pattimae48

Thank you so much everybody! For the advice and for the compliments. My Ollie is my little love, I find myself just staring at him smiling while he's playing with a toy or chewing a dog bone lol. Seems a little silly, and it's the same way I was when my kids were babies! He's just such a loving fella

Oh how touching!! Good for you and Tiga to be able to bring this family such happiness, I can't imagine what the boys' parents are feeling after this :-)

Thank you Julie! You've given me some good tips Here is a picture of Ollie, it's about a month old so he's a little bigger now and his hair is losing that puppy fluff.

Hi all! New border collie mom here And when I say new, I mean first time ever! Before we got my little boy Ollie, I knew nothing about border collies. I didn't realize how special they are and how much work, nor did I know that they end up in shelters so often. If I had known that, I would have gone to the shelter instead of an advertisement! Anyhow, we bought Ollie based on the fact that my kids instantly fell in love with him and his sweet personality. He is about the most adorable, sweetest creature I've ever seen. He's a member of our family, not a working dog on a ranch or something. He's great with my kids and his new brother (my cat!) and we have tons of fun with him. He's around 7 or 8 months and we've had him for 2. For the most part he's very well behaved, although I am still working hard on obedience training. He understand the commands I give, but hasn't quite perfected them yet. Here's the problems I'm having, hoping for some advice from you veteran BC parents! 1) Licking. I know BC's can be obsessive about things, but does it really have to be licking? lol. He's definitely a lover, but after one or two licks I'm ready to be done and he sure isn't! Any advice on getting him out of this habit? 2) Digging. Everyday I'm going out and filling in the holes he's putting in my yard. I've caught him in the act and corrected him and he still does it. I've read that they dig for a reason, and the clearest one that comes to my mind is boredom. He's home alone for about 5 hours per day. I do take him with me places, and we play with him throughout the day and go for walks in the evening. I've also started taking him for walks at 6 in the morning, before I have to start my daily goings on. Seems to have helped for the past couple of days, so I'm hoping it will last! But any advice on this subject would definitely be appreciated! 3) Herding my cat. I know herding is his instinct, was bred into him, so I'm not actually sure this can be "fixed". As soon as my cat walks in the door Ollie is right there in his face trying to stop him from walking. He tries to play with him and lead him elsewhere, although I don't even think he knows where he wants him to go! lol. I'm very glad I found this site, it has already helped me understand him SO much. I have been watching and reading for about a month but have only just gone through the process of registering and this is my first post. I'll be posting pictures of him as soon as I can!