We love to watch the Border Collie at work, it is poetry in motion watching dog and man in harmony. Here in the UK we have a program on TV called "One Man And His Dog" a competition between trialists from all over the UK, culminating in a grand final. While it is a great program to watch and see the dogs at work and how obedient they are, a number of people will watch it and and decide, without any forethought that this is the breed for them. They then go out to the nearest farm and buy one, the only problem is, is that they expect the puppy to come "pre-programmed" to go out and do what they have seen the trained dogs do on TV. Much to their horror they find that it just isn't so and they can finish up with a dog that is destructive and in extreme cases downright vicious. Border Collies of this callibre do not get there overnight, it takes months, even years of patient training by a real dedicated owner/handler, although we breed primarily for the conformation ring we have the utmost respect for the herding/working fraternity. It is a fact that not all of a litter will be capable of working sheep, you will have differing potential in all of the pups in one litter as you will have in different matings. What makes the breed such a versatile one is this difference in "type" from the one which will be perfectly happy being a couch potato, (although I don't recomend that this is allowed to happen) to the ones that are up on their toes looking for that sheep and will never be happier than when they are out in all weathers bringing in the sheep/cattle/pigs or whatever.
Another
big mistake that people make, (I know that I am going to some mail about
this one) is that the Breed needs to have 10-20 mile walks every
day, this is absolute rubbish. I have seen new owners out and about with
a puppy and walking it for miles because they don't know any different,
this can cause serious damge to the pups joints and the goodness that is
fed in is expended in energy and the pup does not develop to it's fullest
potential.
Choosing APuppy
The first thing that you must do is be 110% sure that you have made the right choice as to the breed that you want to spend up to 18+ years of your life with. The Border Collie can be a great companion to live with, it can also be your worst nightmare come true. You have heard this time and time again, in the first instance go to a reputable breeder don't go to buy a pup, go to have a chat with them, look at the dogs that they have around the place, explain why you want the breed, ie:- for a pet/companion, for agility, obedience, working sheep, to go walking with, when people come to us they are coming to look at what we have to offer, they are given a 24 hour cooling off period, so that they can talk about what choices they have, before they give a final answer.
DO NOT just go to the nearest farm and purchase the first pup that you see at the cheapest price, this could lead to disaster. It is this sort of action that gives the breed a bad name. Work bred Border Collies do not usually make good pets/companions their brains are so active that they do need something to do and if they get bored that is when the real problems can start. A reputable breeder of this type would not let you have one but on the other side of the coin you have the pure work bred stock on farms that are a result of an accidental mating, a dog getting with next doors bitch, and the unplanned litter being sold cheap to unsuspecting "Joe Public", I am not slating all farms because we will buy a pup from reputable farms/trialists ourselves, a lot of farms on the tourist trails are the ones that you have to watch out for. You may have seen the signs " puppys for sale Cheap", How many times have we had a cry for help? and the owners have said "I bought it from a farm in Wales" while on holiday it was so cute, how many end up in rescue? Or you have the "puppy Farms" where every conceivable type of dog is bred in terrible conditions and the ensuing pups sold, without papers, these can be a nightmare because of the possible vet bills, It is a minefield out there so many things can go wrong, not all breeders are honest so shop around, always remember that the pup that you are buying could be with you for the next 18+yrs, so do be 110% in your own mind that the puppy that you have chosen is the one that you want to spend a big slice of your life with, if you have any doubts DON'T LET THE BREEDER COERSE YOU INTO BUYING..WALK AWAY.....THAT PUPPY IS ONLY CUTE TILL YOU GET IT HOME AND THE NOVELTY WEARS OFF ....BELIEVE ME.
Taking Your Puppy Home.
The proud new owners arrives home with their new pride and joy, what is the first thing that happens, I using a senario here, if there are children around they all want to pet it, so then the arguing starts as to who is going to hold the puppy first,(if any child is going to cuddle the pup at anytime please make sure that the child is sat on the floor, then they can't drop it) this situation must be hell on earth for that pup. The next thing that happens is that either all the childrens friends come around for a quick look, or it is bundled into the car and ferried around to all the family members so that they can, oooh! and Ahhh!, the next day a collar and lead/leash is attached and the puppy dragged around the local housing estate by the kids for at least a couple of hours. People are not deliberately mean or nasty, they can be thoughtless and ignorant of the needs of a very young puppy. it doesn't matter why you bought the pup, wether as a pet/companion, the next BIS winner at Crufts or ISDS Supreme Champion, (weeelll we can all dream can't we? ) the puppy should be taken home and allowed to find it's own way around, it should be left to it's own devices for quite some time. By all means keep an eye on it and only "interfere" if neccessary, after a short while of exploring the pup will find somewhere to settle down and have a sleep in this case, show it it's bed and let it sleep, that is more important than anything at this time.
It is also
important that someone is around to spend time with the pup, time to play
at the pups pace, don't overtire it, when the pup wants to sleep then let
it, I think that we will call the pup "Spot" instead of "IT". Let Spot
play around the home, do a little "obedience" training ,make it fun, don't
get cross, you will have to have a lot of patience, you know Spot will
push you to the limit, he will try and cross every line that you put there.
Smacking is not an option a strong and authoritive tone is the most
effective way to train him. You want him to grow and have respect and love
not fear. You can put him on a collar and train him on the lead/leash around
the home.
I know that it may be a bugbear to keep Spot close
to home, but it is important for his development, over exercising at this
stage can cause serious joint problems especially in the hips. If you work
on the principal that 1year of a dogs life equals 7 years in the human,
then you will see that a 10 week old puppy is a child of 1 year and 4.5months,
so ask yourself would you take a child of this age on a long walk, even
at 6months the equation puts the equivelant at 3.5 years so now maybe you
can see what I am getting at. Children who do too much excersising get
the same sort of hip problems as the canine fraternity. The hip problem
is known as OCD. and it can be very serious at it worst a hip replacement
may be needed. When you sit down in the evening to watch tv put acover
on the settee/couch so that Spot can sit with you closeness, security and
love that is what he needs, you may feel daft but talk to him, you find
that he will "listen" and he won't criticise you. this is true quality
bonding and can form a relationship that will last for life.
Good quality food is important, don't give snacks between meals as an overweight puppy is not good. If you have to take spot out then a very short walk is Ok, but take him before he is fed, NOT after, always keep an eye on him as with children he could get tired so you may have to carry him, when he gets to around 6 months slowly increase the distance, until you are up to what is normal for you. Going to Obedience classes is a good idea, then later when Spot is about 18 months of age, you may like to take up Agility, or flyball only snag is that you will also have to be as fit as a butchers dog. Treat you new friend right when he is a puppy and he will fill your life with pleasure for a long time to come. Don't allow the pup to jump on and off furniture or jump up and down on his back legs, it can cause problems in later life.
It isn't
easy to cover everything in such a short time and also to be clear in what
is needed to be said, there are so many grey areas, dicussion is the key.
What is written here is what I believe, I will probably alter and update
this page and maybe get to be a little clearer in the message that I am
trying to get across. I am always available to anyone who may need help,
I do not have a magic wand, neither do I profess to know everything about
the breed and if I do not know about any subject that I am asked about
I will do my best to find out. My wife Jean and myself do beleive in the versatility of the Border Collie and sincerely believe
that it will fit in with whatever lifestyle that it is asked to, providing
that you get the right breeding and you rear it correctly.
If you need any help please do contact us.