FlatBlackDog Posted February 3, 2017 Report Share Posted February 3, 2017 Hello All: We are a Flat-Coated Retriever family that just rescued (three weeks with us) a 12 month old predominately Border Collie mix that we believe had spent part of his life as a stray North Carolina farm country. He is the only dog in the house. He is sweet and loves, dogs, cats and every person he meets. He thinks he is a lap dog. Traits: Wants to herd bicycles, startled by noises, shakes a rope rag doll to death, pounces on things, has the classic head tilt, and learns anything I teach him in minutes. What he has yet to do is retrieve. Anyone have a BC that does not like to fetch? In any case. Glad to find this board and learn about our new friend, Karson. Toby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urge to herd Posted February 3, 2017 Report Share Posted February 3, 2017 Welcome, Karson! He looks lovely. Ruth and Gibbs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teresaserrano Posted February 3, 2017 Report Share Posted February 3, 2017 Welcome, lovely dog. My Tess is my first bc and also my first dog that is a natural born retriever. But I don't think that's a rule, many bc's don't care about fetch. Good news is it's not dificult to teach, and dogs can learn to love the retrieving game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rufftie Posted February 3, 2017 Report Share Posted February 3, 2017 I have 2 border collies and neither will fetch a ball, stick or Frisbee, they will fetch the dog that DOES get the ball though. I always call them my defective collies and swear my next dog will fetch so these 2 have something to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tokeefe2 Posted February 3, 2017 Report Share Posted February 3, 2017 Yes, handsome dog. Retrieving isn't always in the blood so to speak, but can indeed be taught. I've had a few over the years that were not retrievers naturally, and except for one, who was born blind, they all learned to love the game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D'Elle Posted February 3, 2017 Report Share Posted February 3, 2017 Welcome to the BC boards. As others have said, fetching can be taught. I taught it to my late border collie Jester, and he had a life long love...er, obsession....with the game. I never regretted teaching it to him, though, as it brought him so much pleasure, and was fun for me as well. Good exercise, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cass C Posted February 3, 2017 Report Share Posted February 3, 2017 I just have to say be careful what you wish for My border collie didn't fetch at first, but quickly caught on watching my golden border mix fetch. Now fetch is an obsession and sometimes she resorts to throwing toys at me if I don't want to play fetch. Although she would still rather fetch a running dog than a ball if the option presents itself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlatBlackDog Posted February 3, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2017 Thanks everyone! Since he tends to bolt, I think I'll use the long lead method I used with our retrievers, or I could just get a second dog which he would retrieve for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alligande Posted February 5, 2017 Report Share Posted February 5, 2017 All my border collies have retrieved, two of them (which includes my puppy) would play ball on their own but add another dog and they would rather chase the dog, our other two happily played fetch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramp Posted February 5, 2017 Report Share Posted February 5, 2017 Best of luck with your beautiful dog. Our first Border Collie learned to fetch by a pro, our Golden Retriever. Once she figured it out, took about 3 tosses, the retriever never had a chance. We would have to play separately with each one. Her ability to leap in the air for the frisbee was quit entertaining. The one big difference I noticed was the Golden never destroyed the frisbee. Jade on the other hand would tear up a frisbee in about ten days. I would buy 3 at a time. After it was caught, she had to kill it before brining it back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lawgirl Posted February 5, 2017 Report Share Posted February 5, 2017 Not unusual at all, I have three BCs and none of them are natural fetchers. One will fetch a tug rope if you throw it, but only inside. Toys outside make him run and hide. But playing tug, well, that is another story.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlatBlackDog Posted February 11, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2017 @ramp - Noted: Ask my neighbor to borrow her retriever for a day. As far as Frisbee is concerned, the first time I tossed him a Frisbee, he picked it up and started shaking it like a rag doll. I get that same reaction playing tug-o-war. When I let him win, he wants to shake the life out of the rope. @Lawgirl - Karson loves tug. Outside he likes to see how fast he can run patterns in our yard. At times he must be leaning 20+ degrees when turning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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