Bo Peep Posted September 12, 2007 Report Share Posted September 12, 2007 Last week-end I went to the boyfriends house and his neighbors have Ushers best friend Maddie. They were playing and us gals were watching the dogs while the guys did yard work. Well, Maddie is pretty mellow, likes the tennis ball, doesn't run as fast as Usher and doesn't bring it back as well. But she is well behaved and fun!! Usher is going, where's the ball, where's the ball, oh, I hear the weed-whacker, (looks over the short fence) the sprinklers turned on, where did it go......he follows the hose to find the end and stares at the water and then finds the sprinkler and attacks it. Now the neighbors are asking me....How can you live with this obsessive dog. I'm like "what?" He's just a border collie. I guess after 7 of them you're used to sitting on the couch watching tv with 3 tennis balls on your lap and throwing toys between folding laundry. It just doesn't seem strange to me. It's just another day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixie_Girl Posted September 12, 2007 Report Share Posted September 12, 2007 LOL Oh, no, it ain't just you! Sometimes they can get real creative in their inticement to play! Jackson, who loves us, won't "love" on us. He just ain't the touchy, feely kinda guy. But if I'm sitting here at the kitchen table on my lap top, or watching a show and pretty much ignoring the practically slamming down of the toy, or him trying to balance a toy on my leg (balls are fun to watch him attempt!) he will jump up on me and start his wiggling and acting like he just discovered just how much he loves me and must let me know. He will get this winsome look in his eyes and of course at this point I am just all into getting to love on my boy. Quick as a flash, he jumps down, grabs the toy he stratigicly placed on the floor, and tosses it towards me. Well, what choice is there but to throw it! Yep, I am very well trained! LOL I take it Maddie is not a BC?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OurBoys Posted September 12, 2007 Report Share Posted September 12, 2007 I'm sure our neighbors think we're a bit odd! The last time we had our next door neighbors over, the guy said "My God, you're outside everyday playing with JJ and Jake!" And I thought "Your point is???" Some people! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bo Peep Posted September 12, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2007 Yea, it just doesn't seem odd to us that are used to it. It's not even annoying to have 3 tennis balls perched on your lap. Or to wake up to a spitty one in your face. Dog hair in your food? I thought it was a major food group- LOL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bo Peep Posted September 12, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2007 I take it Maddie is not a BC?? No- far as we can figure, she's mostly lab. Great owners, though and a well mannered dog. I sure am glad I like my OCD. BC. That's a lot of initials. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WyoBC Posted September 12, 2007 Report Share Posted September 12, 2007 It's me too! I really don't see what's weird about spending 30 minutes throwing the same ball over and over again, three or four times a day, spending as much time throwing the frisbee, taking every excuse to go outside with him, or spending more time making his supper than I do making mine. I'm still getting trained Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OurBoys Posted September 12, 2007 Report Share Posted September 12, 2007 or spending more time making his supper than I do making mine. What??? But I thought they were suppose to eat healthier than I do?!?!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bo Peep Posted September 12, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2007 I spend way too much money on toys and outings (especially outings) for my dog than me. I just love that furry guy. Wish I could adopt another, but not possible at this time. So sad!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat W. Posted September 12, 2007 Report Share Posted September 12, 2007 Whim is an absolute toy nut, and is so high drive he could easily become OCD if not exercised enough. He constantly wings toys at me, bounces the tennis ball at my feet, slides frisbees around the floor brings me tuggies to play. Doesn't matter what the heck Im doing. In fact I decided this moring that I am going to have to get up 15 minutes earlier to be able to work him more before I leave to go to work. Can't wait for daylight savings so its light at 6am again so I can take him to the field to run off some energy. The other dogs will be jeolous but oh well... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anda Posted September 12, 2007 Report Share Posted September 12, 2007 Jackson sounds so much like my boy, Linda! I too noticed how some of our friends, who innitially were in awe that we had a Border Collie puppy, slowly but certantly started to distance themselves from Ouzo when we're all going out somewhere, and making comments such as "oh, you crazy dog" or "oh, you monster dog", or "hyper" or "OCD" etc. (all while I think Ouzo is acting normally and actually well behaved around them!) All in a loving way which tells me they will NOT puppy sit Ouzo if I would need them to They're all such lab-type people.... LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShoresDog Posted September 12, 2007 Report Share Posted September 12, 2007 Dog people we see on the beach often comment on what a fun dog Daisy is, with her frisbee and ball antics. But I notice that we see and chat with them for five or ten minutes, and then they're off to finish their walk. In a typical morning walk on the beach, we cycle through 3 or 4 batches of dog people before WE are done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G. Festerling Posted September 12, 2007 Report Share Posted September 12, 2007 I think we just consider it normal. I did untill I got my first real working line shepherd....and after almost 20 years of living with BC's I did not even think anything could top that level of energy and determination (plus an attitude)! Was I wrong. I had some clients out the other day. My barn is 108 feet long. We stood in the hallway talking and the GSD kept running down the hall, out the other end, around the barn, in the hall, out the other end, around the barn.... After about 30 minutes of this, no slowing down that is, all the clients wanted to know was if she ever quit. The bad thing is that I did not even notice untill they asked that question.... Just another day at my house! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BCMomma Posted September 12, 2007 Report Share Posted September 12, 2007 A normal night for Lili is resting on the kitchen floor while I'm making dinner and then as soon as we sit down to eat, she plops a toy at my husband's feet so he can play with her while he's eating. Luckily we have a large room connected to our breakfast nook so she can run after toy du jour! Rudi just lies by the laundry room door waiting for a treat - no toys for her just treats. She figures we're eating so if she's good and quiet she'll get rewarded (she used to just sit and bark at us while we ate). Ya gotta love a BC! Or two or three...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca, Irena Farm Posted September 12, 2007 Report Share Posted September 12, 2007 The hyped up dogs annoy me - I do try to discourage the really wacky stuff as much as possible. But, it is funny that my version of "calm" will usually floor people new to our dogs. When Ben went missing and turned up at a neighbor's home, and spent the next five hours playing ball with them, they were arguing about whether he was four or five years old (the husband's guess) or still just a pup (the wife's guess). He was eleven at the time! Yesterday the hay guy came and the sheep bolted out the fence into the back field when he opened it to let his truck through. He was highly apologetic and offered to help get them up. A family friend who had come to help unload said, "No, they've got those black and white dogs that do that." "Really?" the hay guy said. "How long will that take?" The sheep were now over the horizon and out of sight, heading up to the far corner where there's still some good browsing. "Oh, a minute or less, probably." !?!?!?!? his look clearly said. I think he was worried because it was nearly dark and he felt like he couldn't leave until he'd repaired his mistake. We finished and then I went and got both Cord and Gus. Gus went one way and Cord went the other. "WOW - look how fast they go!" See, that's really funny because neither one of them is what I'd call a really fast outrunner. Ted, now, he's crazy fast - he makes the ground shake when he runs. It's funny to see our dogs through other people's eyes. I've been working on the dogs not stampeding the sheep on gathers, so again, it seemed to happen in slow motion. But when the sheep started flowing through the gate, the hay guy was just a-grinnin'. "That was fast!" Not really what I wanted a reputation for around here ("You should see how fast they can move those sheep up on Scott Road!") but whatever - he meant that he still had nearly an hour until sunset to yak and still get home before dark. Other dogs seem to move in slow motion to me, for sure. No offense to them - it's just from years of trying to keep ahead of the reaction times and quick thinking of Border Collies. I'm sure many of us can relate to watching other people handle dogs and feeling like we could hear what the dog is thinking - and wondering why the person doesn't do something about it! I have to remind myself how obnoxious it would be to interfere. I sometimes succeed in remembering. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
setsail Posted September 12, 2007 Report Share Posted September 12, 2007 I get that all the time. The minute people hear I have a border collie in a 600sqft apartment they look at me with crazy eyes. Jackson used to play with a pup down the street and he would out run the 1yr old pup after playing a 20-30 min game of frisbee and ball. Then steal the frisbees on the way home so we can play some more. I didn't think much of it until I met this girl about my age with a young lab. He was absolutely crazy. Wired. She was amazed that you found another dog that could tire him out. She asked when I'm usually at the field so we can have a play date. I told her every afternoon from 4-5:30. She was like "Everyday? You come down and play with him everyday for that long." Might explain why her lab was so wound up all the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DixiesDad Posted September 12, 2007 Report Share Posted September 12, 2007 Long hair floating around. I thought we had a shag couch till my wife brushed it the other day Dixie loves to put her front feet in your lap with her head down in prayer and stays like that while you ask her what she wants. Want bath, no movement, want nails clipped, nm, want brush, nm, want throw squirrel, leap in air, quick kiss, tear off to get toy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bordercentrics Posted September 12, 2007 Report Share Posted September 12, 2007 AHA! A [erfect example of why Border Collies are not the breed for everyone. YOU are a Border Collie person, as is everyone here. Your neighbors are average pet owners, and they shouldn't own one. Sounds like they don't want to, either. I guess the ones I pull from the shelters for rescue are the Border Collies who ended up in average homes and the folks couldn't handle it. Beyond handling it, Border Collie people love and appreciate it. Kathy Robbins Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweet_ceana Posted September 12, 2007 Report Share Posted September 12, 2007 LOL. Ceana is my first dog so whenever I am around a non- BC I am always asking why doesn't that dog do anything?! I have never known any different. People think we are crazy for how much time we put into her between exercise, play, and training. What is the point of a dog if you don't want to spend as much time as you can with them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoloRiver Posted September 12, 2007 Report Share Posted September 12, 2007 I don't let my dogs pester me while I am busy. They deserve my full attention when it is time for us to play, and when I need to work I do not appreciate having toys thrown at me and they know that, so they know it's time to relax and take a nap. That said, they get their scheduled play time, and when they do it is all about me and them. I do not check my email, talk on the cell phone, or try to get anything else done when it's time for my dogs. Most people would not want to spend as much time formally interacting with their dogs as I do, which is why they don't have Border Collies. My dogs do like to just hang out with me, and they are perfect companions. They are with me all the time when I am home -- I don't put them away or anything. But they know that work time is work time and play time is play time. If I'd let them bully me into typing my thesis with one hand and throwing balls with the other, I never would have finished grad school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OurBoys Posted September 12, 2007 Report Share Posted September 12, 2007 Same here, Melanie. In fact, JJ and Jake *demand* my undivided attention. Be it playing ball or frisbee or whatever, it's suppose to be all about them. But, I don't have a problem with that. Like yours, they know the difference in my 'work' and their 'work'. Their work is usually after 'dad' goes to his work. (OK, mom, he's gone now! Time to work the frisbees. After we rest up, we'll eat and bug you till you think our food has time enough to digest and then we'll do something else.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badgerboy Posted September 12, 2007 Report Share Posted September 12, 2007 Badger is very laid back, but will take the first opportunity to play with a toy, i can tell when he is bored, he will sit and whinge till i say, "oh go and get a toy then", i dont always say that though, and recently he has decided that if i dont play he gets my shoe or slipper, shakes it then dumps it on the coffee table and will sit stareing at it till i have to make a move I also get hair in my food and take it in my stride, i'm a BC owner afterall Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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