ionre

Thanks for the advice everybody One thing I learned from living with my roommate's dog for a year and a half is that plenty of human interaction and mental stimulation was more effective than exercise when it came to keeping her hyperness under control, though I know both are very important. It is good to get all of your points of view on this, it sounds like Border Collies are pretty adaptable to their owners just as long as they're given adequate attention. When I do decide to get one, I plan to devote at least as much time to training and obedience as to exercise. Of course, I will adapt to the dog's personality and make adjustments as necessary. Also, I know my short term future is pretty unclear at the moment being a college student, but having a dog has always been a big deal to me. I know I will probably have less flexibility in my schedule in after I graduate next year, but I intend to make the responsibilities of caring for a dog a higher priority than the average dog owner. I have been in love with Border Collies for years and have always known that owning one would take a higher level of commitment than for most dogs. I am at a point in my life where I feel like owning a dog would be really good for me and I think I am finally in a position where I could give a dog a good life in return.

I have been wanting to get a border collie for years and I finally feel like I might be in position to do so. I have done a ton of research on the breed, but I still have some questions relating to my particular situation. I am a college student living in a townhouse and my landlord has already approved me having a Border Collie here. My landlord actually used to live here too and he had his dog living with us. She was a black lab/husky mix and she did pretty well living in this environment. I ended up taking a lot of the responsibility for taking care of her. She was high energy, so I feel like that gives me some good experience with an energetic dog. Anyway, I have a pretty open schedule so I can commit to 1.5 to 2 hours per day of exercising and training a dog. I would have to leave the dog home alone an average of 5 to 6 hours per day, though I do have two roommates so he/she wouldn't necessarily be alone that whole time. There is an enclosed dog park pretty close by that I would go to on a daily basis. I also plan to go running with him/her every morning. So, I want to know if this is enough. In these circumstances, would I be able to give a Border Collie enough physical and mental stimulation? And would 5 to 6 hours a day be too much time alone? Thanks in advance for any help you can give me.