Went to a presentation of training stock herding dogs last night and now I want to buy a Border Collie. It was fascinating and the hands on part is today. I have a mixed blue heeler/aussie shepard and he works, but is not as pretty to watch as the Border Collies.
Doesn't matter if it's pretty, long as he gets the job done. (Not like I should talk- corgis are great herding dogs, but even I admit they're funny looking !) Sounds like you're having a blast, though!
Border Collies are amazing dogs! Just remember that they have no OFF button! You MUST keep them busy, especially when they are young which is about the first 12 YEARS. If you do not provide the work and training that they need(whether you feel like it or not)they will make up stuff to do that you may not like so much. We have "puppy sat" for a wonderful border collie for most of her 9 years and she is sweet and very smart. However her owners have not done a thing with her and she is not only useless around stock(they call me to bring my cattle dogs over when their stock gets out. LOL)they have to lock her up to do anything as she'll be grabbing the noses on the cows and messing everything up. Not her fault...she would have been a good dog if they had of put in the time and work with her that she needed..or, sent her off to a good trainer. She will drive you nuts with a stick, ball, rock, branch whatever and is forever throwing it in your face, on your feet(ouch!)or in your lap. My dogs love to play ball and frizbee but don't drive me crazy with them. She has also worn a deep rut (about 14" deep!)around my whole property BOTH INSIDE THE FENCE AND OUTSIDE THE FENCE!!! She just runs and runs and runs. If she is staying with me she runs on the inside, if she is not, she runs around and around the 2 1/2 acres on the outside.) I like dogs that are not so "driven" and can relax when I want to but are rarin' to go when I am. Have fun...they are surely wonderful dogs..just be aware of what you are getting and use those brains that your pup will have.. LQ
Of course pretty counts! Well maybe not. Despite the very accurate warnings that you really need to work a BC daily if not by the hour I'd have to say my border collie is very good at working the flock calmly when they get into a tight spot. The odd sheep (usually a nasty witch of a Cheviot) will mistake this restrained pressure as a sign of weakness and will try to butt Paige. She has a great move where she coils back staring her opponent in the eye and then snaps forward with a little flip right or left that completely surprises the ewe and sends her usually correctly back into the flock without causing a major panic attack. She's still a pup but she's learned and taught fast. No voice commands, just whistles, and joy of joys she'll even drive the flock, not just herd! We wormed all 200 ewes and by 60 ewes (the second group) she knew to round up the early finishers from the log piles, to the left first, skip around to the right to push them away from the grain tanks into the open gate in the center of the fence and then through that yard to the pasture (a terrible set up for worming with feed crumbles but its what we had that day) No she didn't have to be pretty to do it but it was sure nice to watch, especially as thats all I had to do.
There are plenty of Border Collie and "working dog" rescues out there. They, like many rescues, are in business because among other reasons people simply do not do their homework before selecting a specific breed of dog as a "pet". You may be able to find a "gently used" Border or other species very easily simply by contacting several rescues. I'm sure the dog would appreciate it especially if you actually have work for him/her. Good luck
We are going to raise Aussies because of our inability to turn off the border collie. Right now our female (6 years old) is laying on the floor sleeping. She can work when we need her to herd the goats. No sheep here yet.
