Dex BC

We had two guinea pigs and had the same problem with Dexter...He would sit by the enclosure and fixate on any movement. It was an open top pen and he would run around trying to find the pigs when they were hiding. When they ran from one end to the other he would chase them. I'm honestly not sure if he would have grabbed one or not. In the end we had to keep them in a seperate room to keep the stress down and eventually re-homed them when our kids lost interest. I think rabbits could be a different story as some are quite tough and stand their ground. My wife raised rabbits when she was a teenager and said they would chase the family dog around if it got to close.

I made the mistake of reading this at work on my lunch hour...I think my co-workers thought I had finally lost it from the laughter! Dexter scored well this week with half a block of old chedder from the counter (my fault) and 3 burgers from the dinner table when we all got up to answer the door during dinner (silly peoples). Our Golden retreiver ate a calculator once...only found bits of circuit board all over the ktichen floor.

My BC is always uncomfortable with offleash dogs. I`m not sure if he would snap but I don`t want to find out so I always keep him on his leash in places were we are likely to encounter other dogs. Your BC does not sound unusal....most prefer socailizing with othe dogs on their own terms and at their own pace. What I`ve found works for me to prevent a situtation from developing is I always keep a look out for off leash dogs down the trail or path and stop with Dexter and make him sit. Usually the other owners get the hint and leash their dogs before approaching. When passing other dogs (on leash) i always move to the side and shorten his leash to let others know that my dog may not react well. If an offleash dog does approach in an obnoxious or over exuberant manner I try to get in between and focus the other dogs attention on me (play with me instead) until Dex is more comfortabe and I can assess if they will interact OK. I also never allow another dog to corner him or get behind him as he gets very nervous.

I had a good laugh watching this video.....all they want to do is run, sitting still just does not work. ``Should I Stay or Should I go`` Would make a good theme song for Border Collies! The one handler seemed a bit rough trying to keep his dog in place http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moOn4gXT_kc

LOL....Great action shots of Eluane...this is why I need a better camera. Most of my photos are with my iPone! I have no idea if Dex would be a good agility dog but I`m thinking about joining the local club in the spring. He`s a good disc dog as we practice this alot. He can jump a log in the woods pretty well but I`m not sure how he would do on an agility course. (finding the time for training is the problem).

Impressive!!..to say the least. He just floats over the jumps. The one thing that amazes me, atleast when I watch my Dexter run is his abiltiy to maintain control and carry speed through a turn. He gets down low and it seems like he actually acelerates going around a corner. I have a nice track worn into my lawn where he cuts the corners! He just loves to run...All I have to say is "go" and he's off like a rocket. Thanks for the responses everyone, hard to say for sure but I would believe 30mph in a sprint would not be out of the question?

I managed to get a clip of Dex running at full tilt....Not sure how fast Border Collies can run but they must be up there with other fast breeds. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFNuR-Q5htg