starry777

Whoa, what the heck? I was shocked when I read this thread. I've been trying to figure out the group norms here in order to figure out what I need to do to fit in. But from what I read in this thread, a member isn't welcome here unless they change their views to be 100% the same as the ones you guys hold. Nope. Not the forum for me. Bye guys.

I was interested by what you said about there being a law where dogs must be altered by 6 months of age because this is my first time to hear of something like that. What are the exemptions to that? You have to show that you have some sort of working dog?

Edit, changed my mind and edited my post accordingly. Carry on, bigots.

Sorry I don't have advice but... I love saddleback BCs! Do you have any more pictures?

I definitely understand your hesitation. The internet is a dangerous place to be when we're hurting because when we reach out people could build us up just as easily as they tear us down--we're kind of at their mercy. And when you're falling apart from grief the last thing you need is people who wanna hurt you even more. I'm glad you were able to receive caring. And I'm joining you on the grief wagon because I just lost someone dear to me the other day (a human, not a dog.) And they didn't die, they left by choice. Yay me. I feel left with still so much love to give but now no idea what to do with it. So I'm just trying to reach out to others and try to brighten their days a little bit.

Apologies if my question came across as offensive. Such was not my intent. Also I was half joking but maybe this community isn't the right place for that? I'm new here so I'm still figuring out what is expected of me. I'm a pretty peaceful person that likes to get along with everybody. I hate stepping on anybody's toes, you know?

Yeah, I didn't know they could be so cute! Now it's my one life goal to teach a sheep to herd some Border Collies haha. (I'm joking.)

Thanks, I just bought her a new nail grinder today. I think somebody stole my old one. I haven't been able to find it for a year and I've looked everywhere in my house and garage. Do you use a nail grinder on your dog or regular clippers?

Oh yeah, you're right about the tons of cute videos. I saw this sheep video yesterday: Do you ever watch The Dodo? I've been feeling pretty down the last few days after suffering a loss and have been using their videos to force my thoughts onto happier things.

Do sheep play with each other like this? Are they generally playful animals or only on rare occasions?

What is this sheep doing?

Aww it sucks to lose somebody you're close to. I just had it happen to me a couple days ago Been making myself focus on happy things.

Anytime! I'll probably use it as a sketch reference at some point, just for something to draw in my sketch book. I like to practice drawing random things just to get overall better at drawing.

Well, she's really pretty whatever she is--so much so that I saved one of the pics to my computer. I put her in a folder with other pretty dogs, hehe

Granted I come from other breeds, but I always heard that if you're doing all your health testing and proving your dogs worth by trialing in whatever venue you breed for, that it all costs so much that you don't make it back from breeding and thus can't make a business out of it. Is this also true of Border Collies?

Just to clarify, when I threw out the examples of "OCD" and "aggression" I meant when it's bad enough to be a major problem and isn't merely caused by the dog being in an unsuitable environement. I was thinking dogs that are really disabled by their obsessions or are so aggressive that just owning them puts you in danger of a lawsuit--what if they get a hold of somebody?

Like GentleLake said, what's done is done so make the most of what you've got!

Thanks for all the replies, they were informative and made sense. And to respond to what GentleLake said about "Barbie collies", I felt the same disappointment with them as well. Their personalities are kind of generic. It doesn't have the Border Collie weirdness and intensity that I love. It's that drive, that passion, that dedication that draws me in and I never saw it in the show dogs I met. I also don't really like their appearance. They're all short-legged and have faces that don't appeal to me at all. Plus they have almost no variation in color. They're like all black with irish white markings. I love this coloring, don't get me wrong, but BCs have so many other beautiful colors and I want to see those colors too! Anyway, I know looks aren't everything but when I love a dog's personality AND appearance, that makes it just a little bit more special. And I like how a large number of the working dogs look. They look more lanky than the show dogs (maybe due in part to less coat?) and have a look to their faces that says, "Border Collie!" to me And I did not know that the dog-sport bred Border Collies were the most difficult to live with. Could somebody elaborate on that on a bit more?

I love Border Collies, so I'm not trying to bash the breed or anything, but I was wondering why so many seemingly well-bred ones have issues with OCD and aggression and other things? Is it impossible to breed good sheep-herding dogs without getting some dogs that are too extreme in the traits that make them good herders? And as such, is it impossible to consistently produce stable temperaments?

Good luck with everything. I hope the conservative treatment works.

Interesting. Do obsessions ever cause this problem in an actual sheep herding environment or can the dog never be too focused on its sheep?

I've heard about OCD in Border Collies but I haven't owned one, so as an outsider it's a little hard for me to understand. If you feel up to it, could you explain in a little more detail what OCD behaviors are and the problems they cause?

I'm glad the herding stuff is going well with your dogs. It sounds fun! I also love watching them work. I love the crouchy walk they do and how they stare at stuff. My only experience with herding probably doesn't even count, but it was fun no less. I took my Corgi to an instinct test just to see what she'd do if she got put with sheep. There was me, her, a judge, and three sheep in a decent-sized pen. Well, after my Corgi followed them around for awhile one got separated from the others. The judge told me to send my dog after it. I pointed at it and my dog went and got it! She did a wide circle to get around behind it and then chased it back. I thought it was the coolest thing ever haha

My Corgi has a human name Her name is Madison.

I've got a friend that lives in Phoenix, so I'd definitely be interested in driving to a fun day out there. If the fun day somehow wasn't fun, well, at least I could see my friend haha xD But I went to a fun day once with the BC rescue closest to me and it was great. I liked watching the busy Border Collies running in every direction and asking the owners questions about their dogs. Also helping clean up is a good idea. As I recall, I did that at the fun day I went to and it was an opportunity to talk to everyone without them being distracted by the other guests. I believe I was one of the last people there. And yeah I've been waiting 15 years to get a Border Collie so what's one more year? Haha Oh and I just went and I subscribed to the ABCR mailing list.