Edumacation

[mbc1963]

I've been following the puppy/education thread, and thought I'd share two points that fall outside that discussion but relate, tangentially.

 

1) I went to a church flea market Saturday, and one of the ladies there was trying to sell me (!) a leather motorcycle jacket for Buddy. Not gonna happen, my friend. BUT... we got talking about dog breeds, and she has Papillons, and I commented how much I like them, and how when I'm close to retirement, I'm going to switch from a BC who needs to be run in the woods daily (rain, snow, sleet) to a Papillon, with all the good looks and less of a need to put me out in the elements. The lady was raving about Papillons, but finally, she said, "You know, you should get a mix, though. I saw a special on PBS, and all the purebreds have health problems because we've overbred them." VICTORY! This from a woman who's a breed fanatic, and who probably never talks to anyone versed in the "dog wars."

 

One TV show can do what millions of polite conversations can't. I've told lots of people about rescues and overbreeding... but they have the ability to write me off as a crackpot. For whatever reason, a documentary seems far more reliable.

 

2) Just for the record, I'm one of those "casual" board members who accidentally ended up with a BC, who has no interest in stockwork or herding, and who will likely never get a puppy - much less breed a litter. I don't spend an inordinate amount of time in here (well, compared to the time I used to spend online when I was an X-Files fan), but here's the list of cultural beliefs that have come across fairly strongly in here:

 

a) Breeding for working ability = good. Breeding for looks = bad.

B. AKC = bad.

c) Swafford = bad.

d) BYB = bad.

e) Laser light toys = bad.

f) Breed-specific legislation = bad.

g) Dominance rolls = bad, at least for reactive, fearful dogs.

h) Cesar Milan = bad. OR...

i) Cesar Milan = not so bad.

j) Jon Katz = bad.

k) Science Diet = bad.

l) Abandoning dog = bad.

m) Chasing children = not herding.

n) Mulder + Scully = love. (Oops. Sorry. Knee-jerk old-timy response to Internet typing.)

 

Mary

[Maja]

OT: I am probably an X-files heretic, but I liked the Scully and Mulder replacements (I have the complete X-Files )

 

Maja

[mbc1963]

" I liked the Scully and Mulder replacements "

 

Them's fightin' words!

 

(By the way, here's a challenge for you: Go to the episode "DPO," and when you get to the shot where the lady is watching music videos, freeze on the title of the video she's watching, and figure out how it relates to a certain BC forum member. Tee hee.)

 

Mary

[Maja]

Them's fightin' words!

I have a BMD and I am not afraid to use it

Maja

[Vickkers]

That's funny. My DH and I just started watching the X-Files on Netflix from the beginning... (i was kind of young when they first came out and didn't get to watch all of them). Loving Scully and Mulder

[Maja]

My husband and I engage in various X-files typologies, e,g, monster types (endo- and exo-) , vampire types (by what they need that you have) etc. It's a very entertaining series >

Maja

[Liz P]

LOL, this thread has totally devolved. I love the X-Files too and used to watch it faithfully every Friday then Sunday night. My friends and I would have a mini party every week, watch it together and stay over at each others houses. I hated where the show went after DD left.

 

OK, back on topic.

 

I started out with a farm bred Border Collie as a gift from my Mom. She grew up with farm bred Border Collies and said they were the only really good dogs out there. When I wanted a dog of my own that was the only option she gave me. I had never even met a Border Collie before my puppy showed up at the airport, but it was love at first sight.

 

Fast forward a few years. I had potato chip syndrome bad and wanted more dogs. I had also fallen in love with the sport of dog sledding and desperately wanted my own team, but I didn't want huskies. I bought several more Border Collies bred for stock work because I knew they had the qualities I wanted and needed. With a team of Border Collies I started competing in dog sledding races. I also dabbled in agility, flyball, tracking and some other sports.

 

About that time I decided I wanted to breed my dogs. The husky people I associated with bred their own replacement dogs, so why couldn't I? But I was lucky enough to get some tough love from passionate Border Collie owners about why breeding for real work is so key to maintaining the breed. They never told me that I was somehow less of an owner for competing in dog sledding rather than sheepdog trials. Instead, they stressed to me that the traits I admired so much in the breed would be lost if I did not breed for the originally intended purpose, stock work.

 

Fast forward another year or so. I attended a fun day for Border Collies to try their hand at stock work. My youngest dog was completely natural and the clinician offered to buy her on the spot. Seeing my dog work took my breath away and excited me on a deeper level than dog sledding had (dog sledding was my adrenalin fix while stock work was more like food for the soul). Within a few months I was taking lessons from a handler who lived a little closer. The next year I ran in my first trials (somehow won my first time out ). I was hopelessly addicted, and I understood what everyone was trying to tell me for so long.

 

No matter what I am doing with my dogs I want them to be bred for stock work first and foremost, otherwise they won't be Border Collies.

[PSmitty]

(dog sledding was my adrenalin fix while stock work was more like food for the soul).

 

What a great way of putting that. I feel the same way about flyball/agility vs. stockwork. And I don't even have dogs who really work very well. Someday, though...

 

Oh, and I was a big X-Files fan, too! Used to drink my coffee out of an X-Files mug every morning.

[Root Beer]

(dog sledding was my adrenalin fix while stock work was more like food for the soul).

 

I like that! That's how Freestyle is for me - food for the soul. Agility is my adrenalin fix!

 

I loved the X-Files, too!

 

And, although Mulder and Scully were the best, I actually did like Agent Doggett, too.

[Sue R]

X-Files - a weekly tradition with Lisa and me on the couch, and John on the floor - between us and any monsters in the TV set. Thank goodness for Netflix and instant viewing...

[Dal & Mad's Mom]

I am currently in love with the boy puppy in the top right of this craigs list post. We picked up all they could catch on Friday night and brought them to Pa on the weekend.

 

I'm not even sure if I care if my dogs are purebred anymore.

 

http://bgky.craigslist.org/zip/1964323810.html

[eclare]

OT: I am probably an X-files heretic, but I liked the Scully and Mulder replacements (I have the complete X-Files )

 

Maja

 

 

Wow...that's like the guy who told me that he really liked the last two seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. My flabbergasted response - NO ONE likes the last two seasons of Buffy!

[Dal & Mad's Mom]

Wow...that's like the guy who told me that he really liked the last two seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. My flabbergasted response - NO ONE likes the last two seasons of Buffy!

 

I still watched them because I really liked spike and was happy when he moved over to angel.lol

[MyTDogs]

n) Mulder + Scully = love. (Oops. Sorry. Knee-jerk old-timy response to Internet typing.)

 

Mary

 

My Gilly is named for Gillian Anderson

 

She is on the left in the pic:

 

 

Cindy with Gilly, Sprite & LeeRoy, in FL

[elementbcs]

My Boston Terrier is named Scully... and someday, I'd love to have a male smoothie BC named "Fox" ....

 

I'm a complete X-Files freak; I even used to write...fanfiction...back in the day. haha! I own all the seasons on DVD (and a couple on VHS, haha) and am currently making my way through the whole series again from start to finish. It's so great. What a smart, well written, innovative show. I was so upset when it was over. And the last movie was complete garbage... I was so disappointed.

 

... but I still bought it on DVD!

[njnovice]

I've just got to say I've maintained a crush on Scully for years. Not the actress Gillian Anderson, but rather her character, Scully. I'm such a geek.

[Pippin's person]

I'm having trouble quoting from the original post,but it's striking to me that the overwhelming sense you've gained about the culture of this space is of all the things that are "bad."

 

That's not my sense really and I wonder why the difference in perception. Is that actually your perception? Is that the common perception? Does it depend on previous experience with the X-Files?

 

One of the things that has kept me here as someone who is not really a discussion board kind of person has always been the really deep interest and engagement with so many aspects of what a Border Collie can do. I guess to me, it's mostly about:

 

Border Collie=nearly perfect, let's keep it that way (and maybe get it even closer to perfection)

 

I've learned a great deal over the last six years and definitely thought about things I wouldn't have but for the discussions here. Absolutely an education, but for me it hasn't felt like it was all about what *not* to do.