We have one of those dual metal dish holder, one side for food, one for water. Well, she had gotten into the habit of eating her food, then, taking the metal dish out of the holder and batting it around the house. She looked like she was having fun; but, it was noisy. Anyway, hubby will, at times, remove the dishes and run them thru the dishwasher to clean them up. He did this, then put water in one dish and put the dishes back on the floor. Well, she kept trying to pick up the water dish, full of water, to get it out of the holder and bat it around. I finally realized that, that dish must have been the one that normally held her food -- the dish she would normally pick up and bat around the house. I couldn't believe that she could tell the difference after they had been run thru the dishwasher.
“Border Collies are very smart — too smart. I tried one once, and she was just too much for me”
Cowboys didn’t like their horses too smart either. Smart horses were cagey and in the midst of a cattle herd could second guess the rider and get one or both of them gored or worse. The perfect mount was one that would obey completely.
My border collie picked up his water dish and brought it into the living room and dropped it my feet while I was watching TV
I had forgotten to fill it and he needed a drink
We have some friends who are real cowboys and have border collies. They’re cattle dogs. When the dogs are not working Randy has taught them to run with the Ranger truck he runs them for 4 miles.
We have a new pup that is a German Shepherd cross....and she’s high energy and crazy. I’m going to start taking her over there so they can run her. Lol
Torey The Border Collie loved music.
Since I am a vocal Coach I was able to teach her to howl on pitch.
Her favorite pieces of music were “Farandole” by Georges Bizet and the Love chorus from Carmina Burana by Carl Orff.
With the vocals.
In Latin! LOL!
I’ve owned poodles and Golden Doodles (Yes the same breed as the first dog: Patton).
They are smart!
But all big dogs like Border Collies need tons of exercise. And that is the biggest mismatch I’ve found. Like standard Poodles in an apartment. Except with that combo, you’d be saving yourself a lot of dander and clean up but you and the dog won’t be happy.
My wife raises toy poodles. They have all the smarts of a standard but a normal yard is enough room for them.
They are also cheaper to feed, you can’t find their poo to pick up, GREAT watch dogs, have excellent hearing, hypoallergetic, a snap to potty train, all hotels I know of will take them and very easy to travel with and if you get a perfect tiny one, you have a chunk of change.
I know my freepers buds won’t mentally take to ‘ankle biters’ but picture this. As the intruder is bending over to push away your tiny dog which is so quick he’ll never be able to touch him, his head is in the perfect position to unload on.
Big dogs, regardless of breed, aren’t going to get enough exercise unless you are constantly training for marathon distances. For that they are PERFECT!
We had a blue heeler. 3/4 Australian Cattle Dog, 1/4 border collie. Amazingly smart. Great athlete. I miss him a lot.