Working dogs need work [View all]

[Major Nikon]

This is an opportunity to show off my wonderful dogs(pictures below if you don't want to read all of this), but also a bit of a primer for what it's like owning working dogs for those who have interest in owning one or just those who admire these breeds. I've continuously had border collies for the last 30 years, all of them have been rescues in one way or another, all of them came to us as adult dogs, and we have always had at least 2 at a time and sometimes 3. In the first picture, the border collie is on the left and the aussie is on the right. Aussies are something new to us as our wigglebutt came to us a few years ago and is the first aussie we've had. I'm certainly no expert on aussies, but if ours is any indication of what's typical of the breed, there are differences. The aussie is better with children and not as prone to bad behavior, but still is very hyperactive both physically and mentally. We have close friends who also have an aussie and they have a lot of problems with it, but I'm pretty sure they don't invest much time keeping him busy. If ours is typical of the breed, I think it would be the better choice for a family dog although there's still going to be a lot of effort involved in maintenance. But every dog is different so I can't really say for sure if this is true.

Around the time we got our first border collie rescue there was a tremendous interest in the breed due to it being identified as the "smartest" dogs. This is both a blessing and a curse. Border collies in particular can present some significant challenges to dog owners and the reason why so many of them wind up in shelters and rescue organizations is because people weren't prepared or educated about those challenges. This is not to say all of these dogs will exhibit all forms of bad behavior, but they certainly are more prone to them. They aren't always the best dogs around kids. Border collies have varying degrees of herding instinct. Some have virtually none at all while with others it is very strong. A toddler getting herded by a dog can be a very frightening experience and some of these dogs will do so very aggressively. They also very commonly have barking problems, some will chew up everything in your house even as adults (my first one even chewed up the house itself and I was constantly replacing wood pieces for a while). Basically working dogs need work and if you don't provide it for them they will find their own work and you may not like what they decide is their job. So our first one was a huge challenge because like many others we just weren't prepared for it. An investment in obedience training and a lot of time on our part eventually worked it all out.

Naturally the cornerstone of obedience training is taking dogs for a walk and especially learning how to do it the correct way. For most dogs this is all you really need to do which is also true for working dogs, but some are going to need a LOT of walking to keep them in check. They are built like little dog athletes and their minds need even more exercise. The plus side is they are relatively easier to train and once I figured out how to get them to fetch, I discovered the key to maintaining working dogs without livestock around. We started out with frisbees, but today I cringe a little bit thinking about it. A dog jumping to great heights catching a frisbee looks pretty cool, but the landings are pretty hard on their joints. So now I just use the ball, which I think works a lot better. I do this at least 2 and preferably 3 or 4 times per day. It only takes a few minutes and it pretty much cures all restlessness in the dogs. We also take them for walks, but not nearly as often.

As far as general maintenance goes, these dogs have a significant undercoat and shedding is a real problem which they do pretty much year round. We keep our dogs inside all the time, so there's a lot of work involved with brushing and grooming and still we are constantly policing up the dog hair. My current border collie had been shaved prior to us getting her which destroyed her undercoat forever. I don't recommend doing this at all for any reason, but as an inside dog I don't think it negatively affects her much. Most of them aren't as prone to genetic diseases compared to some other breeds, but it still can be a problem. As always mutts are superior in this regard. We've had a few mutts that were probably somewhere around half border collie and they are generally healthier and longer lived as a result while still retaining many of the attributes that make for working dogs. Our aussie is AKC registered and the border collie is registered with AKC and ABCA. None of this really matters, but that's the way they came to us.

The border collie does not fetch the ball, which as it turns out doesn't matter. Her job is to keep the aussie from bringing the ball back. She rarely succeeds, but that doesn't stop the effort. She constantly nips at the aussie trying to distract her, she will run collision courses trying to knock the ball out of her mouth, and she runs along side the aussie diverting her away from the ball. When the aussie loses the ball in the grass, the border collie finds it for her just so she can go about trying to keep her from returning it. So while the two have competing interests, it all works together in the end and it provides a never ending source of entertainment for me. In the first picture you can see the aussie is focused on the ball, while the border collie is focused on the aussie.