tucker09

Hounds and their noses and alone time... BAD COMBINATION. My old Beagle I had was a terror if he wasn't contained in a room for the night... trash would always be EVERYWHERE in the morning! lol. All my crew sleep in crates in my room at night except for Tucker and my Lab, Ally. They both sleep on my bed with me. I would crate them all but I actually enjoy dogs sleeping on the bed with me.. it's a reassuring feeling to me!

All these replies are interesting thank you! I agree some dogs may be simply anxious - though I don't see that as being protective behavior and so don't include anxious barking/growling into this category/question Tucker's truly protective.. he's an exceptionally un-anxious Border, and never displays anxiety when alerting me - simply very serious, but calm. And apparently unlike most of the BCs here, he IS actually brave enough to stand his ground if someone decides to overlook his warnings(had that experience with a male stranger trying to let himself into my yard!) So... guess kind of a 50/50 with most! Watch-dog behavior is great, too

When I got my first BC years ago.. I read that they "generally do not make good guard dogs." Well, I now own 2 borders and have found this to becompletely inaccurate for both of them. My male, Tucker, who was my first BC.. has been very protective basically since I got him at 7 weeks. What I love about it is it is not obnoxious incessant barking over nothing, or at any little thing - and if I say "it's okay" to whatever the situation is, all defensiveness is dropped immediately. However, if I am not there or do not 'okay' the situation, there is no way in the world a stranger is going to sneak on in. He only ever barks if there is a legitimate reason - stranger coming to the house(just walking by, he doesn't care), stranger going near the stock, etc. He has 3 different barks so I always kinda know what's up. My other BC, Lily, is the same way. Being that I'm a 22 year old single female who lives in a VERY isolated area of West Texas, where there are frequent issues with illegals attempting to break into homes..etc.... I am VERY HAPPY that I know I've got 2 dogs who will defend their territory/me and not let someone through. So what have others found, are your BCs protective, guard-dog material, or not even close? Little side story... one time while running with Tuck, a guy in a truck pulled over and literally cut us off on the side of the road. I HAD to stop. Again, I live very isolated..no houses around..around here, everyone knows everyone, and I did not know this vehicle/guy. He yelled out "hey.." and began getting out of his truck when Tucker barked twice and started growling. I asked him to sit - he sat and continued staring the guy down while growling. It seemed to throw the guy off and he stopped mid-way out of his vehicle and kind of half-laughed and nervously asked "is your dog friendly??" I immediately replied "No. He is actually extremely protective." which Tuck backed up with his continued half-snarled growling. Guy said "oh... um...oh. have a good day.." shut his truck door and drove off. To this day I have no idea who that man was, what he was doing, or what his intentions were..... but I am very grateful I had my boy with me that day. This to me is protective behavior... he is not aggressive with strangers, does not react this way to every person, and in fact is VERY friendly. But man am I glad he's got my back when I need it! Andrea

I do play fetch with my Borders, not all that often, but every now and then. Partly for them, and partly because I enjoy playing fetch with them as well. But none of them are ball obsessed whatsoever and never have been. If I say "that's all" they go off in different directions and play, no biggie. None of them have ever pestered me with it. If they did, we wouldn't do it. So, I guess I also agree that borders can become "obsessed" with a variety of different things, doesn't necessarily mean you can't ever play ball with them, just make sure they're not turning fetch into a disorder Andrea

And how is it that they can tell that early? What are the tell-tale signs of a rough or smooth pup? Thanks everyone for the replies! Very interesting to me

Interesting. When my girl was 8 weeks, her body was pretty short haired, but the hair at the very tip of her tail was about an inch or two long, so it seemed obvious she's going to be some kind of rough coat. On a sort of split off that question... if you breed two rough coated BCs, will the litter only have rough coats? Or is it still possible to get a smooth?

Just a random question.. I've seen a few times, going through websites or ads, where breeders with 8wk+ pups will say they are medium rough, rough, or smooth coated pups. Is it actually possible to tell this at that young an age? Certain signs you look for? Just curious, I didn't know if that was possible or not

Thank you for your reply! I guess that's kind of where my problem lies.. like I said, I have been disciplining her when she does this to other dogs since they won't, and yet she's still continuing that behavior regardless how many times she's been corrected on it

I've had my now 7 month old Border Collie female, Lily, since she was 10 weeks. I noticed when I met her that she was a sneaky, foxy little gal and would snoop in and steal others treats or toys and run from them without hesitation. So she has had these tendencies since I got her. I've made sure to be VERY clear that there is NO human aggression WHATSOEVER. I can take her food while she's eating, put my hand in the bowl, take treats from her, take toys, bones, etc.. anything, at any time, and she drops it immediately and shows no signs of tension or aggression. Which I'm very, very happy about. My troubles and concerns have come with my longtime dogs not teaching her respect with toys, etc. with other dogs. My male BC(Tucker) is generally good about keeping her in her place, not letting her be disrespectful and run all over him and his space, saying enough is enough with play, etc. IMO a GOOD, stable, firm-but-not-aggressive, adult dog is the best teacher a puppy can have. So far he's done a great job. But my Labrador Retriever(Ally) has counteracted almost all of the former respect put into place.. she has, from day one, let Lily run all over her, take her toys, be too rowdy with her, etc. etc. It's just in her nature to be very laid back, happy-go-lucky, submissive as can be..And of course it's been clear that the more Lily grabs a toy out of Ally's mouth(and Lily ALWAYS wants whatever toy another dog is playing with, even if she's never seen it before) the bolder and more confident she gets about stealing things from other dogs. Lily will growl/snap(multiple times) at other dogs if they come up to her while she is playing and want to take her toy. She will growl and snap if they come near her while she has a treat, or come near her when she is eating her food - even if they are just WALKING past and clearly have no intention of taking her things. She doesn't fly into some aggressive rage when these things happen, but she is definitely being aggressive and not playing. I've had people laugh when she was real small and would "snap" at another dog when they tried to take her toys.. but I've never found it cute or entertaining and have been firm about my stance on her aggression with her since day one - one day she is going to be a 40lb adult dog with a real set of teeth on her and it's not going to be funny when she injures one of my other dogs. So. Is there anything I can do to help change this behavior???? Anybody ever have a puppy like this? Any ideas on what to do? I correct her when she shows aggression to other dogs over her things like that, but it hasn't seemed to make a huge difference. Literally in every other aspect this girl is WONDERFUL - sweet as can be, loyal, intelligent beyond belief, everything. It's just this one area of her being too over protective of "her stuff." I appreciate anyone who takes the time to read! Andrea

Better than a herding dog..... hmm, I'm gonna say no! I highly doubt this would work on all stock more than a few times.. I am pretty sure the animals would be smart enough to figure out it is not a living creature and is incapable of doing what a herding dog could. And couldn't agree more to the "just because something can be done, doesn't mean it should.." if only this world could get that sentence figured out a tad more quickly!

mmmmmm I think I'll pass this time around!

Thank you all for the replies! I guess I should've clarified that it isn't that she just isn't showing a crouch or other herding stuff, but rather that she simply is showing zero interest in any stock at all. Showing interest but without a crouch wouldn't have made me question things. But I'm glad to know that what is happening isn't something uncommon! I have no intentions of forcing her to try to be interested in them or doing anything other than just letting her be a pup And I must say even though my males blood immediately turned him into a worker, he has never been too forceful, too much to handle, or going crazy trying to get to all my animals. Guess I'm lucky! Thanks again!

I bought an ABCA registered black and white female Border Collie from a breeder a bit over 2 months ago.. she is 4 1/2 months old now. She is fantastic; insanely intelligent, sweet, quirky, energetic, etc. I am so happy with everything about her. My only worry at this time is that I have yet to see her display any real form of herding behavior, no crouch or anything like that - I have horses, cats, and goats that she is around daily. I can say that I have seen her start to get an "eye" a few times on occasions NOT related to stock. Everything about her says that she should be a working dog.. She is from working parents and lines, well bred.. I bought her specifically for the hope to use her on stock. I know it is still early and she is quite young, and I don't think that it would really even be bothering me at all expect for the fact that she is my 2nd Border Collie, I have a 4 year old ABCA reg. male from working parents and great lines who when I brought him home at 8 weeks old and set him on the ground and he saw a horse - he immediately got into the crouch. To this day he remains an exceptionally instinctual, savvy, natural herder. He has always had a very strong desire to work. So because I saw him launch into his instincts so young... it just has me a little concerned that she hasn't! I don't know what the "general" rule of thumb for herding behavior is, or if there even is any usual timeline. What I'm really looking for is some reassurance! Is this normal? Common, even? After all, she is still just a baby. I don't know if she is the weird one, or my male was! Thanks for any help! Andrea