Your favourite bits about your pastoral breed :) General Chat

What for you makes your pastoral breed the best in your eyes??

For me, the Border Collie is the most beautiful intelligent loving breed around, they are always ready to work and always up for a cuddle, there eagerness to please and work is very attractive to me

I love their intelligence and their sensitivity and their loyalty - I am relatively new to owning Border Collies but its amazing how they capture your heart.



What I do find quite funny though - and maybe its only my dogs but they are quite clumsy - they're not very gracious they are forever walking into lamposts cause they're too busy looking (or should I say staring!) at something else

TJ can be clumsy too!

The things I love most about GSD's is the fact they are soooo intelligent and always ready to learn new things and they are very quick learners. They are also very gentle when need be by nature

Oh yeah, and Barney can be clumsy too He walked into a lampost the other night

Their intelligence is way above that of many other dogs I think, they are always so eager to please, so alert, never take their eyes off you, I love all that. Very protective too if the need arises. Can you ever wear them out???? :?

You got that spot on Helen and no I don't think it's possible to wear them out

Oh well, just have to get myself a bit fitter then and maybe do two laps around Cissbury Hill every morning, as within one hour of getting back home and having their breakfast, they are giving me that eager eye again every time I go near that back door! Heeeeeeelp! Don't you just love their zest for life though!

They do have such an amazing zest for life don't they But you know what? I wouldn't want it any other way

Me neither Tj, I would hate to have a "boring" dog with no interest, and considering Cassie is now 9yrs. old I should be grateful she is so boistrous and "mad" instead of keep telling her to go and lie down somewhere. There will come a time sadly when she will slow down and I will remember back to how she was and regret that I was trying to quieten her down won't I!

Wow, 9 yrs old? She is truely amazing hun. I want to make the most of Barney's young years too cos time goes way too fast and one day he'll be an old man and I'll wonder where the time went! I can't wait to get my pup next year cos I'm soooo looking forward to seeing Barney with a playmate and having loads of fun even though they'll probably drive me crazy with their antics

Wow, she's 9? Amazing She looks well young
I want to make the most of Barney's younger years cos time goes way too fast and one day I'll turn around and he'll be an old man and I'll wonder where the years went!

I'm soooo looking forward to getting my pup next year It's gonna be great to see Barney having fun with a freind Even though they'll probably both drive me crazy with all their antics

Unfortunately, time goes way too fast which is why we try to make the most of Barney's playfulness. All too soon he'll be an old man and I'll wonder where the time went.

I love that about our group always raring to go, never wanting to stop ;

Yes I think the collies are even more energetic than our gsd's aren't they. I have never yet met one that isn't racing around all over the place enjoying themselves. I meet one every morning up on the Green where I have to stop off coz the grass is long and it cleans all the mud off my dogs from the track up the top!
She waits for me to throw the ball for Cassie, she will never every go after Georgie's ball, only Cassie's and she "herds" her when she runs after the ball. Then she lies down behind her and waits until I throw it again! She is soooo funny to watch, she's only a tiny collie and quite young, but she adores Cassie. She never ever takes the ball either, she just wants to herd Cassie! The owners are very pleased when I'm up there coz Sally (the collie) gets a good run around as she just won't do that on her own! I love mad dogs!

I love the GSDs for thier intellingence and thier fierce loyalty. Even if Storm IS as thick as 2 short planks

Oops, those posts of mine wouldn't post and they are all up there Sorry guys

Aww bless, Sally sounds quite a little character I would imagine that Collies are very hard work as they are so bouncy and full of energy. I had a collie cross and she was so fullof energy it was almost impossible to wear her out. We used to take her for miles along the beach and play ball with her while we were walking. She'd also go for a swim if it wasn't cold. She'd come home have a drink and kip for about half an hour then she was raring to go again That was before I had the kids though

BC's are hard work, but sooo rewarding, they are just fantastic, im totally smitten
It is possible to wear a BC out but not easy

For about 30 seconds I reckon ;-)

No wolfie, dont be silly.......

...its 20 seconds!

What I love about Border Collies is their looks when they are running, especially in a breeze (we're never short of a breeze, here in the Twilight Zone!) - the sight of a Border Collie going at full throttle just can't be bettered, IMO!

Their undoubted intelligence is an attraction, too, even if it can lead to them questioning instructions from time-to -time! Or even anticipating, and doing what they think you want before you've actually told them!

And it's obvious that they can "plan" courses of action for themselves - like my Kali plotting to push Snorri into a ditch, and Snorri plotting to shut Kali out of the house - anyone who thinks that dogs can't plan ahead really ought to see my two plotting each other's downfall.

They are very property-protective, too: just the other day, an electricity meter-reader called at Snorri Mansions while I was in the loo. When I came out, the man had skedaddled, leaving a card, and both dogs were bouncing about, congratulating each other on a job well done!

And, as to affection, well, my Snorri is the most affectionate male dog I've ever met - he uses me as a sort of human lollipop!

So what if they were just "farm by-blows" probably destined for a life of draughty barns and muddy sheep, they were given a new job description when I got them - "be a friend and companion" - and they've taken to it like ducks to water. Brilliant!

Snorri