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sorry I know this is a lot. I recently acquired a new border collie (March 26, 2021). I was talking to a working border collie breeder about their future breeding plans and they ended up mentioning another breeder who had a red sable adolescent border collie available since I’ve always had a slight crush on red sable border collies. I was slightly worried about a working breeder having a red sable since color breeders however the breeder mention this was the 4th time doing this cross and they really like the temperament that the cross produce. (The original breeder I had talk to had a pup from the same cross but from a different year and had really liked him. They wished they had kept him instead of rehoming him. They were getting another puppy from the same cross.) The dog I was looking at was 1 year old. No training. Only inside at nighttime in the kennel. Else he was in the dog yard. He was supposed to go to another country to a person who own a sister from a different year but Covid hit and they couldn’t ship him. The person ended up switching to a younger pup which is why he became available. He had exposure to goats as a puppy and had interest but hadn’t seen livestock since. He did have multiple sibling who were working. His parents seem to casually worked on their farm. No videos. Ive been getting more into herding. Been going to a trainer since October 2020 about once a month and finally recently found a place near me that was willing to rent sheep to me so we can get more training in. Cressa has since passed and was past her ability to do herding again when I started in October. Valek is turning 9 this year but I have been mainly working with him. When I got my new boy I told the breeder what I was looking for and that I wanted to do herding and disc. I really like many aspect of my boy. He is adorable. He has a wonderful happy personality and loves being in my pack. He is intelligent but also has many moments of not the brightest bulb in the box. But he also has a couple things that really are bothering me. One main issue is Ive never had a yard dog before or an adult with 0 training. He has been squirrelly since the day I brought him home. He acts likes whatever you are asking him will kill him so must balk at doing it and resist. He also will immediately pee on something, and also pees when he gets stressed/excited/nervous. You are able to convince him eventually. He has gotten better… but will revert right back when something changes or is new. Is this something that does get better like will he at one point just be able to handle changes or is this just who he is? I bring my dogs most places with me (hotels, cafe, hikes, dog friendly stores, training centers, vacations, homes, etc…). I currently am using belly bands when inside at new places but don’t want that to be the only solution. The breeder mention he had no noise sensitivity but when he had his 1st thunderstorm here he half jumped out of his skin and was ready to bolt at a moments notice. He was able to settle down when he saw no one else bolting but when another boom happen he was again ready to bolt and only settled when no one else bolted… rise and repeat. It’s not a make or break issue but was hoping not to have to deal with it. The other main issue is I wanted to do herding with him. I was hoping to learn more. I was hoping we could eventually compete. I brought him to sheep 2 weeks ago. He saw them and ran the opposite direction scared. The next week he saw sheep he didn’t run scare but he was acting like he was playing and not herding at all. His breeder mention they can be slow maturer but reiterated that he did have interest in goats as a 7-8 week old puppy. The breeder that originally referred me mention he just needs more exposure and hopefully he will turn serious. Another person who saw the video mention to just rehome him since he isn’t a good choice for herding. Is that behavior typical for an almost 1.5 year old border collie? I was going to see how he responded again in a couple weeks. But am unsure if he is a good option if I did want to get more into herding. (He does come from cow lines so maybe they mature different then the one bred for sheep?) I had been originally planning if I didn’t get a pup to look at possibly an older already trained dog getting retired or something. *He loves disc! But I’m not interested in doing just disc with my border collies. Just looking for input if you have been there before either with yard dogs or if your border collies first couple exposure to sheep were not what you expected.

Hello everyone! I've been browsing this site and forums for about a week now, and I figured it was time to join so I could ask a few questions of my own and have an outlet to share pictures so I don't overwhelm my Facebook feed with my new border collie interest! I'll share briefly who I am and why I am here. I'm 33, married, 4 kids that are between the ages of 14 and nearly 8. I have worked in a small non-profit vet clinic for about 2-1/2 years now (in reception). Through work, I have had the opportunity to get to know a few adult border collies that are owned by a co-worker. Between the two of us, we do educational programs on animals for the community at no charge, and we have programs on dogs, rabbits, exotic birds (owned by my friend) and reptiles (owned by myself). I also do a lot of photography for the clinic, and because of that, I go to my friend's dog program. I have been impressed with her border collies from day 1. I loved how attentive they were, how they intently watched their owner, and I really enjoyed taking pictures of her dogs catching discs at the end of the program. But admiration hadn't caused me to research owning one yet. I knew things about border collies from being a dog-crazy kid and teenager. I had owned various breeds of dogs, but never a herding breed. I just really admired her dogs (and I see a lot of dogs at work)! Here are 2 pictures I took last summer of one of my friend's dogs. And another ... Her dogs work her sheep, but they also love to do disc competition! The dogs are ABCA registered (Sundown Border Collies). On Thanksgiving day this past November, one of her dogs had a litter. Before they were born, I had a dream about the puppies and how many she had. I still wasn't considering owning one, but I was excited for her! When they were a few weels old, I took pictures of the puppies with "Santa" (my friend's husband), and it was right around then that I wished I could have one but I was pretty sure they were all spoken for. Shortly after this I was showing my husband the pictures, and he said, "don't get any ideas!" I told him they were all sold anyway, but then I thought I'd ask her. She said no, one was left ... and at that moment, I knew I wanted one. I told her what I was thinking, eventually got the okay from my husband, and here I am, waiting about 3 more weeks for our puppy. I named him Solo! (I'm a Star Wars fan). Here are a few of the pictures I've taken of him so far. In Santa's hands! Santa with the litter of 8. Solo is the third one from the left. Solo singled out. Two of my girls at my friend/breeder's house on Christmas eve. Pups were exactly 4 weeks old. This was the night we picked him out of 3 remaining males that were claimed but not individually spoken for. Solo is on the left. Middle white puppy is a female and going to the sire's owners. Puppy on the right was one of the choices (at first was mine but my husband liked the other. Both pups are super cute so I picked the one that my husband liked best. The breeder said either would be fine for our family.) These pictures were taken this past Sunday: My son and Solo. My youngest with Solo. A t-shirt rope tug toy that we made for Solo. We brought a bunch of them over, and he took one from the group and went back to his puppy pen to chew it. So cute! I think that's it for now! I plan to keep reading and researching and then asking questions, but if you have anything helpful you think I should know, let me know! I am not unfamiliar to dogs, but it's been a long time since I've had a puppy. And as I said, I've never had a herding breed of dog. I have a great friend/breeder that is confident that this puppy will be great for us, and being that I generally work one day a week and I homeschool my children, we are nearly always home. We live in the country with a lot of land, and we are a pretty active family. We've aleady been invited to come along to disc competitions, which will be fun for all of us! We don't have any livestock and probably won't get sheep, but we will be getting ducks and chickens this spring. Solo will be trained on the breeder's sheep though, so that'll be great for him! I think that's it! Thanks for reading!