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Sometimes I sure wish people would pay more attention before they get a dog.
Wyatt McRiot is difficult. I knew that before I brought him home. He was bred to run 12 hours a day. He was bred to work independently and at a distance. He was bred to disregard pain and keep working. My family understands that and we work around it and we love this dog.
But all those people who see the gorgeous Border Collies, glowing white and black, doing the most difficult tricks with flare, and thinking they must have one. That gorgeous coat that you see on TV has been groomed every day. That glowing white comes from frequent bathing with just the right, and very expensive, shampoo.
That dog doing the freestyle dancing, or the agility, or the Frisbee catching is trained hours every day and probably run beside a bicycle for miles to burn off energy. The people who own those performers are dedicated dog fanciers who have put years into learning how to train a dog.
You can't just buy a Border Collie puppy, treat it like a normal pet puppy and end up with a well behaved superstar. A Border Collie makes Wyatt look like a stuffed toy by comparison. These dogs need work and hours of it.
Other working breeds can also have so much energy that they should only go to homes that provide both guidance and lots of exercise. Some of the gugdogs are bursting with energy and they must do something with it. My son bought a field trial English Springer Spaniel and that dog would work all day long and couldn't sit still in the house, he would run around in circles. A great dog, but he needed at least 5 miles a day at a spanking trot or he couldn't contain himself.
Some of the terriers are called "naughty". More likely is that they aren't getting enough work for their energy level.
Even 5 minutes of research on line should give you a hint if a breed is going to be high energy. If you want a high energy breed and are willing to put in all the time and effort, that is fine. Just don't get a high energy breed and expect it to sit quietly waiting for you to take it on a short walk in the evening.
I love the look of bc's and really enjoy watching them "work" but have one of my own? NO WAY. Fortunately I've never even had to foster one and I'm sure even a short term foster would be a real challenge for me but I would do it if need be. You can be certain that I'd be working the phones to try and find a breed specific rescue that would be better equipped to handle the dog and the adoption process.
I'll stick with the old black labs for my own pack, we move at similar speeds.
I hear ya. I just bought a bicycle and a hitch for my Houla so that he can run alongside it. He's also involved in nosework and flyball. Whenever lure coursing is available, we will be going to that as well. (He had his first real lure coursing experience a couple weeks ago, and I think his head almost exploded with the sheer incomprehensible joy of it.
I agree. Borders will quickly become destructive or develop ocd-like symptoms if not properly stimulated. 2 of my old clients come to mind. They had a wonderful owner and lived on 5 acres, but they were kept more like pampered house pets. Simply from being kept in the house each day, and while the owners were at work, they both self mutilated, licking their legs raw out of boredom for years, and developed fixations on moving objects. If a fly would buzz by, they would go into a trance and fixate on that fly obsessively.
For many dogs, this will translate into destroying your couch or chewing up your favorite 100.00 shoes every day. I owned a dog out of a solid pedigree of working police dogs. Till the day he passed away, he could not sleep in our bedroom because he would be up all night on alert or pacing. He was opening doors at 6 months of age, and required hours or running exercise on our land each day. These dogs living in a city home as house pets have none of their needs met, unless the owner is very active and makes a daily effort to jog or train them.
Even 5 minutes of research on line should give you a hint if a breed is going to be high energy. If you want a high energy breed and are willing to put in all the time and effort, that is fine. Just don't get a high energy breed and expect it to sit quietly waiting for you to take it on a short walk in the evening.
Agreed. I'm not a high-energy person - my age and some health issues have slowed me down - yet I wanted a a dog who would force me to keep active. Where I live, it gets extremely cold in the long, long winter months, and without encouragement I would easily spend all of that time (minus work hours) sitting in front of the television. I abhor the cold! So I thought about it for over a year, did a lot of research, and finally decided that I did want to get a border collie. Given all of the online warnings about high-energy breeds and the amount of work required, many times I came close to being convinced this breed would not be a good choice for me. However, once I decided to go the route of the border collie, I was committed.
And that's the thing. I think that many people tend to fall into two groups when it comes to getting a dog; those who know next to nothing about the requirements of a breed they are getting (decisions based upon looks), and those who lie to themselves about 'being there' for the animal. They envision the typical 10-15 minute leashed walk once or twice a day - or even less, just put the dog in the yard and he'll entertain himself - and they don't foresee any of the issues that can arise. They get a dog and expect it to act accordingly, regardless of the amount of exercise or attention he or she may receive. Then when the dog's needs aren't fully met and trouble starts, the dog is blamed and ditched as a 'problem'.
With Izzy, I take him out every morning before work, minimum half an hour, closer to an hour, of exercise, then at least an hour of outdoor exercise in the evening, and playtime indoors as well. On days when I'm not feeling well, Izzy comes first...I never skip a walk or playtime with him because *I* don't feel up to it. On the weekends we go exploring in nearby woods, in the summer time we take several trips to my sister's cottage in the Gatineaus, where he is free to swim in the lake and gather as many sticks as he possibly can. Izzy has a variety of balls and other toys, and his Chuckit (a godsend for owners with active dogs) keeps him running constantly, and/or actively seeking the balls that get tossed and lost. It's a great game for him, keeps his mind alert as well as his body. In the house we also play hide and seek with his toys, as well as other games - I ask him to get "X" toy (elephant, bear, mouse, etc.) and he has to pick the right one out of the bunch and bring it to me. Overall, Izzy seems to be a very happy dog...always a grin on his face, flopping down at night after playing and falling into a contented slumber, never getting into trouble if I'm not at home...and despite my not-so-high-energy body, his needs, both physical and mental, seem to be met quite well.
What's funny too is the amount of people who, once they heard I was going to get a border collie, informed me that I was crazy, insane, border collies are awful dogs as pets, etc. etc. Yet not one of those people had ever owned one. They were basing their comments on all of the negative things they'd heard about the breed, all based - no doubt - on the experiences of those who invested in a border collie without bothering to either understand or be interested in putting time and interest into such a wonderful breed of dog.
I whole-heartedly agree with OP. My next-door neighbor bought a BC puppy when he turned 60!! No amount of information I provided on the breed could dissuade him. Breaks my heart.
Wyatt McRiot is a hard coated, stock dog type of Australian Shepherd. I don't know if this is a local variation or if they are found nationwide.
I'd been seeing them at the stockyards, at the large cattle ranches, in cowboy's pickups, and the big horse ranches and wondering what they were. I knew they were a breed because they all looked identical and they were distributed over a wide area. I never saw one outside of a working situation. These guys aren't pets.
Their job is to go out in thousands of acres of scrub land and bring the cattle back to the cowboys. Australian Shepherds seem to be best for the job, but that beautiful fluffy show coat would get matted with burs. So preference was given to the shorter harder coats until the dogs became a hard coated variation. Nothing sticks to this coat. It is waterproof and mat proof.
I finally asked what they were and as soon as I heard "Australian Shepherd", I said, of course they are. Exact same body, same head, same ears, same legs and feet, same brains, exact same color, just shorter hair.
Giving my age away, but when I was a child and when these dogs were just American Farm Shepherds and hadn't been renamed "Australian Shepherd", the farm dogs came in both long coated and short coated. Eventually the long coat was selected for, I guess because it is prettier. So, I don't think there was any cross breeding to get this hard coat on these dogs. It's hard to say, though. there are no recorded pedigrees, just the best performing dogs bred together and all you know is that the sire is Johnson's Old Blue and Belle, belonging to Jones, down the road is the dam.
Wyatt McRiot is a hard coated, stock dog type of Australian Shepherd. I don't know if this is a local variation or if they are found nationwide.
I'd been seeing them at the stockyards, at the large cattle ranches, in cowboy's pickups, and the big horse ranches and wondering what they were. I knew they were a breed because they all looked identical and they were distributed over a wide area. I never saw one outside of a working situation. These guys aren't pets.
Their job is to go out in thousands of acres of scrub land and bring the cattle back to the cowboys. Australian Shepherds seem to be best for the job, but that beautiful fluffy show coat would get matted with burs. So preference was given to the shorter harder coats until the dogs became a hard coated variation. Nothing sticks to this coat. It is waterproof and mat proof.
I finally asked what they were and as soon as I heard "Australian Shepherd", I said, of course they are. Exact same body, same head, same ears, same legs and feet, same brains, exact same color, just shorter hair.
Giving my age away, but when I was a child and when these dogs were just American Farm Shepherds and hadn't been renamed "Australian Shepherd", the farm dogs came in both long coated and short coated. Eventually the long coat was selected for, I guess because it is prettier. So, I don't think there was any cross breeding to get this hard coat on these dogs. It's hard to say, though. there are no recorded pedigrees, just the best performing dogs bred together and all you know is that the sire is Johnson's Old Blue and Belle, belonging to Jones, down the road is the dam.
Ah. SO many of your posts about him have come into much sharper focus. LOL
I gotta love my Houla though - that guy has an off switch. Currently passed out at my feet. Sure, he can be up and ready to run a few miles in a moment, but as long as I don't wind him up, he doesn't freak out. I suspect this is due to the fact that there is some whippet or greyhound in his lines, probably among his grandparents.
Lol, I had to laugh when I read the original post. A couple of years ago I went to the pound to get a new running companion, my old shepard mix wasn't able to keep up with me anymore and I figured I was finally ready for 2 dogs.
ha! I ended up with a very unassuming looking black and white, wire-haired dog. Lo and behold, she's a border collie/terrier mix! She is by far the sweetest, smartest and most stubborn dog...and she has been very hard to train. But like another poster mentioned, a lot depends on the commitment of the owner. I can't tell you how many countless hours have been spent on our property training, running, herding, walking, heeling, etc.
I brought that dog home and made her mine. There were days I thought I was going to kill her...or myself! But now, almost 3 years later, I have a loyal, obedient, loving, amazing dog. Im not sure who has learned more through this process, her or me.
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