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Have you ever had a Border Collie that did this?


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Tessa is a caretaker.

 

When my alarm goes off in the morning, if I don't get up in a reasonable amount of time, she makes sure I am up. If one of the dogs needs to go out in the night, she gets me up - she did this for Sammie when he had a UTI and for Maddie when she was dying.

 

She makes sure everyone is in when we all come into the house after play. She will let me know if one of the dogs is out in the big yard when he or she shouldn't be (she knows the difference between them being in the dog yard and the big yard!!)

 

She will remind me that they need to be fed if I am about to forget.

 

I call her my "right hand girl".

 

Does this sound like any of your Border Collies?

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I think it's kinda normal for some females to "run the show" or be caregivers...control freaks...go figure ;)

 

My first dog who was a rescue collie was a "caregiver" to my kids...would sleep in there room every night and come "alert me" to anybody stirring..when the kids were sick she would come get me up, etc..she would lay next to them when they were playing..a constanr watchful eye..she had to know what was going on in the house at all times..

 

I lived with my X for 3 years and he had a little female border collie, she was definetly a "care giver" borderline control freak..we had her and 2 males and she ran the show in "her house"..she would actually TATTLE on the others if they were doing something they shouldn't! LOL!! If the young guy was chewing on something in the middle of the night or had an accident she would come wake us!! If the boys were rough housing to much, she broke it up..she was a goofy girl ;) Even now when she comes for a visit she walks in like she owns the place...the boys are usually only to happy to give her the control! I think they kinda like it, being bossed around by a sassy lade :P

 

 

I kinda found both girls to be very "emotional" or inquisative?? They always new what was going on and were VERY much "caregivers" and aided in running the household. My boys have all been pretty layed back temperament wise and seem happy to just do as they are told...kinda doofy guys ;)

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My first dog who was a rescue collie was a "caregiver" to my kids...would sleep in there room every night and come "alert me" to anybody stirring..when the kids were sick she would come get me up, etc..she would lay next to them when they were playing..a constanr watchful eye..she had to know what was going on in the house at all times..

 

Yeah, that's how she would most likely be, too, I'm sure.

 

I lived with my X for 3 years and he had a little female border collie, she was definetly a "care giver" borderline control freak..we had her and 2 males and she ran the show in "her house"..she would actually TATTLE on the others if they were doing something they shouldn't! LOL!!

 

LOL!! Exactly!!

 

One time I had a box of duck frames defrosting on the top of the freezer and Dean got into the box in the morning and got one. She came in and got me up - very insistent that I MUST come with her. I figured she had to go to the bathroom very badly. No. She showed me, with quite a sense of urgency, that Dean was doing something he shouldn't. I was astonished!!

 

If the young guy was chewing on something in the middle of the night or had an accident she would come wake us!! If the boys were rough housing to much, she broke it up..she was a goofy girl ;) Even now when she comes for a visit she walks in like she owns the place...the boys are usually only to happy to give her the control! I think they kinda like it, being bossed around by a sassy lade :P

 

Yes, Tessa has Dean firmly in tow. And he doesn't care. He's a very "strong male" and very much the control freak, himself. But he's just like "oh, OK" with her!! LOL!! They are very good friends, but she keeps him in line.

 

And yet, she gives Speedy, who is much softer, all the leeway he wants. It's like she can gauge her "control freak-ish-ness" to meet the dog. If she bossed Speedy like she bosses Dean, he would be hiding, but instead he actually enjoys being with her. I often find them happily curled up on the sofa together.

 

But, oh - she loves to boss Dean and he seems to kind of like it.

 

I kinda found both girls to be very "emotional" or inquisative?? They always new what was going on and were VERY much "caregivers" and aided in running the household. My boys have all been pretty layed back temperament wise and seem happy to just do as they are told...kinda doofy guys ;)

 

She's a pretty even keeled girl. She "controls" in a very matter of fact manner. Like "this needs to be done and I'm on it!!"

 

I've wondered if this is because she was on her own for several months, or if there are dogs who are just naturally like this. Of course, there is no way to know how much taking care of herself influenced her, but I find it incredibly interesting.

 

Sounds like she's not the only one!!

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I practically have to drag Secret out of bed in the morning. If I had to rely on her to get me up each day I'd be in a heap of trouble. :lol: My little guy, Kaiser, is the one who will come stand on top of me to say, "Hey lady, it's time to get up and let me outside!" Secret will literally lay in bed until noon....

 

She's the last one inside pretty much every single time, but I highly doubt that it's because she's making sure nobody is left out there. :P No, it's more like, "Umm, I'm not done playing yet."

 

Secret very much thinks she keeps the house in order, but ultimately she's not very helpful.... lol

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Secret very much thinks she keeps the house in order, but ultimately she's not very helpful.... lol

 

Anyone else have a dog who is convinced that it's incredibly helpful to go over and stand in the piles of sweepings when you're sweeping the floor?

 

The terrier just goes over and stands in it. Whatever she thinks she's doing, it's obviously terribly important and requires much concentration. She gets her 'look what a good girl I am' face on.

 

Much like she does when the puppy escapes from the porch at friends' houses. If any other dog did this the terrier would follow. If the puppy does this, we come out to find the terrier sitting in the middle of the porch with her 'good girl' face.

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My late Sara was the caretaker type. I could go on and on w/examples but on of my favorite memories was her care of Cassie. She was an old cocker spaniel who, between her age and genetic/congenital issues, was mostly blind and deaf for several years before her death. Sara herded her everywhere outside making sure Cassie was in safe places before Sara would leave her. When it was time to come in, Sara would match her pace to that of the old slow dog and gently guide her back to the house. Sara also watched over several old cats and made sure everyone in the house - animal and human alike - was settled in for the night before she would go to bed. She's still very missed.

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When my alarm goes off in the morning, if I don't get up in a reasonable amount of time, she makes sure I am up.

 

My alarm clock has a wet nose and is way more reliable than the usual sort. She will also scold me if I am late home to take her to the park. And yes, she alerts me if there's something amiss. She likes her life to be orderly and let's me know if things are not how they should be.

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Not so much caregiver but Nick is the biggest tattle tale I've ever seen. If one of the other dogs does something that's going to get someone in trouble he comes and gets me. He comes and gets my attention and then sits on my feet to let me know that clearly he was not involved.

 

 

Hahaha - I can picture the scene :)

 

 

Ouzo tells on Chris to me any time he does something out of the ordinary, drops or breaks something :)

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Misty is like this, but she doesnt get me up in the mornings, she gets my mom up, I call her the alarm clock, when its near time for my mom to get up(my mom has a sleep disorder) Misty starts getting super exited and boucing back and forth between me at the gate to go upstairs, watching for the slightest cue to leap over the gate, run halfway up the stairs and bark like a loone until my moms 2 starts barking and jumping up and down on her, then Misty jumps the gate agin to stay with me lol. she also helps me at work, when dogs are playing games in the yards, I cant outrun the dogs playing games....but Misty can. so she runs out and depending on the dog either runs out and "herds" them straight inside, or simpley cuts them off and holds them so I can just walk up and take the dog. she loves nothing more them to stay at my side and do my bidding. oh and she will correct my other dogs when I tell them not to do something aad they try to do it anayway..so for example if Electra keeping trying to jump on a counter, and I tell her to quite, if she tried it again, Misty will start "fencing" her off, so everytime Electra makes a move toward the counter, Misty will follow her and step between her and the counter pushing Electra away from it.

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Scooter made sure I knew DH was up and it was time for me to get up too. He'd stand outside the bedroom door. He wouldn't come in and he wouldn't make any noise, he'd just stand there and I could feel his eyes on me.

 

He was also a tattletale. The biggest one was the night he told on DH. After DH's lung cancer surgery, he suddenly took an interest in taking Scooter for a walk every night; not something he'd ever done before. Halloween night he took him out for his walk, and when they came back, Scooter high tailed it upstairs, jumped in my lap and got as close to my face as he could. Sniff. Was that cigarette smoke I smelled? DH had supposedly stopped smoking after the surgery. Scooter followed me downstairs and sat there watching the fireworks that ensued, looking very proud of himself! :D

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Nope ... but Piper tells on other dogs. Sometimes she gets the other dogs to do something bad so she can tell on them. When I sent her away for stockdog training, she would apparently start digging holes in the paddock, get the other dogs interested in digging holes, and then go tell the instructor that the other dogs were digging holes.

 

I *heart* her mischief!

 

RDM

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Buddy isn't so much a caregiver... though he will bother me till I get out of bed in the morning. What he DOES focus on is any kind of alarm. My stove beeps one minute before it's the timer runs down, to let you know it's coming, and my microwave beeps once a minute after it's done in case you forgot you heated something. If I don't attend to these alarms, it drives Buddy CRAZY! He'll come sit by me, staring and whining.

 

Best one was when he started whining when I took a shower in the morning. It was really pesty, until one morning the whine turned into a full-on alert barking at the basement door. Come to find out, the water heater had sprung a tiny leak, and was shooting a stream of water whistling into the air. That saved me a flooded basement. GOOD DOG. :)

 

Mary

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Ladybug simply took over mothering the pups when we brought them home. Like Tessa, she adapts to each dog. She is much firmer with Robin, though she's not above parceling out discipline to Brodie. She's a busybody, has to be there for everything happening in the household.

 

But she will sleep forever beside someone who is unwell, as will Brodie. Robin is patient for awhile, then says, "Get up now! Time to see the beauty and the glory of the day!" Which explains why, with flu like symptoms and streaming eyes that I have toddled out of bed this morning. They all get excited when I sneeze...they think I am greeting them.

 

It's not a pretty day, but Robin's bright eyes and eager expression will help me to make the best of it. :).

 

Liz

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If Tobey thinks Izzy has to go out in the middle of the night he won't stop standing on us/flipping us with his nose. He doesn't really tattle on anyone as he's the one usually causing the trouble ;)

 

Thought last week my brother was over watching the triplets when we were a company Christmas party. He was in the shower, Tobey who is OBSESSED with my brother will lay in the bathroom with him, wasn't. He comes out of the bathroom to see Tobey standing in the hallway with his soccer ball. My brother goes into the bedroom to get dressed and Tobey starts pulling out all his soccer balls 6+.

 

He was trying to hide the fact that he got into the trash and tore open ketchup and mustards packets from the previous nights take-out! When my bro went downstairs Tobey wouldn't follow.

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