Scoutthebc

Agreed- it's a must have!

Mine is a tall and lanky 31 lbs at 7 months.

I'm quoting this entire post so it will get read a second time. Excellent post! I cannot agree more with the statement that it's important not to mistake sensitivity for fragility. While I wouldn't describe my BC as gritty, she is a confident, "do anything" dog with the added benefit that she gives a crap about doing what I ask.

I love the video, Diana!

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There of lots of people on this forum, much more experienced with BC than I, that will tell you that what the breeder said about working dogs being neurotic is total BS. I own my first BC, now 6 months, and she's easy going, loves to have fun, and is into our relationship just as much as I am. And she is working bred, from working sheepdog parents. Yes, she's active and needs to exercise her body and brain. But, no one would describe her as neurotic or as having attachment issues.

Who needs a hamster wheel when you have a treadmill?

I'm sure this is true. I certainly wouldn't expect every pup to be the same. But I wanted to share that we're having a great time!

I wanted to update this thread to say that our pup is now around 6 months old and is still so much fun to work and live with! We finished both a basic obedience and our first (age appropriate) agility course. We start another 8 week agility course in a few days. After a little encouragement, she's also discovered how much fun it is to swim! I've seen a twinkle in her eye hinting at teenage antics, but for now she's still easy peasy. It has been such a joy seeing her grow! I'm hooked.

I would also suggest a kong. We also both work full time (though not the same schedule), so there are several hours each weekday that pup is crated. Even at 5 months, when she sees her kong come out, she runs to her crate and dives in.

Giggle!

Someone else's thumbnail is showing in my post. Not sure why?

Excellent video, Sekah!

This is our Scout. She's 4 months, working bred, and is our first Border Collie. She's been a ridiculous amount of fun so far and is exactly the "do anything" pup I was looking for!

I've been surprised over and over again at how easy my BC pup has been. She's 4 1/2 months now and has been nothing but fun. She's probably saving all her naughtiness for her teenage months. Seriously though, for a person that enjoys training and other dog friendly activities, she has been easy peasy. This is my first high drive dog and I had mentally prepared myself for a whirlwind. I do see her being a problem pup for someone disinterested in training and/ or unable to set clear boundaries, but I don't feel like any of her puppyness has been "work" so far.

I guess the pic didn't attach. Let's try again!

Just wanted to share a pic. She is just over four months old now and we are loving the mat work exercises from CU. Last night, one of her friends decided to join in the fun and provided a valuable distraction!

I'm reading "Control Unleashed: Puppy" right now and practicing some of the exercise. I highly recommend it. I love the perspective and the focus on partnership.

HJTRAS, I am a new BC owner (though not new to dogs), so this observation is not coming from someone who feels they are in an exclusive club and doesn't want to let you in. FWIW, this seems to be the opinion you've concluded from the forum and I think it misses the mark entirely. That said, even from the perspective of an owner of breeds with less drive and intensity, your posts contain red flag after red flag. Perhaps it's simply a communication issue, but taken at face value your posts point to issues already present and probably worse to come. If you feel it's not an accurate assessment, I suggest you reread your posts and try to understand why their content would be cause for concern amongst experienced dog owners of any kind. No amount of time invested (even 15 hours a day- when do you sleep?) nor the degree of love you have for your dog will overcome a basic misunderstanding of canine behavior going unremedied. That's where people go wrong. It's not a lack of love, it's a lack of understanding (to the detriment of the dog.)

Someone recently mentioned to me that she's slicing her regular formula canned dog food while refrigerated (so that it's firm) and baking it at a low temp for several hours. It ends up like a biscuit, but since it's her allergy prone dog's regular food there are no worries about feeding it. I have not tried it myself.

"I think your dog actually sounds very restrained, given your scenario above. Large dogs and pushy dogs can be very much a trigger to border collies, because such dogs are a lot of pressure" This makes such good sense, Gloria. Our pup loves to play with other dogs and puppies, but large dogs that get in her face scare her. Who can blame her? My approach has been to generate as many positive experiences with large, calm dogs as possible and not let pushy dogs get in her face! I love the Clothier article. My previous dog (a Newfoundland) had little tolerance for rude behavior from other dogs. Luckily for us, she had incredible bite inhibition and her M.O. was a noisy body check, but we did manage it carefully. You can imagine that a stranger would not receive well a correction from a 100+ lb bear of a dog, soft mouth or no. Although it wasn't true, I never hesitated to say to an off leash, bouncy dog owner that "she doesn't like other dogs."the truth is, she had lots of dog friends and would ignore any calm dog in public or in classes. My trainer hit the nail on the head one day when she said, "she's a playground monitor." If she were in charge, no one would run or bark in the house, no one would wrestle too intensely, and no dogs would jump up or act over the top excited in any way. Young puppies were exempted. My bargain with my Newfie was this: you ignore rude dogs that are outside of your personal space and I will keep them from getting in it. Her personal bubble was not allowed to be a half acre. Her love of tasty treats made it easy to dial down her bubble to a reasonable size.

My puppy turns into a wild animal when it's past her bedtime! It always makes me laugh... And always makes me put her in her crate, where she immediately crashes..

BCjetta, her whole body wag at the end of the video is just darling! She looks quite proud of herself and should be.

Thank you! She's a real love. Even my older, "playground monitor" dog was rapidly convinced she's an excellent playmate.

Love the snarly face pic of the two of them playing!