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Thats not a border collie!


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Just got one tonight!

 

Lady On the Street: What is your border collie mixed with?

Me: Oh he's all border collie.

Lady: Well you know anything besides black and white are mixes right? Border Collies only come in black and white.

Me: Oh actually they come in just as many colors aussies come in (She is familiar with aussies). I have his papers, he's pure border collie.

Lady: *unconvinced* oh...

 

aghhhh!

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Yesterday we ran into a dog on the greensward that looked very much like a BC with one major exception. Is tail was naturally carried high and wasn't ropy like a BC tail. The guy tried to tell me he was a BC. I wasn't going to dispell his image so I didn't say anything but it definitely wasn't a BC. Didn't have any of the BC characteristics at all. Looked more like a cattle dog to me. He's smart but did't chase the ball the way a BC does. I think is was more BC mix of some sort.

 

Did the dog look anything like this?

 

100_3652a.jpg

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Wiley is a perfectly marked (what I think is perfect anyway ) tri with a rich copper color instead of the light brown. I had a friend of mine try to convince me that he was an aussie, she is an aussie breeder and she is POSITIVE that BC's don't come in tri with that rich of a copper they "have" to be light brown. I sent her to www.bordercolliecolors.com and educated her. She was shocked at all the colors they can be. :rolleyes:

Also when I take him to barrel races I always get "What is he? BC or Aussie" I guess people around here just don't know the physical differences.

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Last night, on one of our weekly evening strolls down Main Street, some random college student tried to tell me Suka had no BC in her. I know she's a Border-Mutt, but her markings are pretty much classic BC. Another case of the 'red dogs can't be BCs' fallacy.

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Just got one tonight!

 

Lady On the Street: What is your border collie mixed with?

Me: Oh he's all border collie.

Lady: Well you know anything besides black and white are mixes right? Border Collies only come in black and white.

Me: Oh actually they come in just as many colors aussies come in (She is familiar with aussies). I have his papers, he's pure border collie.

Lady: *unconvinced* oh...

 

aghhhh!

 

 

Good lord... where do people get this stuff??

 

Jade got a "some sort of Spaniel" comment again the other day by some people at the dog park... I didn't bother correcting them. I am very surprised at the park, I get a lot of "what is she?"s, but I've never had to argue that yes, she is a Border Collie. Maybe people around here are just too nice :rolleyes:

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Just got one tonight!

 

Lady On the Street: What is your border collie mixed with?

Me: Oh he's all border collie.

Lady: Well you know anything besides black and white are mixes right? Border Collies only come in black and white.

Me: Oh actually they come in just as many colors aussies come in (She is familiar with aussies). I have his papers, he's pure border collie.

Lady: *unconvinced* oh...

 

aghhhh!

 

LOL! Maybe that's why I've never had anyone question mine - they're all black and white (well, Kipp is a tri, but his tan is sable so you don't see it unless you're close up). I find it rather amusing that I now have three dogs who are all border collies, yet each has a different body type!

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Border collies are rare here and most people seem to think he's an Aussie. When you tell them he's aBC they immediately launch into all the BC myths that abound.

 

Here's a stupid question. Do any other dogs work like a BC, I mean crouch, the way they "lie down" and move around? I've never really thought about it before. I've seen Aussies work and there is a definite difference between them around sheep. Aussies seem to remain in constant motion while BCs move and crouch which seems to me to be more energy conserving.

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Just got one tonight!

 

Lady On the Street: What is your border collie mixed with?

Me: Oh he's all border collie.

Lady: Well you know anything besides black and white are mixes right? Border Collies only come in black and white.

Me: Oh actually they come in just as many colors aussies come in (She is familiar with aussies). I have his papers, he's pure border collie.

Lady: *unconvinced* oh...

 

aghhhh!

 

We get this a lot too since we have two tri colors, one smooth one rough, and a small blue merle. Most people can guess what Rhea and Gunnar are but ask what Masi is. I say they're all BC's, they look surprised so before they can retort I say "Yep, they come in all sorts of shapes and sizes!"

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Lets see now....he has prick ears, he's "dilute" in colour, with a couple of merley speckles, short haired....mostly we get told he's a BC cross, and met with disbelief when we say he's all collie.

 

We get told quite often that he must be whippet cross because apparently he's so skinny - I put that down to the fact that we are in the city, and there's so many overweight animals (and people) that hardly anyone knows what healthy looks like anymore! I have a standard, patiently delivered explanation about how that's what a fit collie looks like under all that coat they usually have. Mostly people tend to think you're deluded.

 

When we go out to sheep farming country (every weekend) he is greeted with compliments about his "classic collie" markings, what a lovely, unusual coat he has and how he's so bright and fit. I know whose opinion I value more!

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I get the "Is that a Sheepdog?" alot. I just answer, "Yes, he's a Sheepdog."

 

I also get, "What kind of dog is that? An Aussie?" And when I say "Border Collie," I inevitably get, "well, he doesn't look like a Border Collie, he looks like an Aussie." Sigh.

 

My dog is heavily ticked all over. But he's NOT merle. He has a black head with a thin white stripe up his nose, and big black patch on his shoulder and another on his rump. Other than that, though, he's ticked all over. One thing that is a bit strange is that he has very long fringe on his ears, which are otherwise normal tipped BC ears. That makes me think he might be mixed with English Setter. Makes him look a bit like a Papillon!

post-10288-1255305116_thumb.jpg

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  • 4 months later...

It´s funny,

 

i read all your experiences with the so called experienced people :rolleyes:

 

We discussed exactly the same in a German Bordercollie Board.

 

And does this answer also sound familiar to you ?

 

Oh ? This is a bordercollie ?

I heard, they must be employded 24 hours a day

 

:D:D:D

 

Christine :D

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Just skimmed through the thread. HA! I thought i had it bad but most of the people that have questions regarding their dogs breed are classically marked or coloured borders and people still seem to be confused. At least my dogs kind of have an excuse to be asked what they are. They are both small 12 and 16 kgs medium coat (much shorter than "show" borders) and one is nearly solid black and the other nearly solid white. To me that makes sense not knowing the breed but a classically marked border? What are people thinking? I get kelpie cross alot and I often get TOLD not just an opinion that I musn't have done my research into their lines. I saw the parents they were DEFINITLY border collies. If you don't know what your talking about please don't offer your opinion as to whether my dog is what it is or not! :D Even at agility the other night people were asking what my oldest was when we were running. :rolleyes:

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A little OT, but I was at a doctor's office one day sitting in the waiting room. There was a man waiting also. I heard a dog bark outside and went to see if it was my Doberwoman who was waiting in the car. It wasn't. When I returned the man asked me, "What kind of dog do you have?"

I told him she was a Doberman Pinscher. He grew pale and asked anxiously, "How old is she?" I said she was three.

"Oh! You'd better have her put to sleep right away!"

I asked him why and he said, "When Dobermans get to be about three their skull stops growing but their brain keeps on growing until the pain drives them crazy and they go nuts and kill people!"

 

I told him I'd keep that in mind...

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I have been laughing alot when I see dogs labled at our local humane society..I dont think they know what "merle" is because I have seen so many dogs lately with a little bit of ticking in a few places being advertised as "black and white with a blue merle leg!!" or something along those lines :rolleyes: and I am still trying to figer out how a border collie resembles a collie..I have seen quite a few classicly marked, black and white Border Collies being labled as "smooth collies" ..apperently none of their "experts" has ever SEEN a smooth collie lol

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It´s funny,

 

i read all your experiences with the so called experienced people :rolleyes:

 

We discussed exactly the same in a German Bordercollie Board.

 

And does this answer also sound familiar to you ?

 

Oh ? This is a bordercollie ?

I heard, they must be employded 24 hours a day

 

:D:D:D

 

More along these lines, but I was told once that my bc requires 3 solid hours of exercise every day and that his over excitement was due to lack of exercise. It was implied that an aggressive behavior stemmed from lack of proper exercise even though the bad event happened while he was staying with the dog walker who was walking him for that long every day.

This was from a behaviorist who owned border collies. In fact, our dog's 'over excitement' was actually anxiety that was not controlled while in the care of the dog walker/border. We have several short, intense play sessions and a one hour walk most days and he's as calm and controlled as you'd like. I was likewise told he was pushy, bossy and dominant according to their analysis (which I didn't ask for) - qualities that we have resolved with confidence training, not more exercise.

This is the same behaviorist who recommend AGAINST agility sports as they "accentuate the focus" and make the dogs neurotic :D

Do all people make these assumptions about bc's? Or do 'professionals' have a hard time recognizing bc behavior for what it really is? I'm thankful I found this board as it lead me to a more accurate assesment and a much, much happier, content dog!

 

BTW: as for his color, I tell people Truman is a sable and that it is a real bc color. Most people here find that interesting and while he's likely a mix of something else I don't bother to say it as he's built just like the traditionally marked bc's in our area. When we adopted him he was labelled bc/spaniel or sheltie/spaniel cross. What do you think? :D

 

post-10097-1266864073_thumb.jpg[

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I have been laughing alot when I see dogs labled at our local humane society..I dont think they know what "merle" is because I have seen so many dogs lately with a little bit of ticking in a few places being advertised as "black and white with a blue merle leg!!" or something along those lines :rolleyes: and I am still trying to figer out how a border collie resembles a collie..I have seen quite a few classicly marked, black and white Border Collies being labled as "smooth collies" ..apperently none of their "experts" has ever SEEN a smooth collie lol

 

Aww c'mon y'all it's not that much of a stretch... The first dog is a BC, the other two are Smooth Collies. The 3rd pic is old, but still...

post-10533-1266864113_thumb.jpg post-10533-1266864149_thumb.jpgpost-10533-1266864171_thumb.jpg

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I have been laughing alot when I see dogs labled at our local humane society..

The HS shelter folks aren't so hot on guessing breeds. I just transported and am holding a "border collie" whose only BC feature that I can see is that he has black and white markings; everything else about his screams lab to my eyes. The nice lady who pulled him for us is from a Springer rescue, so she didn't react to appearance. Oh well, he's a really nice guy and his B/W markings got him a ticket to freedom, so I guess it's all for the good.

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The HS shelter folks aren't so hot on guessing breeds. I just transported and am holding a "border collie" whose only BC feature that I can see is that he has black and white markings; everything else about his screams lab to my eyes. The nice lady who pulled him for us is from a Springer rescue, so she didn't react to appearance. Oh well, he's a really nice guy and his B/W markings got him a ticket to freedom, so I guess it's all for the good.

 

I've found that a lot of black and white dogs get labeled BC mixes basically because in urban rescue environments you try to label dogs anything BUT pit-mixes, which is what a lot of the dogs actually are. So, a block-headed dog with coloring that looks like a traditional border collie becomes a BC/lab mix, rather than a boxer/pit mix or some other more likely breed. In reality, most of the dogs we rescue have nothing close to actually recognizable breed characteristics, so we all just make it up as we go along.

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What bothers me is the misinformation (or at least distortions) being disseminated about Border Collies on the "Dogs 101" program on Animal Planet with respect to BC's as family dogs. Pit Bulls and Presa Canarios get better reviews as pets than BC's...

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What bothers me is the misinformation (or at least distortions) being disseminated about Border Collies on the "Dogs 101" program on Animal Planet with respect to BC's as family dogs. Pit Bulls and Presa Canarios get better reviews as pets than BC's...

It could be a good thing too. "Maybe" with that type of description , it would stop non-BC-educated people from getting BC . That would then lower the amount of BC abandoned on the street and in rescues.

If it stops only a handful of those people , it would be a good thing. :rolleyes:

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More along these lines, but I was told once that my bc requires 3 solid hours of exercise every day and that his over excitement was due to lack of exercise. It was implied that an aggressive behavior stemmed from lack of proper exercise even though the bad event happened while he was staying with the dog walker who was walking him for that long every day.

This was from a behaviorist who owned border collies. In fact, our dog's 'over excitement' was actually anxiety that was not controlled while in the care of the dog walker/border. We have several short, intense play sessions and a one hour walk most days and he's as calm and controlled as you'd like. I was likewise told he was pushy, bossy and dominant according to their analysis (which I didn't ask for) - qualities that we have resolved with confidence training, not more exercise.

This is the same behaviorist who recommend AGAINST agility sports as they "accentuate the focus" and make the dogs neurotic :rolleyes:

Do all people make these assumptions about bc's? Or do 'professionals' have a hard time recognizing bc behavior for what it really is? I'm thankful I found this board as it lead me to a more accurate assesment and a much, much happier, content dog!

 

BTW: as for his color, I tell people Truman is a sable and that it is a real bc color. Most people here find that interesting and while he's likely a mix of something else I don't bother to say it as he's built just like the traditionally marked bc's in our area. When we adopted him he was labelled bc/spaniel or sheltie/spaniel cross. What do you think? :D

 

Oh sheesh! If I had to exercise my dogs for three solid hours a day, I wouldn't have BC's. They get that some days, but certainly not every day. You should have asked her how she could have a job and several BCs at the same time....

 

I'd go with the BC/spaniel cross for Truman. Or maybe he's got setter or retriever in there with his BC

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I too have had people ask me if Nem , my sable BC is part coyote. My response would be no , she is not. But people come to their own conclusions and are adamant about being right , so I just agree with them , its just easier. :rolleyes: Even people you would think should know more about BC , insist she is not pure bred. I tell them she is , she has a very dark face, no white muzzle . That alone gives them reason to think she is not purebred. After much thought about it , I just let it go because it turns into a debate and almost an arguement and who needs that , I know what she is , she knows what she is , enough said !

I have been told my blue merle looks like a husky too. Not too many people are aware that BC come in a variety of colors , thanks to the AKC. Many people will argue that BC only come in b/w , I have tried many times to educate them , but to no avail. It only frustrates me and fuels their fire .

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