Posted on 07/18/2010 7:28:05 AM PDT by mlizzy
A lot of working breeds are ruined because breeders want "Show Dogs" instead of breeding for working traits. If you're buying a dog for working/hunting then better to buy the offspring of "field trial" champions than Show Dogs.
They are great dogs but I am partial to Cairn Terriers. Ours is smart as a whip, intensely devoted, friendly, cheerful, and this big dog in a little body breed has no major health issues. He’s a great little hunter. I can pick him up and carry him as needed and he fits in the sink when I bathe him. His food is cheaper, his “dooty” is smaller, and he’s easier to groom.
Yes.
BC’s can be great family pets and bond with their human owners just like other dogs. Our BC loves kids and yes she sleeps a lot and always has, just like other dogs.
“Border Collies may become destructive if they are poorly bred or if they are left alone without human companions. A Border Collie bred for work is energetic, but not hyper - and they can relax for days at a time. The only job they need is to be with their people. They don’t do well left alone in an apartment or house day after day.”
ARGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A few days ago a 2 1/2 y.o. border collie/lab/aussie shepherd mix tried to adopt me. I figured good dog for trail running, but I’m on the road a lot on business, and it would not be a good dog to leave home alone. Plus I have no yard.
his “dooty” is smaller ...My friend's husband hunts regularly and wanted a lab so badly, but his wife won the discussion and they have rat terriers (one bit my son; you can't play around with them like labs); she would always remind him, "little dogs, little poops, big dogs, big mess ..."
>yawn< I'm up too late ....
It takes a lot of training to suppress the herding instinct. Sitting still is not a problem. But get a 3-4 year old kid running around in the back yard, and the instinct of the border collie is going to be to run down the lost sheep. It is highly entertaining for the adults on the deck drinking beer and watching, but can be less fun for the kid.
I still miss mine, too.
Cairn Terriers are the best dogs we have ever had! and we have had many.
They are loving, smart, friendly and made for children.
Our two have convinced many people to get this breed after being around them just a short time.
Love those Cairns!
Yep. I love Cairns too. I had one and he was great. The problem was he thought he was a pit bull. Wasn’t scared of anything! But loved kids.
I wonder what it's like living with either the dumbest or the smartest dogs. Springers come in at 12th on the smartest dogs list and that's smart enough! My black and white girl is an overacheiver:
Your ankles belong to me
Thanks for the rescue work you do! I hope that blue boy finds a lucky new home!
He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog.
You are his life, his love, his leader.
He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart.
You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion.
~Unknown
He would go out every day with my grandpa, as soon as he heard grandpa walking through the house and chase the ponies back to their proper respective stalls in our shabby little tin barn, barking, nipping at their heels and zipping between their hooves all the way. That and we clocked him at 35 mph for a brief burst once (chasing our car).
There was no way in he!! that I could have trained a dog to do that (as a kid or now). He was amazing, one of the coolest, sweetest, smartest, best dogs I've ever been around. He got killed on the highway fighting over a female. I never got another dog.
Lucky dogs!! Beautiful photograph (it’s as if they are posing for you).
Corgis are similar to Border Collies in that they are natural herders. Their attitude as companion dogs is unbeatable, at least from our experience. Dagny is now about 8 mos. old and is the sweetest puppy you'll ever meet. (You are free to edit an an admitted bias from that statement)
I had a Sheltie that was smarter than than any dog I’ve ever seen. But I’ve heard that Border Collies are amazing.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.