Border collies

[Farfalle88]

I have always wanted a BC. I know they are a lot of work and can be very demanding and have behavioural issues. How do I choose the right dog? Are failed sheepdogs a better bet because less hyper? Less liable to chase traffic etc?
We live near lots of open spaces and great walks. Have a medium sized garden. We also have a cat. There is someone home all day most days.

Please tell me your highs and lows of owning a BC. I don’t really want a puppy but rescues are hopeless as most dogs have a lot of behavioural issues and we don’t have six foot fences.

I had a JR terrier as a child but no recent dog experience.

I have border collies and I wouldn't touch a rescue one. 'Bad' behaviours can be very entrenched. As a first time collie owner I would recommend you get a pup or, preferably, something else entirely unless you have a job for it to do.

@Spidey66

My beautiful Maggie She’s full of energy and isn’t one to laze around....you do need to put the work in. But she’s loyal, affectionate and excellent with kids. I love her so much it hurts.

She’s well behaved with little training as she’s just so child. I can taker anywhere.

My heart could explode

I have always had BC
They are amazing

Plenty of walks
Plenty of games for them to play

In return they are such fab pets xxxxx

@Turquoisesol

Not stroking the dogs when they are sleeping or on their beds is fairly standard for most dogs surely? I tell my children they aren’t allowed to speak to do when she goes to her bed

My son grew up with another large breed of dog and regularly curled up in the dogs basket with the dog. Some breeds of dog are better suited to young children and acutally love the closeness. The same dog now sleeps on my son's bed as my son has outgrown the dog basket!

Oh mediumred your games sound fun. We do scent work in the garden which is also fun. My parents old collie used to walk off lead everywhere but I am not sure they can remember how they trained that ! I joined bordercolliesuk Facebook page and from what I can read on there a lot of people say they calm down a lot after 2 and (as long as you put in the effort in training) become lovely loyal dogs

I so agree ours had lots and lots of training and enjoys mind games every once in a while. He goes to agility regularly but we stop when he gets bored . he is so loyal and very protective of the family . I was set against a BC but maybe we have been lucky .

@Farfalle88

I have always wanted a BC. I know they are a lot of work and can be very demanding and have behavioural issues. How do I choose the right dog? Are failed sheepdogs a better bet because less hyper? Less liable to chase traffic etc? We live near lots of open spaces and great walks. Have a medium sized garden. We also have a cat. There is someone home all day most days.

Please tell me your highs and lows of owning a BC. I don’t really want a puppy but rescues are hopeless as most dogs have a lot of behavioural issues and we don’t have six foot fences.

I had a JR terrier as a child but no recent dog experience.

I have a border collie (rescue) she's 3 years old today but lazy as anything, she likes her walks but likes her sleeps with her toy elephant too. I was expecting her to be a handful but so far she's very easy to look after. I do give her plenty of enrichment toys and games though which I think probably helps keep her calm. She doesn't have any behavioural issues through