To think that it is horrible to put down a healthy young border collie

[Spaniellover2]

My son’s friends have had a border collie for eighteen months. The dog is unhappy and has been put on antidepressants. The dog is stuck in a small house with a tiny garden and, because it shows ‘concerning’ behaviour ( aggressive … nippy…has nipped a man … hyperactive…) my friend and her partner are going to speak to the vet tomorrow about putting it to sleep. The dog walks daily on a lead. Sleeps in a cage at night. I am so upset … what would you do? My son is begging her not to euthanise the dog. He wants to phone shelters tomorrow. Shelters take Bullies - surely they would take a border collie?

This.

Seeing it far too often.

Really hope this poor dog can be re-homed where it can have a happy life.

Some dogs are quite literally prisoners because their owners are fucking clueless.

Your friends sound like morons! Poor dog!

My 10 year old collie lopes round an acre annoying the chickens and ducks for at least 14 hours a day and sometimes chooses to stay out all night. Despite this space and activity she ate three ponds - yes, the actual ponds - and all the fish out of them, and once rounded up our neighbours sheep (utterly mortified!) as a youngster. She's the perfect girl now. Teenage collies are dicks, much like a lot of human teenagers. They grow out of it. Could you offer a home (lie and say its permanent if you need to) and then move the dog onto somewhere more suitable?

Absolutely. It smacks of ‘let’s get a dog that we like the look of’ and they ended up with the most intelligent breed. Border Collies are amazing but they absolutely NEED the right environment to thrive

I've heard this called 'moral injury' - where someone is required to act against their values. 80% is shocking. Poor vets.

Oh this is so sad. My best friend as a kid/teen lived on a farm and they had collies who weren’t really working dogs (they didn’t have sheep) but were farm dogs and had an amazing life out with her dad and the lads with the tractors and dairy herds all day. They were such smart dogs, they always had one older dog and a young one - so the grown up could keep the pup in line.

I really hope the vet can suggest a rescue or something.

Yes, I really had no idea, or just had not considered, until I got chatting to this young woman just how much death vets are expected to deal out and deal with, as part of their day to day job. Moral injury is a good descriptor.

I read up a little on it, after our discussions and discovered you see similar depression and mental health issues from many people who work in slaughterhouses and scientists involved in animal experiments. I am not making a moral statement or judgement with that, I just did not know how much being directly involved in the death of animals affected those people, it made me think.

If you look on Facebook for Yappy Ever After Dog Charity. They may well contact the vet directly if you give them the details.

Please do absolutely anything you can to stop this from happening. The murdering bastards!!! This shit should be fucking illegal!

Love hearing the amazing auitable lives some collie owning posters are giving the smarty pants outdoorsy dogs but very few people can do this.

Collies are not a breed for the faint hearted and are a full time hobby... and you can only have that one hobby 😂

You are not unreasonable to be really upset about knowing this is about to happen. 😢

That’s awful. Must be horrific for them.

Dogs aren’t given antidepressants for being unhappy.

They’re licensed for severe separation anxiety and used off licence for extreme reactivity - usually involving some form of aggression - after normal training hasn’t resolved it.

and from what you say it’s bitten at least one person.

Thats not just a bored collie.

God, what absolute dickheads. Why on earth did they get a collie? They need constant work / stimulation. A short walk on lead is about 5% of its needs being met. No wonder it’s on bloody anti depressants. I’m fuming reading that.

This dig deserves a better life

I'm not a dog owner but Christ the poor dog isn't a disposable item it's a living thing.
Present owner's should be ashamed.

How depressing. It needs much more stimulation, both physical and mental.

I really think, generally speaking, collies shouldn't be owned by your average Joe. They need someone really active who takes the dog seriously.

I've always had dogs and wouldn't have one while I'm working, and I think they're amazing.

Diane Hart Rescue is great. If you're not in or near her in Wales, perhaps she could advise? It's so depressing that people are still getting dogs that are totally unsuitable for them and it's the poor dogs that suffer.

The owners sound like absolute dicks. Absolute morons.

Don’t get a collie unless you are a farmer or can spend 3+ hours per day walking it off lead.

Highly unsuitable for 99% of people.

Another vote for Protecting Preloved Border Collies. I know someone who has had two dogs from them. Both brilliant companions but they are given the correct training and lots of mental and physical exercise.

Bear in mind though that shelters are full, this dog is going to be a rehoming and training challenge, it’s life in a shelter is not going to be much better and being PTS is not the worst thing that can happen to an animal…

Agree however with a pp that the medication, extreme reactivity and other behaviour is more than just boredom and may be difficult to correct. But possible.

The current owners are, as others have said, dicks.

Poor dog. Its owners sound moronic. Who gets a working breed that can run all day long and keeps it in a tiny space with no outlet for its energy or anything to occupy its brain.
a border collie rescue will take this dog. They are so clever and trainable, a young border collie will find a home in no time. Those who are familiar with the breed know that ‘nipping’ can be a herding behaviour although not all of them do it, and will know how to manage this.
Can your son go and get the dog temporarily?

Shelters are overflowing with dogs that are hard to rehome. A young collie is not one of those dogs, there are breed specific rescues who will take this dog, they are highly intelligent and very trainable and are excellent companions.
I usually agree that there are fates much worse than death but totally unnecessary in this case.

Unfortunately, he lives in a shared London house on a busy rd - and cannot. We cannot either, as we have two dogs, one of which is very old with Addison's. My son has passed on details of shelters and other information that have been provided here. I suspect that the Collie will be PTS. This makes me sad, as it sounds like it has been an unhappy dog. The owners are very upset, but I cannot understand how they allowed this to escalate to the point where a healthy adolescent dog is on antidepressants and is now, very likely, being PTS. I also feel frustrated about the breeder - why sell to the couple who are both working and live in a small house. I feel sorry for vets too ... our lovely vet burst into tears when advising us about PTS our previous elderly spaniel. She had recently PTS a young dog because the owners could not afford veterinary fees.