Crazy to get a border collie?

[Byfleet]

I have wanted a border collie all my life but held off because I have been incredibly busy most of my adult life with kids, work and caring for elderly DM. DM has now passed away, kids left home and I am semi retired. However, I have read so many threads here about how border collies are particularly demanding. Would it be sensible? Here are pros and cons.

Pros

• sorry to blow my own trumpet but I am very fit and active and really love walking (and running). I am a lecturer and love teaching/training
• I am semi retired. We have a big garden and a couple of parks nearby
• DCs live nearby, love dogs, and claim they would contribute to works/dog sitting etc.

Cons

• I am very fit (marathons etc)but I am 60 and need more rest than I used to
• DH is not very fit and doesn’t really enjoy outdoor exercise
• we live in London. We have parks nearby but I am wary of letting any dog off the lead. There are some scary dogs (and owners) around.
• We have a biggish garden but I am a little precious about it ie. don’t really want dug up lawn and flower beds
• I am a little precious about the house too ie. Not keen on scratched or chewed furniture.

Any collie owners out there? Am I a good fit?

Damage to garden n home could be the least of your worries. I've had a few BCs and being reactive, nippy, territorial, neurotic, herding you and everything else, never resting etc are far more difficult to manage. None of mine have ever destroyed anything in the house but they can. Don't do it. You could get an easy one but you could also live to regret it big time.

A collie is a working dog so needs to work

What job are you going to give, it needs a lot of me talking stimulation

Agility
Canicross
Field trials

It needs to do something not be just a pet.

Not a collie owner but did have a large high energy labradoodle. I think it's doable but I think you need to have easy access to a rural space where doggo can just run through the fields. Is there somewhere within driving distance?

We are lucky to live semi-rurally so a decent race across the fields every day helped to keep his energy levels at a workable level, meaning he then just needed an on leash walk in the evenings.

Labradoodle isn't the same. Collies can be neurotic and quickly develop all kinds of behavioural issues. Yes, you can get lucky and have easier ones (I have) but that's the exception, not the norm. Please stop trying to convince yourself it can work. Its not in the best interests of the dog.

The collie you remember that pottered round a farm, how old was it? It’s completely different to compare a dog that’s worked for its excitable years and is now older and calmer, with a collie teenager stuck on a lead in London.

Collies need to be let off lead. They are not overly demanding contrary to popular belief, they like their own company and are fine left alone at home unlike some breeds once no longer a puppy. They need stimulation and exercise, not any more than many other dogs, we certainly overwalked ours and he has food issues so it's a potential pitfall. They are certainly happier in the open countryside or commons where there's interesting smells, trees, and they can roam around - I lived in the city but easy (under 10 mins) to open countryside.

Training is simple as they learn very easily however they can learn bad things very quickly too! They are best trained alone no at group classes

@MidnightConstellation

She is the very best dog! Knowing the parents makes a massive difference; she's so like them.

You would need to be able to let a collie off a lead. It depends in London where you are as to how reasonable it is to do this.

All dogs may chew or dig.

I'd suggest a miniature poodle.

@Billybagpuss

That's interesting, my collie has never dug in the garden and instead made a den in the undergrowth which he sleeps in during the day, I think he's part lion, he must sleep or doze 20 hours a day. He genuinely looked fed up at the beginning of lock down from when they all came home (plus boyfriends) and didn't go out and leave him in piece, think he was relieved when they returned to university and he went to live with exh

I was brought up with a collie and vowed never to own one if my own.
He was lovely, but very hard work, needed offlead walking for at least 2 hours a day just to keep him sane. Luckily I was brought up in a rural area so we had the space and opportunity to do so.
But exhausting his Body was only part of it.
My dmum was constantly training him. He lived until he was seventeen and up until his last couple of months he was learning a new trick per month. If not he would teach himself - he taught himself to open bolts - let the ponies out of the stables. To open the fridge . To open feed cupboards- ddad had to put baby proof locks on the feed shed.

We're in south lakes where loads of people have dogs. Those who have collies are the people who are fell running up mountains several times a week etc and out walking and running through the countryside with dog off the lead.

I can't see how a collie would fit in London.

I’ve been an agility trainer for over 10 years. Taught loads of collies. We live rurally. Very active. Not in any way houseproud. I work out of the house but OH WFH. I’d not have a collie or working cocker. I can’t give one what I know it needs to be happy and well adjusted. We chose a border terrier after losing our terrier cross rescue. I’ve taught and know lots. Intelligent dogs. Need brainwork but much more on demand than the constant needs of a collie.

my friend has collies in London. She makes it work but they’re her whole life and she does heaps of extras with them.

Collies are a lifestyle IME. Not an add on.

All dogs have a very sensitive nose they love our food don’t let him watch you eat. My collie caught a small bird in his mouth luckily he didn’t try to eat it. As you say you are an active person then a collie should suit you well. They need grooming regularly because they shed a lot of hair and that helps reduce the shedding. They love attention and sitting by your feet for comfort. He wants to feel part of the family. You need to decide what sort of diet suits your collie raw food that is packaged for dogs or normal dog food. Our collie has a sensitive stomach and we had to put him on raw food and we haven’t looked back since.

There is lots more involved to owning a dog.

As you say you are an active person then a collie should suit you well.

Did you read the OP? She said she doesn't want to let the dog off the lead - that's really not the kind of lifestyle for a collie.

All depends on wether you want a dog to fit in with you and your life as it is now, or wether you are prepared to get a dog and adjust your life so it can live its best life. So many people pick breeds around what they feel will for so changes THEY have to make are minimal. You are getting a new member of the family. Not an accessory. It's give and take.

We have a collie cross, and she is mental. We knew she would be so we have adapted.

She is crap on lead. ( but her recall incredible through training ) So we drive her local places she can run free! And weekends we go on moors..that's her favorite. It's beautiful to watch.

She does love to steal things and chew. So we turn a blind eye to recycling bin theft. Worst we have ever come home to is squashed recycling across the room! If we don't let her do that she will chew furniture. ( which is all second hand due to my life choices to have pets. Far more important to me than having a show home )

We all work, so we pay for a regular week walker, we also take her out on top of that and weekends have to revolve around her.

I wouldn't swap her for the world, I cant imagine any other breed, she is SO clever, and so well behaved ( through early training, and enough ongoing stimulation ) And my best friend. They are velcro dogs also. They choose one. And that is their one! Say bye bye to ever weeing on your own again......

If your prepared for some upheaval, and compromise, then just do it. You sound experienced, sensible, and able to give a collie what it needs. Just don't do what so many do and get one and expect your life not to have to change.

Good luck 😊

There are lots of strange assumptions on this thread about me and life in London.

I grew up on a farm with collies. In the actual countryside. I am a country girl! My parents were sheep farmers. I know how active and busy collies need to be. I am not looking for an accessory dog and I wonder why people think I am. I am 100 percent aware that my life will change if I get a collie. I have waited until I am semi retired specifically so that I have the time
to dedicate to a collie.

I live in a part of London where the parks nearby are as big as the fields where I grew up and there are several others within short driving distance. Not to mention that actual countryside is not too far either. But honestly there is nothing magic for dogs about living in the countryside. You can’t just pick any random field and run around in it. You usually have to drive somewhere to walk a dog, which you don’t in London. London is not a concrete jungle.

I mentioned being wary of off lead walking because of the reputation of some other dogs here locally. I would make sure I tried to go at very quiet times eg very early in the morning or take the dog to quieter parks or the countryside. I am well aware that no off lead exercise is unfair on dogs in general and especially so for collies.

It’s weird how random strangers feel they are entitled to decide who can and cannot have dogs.

But you asked random strangers if you could have a dog.

They only answered your question....

Just for the record I can walk from my house for miles and miles and miles in the countryside from my house without seeing anyone, cars or houses. So living in the countryside for my dogs is very magical.

It’s weird how random strangers feel they are entitled to decide who can and cannot have dogs.

Why ask if you don't want to hear people's opinions then?

Think people are just being honest about the London set up you describe OP but you seem to be an expert on collies already so I guess you’ll make your own mind up!

Multiple collies here. Agree with pp on cities being no good for collies, but I won't dwell on that! I just thought I'd mention that I've had a chewer collie and a digger collie. Both were trained out of it, but not before they'd ruined a nice table and a lot of shoes, and the lawn and several bushes, respectively. Obviously the lawn grew back eventually!
In my experience most collies have some destructive behaviour initially, you just can't tell which one it will be in advance. With good training and a proper job to do they should grow out of it. But if your garden/furniture is worth more to you than your fancy for a collie you may want to rethink.

Please don't think I was suggesting you were looking for an "accessory dog" due to my use of that term in my reply...I was simply highlighting that so many people do, and are unwilling to change their lives.

if you look at my final paragraph I was actually supportive! I was mentioning all the things we do to mitigate living in an urban environment, and by doing so was highlighting your obvious ability to do the same!

You sound like your minds made up tho, so just go ahead and do it, and enjoy. 😊

I only know my collie wouldn't do in London,I've lived in London with dogs I know the parks well but my collie needs miles and miles of walks every day off lead with no people or traffic.you could get an elderly one that didn't need as much running?a friend has one who is 14 and is very retired from the working life.i find it an emotive issue due to my work where people have wanted to euthanase their collies due to not being able to exercise them enough so please do think carefully.what we did was live a collie lifestyle for a while before getting him,making sure we were happy to walk/run for at least 3 hours a day every day throughout winter before getting him.

So why did you mention being wary of letting a dog off the lead? You say you grew up with collies so why in your opening paragraph do you say you hear they’re demanding? Why did you bother asking at all as you seem to have made up your mind and know all about them?

The main concern I would have in London is that many many collies struggle with reactivity to cars. The bark and lunge at the cars as they go past and it’s very frustrating and difficult to train them out of it. It’s fine if you live somewhere that you have quiet walks on your doorstep or if you can drive to local walks. But just be aware that your collie may never manage to walk along a busy road to your local park. And you may think oh it will be fine he will get used to it I will expose him to cars from a young age. But this often has no bearing on the reactivity and in fa t can make it worse as they just practise the behaviour from a young age.

Why have you bothered making this thread?
Its basically gone
OP: this is my lifestyle am I a good fit for a collie
Several people who are experienced owners of the breed: no because XYZ
OP: HOW DARE YOU