YOU & Dogs

[OffTopic]

I thought I had done this, but I went back through the thread and didn't see a post, so guess I had just thought about it.

 

First dog as a child: Really lovely Lassie type rough collie. We had 2 of them in short succession....Ginger and Diamond. One of them loved to knock me down and sit on my head. Somewhere there's a picture of that. My father ended up rehoming Ginger because she had puppies (there was no vet where we lived and you just didn't spend money on dogs back then....spay/neuter was unheard of) and rehomed Diamond because he kept tearing up the clothes off of the clothesline.

 

First dog as an adult: If you count high school as adult, Nicky my first keeshond. My father became so smitten with Nicky that I didn't have the heart to take him with me when I moved out after college. If you're counting living away from home, Loki, my second keeshond.

 

Why a BC? My father had a BC when he passed away, and there was no way any dog in our family was going to a shelter, so Mike and I took him.

 

Did you do research? Nope. We just took him and did our best.

 

First BC: Scudder, my father's dog.

 

What made you want to get another? Scudder was a beautiful rough coat BW dog who was very difficult to live with. He never got the proper training because my father had no clue and did a lot of things wrong. Scudder was a very soft dog.....he was neurotic, thunderphobic, not well housetrained(and I am now the proud owner of a carpet cleaner because of that), always looked sad, tried too hard to please and broke my heart just looking at him. We tried to make him a happy dog, but the only time he appeared happy was when he was playing soccer or herding our cat. So we finally just let him be.

We wanted another BC because we saw what Scudder could have been.

What have you done with your dogs?We've only had Finn for a few months, so we're still trying to judge what his needs are going to be. We do walk him daily and obedience train daily and he seems really content. We'd love to take him with us when we travel, but he's still having issues with carsickness....so unless it's within walking distance of the house he doesn't go.

 

How many BC's?If you mean how many ever? Finn is the second.

 

How many do you have now? Finn, the BC and Max, the keeshond.

 

What "quirks" have you noticed with all your dogs? Finn hates water. He won't even walk on the wet bricks of the patio after it rains. We're going to have to work on that.

 

City dog or country dog?city

 

Would you ever get another breed? I've always thought that when Max leaves us I will want another keeshond. I love both breeds and would like to keep one of each. But Finn is turning out to be such a joy, that I might just have to get another BC when the time comes. If we do go with another BC it will most likely be another rescue.

There are other breeds I love but would probably never own because they're too big to be a house dog, such as the Pyr. the Bernese Mountain dogs, the Newfoundland. I also think malanoise and teruvians (my spelling is probably way off there) are beautiful dogs. But I'm happy with the BC and Kees combo.

[KJ]

First dog as a child: Siberian Huisky

 

First dog as an adult: Border collie x-Curly or if my now husband counts, he came with a dog, Lab/Ret X, Leroy Brown RIP

 

Why a BC? Curly was on HART's website (Humane Animal Rescue Team) looking really hairy and irresistable ~2yo. We laughted that he was black and white and he would match my cat, Tooncy. We went to see him at a Pet Smart adoption day and he was the most insane dog there, stealing jugs of water and pretty much like a fly on a leash. He'd been being housed at a veterinary office. He was ours.

 

Did you do research? No. I figured if the rescue organization knew what we were looking for and recommended the dog everything would be OK. Breed didn't really matter to me... then found the board when I thought Curly's eye's were abnormal...then quickly became fascinated and still am.

 

First BC: Curly

 

What have you done with your dogs? Pretend/poseur agility (he doens't know), vacations-beach and lakes, walks, lots of frisbee, soccer, games indoors and out, a fair amount of swimming and a few dog park ventures

 

How many BC's? Just Curly (Whirly, Whirly Gig, Giggy, Curl Monster, Monkey boy, Curlito Bandito, C-monster, C-bat, Swirly, Chewy, Rasta, Einstein)

 

What "quirks" have you noticed with all your dogs? Curly: he looks at you from the side often like he's being sly dog, at night he begins his see-no evil, hear no-evil act while making noises like Chewbaka and holding his mouth wide open. Sheppie: Shep really likes to take his tennis ball and after licking it he rolls it about 3 feet then he'll look at it as if it's talking-and he usually has his paws in a perfect X when laying down.

 

City dog or country dog? Country

 

Would you ever get another breed? Yes. I love dogs. I would get another rescue regardless of breed, but then I think I'd have to have a BC and an Aussie too. Through this board I have come to know I would love to have a CGC and feel it is a personal goal one day and I would love to compete in agility. So I would have many different doggies and I would have to get a new huge house, lots of land, I'd have a staff too and rob a bank.

 

OT

I have to add I lost my 17 yo b/w big ole Maine Coonish lovely cat in Oct 2007. He was my best friend for most of my adult life...and I would get another cat one day. As most of us understand it's hard to put into words the feelings of loosing a pet. I would get another kitty too. I posted his pics a few years ago in the Border Cat area.

[SnickerKitten]

First dog as a child: Black German Shepard named "Shotzie" (registered name Imperial Black Pearl)

 

First dog as an adult: Samoyed that followed someone else home and wasn't claimed by anyone

 

Why a BC? He was scrawny, missing half his hair and I felt so sorry for this miserable little creature that was petrified when I met him and it took me 45 minutes just to get him to get near me, but when he did bond to me he let me know he was the right one for me.

 

Did you do research? Yes, after our first meeting I went home and researched the breed. I was looking for a Search and Rescue partner, not just a pitiful creature to save. After our second meeting I saw that he was quickly developing trust in me and figured that was a key response I needed. Since BCs do well with Search and Rescue and he was quickly developing confidence in me I took him.

 

First BC: Stormy (same one I have now)

 

What made you want to get another? Haven't gotten another one.

 

What have you done with your dogs? Obedience, play play play, beginning SAR

 

How many BC's? one

 

How many do you have now? one (plus an aussie or aussie/bc mix temporarily till she finds a home... anyone want her?)

 

What "quirks" have you noticed with all your dogs? Different ones with each dog I've had. Stormy has been worked out of most of his quirks, though.

 

City dog or country dog? Suburban

 

Would you ever get another breed? If the right dog comes to me I don't really care what the breed is although there are several breeds I'd love to have.

[haleigh]

Getting to know you type of thing- Copy and paste. Hope all will join in with me.

 

First dog as a child: hamlet, bl lab

 

First dog as an adult: how about teenager-border collie joy

 

Why a BC?: i've loved their grace and aesthetic beauty since i was 5

 

Did you do research? ooooh yeah...i had no social life outside of research for a good 4 months. still don't.

 

First BC : my littly Joyzers

 

What made you want to get another? Don't have nother, but even though I love border collies and currently want about 15, i want my next dog to be a pit bull, or a malinois. then another bc.

 

What have you done with your dogs? intermediate obedience 6 times, agillity, and flyball

 

How many BC's? just Joy

 

How many do you have now? Just Joy

 

What "quirks" have you noticed with all your dogs? tooo many to list.

 

City dog or county dog? suburban dog. i feel bad for her!

 

Would you ever get another breed? I always want a border collie with me, but my next additions within the next 10 years won't be a border collie

[MaggieDog]

First dog as a child: Oreo, ACD/LabX i got for my 10th birthday (mom was a lab that wandered onto a local farmstead and had a litter of I think 7 pups).

 

First dog as an adult: At 15, I adopted Maggie. Z was adopted this year (I'm 22 right now).

 

Why a BC?: Just liked Maggie's lithe build, personality, and she needed a home.

 

Did you do research? NOPE, though I had been volunteering at the shelter Maggie came from for over 2 years at the time.

 

First BC : technically none yet, but Mags is likely a BC/ACDX and Z is some random herding mix.

 

What made you want to get another? Don't have another, but I liked Z's herding traits: intense, high drive, active.

 

What have you done with your dogs? Maggie: classes in competition obedience, 4H dog club, compete in agility, Delta Society Pet Partners for almost 5 years now; Ziva: training for agility and therapy work. Both are also demo dogs for my classes.

 

How many BC's? 1/2 or 3/4 I guess (Maggie = 1/2, Z may = 1/4 lol)

 

How many do you have now? 2

 

What "quirks" have you noticed with all your dogs? Maggie: space issues with other dogs, high high prey drive; Z: obsessed with balls and tug, high prey drive; both hate manhole covers and are a bit wigged out by certain storm drains.

 

City dog or country dog? city right now, Maggie used to be a country/suburban dog.

 

Would you ever get another breed? yup, but just other herding breeds/mixes as other breed groups just don't work for me. Gotta love the special herding breed personality!

[Laurae]

You're only 22, Erin? I didn't know that. I've been impressed with your posts. How'd you get to be so smart then?

[MaggieDog]

LOL 22 for a few more months - actually have been on this board for over 7 years now amazingly enough, so I'm sure that had some impact on how I'm so smart. Working with Maggie in her early post-adoption days certainly taught me a ton and I still find it kind of neat when I tell my obedience classes I've been training dogs for almost 8 years. (the university classes helped some as well....) Thanks for the wonderful compliment!

[Janba]

First dog as a child: Fox terrier called Trixie who arrived pregnant and we kept one of the pups Pooch

 

First dog as an adult: Shih Tzu

 

Why a BC? In my early 20s we had a couple of BC Kelpie crosses as working dogs. I liked the dogs and 10 years later decided on a pure BC as a 2nd dog (I had a dally)

 

Did you do research? No. I had seen them as working dogs and performance dogs and liked them. My grandfather also used to talk about the ISDS dogs he worked in the UK and that also made me want one.

 

First BC Bootross Bootross Collie. He was very high drive and very dog aggressive but the best temperament with people - he used to do nursing home visits and was so gentle with the residents. The only time he didn't try to kill other dogs was when he was working sheep and then he would work happily with another dog. He was also trained to UD in obedience but never trialled because he couldn't be trusted in the stays. I had a love/hate relationship with him for 13 1/2 years.

 

What made you want to get another? I love them warts and all.

 

What have you done with your dogs? Obedience, agility(only training) herding and tracking

 

How many BC's? Four and the earlier crosses.

 

How many do you have now? Two, Moss and Cole. Cole is the ISDS dog I have wanted ever since my grandfathers stories. There are not many in Aus and he had too be imported. We do have our own working registry.

 

What "quirks" have you noticed with all your dogs? Moss is a "Border of little brain". He is just a nice dog who seems pleasantly suprised at all things that happen to him. When you give him a bone he opens his eyes really wide as if to say "is this really for me". Cole is a strong dog on sheep but a softy at home who likes nothing more than to cuddle up and try to sit on your lap.

 

City dog or county dog? Suburban now on the outskirts of Sydney.

 

Would you ever get another breed? I also have dalmatians and will continue to have at least one.

[airbear]

First BC Bootross Bootross Collie...

LOL - that may be the best name for a dog EVER!

[airbear]

First dog as a child: Bowie, a rather flaky golden retriever.

 

First dog as an adult: Bear, an aussie type dog whom I adopted from the SPCA 9 years ago.

 

Why a BC?: When I was looking for a 2nd dog, I looked at aussies and border collies, as Bear seemed to like them best, but I was really hoping to get an aussie female. There weren't any suitable aussies in rescue, so I applied to Pacific NW Border Collie Rescue, and the next day, I got an email about a pregnant young female that had just been transported to Vancouver. That was the Wickens, and so the journey began ...

 

Did you do research?: A bit, in that I talked to people who owned border collies, and I did a bit of reading.

 

First BC: Wick, a slick-coated, bob-tailed, one-blue-eyed little minx

 

What made you want to get another:? I wanted to learn more about stockwork, and after 4 years of working with Bear (and countless fruitless tries with Wick), I took the advice of experienced sheep folks and bought a trained border collie (Lou).

 

What have you done with your dogs?: Bear has competed in agility, flyball, herding, disc, obedience and freestyle. <insert unsolicited brag>Bear has earned 24 titles in agility and flyball, and qualified for agility nationals all 5 years we entered. <end unsolicited brag>. Wick competes in agility and has earned her fair share of alphabet soup. Lou is my sheepdog, and we compete in ISDS-style sheepdog trials at the Open level. He also is learning a bit of agility though I don't know that I will ever trial him in that.

 

How many BC's?: 2

 

How many do you have now?: 2 border collies, one aussie type dog.

 

What "quirks" have you noticed with all your dogs?: They eavesdrop on my telephone conversations. I find that very odd.

 

City dog or country dog?: City. They are condo collies, in fact.

 

Would you ever get another breed?: I lust after Italian Greyhounds and othet teen-tiny purse dogs, but I don't think I would ever get one. Maybe another aussie sometime down the road.