r/BorderCollie

7 months. Still small and evil

1st bath from getting muddy, 2nd bath from stepping on dog 💩 on the evening walk. What a day.

Hi all! Looking for some help or insight if anyone else is experiencing this. My sweet 3 yr old boy has been so great on leash for the last 4 months (adopted him in March) and down to walk wherever. We do two 45 min walks during the day and one 20 min walk right before bed.

Within the last week or so, he has started to become incredibly stubborn on our afternoon and evening walks to the point where we maybe go out for 15 minutes and he’s planting himself and making it nearly impossible to walk in any one direction, but instead looking back at my apartment building. He’s perfectly fine at the dog park and runs around like a wild dog, but these afternoon and evening walks have been so difficult. I can’t only bring him to dog parks either bc we have to drive to them and it just isn’t an option for every walk.

At first I thought it was maybe the heat & humidity, but even in the last couple days it’s been in the 70s and not too bad (like the sidewalk isn’t too hot). I’ve tried luring him with treats but he’s not interested and he just wants to go back into the apartment. We walk with a leash & collar and I’m thinking maybe I need to get him a harness so if I’m pulling him it’s not from his neck. (He has planted himself in the middle of a crosswalk so obvi I don’t want to pull him but I’d also like to safely cross a street). Sometimes I’ve pulled him to keep going and then he goes on his merry way and we keep the walk going, but often he’s pulling to go back home.

Has anyone experienced this or have any suggestions? Do we just accept shorter walks or cut some altogether or do I need to do something to fix this? TIA!

Picture for pup tax.

We survived the chaos of puppyhood!! Now we’re fully in the land shark goofy stage and tbh, I’m loving it. The joy my boy has brought our family has been an incredible journey.
He loves his ball and has even chewed off one side so it makes it harder for me to get 😂 his only in crate at points of the day when he needs to decompress.
So proud of him!
Just wanted to shout this out :) love my boy ❤️❤️

We are dealing with kennel cough. Scout is vaccinated, but caught it at the boarding facility we used. Our vet said to monitor him and if he gets worse to bring him in. They said it shouldn’t be as severe because he’s vaccinated for it. He’s doing better today and we went on a short car ride. He loves the car. He closed his eyes as I took the photo. He is my heart and soul.💗🐶

My Border Collie mix (almost 3yrs) has been doing agility for a little over a year and a half. When she first started, she was able to run full courses of 11-12 obstacles. She also used to bite me quite a bit when she got excited, but with a lot of work from my trainer and me, that has improved significantly.

The issue we’re running into now is overarousal. These days, we can usually only do about three obstacles before she gets so amped up that we have to put her back in a kennel to reset. To put it lightly, she’s a ball of fucking chaos.

Both of the trainers I work with have told me she’s more intense than any dog they’ve trained before. They’ve suggested finding someone with more experience handling dogs with this level of drive, but unfortunately nobody within an hour of me is taking new clients right now.

I’m looking for ideas from people who have worked with dogs like this. How do you channel that kind of drive and keep their attention on the course? We’ve tried toys (tug leash, leather toys, balls), we’ve tried removing treats from the equation entirely (ironically, she seems to think the tunnel is even more exciting when I don’t have food), and we’ve worked on handling changes like using my feet and body position more because she’s a little piranha when my hands are out.

I also can’t really praise her with much excitement because she feeds off my energy immediately and goes from working to bouncing off me like a rubber ball with legs.

Has anyone dealt with a dog that struggles this much with overarousal in agility? What helped you get them back to a point where they could think and work instead of just reacting? I’d really love to start competing with her by the end of the year, but right now we’re struggling to get through more than a few obstacles at a time.

She never shows this drive or frustration at any other point in her life, so I do fear that agility might not be for her.

Monty is our new rescued Border collie and heeler mix. He’s an absolute sweetheart but he’s a border collie and the most I’ve ever felt with is a golden retriever so I’m worried I won’t be able to keep up with him.
I never wanted a working dog, but now I have him I’m going to do everything I can to keep him healthy and healthy. I was thinking about trying to start him with dog sports, maybe agility to get that working drive out of him.

Idk if there's anything she hasn't tried to bite and eat, she's biting us, she's biting our older pup, pulling his fur, eating rocks, ripping the tree bark, eating flowers, flipping over their bowls, eating bugs, basically being a little tornado everywhere she goes 😭

She finally is starting to whisper ‘I love you’ it took a while

This was Nov 2024 (honestly feels like yesterday)…
I seriously can’t wait for some autumn weather. That’s when it’s actually comfortable to explore some trails (I hate the heat 😂).

What are the trails like near you guys? Do your pups have a favourite trail or spot?

My BC has been doing this every walk, she'll tug on the lead my pants my sleeves and jump on me. Randomly as well just decides that she wants to do this, is this normal thing?

My sweet 9 year old puppy has confirmed last week a ruptured Cranial Cruciate Ligament on her right knee. I noticed playtime with the ball one day she just lost interest and came to snuggle into me instead, the next day she refused to come out from under the bed, no eating no drinking. Finally got her out and she wouldnt put her paw down. I got her into the vet that same day, x ray and drawer test showed there was damage. They recommended TPLO surgery. It was a dense metro vet in a strip mall, but they were kind and got me in same day. Was prescribed Carprofen and hard rest for a while while we considered the surgery. During this time she has regained use of her right leg some and has been slowly weight bearing to use the bathroom. Does anyone have any advice and experience with these surgeries? I see that she will be high risk for her other leg as well, so I am unfortunatley bracing for around 10k in vet bills.

So we rescued this sweet girl about 3 weeks ago. She is 9 months old and currently 51 lbs. We believe she is a Lilac Border collie but Vet said she doesn’t see BC in her and that she’s most likely a mix of herders. What do you guys think?

Hi, just wanted to share my beautiful dog Rökkvi.

He is 1.5 year old male Border Collie/Icelandic sheepdog mix. We got him in late March this year and we are his 3 home! He is very energetic and very much a goofball.

We live in a small town in Iceland and he is as free as you can be as a dog.

He is my best friend and will always be.