Echo Posted September 5, 2011 Report Share Posted September 5, 2011 Hello, I was just curious what "jobs" you give your border(s)? In the house and outside. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iWantToBelieve Posted September 5, 2011 Report Share Posted September 5, 2011 Since Ryleigh is frightened of most everything...she has a pack that she carries when we walk. It contains a water bottle and a collapsible dish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soda-pop Posted September 5, 2011 Report Share Posted September 5, 2011 Pay attention to me and do what I say. Keeps her engaged. And not that she always does what I say... lol We were hobby herders (I know folks loooove that term) but she's been laid up with an injury for awhile that I'm not sure will ever heal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Root Beer Posted September 5, 2011 Report Share Posted September 5, 2011 Around the house, Dean's jobs are to go with me when I roll the trash down to the end of the driveway, go out with when we get wood, go out with me when I close the gate. He doesn't really do anything, his job is just to go along. Sammie's job is to sleep at my feet at night. Speedy's job is comic relief, although he considers ball games to be his job. Tessa's job is to be my right hand girl. Maddie is a lady of leisure. She has no job, thank you very much!! All are companions, all are the household alarm system. All are responsible for greeting me enthusiastically when I get home from being out and about and all spend some time snuggling. Outside the house, Maddie is my Agility dog. She is semi-retired, though. Dean is also an Agility dog, and he also does Rally and Musical Freestyle. Dean is also my assistant and teaching dog when I teach training classes - he is fantastic working with reactive dogs, in particular. Maddie does that sometimes, as well. Speedy does Musical Freestyle. He is my main performance dog and has assisted me with many demonstrations. He is also semi-retired now, and really only performs by video now. Tessa is now my go-to demo dog because she does best of all of the dogs in stressful environments. She is learning Agility, Musical Freestyle, and Rally. She doesn't assist me with teaching yet, but will someday. We are pretty busy. We aren't really a "job oriented" household, but all of the dogs have plenty to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelleybean Posted September 5, 2011 Report Share Posted September 5, 2011 Asa's favorite job is to wake up my mentally disabled son. He's a bear in the morning and she has perfect timing--diving in for a kiss, then dodging the swings until he wakes up enough to start petting--always the nose first. All I have to say is wake up Sam and she's off like a flash. Then she gets to say goodnight to him at bedtime. She always chases away the grisly bears (all imagined) when anyone ventures outside. When I come down the driveway, she clears the perimiter of the yard (which is a really large area) of any percieved dangers so that I can safely pass from my car to the front porch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mdaniels Posted September 5, 2011 Report Share Posted September 5, 2011 Herding tennis balls and being the reigning Chuck-It champ, as well as learning agility. Sleeping also seems to be part -time job, lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
border_collie_crazy Posted September 6, 2011 Report Share Posted September 6, 2011 this is Mistys job in the morning during the day the girls help me at work, they help me round up dogs that dont want to come inside from the large yard. sometimes they bring the dogs straight to my hands(or right inside), sometimes they block escape routes etc.. makes my life sooo much easier! my dogs were doing this long before I starting working at the daycare, people who knew us would knock on my door when their dogs got loose, because Happy would track them, and "herd" them to my hand. I also play "find it" games, Misty is decent at it, but Happy is better(Happy has had focased training on searching, Misty has only ever done it with Happy) she can find things hiden pretty much anywhere, I will place her in a stay in a different room or anywhere really...(today I pit them in a stay outside in front of a building and hid the object behind the building) then hide an object, say in a video case on a shelf..or in todays case in one of the nooks in a pile of wood pallets, then tell her to "find it" which is a broad area, or I can point to various areas and tell her to "search" for more focased searching, both girls LOVE search games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Billadeau Posted September 6, 2011 Report Share Posted September 6, 2011 Yesterday, Renee's Bette and my Peg were used to sort out the breeding groups of our 90+ flock of sheep. A group of ewes sired by one ram were sorted off and put in one field with a different ram. The remaining ewes were put in another field with our first ram and 2 rams off of him. Peg was used to move and sort the rams; there were a few tense moments of Peg head-to-head with one ram and then another before the boys decided to move in the desired direction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Echo Posted September 6, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 6, 2011 Hmm, all very interesting...I am in need of a job for Kaiser, and these are all helpful Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alchemist Posted September 6, 2011 Report Share Posted September 6, 2011 I think the main point to keep in mind in "giving a Border collie a job" is to keep its mind active. A chore like fetching the paper each morning or hauling its own food or water on a hike probably wouldn't serve this purpose - not after the trick was mastered, anyway. Not everyone here has their own sheep, and can offer the sort of "job" for which these dogs were bred. But there are a lot of substitute activities (agility, freestyle, flyball, tracking, service dog) that can fill the bill very well. Anything that helps build communication (and, therefore, a relationship) between you and the dog, and which engages its mind. If you're not sure you want to commit to agility or such, enrol yourself and your dog in a sequence of obedience classes - either "formal" obedience or simply learning tricks. It all helps keeping their minds active. Duncan is currently taking lessons on sheep, but it's hard to manage these more than once or twice a week (his trainer's trialing/travel schedule being what it is). In the meanwhile, I'll still work on new tricks ("leash", meaning "put your leash on", is his latest). And on hikes I won't just let him run around blindly, but we'll always be working on something new, like "find ball" at present (he has to leave the ball behind us, then run back to find it; currently working on duration and distance). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted September 7, 2011 Report Share Posted September 7, 2011 Pay attention to me and do what I say. Keeps her engaged. And not that she always does what I say... lol We were hobby herders (I know folks loooove that term) but she's been laid up with an injury for awhile that I'm not sure will ever heal. Oh no! What happened? J. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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