- What are BC's like as pets? As a rule, BC's are not easy
pets. They require a lot of attention and training, typical pet owners
find them too intense or energetic. BC's are workaholics and require a
lot of attention and training.
- I have a yard for the dog to run in, isn't that enough? No.
BC's are extremely intelligent animals and they need much more mental
stimulation than mindless running. If you cannot provide them a job to
do, oftentimes they will find their own things to keep them busy, i.e.
digging, jumping fences (many BC's can easily jump a 6' fence),
chewing, and other destructive behaviors.
- What is Living with a Herding Dog Like? Be sure you know what
you're getting into if you think you want a Border Collie.
Border Collies have been bred for hundreds of years to hone and refine
a very strong instinct to herd sheep. Border Collies herd
everything that moves: livestock, birds, other dogs, cats,
children, and even bugs. Many people have absolutely no patience
with the way the herding instinct displays itself and operates in a
family situation, and many Border Collies end up abandoned at the
local dog pound because of it. Border Collies run hard, they
chase children (sometimes biting them because they won't stop or move
in a certain direction), they throw toys at you nonstop, they are
continually underfoot trying to herd, they jump up on people, they
bark a lot when they are playing, they love to chew and dig, they
rarely lie down and sleep when they are young, and they mature very
slowly. Many, many young Border Collies are killed each year
trying to herd cars by running in front of them.
- Are Border Collies Good with Children? Though some individual
Border Collies are very gentle with children, one of the most common
reasons people give when they turn a Border Collie over to rescue or a
shelter, is that they nip or snap at the children in the family.
This is most often not a sign of viciousness, but rather a problem
caused by their intense herding instinct. To a Border Collie,
children are often livestock. When a Border Collie wants a child
to do something and the child doesn't cooperate, the dog's instinct
tells it to push harder, and they often nip quite hard. This
instinct cannot be eliminated, but can and must be controlled by
consistent training.
- Is a Border Collie Right for Me? The people who make the most
satisfied Border Collie owners are people who enjoy spending a lot of
time with their dogs and are willing and able to make the commitment
to exercise and train in some way every day...who are very active, who
don't mind living with a dog that never really settles down, even in
the house, even after a lot of exercise, even when the owner is tired
from a long day at work...most important, who have a real job for the
dogs to do, whether it's one of the dog sports at which these dogs
excel or, of course, herding a flock of sheep.
- Some of this information was obtained from: http://bcrescue.dogsaver.org/
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