Border collie

[Blubell46]

Hi all,

Please help...

My dc aged 13 and 15 would like to get a border collie.

We have just put down a deposit and am now having second thoughts. Border collies need mental and physical stimulation

Kids said they will walk the dogs morning and nightplus teach her new tricks. Not sure if this job will soon come to me!

I walk 4 days and have fridays off. Leaving at 6:30 but home by 3pm

My dh works from home but is on calls all day so most exercise will be done mornings and evenings

My son will be in his final year of gcse and with everything going on and missing so much of school and I worried also that the dog will be a distraction.

I understand our lives will change and just wanderinf if we are making the right decision?

Please any advise will be grateful- thank you

As for misunderstood - that sounds as though you think they are being hard done by ?! I couldn’t love them more
What I mean by ‘misunderstood’ is that over the years I’ve heard a lot of statements from people, both dog owners and non dog owners alike, always pretty negative like:

‘You shouldn’t have that dog around the children, they are dangerous’
‘I would never have a dog like that’
‘That isn’t a pet’
‘Those dogs aren’t happy being pets’
‘It should be on a farm’
‘You can’t keep a dog like that in the house’
‘It needs to run all day’
‘You’ll need to walk that all day’

I rarely, if ever, hear anything positive said about the breed.
It’s all about how neurotic they are, how crazy they are, how vicious they are, how they never settle down etc etc

It’s only a relatively small sample of dogs granted but not a single one of the collies I know or have known have been the crazy, nippy nightmares people think.

A lot of them have been owned by elderly people, all of the ones I know are working lines, none of them get hours of running, training, agility etc.
They are all nice, friendly, normal dogs.

I would agree they are not always the best choice for first time owners or hectic families with young children and I agree the herding instinct can cause problems but I think a lot of perceptions about the breed are just plain wrong.

We've had them on the farm all our lives. I would never have one as a normal domestic pet. Ours have lived in the house with us,but have worked during the day. All of them had a behavioural quirk of some type,which I imagine could become amplified if they were under stimulated. The current farm collie is in no way suitable as a pet,she is very highly strung,fear aggressive, destructive,territorial,and rubbish at her job to boot. Good job we love her as she isn't suitable as a worker or a pet.
We have her son as a pet, Cocker Collie cross. He is a complete opposite of her,and very very clever. He's on the farm with his mum and brothers a lot of the time,I could imagine that if he was home alone while we were at work, we'd have no house left.

I could imagine that if he was home alone while we were at work, we'd have no house left

Someone I know bought one years ago, the poor pup was alone for a lot of the day and detroyed the bannister, I had no idea something so small and cute could create that much damage. Luckily for pup he was rehomed.

Just wanted to say well done OP for taking all the comments on board seriously.

We have a collie x springer rescue and she’s amazing, had a bit of a herding notion, she is very clever and loyal and still like a pup at 10.
Maybe consider an older rescue dog, tbh if your DH is at home I’d be expecting him to accommodate the dog with a lunchtime
walk, was he planning to ignore it all
day?

We have a collie with primary age children. Honestly, the most loving and patient dog. He does run 10/15 miles a day with the hubby though. But he loves nothing more than to curl up and snooze by my feet while WFH and snuggle up to the kids while they are chilling and join in when they are running about playing.
I get that some are neurotic and a but not all. I couldn't imagine having any other breed 🐶

It's probably not the breed for you but I feel like I have to stick up for them lol!

Hi,

Thank you for your comments.

SBTlove, he was willing to take the dog out at lunchtime.

We were just worried about the rest of the day when he would be on calls and in meetings

Any working breed isn't suitable if you work all day. My dogs are a working breed I put them first. I'm out 365 days of the year for long walks. I have the joy of winter coming but if its galeforce wind and pouring down they still want a walk.

Grew up with one and it was walked twice a day - not for the two to three hours mentioned above - and was fine. Very long walks every weekend. But - he had two other dogs with him at home and my mum was there all day paying attention to them so they were never bored or left alone at all. The main thing was that he didn't like strangers at all including kids. But he was incredibly obedient and there was never any concern he would be aggressive but it was obvious he wanted to be and it made people uncomfortable so he was kept away. With the family though he was the most loyal loving dog I have ever known - a wonderful boy.

Isn't it crazy how nearly twenty years after all three died I still get teary thinking about all three of them - dogs are so amazing.

Have you considered a Smooth Collie, or a Rough Collie or Sheltie if you prefer a long-haired dog? Smooth Collies have the collie look but are considerably less demanding than Border Collies can be. Rough Collies (like Lassie) are just like Smooth Collies, but with long hair. They both make great family pets and would suit your situation, I would have thought.