Going and going and going...

[Maralynn]

This afternoon my family hosted a cookout. About 25 people altogether. When Missy saw people arriving and standing out on the deck, she grabbed her ball and started dropping it by someone's foot so they'd kick it for her. And people generally complied. If not, she reminded them by grabbing the ball and dropping it again. There was one space for about 10 minutes were she couldn't find her ball - it had bounced off a tree and rolled under the deck. After 10 minutes of looking for it, she went and grabbed another ball to play with.

 

This started at 4:30. The ball finally went away close to 8:00 when I walked with her over to take care of the sheep. There she went and turned around the ewe and lambs who had gone around the wrong side of the pond and gotten stopped by the fence. The ewe was rather distraught that she had gotten seperated from the rest of the sheep. Stopped for a quick cool down in the river on the way home.

 

At home I let Kipp back out of his kennel to go for a walk before bed. He had spent a good deal of time playing earlier as well, only he took a mandetory break while we ate so he wouldn't be tempted to help himself to food. So we walk out toward the field to the quiet dirt road for our walk. On the way Missy grabs the frisbee that Kipp had left in the front yard from our earlier game. So I got it and put it up. Then we get to the field. She searches for 30 seconds and finds another frisbee that we had left out there in the morning . I was mean and made her leave it so I could take a walk without 2 dogs glued on where the frisbee was going next.

 

After the walk I worked a little on stays and heeling with both dogs, but mostly for Kipp's benefit. Then we head for the house. When I get there, Missy is laying at the end of the walkway with, you guessed it, another ball.

 

And, oh yes, she turned 8 this past March...

 

I have to go back to work tomorrow, so I hope she'll be ready to sleep for a few hours

[ahoops]

Thats funny !I know a border collie called Jess who belongs to some relatives who live on a farming property who we see one day a year which is Christmas day .It is Jesses mission in life to keep a ball game going forever .She is now 16 years old and sounds like an asthmatic steamtrain but she does the same thing she is always dropping a ball at someones feet and stares at it until someone moves it or throws it or kicks it she doesnt care which.We hide them constantly but she just finds another one.I am sure she sleeps well that night

Another BC I know called Banjo does not care what he finds for you to throw he has presented me with a feather and often mangled banksia /pine cones with great streams of drool over them YUCK!He does not have any toys or balls because he destroys them very quickly .The irony of that is that he was one of many inspirations to get a border collie for myself .I must be a little crazy ha ha

[sweet_ceana]

You're telling me that the game of ball can have an end?

[WyoBC]

Ever since I got Black Jack he has been able to play for about ten minutes or so before he's tired. So I didn't push him to play more than that. But now since we have all his health problems worked out (hopefully) he has started to play more and more and more then just a little bit more It's great because that's what kind of dog I wanted. Plus it's great to see him so happy. Now he can play for well over half an hour and it's getting longer and longer every day.

 

The irony of that is that he was one of many inspirations to get a border collie for myself .I must be a little crazy ha ha

 

It takes a special kind of person to own these dogs, but I know I LOVE 'EM

[Beth G]

You mean you expect a BC to end the game of ball? Lol...I thought it was the human's job to do that!

[Brandon M]

I buy tennis balls and frisbees all the time. and Lance loses them. then when I dont have one to throw he always ends up with one of the lost ones, tossing it at my feet. Obviously he has a system and is smarter than me.

[Cassidy]

I buy tennis balls and frisbees all the time. and Lance loses them. then when I dont have one to throw he always ends up with one of the lost ones, tossing it at my feet. Obviously he has a system and is smarter than me.

 

 

 

LOL that is sooo funny. It sounds like he definitely knows what he is doing. I just wish I could get Ladybug to let go of her toys. She will fetch them and drop them at my feet but she dares me to get it. She sometimes will try to give it to me, then wants to play tug of war. That and guard the toy by getting between me and the toy, but she wants me to try and get it. This bothers me because isnt this a sign of aggressiveness or is she just playing in her own little way? I would love to just play fetch if she would only release the toy, LOL

[Anda]

Missy's behaviour is SO familiar!

 

Lance, Ouzo does the same thing: looses balls and finds replacements. Anywhere. For example yesterday, at the dog park, he lost three of his tennis balls, only to find at least 5-6 others, which by the end of our 2 hour walk were of course, lost back to where they came from. We had a scare, since for about 20 minutes I took him on a not so traveled path, and THERE WERE NO BALLS! Devoted Ouzo, searched and searched until he found A BALL in the tallest grass, and proudly presented it to me, then order was restored in the Universe.

 

I've always admired Missy's ability to not loose her toys, even in high snow.

[vickim]

I WISH Whisper would chase a ball! I will throw one, she looks at, pricks her ears and then ignores it. There a short period of time when she would chase a small skull (probably from a muskrat) and bring it back, but other than that, the only thing she wants to chase are racoons, squirells, deer, chipmunks and any other small creature that invades her territory. If she catches it, she will kill it and bring it to me. She recently discovered partridges--she knows that that sudden thundering wing-sound is, but hasn't yet figured out it's a bird. I have to wonder if someone at one point trained her to be a hunting dog. I'm just waiting for her to learn how to climb trees so she can get at the racoons she traps.

[Maralynn]

You mean you expect a BC to end the game of ball? Lol...I thought it was the human's job to do that!

 

But I did try! She just kept coming up with another toy!

 

I WISH Whisper would chase a ball! I will throw one, she looks at, pricks her ears and then ignores it. There a short period of time when she would chase a small skull (probably from a muskrat) and bring it back, but other than that, the only thing she wants to chase are racoons, squirells, deer, chipmunks and any other small creature that invades her territory.

 

You may just need to teach her how to play ball. Missy came to me with ball drive - even though she had never played with one before (and she was 3 y/o when I got her). Kipp, however, did not. He was 20 m/o and it took me a few weeks to teach him to play. Before that he'd trot after the ball and keep right on going as something else had caught his eye.

 

So I became the most animated idiot in the front yard about playing with the ball or tug (if I had close neighbors they would have thought I was nuts). I also used a squeeky ball at first becasue it got his attention better, or would drag a braided fleece tug on the ground. I kept him on a leash to help him focus on me and kept the sessions to 2-3 minutes, and did several of those a day. I also crated/kenneled him inbetween, and didn't play with him except when I was trying to build his play drive (he had walks, but no free time). As it started to click, I'd put him up after 2-3 times of chasing the ball (while he was still having fun). It took 3 or 4 days for him to become interested in playing ball.

 

That was back in Nov/Dec. Now you say "ball" or "frisbee" and he snaps to attention. He will chase it as long as you will through it. And he's slowly getting to the point where he will go after it even if a cat is sitting there watching us.

[smileyzookie]

You may just need to teach her how to play ball. Missy came to me with ball drive - even though she had never played with one before (and she was 3 y/o when I got her).

 

Riven was the same way. She would watch it... then we were like.. go get it! go get it! and she'd go over to it and looka nd we'd praise her, then gradually we'd make her pick it upa nd bring it back. Unfortunately Rivens idea of ball is go get the ball and then fight like heck to not give it back. We'd chase her in all sorts of zoomie circles. Then if we ignored her she would put her head in our laps with the tennis ball and then not let go. Thus the command "drop it" was created LOL.

[Millie&MeBC]

Millie has almost no interest in balls or frisbees. I try to play with her with them but she prefers plush toys.

Now when it comes to hiking, running, walking, etc. nope, she never stops.