Don Billard Posted November 29, 2020 Report Share Posted November 29, 2020 Anybody use Border Collies as hunting dogs? Mine is very good at it. Helps me to get ruffed grouse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GentleLake Posted November 29, 2020 Report Share Posted November 29, 2020 Welcome to the Boards. Many years ago I bred a litter. One of the pups - a huge border collie who weighed a lean 70 lbs at 1 year of age - went to a guy who hunted. He said the dog was the best bird dog he's ever had. I don't remember anymore just what kind of birds he hunted. Pictures are always welcomed here, even encouraged. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D'Elle Posted November 29, 2020 Report Share Posted November 29, 2020 I have never heard of a BC used for hunting. For the most part, that predatory trait has been bred out of the lines...or more properly I should say that it has been turned into an urge to stalk and move livestock, as in herding. So it's interesting to hear of your dog. What does your dog do? Point, flush, retrieve? (Not that I mean a formal bird dog point, but showing you where they are). I'm curious to know more. These dogs are incredible in their versatility. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amc Posted November 29, 2020 Report Share Posted November 29, 2020 One of our first Border Collies, Peggy, was extremely versatile. An excellent sheepdog, she also was a good varmint dog and had a super soft mouth as a retriever. We don't hunt but we do shoot target practice from time to time, and you could shoot over her with ease. She would have made an excellent game retriever. I think Peggy was probably the most innately intelligent of all our Border Collies. Amy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Parkey Posted November 29, 2020 Report Share Posted November 29, 2020 Levi will definitely chase and tree varmints, and hold them there long enough for me to investigate. Were I so inclined I could shoot them. Does that count? It is one of the desired characteristics of a farm collie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flora & Molly Posted November 29, 2020 Report Share Posted November 29, 2020 I have never seen a dog that is less of a hunter than my Molly. A deer can stand a few feet away and she either doesn’t see it or chooses to ignore it. A few weeks ago a mouse walked over my bed while I was sleeping in it with Molly at the foot of the bed. She didn’t bat an eye at the mouse, but my sudden yelp startled her so much she was out of the bed faster than I was... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Billard Posted November 30, 2020 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2020 11 hours ago, D'Elle said: I have never heard of a BC used for hunting. For the most part, that predatory trait has been bred out of the lines...or more properly I should say that it has been turned into an urge to stalk and move livestock, as in herding. So it's interesting to hear of your dog. What does your dog do? Point, flush, retrieve? (Not that I mean a formal bird dog point, but showing you where they are). I'm curious to know more. These dogs are incredible in their versatility. She does all three. Generally she looks for and finds fresh grouse tracks, follows them, flushes the grouse, the grouse flies up and lands in a tree ( in the presence of a dog grouse tend to do that as opposed to flying far away in the presence of a human), she follows the grouse to the tree and waits for me at the tree while giving " the eye" to the grouse. One time a wounded grouse ended up in a lake. I told her to "get it " then to "bring it". She did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D'Elle Posted November 30, 2020 Report Share Posted November 30, 2020 That's pretty cool. I can easily believe it, even though I'd never heard of it, just because border collies are so amazing, and can do almost anything. All the border collies I have had would let a squirrel or bird or rabbit run right past them and not care a bit. As if they were beneath their notice, or something. I've been known to hunt, but only deer, so it suited me fine that they had no prey drive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alligande Posted November 30, 2020 Report Share Posted November 30, 2020 My husband used to go hunting with one of our border collies when he was shooting upland bird, he was very good at flushing for him. Unfortunately as he got a bit older he had some health issues and became more noise sensitive and couldn’t cope with the sound of a shotgun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Billard Posted December 1, 2020 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2020 9 hours ago, D'Elle said: That's pretty cool. I can easily believe it, even though I'd never heard of it, just because border collies are so amazing, and can do almost anything. All the border collies I have had would let a squirrel or bird or rabbit run right past them and not care a bit. As if they were beneath their notice, or something. I've been known to hunt, but only deer, so it suited me fine that they had no prey drive. My girl is nuts about squirrels, also chases rabbits, follows moose tracks or basically any tracks. You would think she was bred to hunt but her pedigree chart shows nothing but working stock dogs. Although the breeder I got her from says her border collies often try to hunt beavers and catch muskrats and eat them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maeflower Posted December 2, 2020 Report Share Posted December 2, 2020 On 11/30/2020 at 8:52 AM, D'Elle said: All the border collies I have had would let a squirrel or bird or rabbit run right past them and not care a bit. That is so different from Rylie! I keep him on a long line in the yard because of his chasing and BARKING at the squirrels that run along the top of the fence and the poor birds never get a peaceful snack at the feeders if he is in the yard! The fence is new and the ground where it was built is very rough so between keeping neighbors happy (stopping his barking) and protecting his puppy legs and feet, the line gives me the control to stop the chase! His recall is coming along but not yet there when a squirrel is involved! I don't even try it yet knowing it would fail. Sorry, kind of got off track of "hunting dog". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Billard Posted December 3, 2020 Author Report Share Posted December 3, 2020 12 hours ago, maeflower said: That is so different from Rylie! I keep him on a long line in the yard because of his chasing and BARKING at the squirrels that run along the top of the fence and the poor birds never get a peaceful snack at the feeders if he is in the yard! The fence is new and the ground where it was built is very rough so between keeping neighbors happy (stopping his barking) and protecting his puppy legs and feet, the line gives me the control to stop the chase! His recall is coming along but not yet there when a squirrel is involved! I don't even try it yet knowing it would fail. Sorry, kind of got off track of "hunting dog". That's ok 'cause I also have issues with my girl and squirrels. She sometimes gets offtrack when we hunt if she finds a squirrel. But she's getting better. Most of the time if I give the command " Never mind " then " Lets go " she forgets about the squirrel. I think she might consider grouse to be more interesting because I shoot them and then they fall out of the tree. That's redirecting an undesirable behavior I guess. Squirrels have a way of driving dogs nuts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maeflower Posted December 3, 2020 Report Share Posted December 3, 2020 Don I have been pleased that when Rylie is on a leash and we are walking, he has begun to obey the "leave it" and no longer pull my arm out of the socket! Loose on a long line in the yard is still too much to ask! lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Billard Posted December 9, 2020 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2020 On 12/2/2020 at 8:27 PM, maeflower said: Don I have been pleased that when Rylie is on a leash and we are walking, he has begun to obey the "leave it" and no longer pull my arm out of the socket! Loose on a long line in the yard is still too much to ask! lol Sounds like he knows who the pack leader is. The one with the leash in her hand! lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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