bcmix

That was very nice Journey posting my private message I sent to you in the forum. So much for the word "private". Thanks to those who took the time to actually answer my question and for the helpful information and advice. But this seems to be a place with too much vitriol and judgment for my taste. Bye.

Thank you to everybody. I'm sure it will take longer than a few days to see who he really is, but like some of you are saying, not all dogs are playful and we want one that is. There are enough playful dogs out there that I'm sure there is one for us. I don't think it's wrong to want a canine playmate for a playful dog and I do think it merits more time to see, but more time also means more attachment, and that is the fear. We think it would be less hard on both us and the dog if we return him sooner rather than later. Otherwise, we are stuck with a dog that does not want to play with our playful dog. We've been thinking about a new dog for two years now, and we do more with our dog when we are home (agility, obedience, hikes, jogs, bike rides...), so we definitely want a second one. But we realize we only have space, money and time for two, so that second one has to be the right dog. I just want to know how long until I will know if he is the right dog and what are the chances of him turning out to be the right dog, based on your personal experience with other rescued border collies. Thanks Again!

Ok, so I definitely agree with you all, and I really appreciate the support. The next problem is convincing my husband that this is the right dog and we should keep him and hope it works out. He realizes that if we keep him a month or two, then we're keeping him forever no matter what and he's afraid that the new dog might never play with our resident dog and that we should return him while we have the chance and try to find a new dog that will play. I know how hard it is to find a dog that is already as wonderful and agreeable as this one, which he understands, but his counterargument is that we should find and raise another puppy to be our perfect dog and then it will also play. How do I assuage his doubts? Or is he right? I've attached pictures for your enjoyment. The first is our resident dog, Jean-Luc (his mom was a pure border collie, I know he looks like an Old English Sheepdog though) and the second is the new dog, Robert (pronounced "row-bear").

I'm new here. Originally I registered in search of local herding resources, and a place to find fellow border collie fans, but my first post is turning out to be on a different topic. I have a 2 year old border collie mix that I've raised since he was a puppy. He's been well-socialized and well-trained and is basically the perfect dog. He greatly enjoys playing with other dogs at the dog park, and we exercise him and pay attention to him when we're home, but he is lonely during the day when we're at work. So we decided to get him a playmate. We adopted a 3 year old purebred border collie from our humane society a few days ago. All things considered, he is a wonderful dog. He gets along well with our cats, he is not destructive, doesn't bark or dig, he is cuddly, very intelligent, pretty intuitive and attentive, polite, etc. He and my established dog even get along very well. After only a day of supervision we've been able to leave them home alone together and let them out together and walk them together (we prepared for weeks of intros, but didn't need them.) The problem is that this new dog does not seem to play at all. He has no interest in any kind of toy: tennis balls, plush toys, frisbees, squeaky toys, sticks, ropes, soccer balls, or anything. He also does not play with my dog. We even tried taking them both to the dog park today. The new dog greeted all the strange people and dogs perfectly politely and was completely friendly, but he did not play with anyone and did not even show curiosity when other dogs played. My resident dog found a few different playmates in the couple hours we were there. My concern is that I've found the perfect dog for someone who doesn't want a dog to play, but I want a companion for my dog. Do you think my new dog can ever learn to play? Has anyone else had similar experiences they can share? Thanks!