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2 year old male needs a different job


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Hi, Fellow Boardsters,

I've got a wonderful 2 year old male who isn't going to cut the mustard as a trial dog - his skill set just isn't complete enough to be a competitive dog.  I've had him since 8 weeks,  both his parents are successful working dogs, and he's a very sweet boy.  He's good with other dogs, loves to hike, good in the vehicle, housetrained, crate trained and has a good recall.  He could use some leash work (not a big part of my personal program with dogs) and he'll need to be neutered either by my vet or yours.  He's been around children a bit, but not often so I can't really speak to that; he's lively and athletic but he's got a pretty calm mind for a 2 year old Border Collie.  He's about 40 pounds, healthy and sound, smooth coat, tricolored.  I'll try to find a decent photo of him.  Of course, I'd want a home for him where he's a huge part of the family's life.  PM me for more information.

Amy

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Just out of curiosity, what is it he lacks in  trialing ability? My main working dog is not fit for trials, but she is fine for farm and range work.

I was wondering if that could go for your dog too, as you have obviously trained him for stockwork. It could mean not excluding someone looking for a workdog.

( Maybe it is a daft idea, I get the impression that people working their dogs, but not interested in trialling might be relatively rare in the US)

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Great questions, Smalahunder.  Davy doesn't have much eye, so he doesn't really feel balance very well.  He is very resistant to learning to drive.  You are correct that he could probably  do regular, routine farm work because he's nice to the sheep but he doesn't really have a lot of gumption - so I wouldn't think he'd have the initiative to range out very far to look for and bring in livestock.  He just turned two so I'd expect him to improve with continued work but I just don't see the Open trial work in his future.  My unfortunate issue is that we only keep between 30 and 50 sheep on small acreage, so I don't have regular chore work for such a dog.  If I had access to some calves I might try him on those, just to see if he might be better suited, but alas, I don't.  It's a shame because he's a nice dog to have around.

Thanks for asking,

Amy

 

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16 hours ago, Smalahundur said:

 

( Maybe it is a daft idea, I get the impression that people working their dogs, but not interested in trialling might be relatively rare in the US)

Just have to come out further west-tons of us use cowdogs for work only, and have never set foot on a trial field. 

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1 hour ago, Riika said:

Just have to come out further west-tons of us use cowdogs for work only, and have never set foot on a trial field. 

Not just further west.  Not sure how common it is here, but there are a whole lot of 'useful farm dogs' of a few breeds and mixes (most with a health dose of border collie) being used in the rural areas around me, who would not be great for trialing but are stellar at getting what needs done, done. 

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Thanks for the explanation Amy, that does sound like a different job is indeed the way to go.

It happened to me once, giving up on a dog after about the same time period, and also raised from pup. My current youngster-in-training I bought when he was 8 months old, making it possible to start training and evaluating him right away. The breeder would have taken him back hadn't I liked him.  It has the advantage of when you don't like the dog's work you let him go after a couple of weeks, months tops, rather then a couple of years. In my opinion this outweighs the slightly higher pricetag, and missing the puppy period.

I like that dog fine by the way, no doubt he'll make a good working dog. As for trials, we'll see what the future will bring, but I think the potential is there. Not the highest priority though it sure would be fun.

Anyway, good luck with rehoming Davy!

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