My husband came home yesterday, and handed me the section of the Chicago Tribune shown above. I said, "Oh, my, a border collie. Is it anything like Addy?" He answered, "It's EXACTLY like Addy." Anyone who has had a border collie or a bc-mix will appreciate or at least wincingly understand this article. Our two dogs are shown at left, and Addy (on the left, a bc-mix) was not a sought after pup. She was supposed to be with us for "only" last summer (she was a University of Illinois
dorm dog), but on the day before she was to go back, we got word; she had received her "walking" papers. Well, long story short, after a year, Addy still chews (but
usually just rawhide), and we put an end to her incessant barking early on (it's not something you can live with) via training similar to what Baxter receives and also by leaving a
Gentle Leader on her face and snout for short (sometimes long!) periods of time (don't know why this worked, but it worked
remarkably well). She's
extremely bright, athletic (her moves remind us of the late and great Walter Payton, Chicago Bears), loves to be trained for treats, and gets along with outsiders quite well ... This is a busy, active, breed. Only take one on if you've got the time (they recommend 2 hrs. of activity a day) and you enjoy training dogs. That being said, we love our Addy (and Bella!), but
Baxter still needs a good home.
My sis literally picked up a border collie that someone had left to wander on a busy roadway. He was a great dog and had a happy home into his old age. But, he really ‘liked’ those small dogs, as in, they might be dinner.
Hope you find a good home too, Bax.
My DH and I will be checking out a 3 week old litter of BC’s today! We lost our 14 yr old Aussie/GSD mix a month ago - what a great dog he was (even though 5-6 left shoes were never recovered from years ago)He is sorely missed.
I had a BC growing up and he was a handful, smart as a whip. Herded farmers cows on instinct, when he got loose he’d round them back 2 fields into their own through narrow openings in stone walls. He would bark at a stranger even before they got into range. Hopefully we’ll have a BC in a month ~ Let the roller coaster ride begin.....the cat will think she’s a cow.
Our vet contacted my daughter this weekend and asked if she could take care of an abandoned 4 month old lab puppy. The puppy had been hit by a car and had to have his leg amputated. The owners dropped him at the vet and never came back. My wife and I jumped at the opportunity to be his fosters.
He had a pretty bad day yesterday. He was running a fever and we didn't expect him to make it through the night. This morning he's like a different puppy. He's been playing with our other dogs this morning.