Where does the Border Collie excel?

[Donald McCaig]

Dear Doggers,

 

Working sheep, cattle, poultry and hogs. Agility, obedience, Flyball, Dancing with dogs (AKA Freestyle?) Frisbie.

 

In the UK they're the S&R dogs of choice, less so here.

 

Have I missed anything?

 

Donald McCaig

[Mark Billadeau]

Flushing geese from ponds and flushing birds from airports

[rufftie]

therapy/service dogs. i happen to have one of the best snugglers ever.

[gcv-border]

Trick training.

[Cass C]

I've seen border collies in all dog sports, and they are usually the breed of choice. They are even gaining popularity as dock diving dogs, which used to be a lab sport.

 

I feel like a border collie (usually) excels wherever the owner wants to excel whether that is dog sports, herding, s&r, or another 'team' activity.

[D'Elle]

Where do border collies excel? At everything. :-)

Well, maybe I should amend that. I have not heard of any really excelling as hunting dogs. But probably if you took the right puppy and trained him or her, you could get one to do that too. Certainly they can track excellently, and many will retrieve, so why not.

[Sue R]

Dan would like to dispute that Border Collies don't hunt. He would like to be a squirrel dog. He'd also like to be a deer dog but, fortunately, he's a sighthound not a scenthount and calls off before he takes off...and loses the trail when the deer goes into cover.

 

Many Border Collies and lurchers with Border Collie in their parentage made poachers' dogs back in the day. Sheepdog by day, poacher's dog by night. I wonder when anyone, including the dog, got a chance to sleep?

[NCStarkey]

A friend of mine owned and trained the first (and perhaps the only) Border Collie to earn his Grand Master Hunting Retriever title from the North American Hunting Retriever Association. He also was a pretty fair sheepdog.

[urge to herd]

I think one of the SAR dogs at 9/11 was a bc. If you search "border collie 9-11" you might come up with a link to Sage's story. She was a bc from New Mexico who worked the Pentagon crash site.

 

Ruth and Gibbs

[GentleLake]

I have not heard of any really excelling as hunting dogs. But probably if you took the right puppy and trained him or her, you could get one to do that too. Certainly they can track excellently, and many will retrieve, so why not.

 

Many years ago I bred 2 litters before deciding it was an endeavor best left to people more capable than I (though in my defense I believe I made decent choices).

 

One of the pups from the first litter went to first time border collie owners. The husband had always had hunting retrievers and was a hunter himself, but his wife loved my male and wanted a pup.

 

When the pup was a year or so old I got an update -- Dave said Cub was the best bird dog he'd ever owned.

[GentleLake]

Many Border Collies and lurchers with Border Collie in their parentage made poachers' dogs back in the day. Sheepdog by day, poacher's dog by night.

 

My probably border collie cross lurcher wishes she could be a poacher's dog. She's got a wicked prey drive and, as a result, a lousy recall. She never gets to leave the house and fenced yard except on a leash or on the rare occasion we do some lure coursing. (Unfortunately, because she's dog reactive we can't go to fenced dog parks.)

 

I suspect she's an accidental lurcher (she's a rescue so I don't know), unlike those still frequently bred in the UK, but I think she'd excel if given half a chance.

[Maja]

It's about excelling so I will add PIP -

 

Pain in the Posterior

[Alchemist]

I wouldn't attempt to use a Border collie as a livestock guardian dog... Training can only help so far when it comes to entrenched instinct.

 

Where do border collies excel? At everything. :-)

Well, maybe I should amend that. I have not heard of any really excelling as hunting dogs. But probably if you took the right puppy and trained him or her, you could get one to do that too. Certainly they can track excellently, and many will retrieve, so why not.

[Tea]

i used one for falconry- he also is a nice work dog

[Smalahundur]

Well Í can not imagine that bordercollie "excel" at being hunting dogs, beating specialised working breeds at their own game. One would expect to see more hunters with a BC in tow for one.

I would not argue that it is possible to train and use one for such a purpose, but excelling at it, as a breed, I don't think so.

[Cass C]

Well Í can not imagine that bordercollie "excel" at being hunting dogs, beating specialised working breeds at their own game. One would expect to see more hunters with a BC in tow for one.

I would not argue that it is possible to train and use one for such a purpose, but receiving at it, as a breed, I don't think so.

It may also be a case of AKC ruining the retriever breeds to the point people who haven't been in the hunting world using a working dog don't know the difference. An ACK lab is nothing like its working relatives. I've met and seen both.

[D'Elle]

What about service dogs?

I ask, because it is likely that at some point I am going to need one. I would think that a border collie would make a good service dog, and of course it would be my first choice.

[GentleLake]

What about service dogs?

 

There was a discussion about this a while back; a poster was looking for a service dog for herself.

 

One of the things mentioned was that border collies are great in may service applications, but they don't have the size and bulk necessary for mobility dogs.

 

I hope you won't be needing a service dog any time soon, or at all really. But if and when you do, I can understand why you'd want a border collie at your side.

[Root Beer]

Honestly, I find that they excel as companions. They are active companions - they put their whole heart into companionship when that is their role.

Lately I appreciate my Border Collies for that most of all. And my working bred boy excels at it!! (Yes, we are still into sports and training and all - I just have a new appreciation for this aspect of our lives)

[alligande]

Honestly, I find that they excel as companions. They are active companions - they put their whole heart into companionship when that is their role.

 

Lately I appreciate my Border Collies for that most of all. And my working bred boy excels at it!! (Yes, we are still into sports and training and all - I just have a new appreciation for this aspect of our lives)

I fully agree, I am on border collie #4 and my well bred ISDS dog excels in companionship just as well as his rescued predecessors. Although I compete in agility and take it rather seriously, first my dogs are pets and companions and I could not imagine having another breed.

[aschlemm]

Mine excel at giving me a good laugh, every day!!!

[mum24dog]

Define "companionship". My youngster wants to do things with me 24 /7 and doesn't like to be left behind but "companion" to me implies a certain degree of emotional support and that I don't want or get from him. He's his own dog and very determined to achieve whatever he wants to do. He's just as happy lying in the corner of the room on his own as by my feet. I have one BC (the one that bites) sprawled across my lap worried because there are workmen digging up the road outside and one (the one without a bad bone in his body) amusing himself knocking a Kong under the couch and trying to get it out. Very different dogs, one up for anything but rather aloof, the other more limited in terms of talent but a better companion.

[GentleLake]

My youngster wants to do things with me 24 /7 and doesn't like to be left behind but "companion" to me implies a certain degree of emotional support and that I don't want or get from him.

 

I'd say there's a good chance you don't get it from him because you don't want it.

 

These dogs are very good -- dare I say excel? -- at reading and responding to what it is we want and expect of them. I know that many do, but why would a dog bond emotionally with someone who doesn't want, and therefore I assume doesn't offer, that kind of relationship?

[Tommy Coyote]

My dogs have all been really good companions. The 2 dogs I adopted that had been outside dogs were more aloof and independent. But all the ones I 4aised from puppies have been my buddies

[Sue R]

Whether or not a dog "excels" at being someone's companion is totally dependent on what that someone wants in a companion dog. My idea of my perfect companion dog could be the antithesis of someone else's idea of the perfect companion dog.