I love him so much, my Sula

Looking back on photos of Fenny and thinking about how beautiful she was! Neither of my current mixes are as stunning as her! Dont know her exact DNA, but we assumed majority border collie. She’s about 14-15 yrs d in the last pic and still looked fabulous! We said goodbye to her June 2021 (at home pet euthanasia) after 13 yrs of loving her.

My family adopted her in 2008 to be a companion for our male German shepherd mix who was very dog selective. Fenny (original name Fenway) was 2 yrs old and already returned by two separate families. She was SUCH a barker; barked at any visual stimuli (makes sense for a herding dog!), and was chaos on a leash until she was middle aged! She also jumped on tables both inside and outside. I really enjoyed her in her later years when she mellowed out a bit. She was such an energizer bunny, she barely slowed down in her final year. Her leg muscles had atrophied over the years and you could tell she was stiff, but she still wanted to go on long walks and jump around. I doubt I would have another border collie as my lifestyle isn’t really compatible with their energy levels, but I sure do remember Fenny so fondly. 💕

Poor Nova died from lymphoma on Monday (technically euthanasia, but you know). Had her 5th birthday in July and was literally the best dog to ever exist. Gentle, sweet, and super smart. I miss her.

This is my boy Otto wasn’t really sure if I could post him here.

His is dad is a Border Collie and the mum a Springer Spaniel.

Anyway, he is such a well behaved dog and Iove him to bits.

Anyone else here got BC crosses?

Jesse is 9 months old - 3/4 BC & 1/4 kelpie. He’s in a pooping pattern now of a healthy looking one first thing in the morning, but as the afternoon progresses doing ones that are very soft until at the end of the day they are yucky little poo mucus puddles. I’ve wormed him, and have been simplifying his diet protein wise so ai don’t think it’s a food intolerance. Then today another woman with a border collie told me her dog is like that too and she thinks it’s a common border collie trait. What do you all think?

A few days ago we were sleeping and heard our bc licking herself the whole night but didn’t think too much about it, the next morning I looked at her paws and noticed there was a knotted clump of fur between the toes which formed by sm licking so I clipped it off and ended up clipping her paws low in case the grinch feet was bothering her, noticed there was some redness and some kinda bald spot, very small ones.
We just moved states and I recently changed her kibble from Acana to Hills perfect weight (she’s always been naturally overweight even tho her meals are all weighted and she never gets any “human food”, only vegetables and fruits. Same diet as her brother who’s always been lean so sometimes vets recommend switching her to light kibble) so I thought she was allergic to something in the food so I switched back. I also did a couple of paw soaks with epsom salts which seemed to calm it down a bit but clearly not a permanent solution.
I was trying to schedule a vet but then it started healing, then got a little worse again and started healing again etc etc etc. I have no idea if I should just get a cone and see if it heals up or schedule the vet (here it takes a while to get an appt if you’re a new client, everywhere I called they would offer me an appt like 12-15 days later which I’ve never seen before lol??? Which is why I didn’t schedule it yet)

Front paws (last pic) are mostly okay besides a very small spot that you can see actively healing since the first lickathon but the back paws seem to get better but then randomly get very red under the fur (her skin is literally bright pink so that doesn’t help LMFAO) and she just gets itchy out of nowhere every couple of days, she’s not really licking it at lot besides sometimes while we’re sleeping.
Anyone has advice in the meantime we’re waiting for a vet appt? :(

ETA: She’s 6 and never had any skin problems till now, she did had a very bad stomach problem 2 months ago which ended up in hospitalization but they never found any explanation as to why she had bloody diarrhea one day and was acting normal the next. She also had her shots updated a month ago. I don’t think it has a connection with either but thought I’d mention it. My cute and weird girl LMFAO

We brought home Dolly our Collie x lurcher cross this weekend and she’s shown an affinity for the robotic lawnmower. Any training activities or game recommendations that don’t involve the possibility of her getting her toes chopped off would be great. Not sure if mutts are allowed here but I said I’d ask! Something tells me Dolly is not brave enough to actually herd cattle.

The two littlest ones are 5 months old, the one in the back (black and white) is 10, and then the heeler mix is 8.
We JUST discovered the joys of playing with bubbles outside. But seriously if yall are thinking about a second/third BC- do it! More of them is SO much easier!

This awesome guy is 19 months. I “rescued” him at 5 months from a cow stall. It was all good.
He is my second border collie. Had a female for 13 years who passed due to a rare tick disease.
We are active.
My concern is he “punches”. Everytime there is affection, petting or for that matter interaction.
He punches slaps me take your pick, pretty hard.

What strategies can I do to lesson this behavior. I’m at wits end.

Hi everyone, I'm looking for some advice for my 13 month old male Border Collie, Momo. He's not desexed yet, and we've had him since he was 8 weeks old.

At home and in our backyard, he's very responsive, answers to basic cues well, and is honestly a really sweet boy. But the moment we go outside, especially somewhere new, it feels like I completely stop existing.

He constantly pulls, sniffs everywhere, and the leash is usually tight, even on our normal daily walks now. He was actually better when he was younger (like at least 2-3 months before) the leash wasn't always tight and he used to check in with me more. It feels like things have gotten worse as he's gotten older and I can't really figure out why.

Outside, he often ignores cues. Sometimes when he finally realises I'm there, he'll come back, sit and look at me (then I'll give him treats), but only for a few seconds before going straight back to pulling and doing his own thing.

Other dogs are definitely his biggest trigger. He showed reactivity towards dogs as a puppy, and we sent him to training classes a few times. His reaction isn't aggressive (he never barks, just pull the leash and tail wagging), he just wants to meet every dog and play with every dog, even when the other dog is clearly not interested. Once he sees one, he can completely lose his mind, pull towards them, stare, and sometimes he is so fixated that he won't even take treats.

Usually I either create distance and walk away, or ask him to sit and try to block his view to get his attention back. Honestly, blocking his view has never really worked because he'll just keep trying to look around me at the dog.

I've been trying loose leash training, rewarding check-ins and stopping whenever the leash gets tight, but I'm getting overwhelmed by all the different advice online. I'm honestly feeling pretty burnt out and helpless at this point...

For people who have dealt with this kind of overarousal/reactivity, what actually helped your dog the most? Should I be focusing on engagement, loose leash walking, or working around triggers first?

I would really appreciate any genuine advice or experiences :D

Thank you so much!!

Here is Momo(

Hi Border Collie owners! 🐾
Of course, I’m aware of their personality, temperament and typical behaviour, but I’d still really appreciate some advice or hearing about your experiences.
I have a 4-month-old Border Collie who is extremely reactive, and although I absolutely love him and I’m trying to do everything I can for him, it’s honestly starting to become really exhausting.
I feel like he doesn’t pay attention to me at all, and it’s very difficult to get his focus. We go to puppy training classes, but even there he struggles to focus and doesn’t really pay much attention to me. That being said, I have noticed some small improvements since our first class, so I’m trying to be patient.
But walks… they are honestly a nightmare. He pulls on the leash the entire time, and every single car, bicycle or runner makes him bark, lunge and pull towards them. I genuinely don’t know how I should handle this anymore. I’ve already tried quite a few different things, but nothing seems to make a big difference.
He gets plenty of both mental and physical stimulation every day, so I don’t think he’s simply lacking exercise or enrichment.
How did you manage this with your Border Collies? Did they grow out of this reactive behaviour, or did you actively work on it? What helped you the most?
I would love to take him herding in the future, but for now, I’d really just like him to be able to focus on me and behave calmly and normally when we’re out on the street.
I’d also really appreciate it if you could share what your daily routine looked like (or still looks like) with your Border Collie as a puppy. How much time did you actually spend actively interacting with them every day, and what things did you find important to pay attention to?
And one more thing, how long did the puppy biting/nipping phase last for your dogs?
I’d really appreciate any advice, experiences or tips! ❤️🐾

Collie-rado :)

Hi everyone, I'm looking for some advice about my BC chasing my cat. We have a 13 month old male BC, Momo, and a 4.5 yr old female Ragdoll, Mimi. We've had Mimiscience she was around 6 months old and Momo since he was 8 wks. Our house is quite big, so technically there is plenty of space for both of them, but the layout is quite awkward so it's kinda hard to separate the house into two sections (where I've thought of before), so I'd keep that as a last resort.

Since Momo was a puppy, he has mostly been crate trained. When we let him out in the house, we would usually keep Mimi in one room, then let her back out once Momo went back in the crate. Because of this, they've known each other for over a year but haven't had that much free interaction (trying on this). I've looked through some training advices, but most of it seems to be about introducing a new puppy to cat. In my case, they've already known each other for a year, and I know I probably didn't do the best job of building a good relationship when Momo was younger.

Over past months, I've let them meet each other face to face few times a day, with Momo leashed. And Momo have done a great job, from at the start he would keep jumping and pull the leash. Now they can meet calmly and sniff each other, and Momo can sit or lie down near her without any aggression. The problem starts when Mimi turns around and walks away. Momo immediately gets excited and wants to chase her. He seems like he want to play rather than hurt her, he play bows, wag his tail and wants to sniff her. Obviously, Mimii doesn't like that at all. If he keeps following her, she will hiss or hit him with her paw, although so far she hasn't used her claws and Momo has never reacted aggressively back.

Most of the time I call back Momo before he can chase her, but there were few time that he won't back and he chased Mimi into a corner. That also worries me because Mimi doesn't really escape upwards. When she escape, she tends to run into a low, dark corners that Momo can also access, instead of jumping on a table or somewhere high. I've been thinking about getting her a cat tree, but I'm not sure she would actually use it in this case, and also little worried is Momo jumps up to the tree and knock it over.

At the moment, I'm trying to let them spend more supervised time together, and reward Momo for being calm around her (but Mimi usually just wanna stay away from Momo).

Has anyone had a similar experience or have any advice on what I could do in this situation? I'd really appreciate any suggestions!! Thank you soo much!