Is the BC a right pup for me?

[Guest sidred08]

Hi all,

I need some advice on whether a border collie would right for me and if I can keep it happy.

My shih tzu (Bingo) passed away a few months ago and I've had a labrador too, so I can say I've got some experience owning dogs.

I live in a reasonably large apartment which could easily give a medium sized dog enough space to romp around, but have come across a lot of articles stating that border collies are not suitable for apartments. I also happen to live in a tropical climate with temperatures ranging from 80-95 round the year. 

What I'm most concerned about is whether I can give the pup the exercise he needs. I'm usually at work for 10-12 hours per day, but the pup wont be alone as my mom is home at that time except for 1-2 hours in the afternoon. I'm fairly active and can give the pup a few miles (1 hour) run every morning and an hour of mental stimulation and play like fetch or frisbee in the evening with my mom keeping him company when I'm at work. I also go hiking and to the beach on weekends where I can take the pup along. I would also obviously be teaching the pup tricks and spend time with him the rest of the day but would this much activity suffice?

I would also be having a family and kids a few years down the line and would a BC be kid friendly?

So I am welcome to all your opinions and suggestions on getting a BC pup and if I can provide him/her the happy and healthy life they deserve.

[urge to herd]

Hi there - this is a page for working sheep dogs. If you re-post in the General Border Collie Discussion page, (scroll down a bit on the Home Page) you'll get responses to your questions.

There are lots of us there who do not work dogs at all, so you're liable to get much more information.

Ruth & Gibbs

[Eileen Stein]

I am moving this question to the General Border Collie Discussion forum.

[Brins123]

I am far from a border collie expert, but when we first got Ted, my husband and I both worked.  He would be in the house alone for around 9 hours a day.  We would hit the ball for him before we left, and play with him most of the evening after we got home.  We would take him with us almost all the time when we went somewhere.  When he was a puppy, if he found a magazine or whatever, he would rip it up, but really didn't have an issue with him being destructive.  He is now almost 4 and my husband and I are retired so he gets lots of attention.  We found that by putting a chair for him to get comfortable and look out the window that provided a lot of stimulation as he watched people and things go by.  He still absolutely loves it as you can see in the picture.  He is also very gentle with our young grandkids.  He doesn't really like other dogs so much, but is wonderful with people. 

Just as with people, every dog is different.  However, Ted is a great fit for us.  Whatever dog you choose, I wish you well. 

[jami74]

I can tell you about our experience

1 hour ago, Guest sidred08 said:

I live in a reasonably large apartment which could easily give a medium sized dog enough space to romp around, but have come across a lot of articles stating that border collies are not suitable for apartments.

I live in a terrace house with a small garden. I thought this would be plenty of space but now our puppy is close to full grown he can bound from the front of the house to the end of the garden in about ten strides. He loves being outside so much that during the day when he's having down time he often asks to go outside and naps, even though the temperatures are getting colder. This works out okay for us as we can see him easily from our living room when he is outside.

1 hour ago, Guest sidred08 said:

 I also happen to live in a tropical climate with temperatures ranging from 80-95 round the year. 

I live in the UK. He was born in Spring and we had an unusually long warm summer so he's never known cold. It's now Autumn/Fall and while we're wearing long trousers and jumpers he is still panting a lot. I feel a bit bad that he is always hot.

1 hour ago, Guest sidred08 said:

I'm most concerned about is whether I can give the pup the exercise he needs. I'm usually at work for 10-12 hours per day, but the pup wont be alone as my mom is home at that time except for 1-2 hours in the afternoon.

I'm out about 9 hours a day three or four days a week. Our boy isn't alone because there are always other family members at home who interact with him, they play fetch down the garden, hide toys for him to find, teach him new tricks and take him for very short walks (literally just out the front door to do his business and spend some time watching the world go by). Some days they tell me he was hard work to keep out of mischief. Now he's older (7 months) he has a couple of longer naps of 2-3 hours during the day but as a small puppy his cycles of needing to pee, play and sleep were very short. Your Mom will be kept very busy looking after a puppy, it's like having a toddler.

1 hour ago, Guest sidred08 said:

I'm fairly active and can give the pup a few miles (1 hour) run every morning and an hour of mental stimulation and play like fetch or frisbee in the evening.

This is how I was thinking before we got ours. I thought two one hour exercises a day plus some games at home would be good. However it turned out that my puppy couldn't exercise that long in one go. At three months old our outside jaunts would be about twenty minutes, and often I'd end up carrying him back. At seven months old we'll now often stay out for an hour, but that isn't a whole hour of running, it's broken up into paying fetch, leash walking and just sitting watching the world go by.

Also, don't forget that these dogs are bred to work in large open rural places and some (mine especially) find roads and parks very busy and over-stimulating. I expected within a couple of months to be happily walking around the block but this isn't the case for us. We are working very hard on traffic and people reactivity and making great progress, I'm hoping by the time he's 18 months old we'll be able to walk around the block. For now our walks/runs/jaunts are carefully thought through to avoid busy roads and large numbers of rude dogs, walkers and cyclists.

The other thing I have found is that it's not just the exercising that takes up time, he needs other attention. When I get home from work, even though he hasn't been alone, he is very happy to see me and wants to sit near me being petted etc. He doesn't sleep all evening, although he is sleeping more now that he gets older.

I think I expected our puppy to be an adult dog very quickly, one who needed lots of exercise twice a day, slept/relaxed the rest of the time and could walk nicely on the lead not getting stressed by traffic and people. I know that we will have a dog like that one day, but it's going to take much longer and much more work than I expected.

[Flora & Molly]

Is your heart set on a pup? It sounds like it might be a better fit to go for a rescue.
Especially because you work long hours: your mom would have her hands full with a puppy while you are at work.

I have a good schedule going on with my dog ( 3 years old) now where I cycle with her every morning before I go to work. This releases some of her energy and means my brother-in-law, who sometimes takes care of her on my longest workdays, doesn't have to do a lot with her during the day. I sometimes fantasize about adding a pup, but that would mean more short walks spread out over the day which would mean more work for my brother-in-law and I want to keep it as easy as possible for him so I don't lose my dogsitter  although it might be different with your mother. Still, something to think about. An adult dog could go on longer walks, play frisbee, play fetch, whereas you'd have to wait a while before you can do such activities with a pup because it is still growing. 

In my experience a BC keeps you on your toes. Or as my mum put it: "Having a border collie isn't just having a dog, but having a hobby". My dog is really a dog I am doing something new with every week. Whether I change how I feed her or some new thing I am teaching her. There is always something to talk about  which I absolutely love. But I know it is not for everyone. 
She can definitely relax at home, but at the same time she is always ready to work at a moments notice. She wants to be involved in everything I do. I don't think I have ever seen her really tired, because she is always ready for more. And I tire more easily than her  

 

[Lawgirl]

I live in Australia, so I can tell you that BCs can survive the warmer weather, so long as they have a cooler place, access to plenty of water to drink and perhaps a water bath if needed.  We have ours inside in summer, with access to AC on very hot days, and tile floors to spread out on at will.  Our hot days get up to 40C/104F (although only one or two days a year, but can be 30C /86F to 35C/95F for weeks at a time).  If your days are regularly that hot, your dog will acclimate.

You probably would only want to exercise your dog in the early morning and later at night in those sort of temperatures, because of the dangers of overheated asphalt etc hurting paws.  I second what has been said above about puppies not needing so much exercise when young if you want to avoid damage to joints etc.  I will also add that the amount of exercise you give them when young will be the amount of exercise they will expect for the rest of their life.  Do not automatically assume a young puppy is misbehaving therefore it needs more exercise.  It may be overtired and need a nap, like a tired toddler, so may need to be put in a crate or x pen to settle itself and sleep.  This will build an off switch, and also mean that it's crate becomes it's safe place, which will be invaluable when you have toddlers of your own.

How much exercise your dog will need will depend on the dog.  We have four BCs and they get a free run as a pack four to five times a week at a local baseball diamond for about twenty minutes to half an hour, along with zoomies in the back yard a couple of times a day.  We do NOT have a large back yard.  My OH is home all day everyday, and the rest of the time they chill out with him, sleep and have cuddles.  None of them are particularly OCD, destructive, anxious or aggressive. They do have quirks, such as one of them being scared of flies. Obviously other BCs will require MUCH more exercise than our dogs do.

Exercise your dog's mind, not just it's body. 

A BC in an apartment can work, especially if it is not left alone all day, but you will be putting a lot of  work onto your mother.  I would also second getting a rescue, possibly aiming at a younger dog, perhaps around 12 months old to 2 years.  Temperament is known, energy level is known and you would be saving a dog, so wins all around!

[teresaserrano]

I live in an apartement with 2 dogs (1 bc, 1 britanny) and it works just fine. Tess is always ready to go do some fun stuff but at home she is calm and relaxed. I live in Portugal which has a warm climate and she copes well with the heat. But like Flora said, a bc isn't just a dog, it's an hobby, which means they do take a lot of our time. A good amount of exercise is needed, yes, and lots of mental stimulation, but most of all they need to be a huge part of their person's life, they want to be involved with everything. Tess loves to put the landry in the washer, go get my slippers or put her toys away in the toy box almost as much as she loves playing frisbee, fetch, tug, swimming, playing hide and seek or doing a bit of for fun mantrailing. I have done dockdiving with her, teach her many tricks and of course have worked on obedience training all her life. Bc's are absolutely the best, but they're not for everyone. They have quirks, can get obssessed easily with this and that, can be super sensitive to sound and movement, often don't much like other dogs and can be wary of strangers, including children. That said, they can also be trained to do almost anything/behave in almost any way, so as long as you know you can put in the work needed, they turn into absolutely marvelous dogs. Some people think that because they are smart they are easy, but it's the other way around. Because they are so smart, they can be hard work. They're worth it though.

[teresaserrano]

Just to add I second the rescue an adult dog idea. My brittany is around a year old and has been with me for about 6 weeks. I can't describe how absolutely wonderfull he is. I am completely and utterly in love with him. They don't need to be young pups for the bond to develop or for the training to be successfull. I've always had pups but was thinking for some time that I would like to try having an adult rescue. He wasn't planned but it's working very very well and I don't think I'll ever have a pup again.

 

[teresaserrano]

My mind isn't at it's quickest at the moment, so I find I have something else to add . My Tess is people selective and will show teeth if some random stranger wants to pet her out of the blue. I'm always carefull with her and strangers, specially children. But she's also the perfect dog for kids who are afraid of dogs, as they won't crowd her and want to hug her the moment they meet her. She's very interactive with people so she'll go get a toy and sit in front of them, clearly asking for them to grab it and throw it. Even a fearfull kid can't resist that look for long. The same way she likes people to respect her space, she's also very respectfull of their space. No jumping on them, no trying to snatch the toy from their hands, no nipping at their clothes. Fearfull kids are soon playing with her and soon after petting her, which she accepts beautifully because they're by now play friends. Just to say that I wouldn't worry much about a bc and your future kids, as long as you teach both dog and kids proper ways to interact, it should not be a problem.

What I find about bc's is that as long as you teach them, they learn easily what is expected. But you do need to teach them. They're usually very not like those easy going happy go lucky dogs that are always great with everything that comes their way. They excell at learning though. More that that, they NEED it to be happy. They have an absolute need to be always learning. If you don't provide that, they will learn things you probably won't like.

[GentleLake]

As others have said, a border collie's not just a dog; it's a lifestyle.

If you're truly prepared for that and willing to make the accommodations for the dog to be a central part of your life, then you can manage in an apartment.

How much your mother is willing and or able to make those accommodations would (should?) weigh heavily in whether or not to start with a puppy or an adult rescue.

Best wishes . . . and let us know what you decide.

[Icaraa]

I don’t see the apartment itself being a problem. I’ve had two BCs, one was the family dog growing up and the other is my dog. They don’t need to be outside loads, but when you are home they want to be with you. So in that respect an apartment might actually be a positive thing, at least it’s all on one floor! 

My puppy is 7 months old now and so far has been generally fantastic. We’ve had him since he was 8 weeks old. He doesn’t mind being alone for a few hours a day, as long as he’s set up with a bed to look out of the window. He will just doze and look out the window. We’ve got a camera that automatically goes on when we are not home, so we know he’s fine. 

[D'Elle]

I strongly recommend that you do not get a puppy and instead get an adult dog from a rescue if at all possible. If you do, you will know already the dog's personality and level of drive and activity. Some border collies need a lot more than others do, and since this is your first border collie it would be best for you to get a known quantity rather than the unknown that is a puppy. For some dogs, an apartment can work and for others not. If you get a puppy you run the risk of getting one with very high drive and it will not work out well for you or the dog. Please consider adopting a dog who needs a home rather than getting a puppy. Your chances of success with everything you want from the dog, including being good with kids, are much better.

Having said that, I have had a border collie in a large city in a small space and it worked, but only because I absolutely dedicated my spare time to making sure the dog got all the exercise, training, and attention he needed. It took up a lot of my time. I loved it; that is what I wanted to be doing. But please make sure this is how you want to spend your time, not just what you are willing to do if needed. 

I currently live where it can get to 115 F in the summer. Clearly, we do not go out and exercise in that temperature, but my dogs adapt to the temperature changes as I do.  I also lived with a BC in a tropical rain-forest  jungle and we were OK there. A border collie can adapt to a lot of different temperature ranges and will no doubt be fine in that as long as you take reasonable precautions. I would never ask the dog to do something I would not do in whatever temperature it is.