, and that when most wind up dumped for a reason. an older rescue BC is usally the best option for first timers.

[wolfsoul]

I've never had a BC but my mom has one and I am around them all the time at work and during classes and trials and such. I find them to be quite nice dogs when bred properly. At work, there is hardly a single male BC I like. I don't know what it is, but it's rare we don't get a male BC that isn't a complete freak. Most of the females are lovely dogs and do exactly what they are told. They aren't the greatest first-time agility dogs but then neither is a Belgian lol. Belgians are harder to control drive and impulse-wise, BCs are harder to control speed and movement-wise -- they don't arch their jumps, so they tend to knock bars. I must say, the only thing I couldn't handle about a well-bred BC is the fetch drive. Too much ball stick ball stick ball stick for me.

[cyber-sibes]

I adopted a B/c mix after my rottie-aussie died. I took him to training the whole month he was here, he's obviously a very smart dog, just a handful. He was extremely driven and very competitive for attention. He started to annoy Star by peeing on her doghouse, pooping next to her door, diving in and eating all her food, and barking non-stop. We couldn't pet Star without him knocking her out of the way. Poor thing, she got quite depressed, stopped eating, got hot spots, and even refused to get in the car with him for a trips to the dogpark. She finally bit him in the face, so after it healed, I returned him before either of them really got hurt. He was then adopted by a young single man in town- and I doubt I'd ever consider another b/c. Like huskies, they're not the breed for everyone - and I'll stick to my huskies, thank you!

[Jessika]

If BCs are anything like Aussies (and I'm pretty sure they are!) then they will need a LOT of training as young as possible, do NOT slack in training, and establish that you are alpha right off the bat. If you get that done, everything else should be fine. But just don't slack in training! And keep them stimulated or the consequences will be.... well, expensive, lets just leave it at that LOL

[Tollers-n-Dobes]

Thanks everyone . Just going by everything you guys said, they don't seem to be overly different from a Toller as far as a lot of things go. I'm quite used to dealing with tons of energy already because of Tango, too - so I don't think that would be a problem for me, I love highly active dogs.

[Tralee]

Toby was rescued at 11 months old. He was originally from a BYB, sold to a pet store. A family bought him, they had good intentions, but did not have the time and space to properly work his body and mind. Toby herded the small children and nipped one of the children. The owners sent him to the shelter. He was then rescued from the shelter, and we adopted him from the rescue.
Toby is very social, and loves people. he gets along with all dogs and loved to run and play. He is very outgoing and loves to be the center of attention. He settles very well in the house, regardless if he is tired. Toby loves to play ball and I'm doing agility training with him. Somthing that I have noticed even though he is very intelligent he is harder to train then my ES Lady. (Lady has a bigger desire to please) You need to be very accurate for him. In agility my commands need to be the same every single time or he may not do it.

Having a border collie is a very big commitment, they need to have metal stimulation and exerise every day. I can tell when toby hasn't had enough exercise, he gets very antsy and starts his obsessive shadow and light chasing. When he has had proper stimulation all the obbsessive behaviors dissapear.
I would reconmend this message board for border collie info
http://bcrescue.org/phpbb2/index.php

ETA- My crazy boy got his CGC over the summer