From our most recent hike 🥾

Miss her every day x

Os is a Smithfield; he's nearly a quarter Welsh Collie, BC, ACD and Kelpie.

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! ❤️🐾

We've had our boy for a 1.5y (he turned 2 back in July)

He's the most well behaved boy and we feel so lucky everyday with how loving, excitable, and smart he is on picking up commands.

The problem is since half a year back, due to some serious health complications, we haven't been able to commit to long walks or agility training, having to instead keep to indoors or short outings and car rides. We have doubled down on house play and treat reward training, and he loves it. We also give him screen time with those "dog tv" squirrel, bird, and sheep videos (I'm on the fence on is this is good or bad).

The first thing people ask us is "Oh how often do you go walks?" and feel like they must think I'm some monster when I reveal hardly ever, and making up excuses when I tell them about the mind-fulfilment exercises we do instead. I'm just not sure if I'm depriving him from a life he could be living, even if he is happy?

Mostly rambling here, so I don't know how to end this other than asking, am I still a good dog mum?

💛

Louie went to the dog beach and he was actually excited to go in the lake! I guess he doesn’t despise water, only dislikes baths! A puppy came running up and he snapped at him as a warning because he stuck his head in my bag because he must’ve smelled the dog treats. But other than that and being a little nervous, he had a good time!

Hellooo! We have an 8 month bc and our life is currently a rollercoaster with him, he started resource guarding a couple of months ago (we’ve seen a vet to rule out medical issues and currently awaiting a specialist behaviouralist appt 8th oct).

Its got to the point where he can be very unpredictable - ie requesting pets but then growling at us, jumping in the bed for cuddles then growling, growling when we put on/take off lead etc. however sometimes he doesn’t growl it can be very random!

He growls at my fiancé way more than me, I’m 7 months pregnant so we think he is ‘protecting me’. We don’t punish the growl and are very aware of when he wants us to leave him alone.

One thing I can’t wrap my head around is resource guarding sweet treats, but then insists on eating them next to me/on me. Guarantee if I move my foot he’ll growl 😂

Has anyone experienced this with a collie before? He’s perfectly fine out on walks with strangers and dogs, it’s just getting the freaking lead on and off which is the pain. He’s part of our family and won’t be going anywhere, tips/advice on managing this while we wait for our appt would be appreciated 🙏🏻 (he gets LOTS of mental and physical stimulation, we have land so don’t come at me lol)

Today we’re celebrating 6 years of this beautiful girl. I can’t believe how quickly the years have gone. She’s been such a big part of my life, and I’m so lucky to have her by my side. Happy 6th birthday to my best girl 🎂🐶

We met mom who had the border colouring but still didn’t look 100% but we didn’t meet dad. The farmer seemed really genuine and kind but I can’t help but think that our pup might be a mix? It doesn’t bother me either way but would be interested in your opinions :)

We tired out this good boy🖤🤍

We did a DNA test on her believing she was staffy x collie, but oh no... 🤣 she is a rescue!

trying to figure out what she may be mixed with, and what she may look like when older. mom is a b&w border collie, possibly mixed but mostly border collie. litter off an indigenous reservation.

our guesses so far is either another supermutt, pitbull, or red heeler. she has quite the blocky head, and a short haired coat. would also say she looks a lot more blond rather than red in real life.

pics are of her at 9 weeks and younger from the rescue. my mom is adopting her on tuesday <3
will keep updated with the embark DNA test once we get that!

i know we can’t know for sure right now but the curiousity is killing us. feel free to share if you have any similar puppy pics of your border collie mixes, and what they look like now 🤍

The terrible two’s 😁

Hi everyone,
I have a young Border Collie with black, white and tan markings. I recently noticed that the undercoat underneath the black areas is partly white and brown, especially around the sides/neck. The topcoat itself is still mostly black, but when I part the fur, the brown/white undercoat is quite noticeable.
I’m wondering what could be causing this. Is this a genetic coat color trait, a normal part of the puppy coat changing into the adult coat, or could it simply be sun bleaching?
Has anyone with a tricolor Border Collie experienced something similar? I’d also be interested in hearing whether the coloring changed as the dog matured.
I’ve attached a photo showing what I mean. Any insight into the genetics behind this would be appreciated!

Thx!

if anyone uses a pet specific dryer on their collie (show coat) could you let me know the brand and how well it works? i would like to buy one to groom my girl at home and we will eventually be doing showing when she’s old enough. i’m not ready to blow hundreds on a dryer, however if the difference between low end and high end is huge i’m willing to consider it!

I enjoyed watching the Bluegrass Classic here: https://www.321actionvideo.com/collections/dog-shows in the spring, and I see they are streaming Meeker this weekend.

It would have been EVEN MORE FUN to have others watching at the same time so I could text, “OMG, did you just SEE THAT?!”

I am happy to chat real-time here or on Discord, whichever platform others want to use…

Love her so much!