Border collies help save man from attack by black bear

CanWest News Service ^ | July 18, 2007 | Sunny Freeman

[george76]

Thanks. Sorry for the folks in Canada.

Our black bears have been very aggressive these last few years. They break into homes and cars all over the state.

Ever since the spring bear hunt season was banned, the bear populations are way up.

[RosieCotton]

I’m not positive how old he is - I adopted him from the shelter last year. Considering he’s filled out a bit (not fat, but broader in the chest and such) since I got him, I imagine he wasn’t more than a year or so old. Still pretty young.

Although I bet he was an adorable puppy, in some ways I’m glad I missed that stage. He must have been a holy terror!

[Lady Jag]

You are lucky. They’re hard enough to handle for a pro. A Jack Russell Terrier looks relaxed next to a Border Collie, at least the few that I’ve known.

[Bokababe]

Border Collie & Great Dane. Seventy-six pounds of fun -- a Border Collie on stilts!

[Lady Jag]

Border Collie/Dane cross? That ought to be interesting. Does it still herd everything in sight?

[Bokababe]

"Does it still herd everything in sight?"

No, just herds our other dog, a lab/feather-haired retriever mix.

The only true traces of "Dane" in him are an ever-so-slight jowl, a longer body and most prominently, his legs that make him really tall. I don't have to bend down to pet him -- his head fits right under my hand when I am standing.

Personality-wise, he is a very affectionate goof-ball with the family, but a real watchdog with everyone else. He does have "Rainman", obsessive-compulsive tendencies, but the most destructive side of that has been trained out of him. I can leave him in the house all day by himself and he doesn't pee, poop or tear anything up -- ever, inside. On the other hand, outside, he tore up most of our landscaping. Luckily we were "under construction" at the time and were going to redo everything anyway.

When he was a puppy, he easily did a thousand dollars worth of damage before he was six months old -- and that was my fault for underestimating him. At about five months, I did have a few serious thoughts about giving him up, but as soon as I even thought that, he turned "Mr. Perfect" (almost) and I am so glad that we got through that and I kept him. He is, however, still stubborn as a mule. He is a dog that you "partner with", and can never dominate completely because he doesn't back down when confronted. Not necessarily a bad thing, given that we are in a rural area.

[RosieCotton]

Awww!

Sounds like a crazy mix, though! I can’t imagine my dog in a bigger size - he’s rather like Tigger, and more of him would be a little scary! ;-)

[Bokababe]

Yours is just tooooo cute and I am sure that you'd love him whatever size he came in. Mine was a perfect Border Collie in size until he hit eight months old -- until then, everyone thought he was a purebred. Then the legs started to grow and the body started getting longer and he morphed. When he got taller than our other dog, we really knew his growth was on a roll, but we weren't sure when it was going to stop! Thank God, he didn't hit Great Dane size! But when he was finally grown, that was the only way we discovered his Dane half. Got him at the shelter and they said "mix" but not what kind, and the vet finally nailed it after Harley was grown.

He really is a very good boy.