Dan28

Well, I have probably averaged about 3 days a week at the local DP since I got Gus and got his immunizations. I do kind of take a little offense that those of us who use dog parks are lazy. I still walk him 2 miles in the mornings on days we go to the dog park. We still go to other various parks and explore. I am in the city and am limited by the areas where I can have Gus off leash legaly. I have a free dog park that is maintained by the Parks dept. located about 2 miles from me. Our park isn't huge but its clean. The Parks department supply bags for cleaning up after your pet and everybody tends to police each other. I'm a regular there and have met other regulars there. In a way, its a way for me to meet people who also love their dogs. There is an couple of Australian Shepherds that come regularly that Gus loves. Occasionally we have had some negetive people/dogs there. When that happens they are usually asked to leave. For the most part I have a good park, and have no problems taking my dog there.

Gus is pretty much exactly the same way. He gets along with other dogs but refuses to share anything he deems "his" with any other dog. Any person can take stuff from him but no dogs can get too close. I guess it started when he was about 3 or 4 months old. Unfortunatly some dogs don't back down and neither does Gus. He is writing checks his little butt can't cash. That's why when we're at the dog park I try to keep him away from toys. Technically toys aren't allowed, but people bring them and leave them. Seems like he can always find a tennis ball there.

She's pretty cute. I may be biased though 'cause I think she looks a little like my Gus.

Mornings on weekdays I take Gus (now about 6 1/2 months old) for a brisk walk of about 1 mile to a mile and a half. When it was colder and the sun went down earlier we would do a 2 mile run/walk in the evening. Now that the sun is setting later, I can take him to the local dog park in the evening for about an hour and a half. If it has recently rained and the dog park is muddy, we revert back to the 2 mile run/walk. Weekends we do much more. Either hiking for longer periods or spending a few hours at the dog park playing fetch or running with other dogs. A couple Sundays ago, I decided to try and see if he would run beside my bike. We went to a close trail that is 5 miles long. At first I tried it with Gus on the leash, but that almost caused a few accidents as he would want to herd me. I took him off leash and he ran just beside and slightly behind me. I tried to keep at a moderate pace for him and we stopped a few times on the trail to give him a short brake. Still after the 5 miles, he didn't even looked fazed too much, so we stopped by the dog park for an hour. I think he may have been too young for the run, as the next day I noticed he had a small "cherry" on one of his front pads. So he had a couple lighter days while it healed up.

My little Gus is completely the opposite. He will play fetch with a ball or a frisbee all day. The past week or so, he has become very toy aggressive towards other dogs. He doesn't care if people take the toys away, but if another dog gets too close, he goes after them and it doesn't seem to bother him how much bigger than him they are. He has went after a GSD, pitt bull, and it is somewhat embarrasing as well as dangerous. I wish I could take some of Gus' love for toys and give it to Shiner.

It was my BC/Australian Shepherd mix, Kate, that I had throughout my teens that got me hooked on border collies. We had lots of other purebred dogs at the time, but the best was Kate. She would herd all of our golden retrievers and rottwielers for me. So recently when I decided to get another dog, I wanted a border collie, but since I live in an apartment now I wasn't going to get a BC. Still no matter what I looked at, my heart was still set on a BC, and eventually I couldn't think of getting any other dog but a BC. I just decided I would put in the work to have a well adjusted and happy dog. My first BC, Kate

http://www.divinecaroline.com/article/2206...n-smartest-dogs There is a lot of bad info in the comments section. Still I don't know if I have ever seen one of these lists that didn't put the Border Collie number 1.

I'm pretty sure I say "Border Collie" when talking about the breed. I can't be sure if I have or have not ever used the term "borders" before. Mainly because this thread is the first time I've heard that some find it offensive. Though, I've known about the AKC contention for a while. Maybe its because I'm usually the only one around who actually has a BC. Though when I do take Gus to public places, he get mistaken for an Aussie or a BC mix quite a lot because he is a tri-color. Then I usually end up explaining about their breeding concentrating on working ability and how it produced a wide variety of looks. They still expect a BC to be black and white. Oh and I do use acronyms like BC, when on the internet as you can tell. Can't see actaully saying "BC" in an actuall conversation though.

Gus is really a pet right now, but that may not always be the case. He is still just a pup, but I may eventually try him for flyball or agility. He has a ton of focus and will play fetch with a ball or his frisbee all day long. Even at a crowded dog park, he remains focused on fetching no matter how crazy the other dogs are behaving. A guy I met at the dog park who has an Australian Shepard, wants to start a flyball team and wants Gus to be in it.

Pete's a looker. There is a regular at the dog park I frequent who has three St. Bernards. Gus plays with them too, and usually seems to get covered in their drool.

I guess I've been washing Gus at least once every two weeks. We've been spending a lot of time at local dog parks on weekends, and he seems to get quite a bit of dog slobber on him from other dogs. Boxers seem to love Gus for some reason and they are a real popular dog around me. He seems like he picks up a lot of their slobber. When I wash him, I use some puppy shampoo I picked up at Pet Smart.

Gus has me trained the way he wants me, he probably would be even more trouble with a big change like that. I guess I better let him keep me. He can be a little toy aggressive at the dog parks, he doesn't like to share his frisbee. He has stolen toys from much bigger dogs. Although one took his frisbee and kept wanting to play tug of war with him. It would bring it up to his mouth so he could get a hold and then take it away.

I kind of had the same idea yesterday at the dog park when somebody brought in this awesome female, Millie. She is a week younger than Gus, and I got this thought that it would be cool to have two. Well, now that Gus' worst adjustment days seem to be over. Then again, I'd probably have to get them on the same schedule, potty wise. Not sure how that would go. Gus will go pee when I tell him "Go Pee" and he will usually deficate when I tell him "Go Potty" It helps that I have learned his schedule. I think I'll wait until I have more space, but I now think I will eventually get a second.

Originally I wanted to wait until he was 16 weeks old to attempt to leave him home alone all day. (He actually is 16 weeks as of today) About 2 weeks ago on a Friday, I was unable to leave work at lunch. I was worried he would have relieved himself in the crate, but he did not. So I gave it a shot on the following Monday and he did fine again, so he has been alone all day ever since with no problems. Regarding your question about increased energy when after a full day. That was clearly evident at first, he was super amped when I got home after a full day in the crate. Besides having to go outside to relieve himself, he just seems super excited to see me. Usually within about 15 to 20 minutes after I get home, we are out doing our walk/run. Then when we finish that it becomes dinner time for both of us. Then throughout the night we'll sporadically work on commands or play light fetch inside.

I grew up in the country where my parents had 80 acres of land, and our neighbor had around 600 - 1000 acres. All our dogs growing up were outside dogs and given free roam. Originally the thought of a crate was something I thought of as cruel. Still, I knew I would have to use one if I got a dog now that I live in the city. So I researched them and asked around, and I came around to seeing it as a useful tool. Still I occasionally feel guilty about using it. I was going home everyday at lunch and taking Gus out for about 10 minutes. For the past two weeks he has been doing the full 8 and a half hours while I'm at work. He seems ok with it. He knows when I'm about to leave and will enter the crate on his own. I leave him with plenty of toys in his crate and a Kong filled with treats. We do a mile or so before I go to work and a couple miles when I get home. I would like to give him free roam, but I don't think I can trust him yet. He hasn't really destroyed anything other than paper towels, but he likes to "dig" at the edge of my couch and loveseat. While he is pretty much housebroken, I'm not sure if he would hold it all day if he was out of the crate.