What 'jobs' can a collie do, without being a sheepdog?

[TrellisMonday]

I'm looking to get a puppy and I love the collie breed.

I really want to invest lots of time training, bonding, and I'm very active.

I've read that collies need a 'job' to be happy, as they're so intelligent.

What sorts of things could I create?

I'm in the countryside with 3 acres of land.

Wobbler?

Not quite sure what they actually do but I think I have heard people say that they have Collie Wobblers.

Scent work or agility

Agility
canicross (and then bikejor)
obedience
dancing to music
Tricks
Hoopers
Scentwork
Mantrailing
Barnhunt

Basically try stuff til you find something you both enjoy.

We have a border collie who is a pet, only word of warning I would give is they like a routine and do expect their routine to be kept. They can also get obsessed with activities. My DH and I are both retired and have the time and try and do varied things/walks with our boy, no agility or similar classes near us SE, but he has us very well trained.

No idea what this is?

Wobblers is a disease in some dogs.

Agility
Cani-cross
Bike-joring
Hoopers
Scent-work

I know lots of collies who don't do any of those things though, they're just pets.

Close but not quite 😂

Collywobbles -
an uncomfortable feeling in the stomach caused by feelings of nervousness or slight fear
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/collywobbles

OP - perhaps train it to put toys away on command, or pick up dirty socks/ washing and put in a basket as extra housechores. Some places have sheep/geese herding courses where you can teach your pup to channel his inner instincts, and then perhaps practice once a month. Maybe ask the local farmers network if they know of anyone.

Rough Collie/Lassie? Gentle, intelligent and without the Border Collie’s huge need to work

Completely off topic- but where I come from they are colleywobbles...

My service dog is a Border Collie, but beyond that:

• he knows the names of all 627 (as of today) of his toys and can fetch them on command
• treat puzzles - he loves them, and is particualrly partial to the Nina Ottosson ones
• Tidy up - which means collecting the large number of the 627 toys and putting them in their tidy places
• Treibball or Sheep ball (the latter one we can play indoors / in the garden)
• Frisbee
• Hide and Seek (and can also be played indoors of course)

If it's a Border Collie it will definitely need to be busy. Very clever and trainable.

Word of warning though, they can be anxious and obsessive dogs... My childhood dog was one of these and I loved him so much. I never felt he was totally chilled though, always anxious about where everyone was at all times.

That's amazing! I thought our collie cross was doing well with knowing the name of 15 or so dog toys 🤣

I hope it's ok to ask, what sort of service is your dog trained for? Collies are so clever but it always seems to me that with great cleverness comes great anxiety 😱 so I'm really interested in the idea of a collie as a service dog!

Complex PTSS. Borders are usually too reactive for seeing dogs - although I have seen a couple that are hearing dogs. But they can be excellent at "medical intervention" because they can see and hear and smell reactions humans have before we can detect them ourselves. I have seen that some are trained as medical detection dogs too for early detection of cancers and the like, and can detect conditions even before medical machines can.

That said, anxiety in border collies isn't a breed trait - it comes from boredom and lack of mental stimulation. So actually they can make excellent service dogs, and the more complex the job the happier they are. I have had mine since he was 7 weeks and two days old; and first met him at 2 weeks, when he picked me. So we have literally worked together from before he could see or hear. Luckily I am an experienced trainer so it was just another type of training. There's a massive shortage of service dogs in the UK and it is very hard, often impossible, for people to get them. And that's why you don't see them - getting them trained is not easy, and training them yourself isn't possible for most people. There are a few places that support people to train their own dog, but that pre-supposes the dog you have is suited to the task.

I read here that an Australian mumsnetter had a pond and a flock of geese that the collie spent the day rounding up!

Thanks everyone!

I do have chickens, perhaps they could be a job too!

A lot of people do sports with them, I know of someone online that now has a flock of sheep - bought originally for her pet collies 😂

I have a pet one, from working parents and we don’t do sports with him… so IMO for what it’s worth it’s not so much that they need a specific job to do as much as you need to be realistic about your activity level

Me and my DP effectively have his and her dogs… they’re both young adults and fairly active. The non collie one though, decent walks, a bit of playing and training and he’s happy, the collie needs more than that. The collie goes to work with my DP often, he goes to watch football with him at least once a week, he spends most of the weekend “doing” gardening and DIY with him - that’s on top of the fairly long walks, playing and training the other dog gets.

The collie does have the odd day where he’s just at home with me and the other dog and he’s fine, he’ll chill but if it’s more than a couple in a row then I have to find things for him to do as he starts to get a bit antsy - a couple of walks and me doing housework or paperwork isn’t entertaining enough for him.

This is an excellent article

https://www.emeraldparkbc.com/what-is-your-border-collie-not-good#:~:text=Cope%20with%20noise....,can%20cause%20them%20extreme%20stress.

Ive been an agility trainer for over 15 years and a competitor in both agility and obedience. I spend a lot of time around collies. They are extremely variable in temperament. Some are so wired they’d only cope if working. Some are too wired to do anything that will raise their arousal further. Some can’t cope with family life. Some make great pets. It is more of a lottery than other breeds IME.

Our border collie is wonderful. She goes to agility doggy daycare on a farm twice a week which is pricey but worth every penny as it’s so good for her. She also has a fab dog walker who takes her if we’re going to be out longer than 4 hours.
we have chickens and she watches them, herds them and they are her job. She is exceptionally well behaved at home, cuddly, obedient and relaxed all evening and overnight. As soon as the chickens have gone to bed, she relaxes and just potters about. If we go to bed too late, she’ll herd us upstairs!

She is also however dog reactive and antisocial and quite highly strung. Barks at passersby and outraged at delivery drivers. We went away for new year and stayed in a cottage in the middle of nowhere, and she didn’t bark once the entire time as we had no one walking past.

She loves routine, her family and being cuddled. She is so clever, she picks up new things so fast and is so intuitive. We have a nice, quiet boring life, which suits her perfectly!

Ours sadly literally is a collie wobble as she has a degenerative neuro condition in her back end :(

She loves being outside, as much as possible- she's very happy sat next to me while I garden. She's also enjoyed being a running companion and that is still good for her although she tires more easily now.

She is less highly strung than some collies- she adores people coming to the house and greeting them and getting a pat etc, but is still liable to crouch and stalk other dogs unless I catch her and distract her with a biscuit first (she turns 11 this year).
She's very loving and would definitely be a lap dog if slightly lighter, and since DS got out of toddlerhood, has developed a lovely relationship with him too. She's definitely a family dog.

Would agree with routine being appreciated. Comes to sit in place for her medication every morning then we make breakfast etc. Then after the school run, woe betide you if picking up after her and sh**bag (sorry, illmannered miniature poodle) in the garden and then going out and about followed by the dentastick don't happen in short order.

Mine is a collie x golden retriever
yes she knows the names of all her toys and can collect on command
no she will stick 2 paws up to me if I expect her to put them away again.
she knows left, right, Change direction, recall but again if she chooses not to, tough
She can count to 5 (show me number, holding up fingers on each hand) we’ve even started on 1+1 etc
stop barking at every hedgehog in a 5 mile radius, this is something she chooses not to comply with.

Essentially I’ve got a stubborn collie

I have a collie, he thinks his "job" is fetching his toys/sticks.
They basically want to please you so their job becomes whatever you want them to do.

With 3 acres an agility course would be amazing though.

My border collie Maggie believes she is Dot Cotton reincarnated. She is obsessed with anything to do with washing and keeps trying to help and literally squeals with excitement when she sees you going to the machine.

She knows the words 'washing machine' and runs to it when she hears it. She helps load and unload the machine and dryer and the clothes horse and washing line.

This is her gazing at the tumble dryer as we speak.