A dog for you?
The Border Collie gets more and more into fashion. He is a very intelligent dog and his enormous ability and his will to learn things was made public by all kinds of media. The result of this was that lots of people were interested in the breed and could imagine to have a Border Collie as a companion. But too often newspapers or movies just show the parts of the Border Collie that make him attractive, without mentioning that there also are difficulties in living together with such an intelligent dog. There are high demands such a dog makes on his owner and therefore it must be well thought over whether to buy such a dog or to have a look at a different breed.
The Border Collie is not a pure family dog. Every breeder should say that clearly to people who are interested in a puppy. Everyone who is looking for a calm and well balanced dog that gets his walk every day, that loves children and is of a good size should not take a Border Collie. Of course Border Collies do love children, they love to go for walks and they also can be calm and well balanced. But there is much more such a dog asks of his owner - mainly a real work, a job to do. He needs something to show his talents in, to work together with his owner and gives him satisfaction. He wants to work and if someone neglects this, he will get a dog that shows an undesirable behaviour. There are many reports about Border Collies without a work that started to herd cars, destroy things (even whole apartments) or started to act aggressive. This is the reason why it is so important to think about buying a Border Collie, he will be a companion for the next 15 years and lots of time has to be invested. One must be sure to be able to give the dog a suitable home.
But who keeps a Border Collie now? A basic thing is that one is sporty. This does not mean to be an athlete, but to like walks, driving bicycle, maybe swimming and being outside. It is nothing for stay-at-homes. A Border Collie needs a lot of physical excercise, a minimum of 3-4 hours daily including the work he has to do. There are many possibilities how this work can look like. The basic thing for such a dog is herding. That’s what it has been bred for for many years. There is nothing better you can give your Border Collie, this work satisfies all his needs. Not everyone is able to make this possible of course. So alternatively there are a lot of sports one can do. Nearly every BC loves Agility, many like Obedience or Flyball, some compete in dogdancing...it is just important to do it regularly. All this sports are demanding and a Border Collie will have lots of fun doing them. For the dog much more interesting is to be able to do at least two of the mentioned things - a dog needs changes as well as human beings.
Every person who is able to make such a life possible is qualified to keep a dog of this breed. Satisfying all his needs will reward one with a faithful and loving companion.
Breeding Faith Shane Fellow Border Collie Keeping Training Questions
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