Is getting a Border Collie right for me?

[Bounce11]

Hi im new to the site, found it while procrastinating for an exam and have been surfing through it for going on 2 days now. Im currently a senior college student (graduating in june). I am a competitive ultimate frisbee player and an avid animal lover. For the past 3 years i have been going crazy not having a dog and im really looking forward to being out of college and being able to devote time to having one. Upon graduation im pursuing a career as a zookeeper for primates.

Now to my actual dilemma. Ive always been a fan of border collies but im concerned that i may not be living in a situation that will work for the breed. I will most likely be living in an apartment for a few years after college till i can pay off loans and afford a house. I know that BC's need a lot of stimulation physically and mentaly which i know i can provide. I run 2-3 miles daily and spend countless hours each week throwing a disc around. Is this enough (on top of lots of trick training) to keep a BC stimulated enough to counter the 8 hours a day being alone in an apartment?

Also id love to adopt a puppy, (who wouldnt) but being new to the breed im assuming it would be better to adopt a younger rescue.

[joe]

It sounds to me like you would have no trouble keeping a BC happy. Exercise and mental stimulation make for a happy Border Collie. But I can tell you if you enjoy the breed none of that is hard. I do a lot with my three. From walking, to Frisbee, to hiking to just having fun and I'm still not sure if they or I get more out of it. I do know people that have BC's home alone all day while they work with no trouble. So I think if your commitment is there a BC will do just fine.

[RuffMuttK9z]

I agree with Joe. I had four dogs (three were BCs) by the time I graduated from college. I lived in an apartment with a roommate. I went to class fulltime and worked parttime and pretty much anytime I was home I was exercising my dogs. We spent a lot of time at the local dog park and played lots of frisbee. We also joined a flyball club and began agility. I think as long as you're fully aware of a border collie's needs going in then you will be fine. Plenty of border collies survive just fine in apartments. Whether you get a puppy or adult is purely your preference. Just remember that a puppy will probably cry some when crated and when you leave and that might not go over so well in an apartment.

[Bounce11]

Awesome thanks for the input

[BustopherJones]

If you are going to take on the responsibility of owning a Border Collie, you must recognize that such responsibility will have an impact on your lifestyle. A Border Collie is not your average dog. You must commit to keeping it interested, invigorated, and challenged. No coming home from a tough day at school and plopping down in your recliner to decompress; you will need to take your friend out for exercise and fun right away, especially if the dog has been left alone all day. It sounds like you are prepared for this, so good luck to you. My only counsel would be that you might consider doggie day care in order to keep the dog active during the day and not have to leave it alone for more than 8 hours (you may work 8 hours a day, but factoring in transit time you will be gone longer than that); if this is out of the realm of affordability, then you might at least arrange to have someone go to your apartment at midday to let the dog out and play with it a bit, and maybe also send it to doggie day care once or twice a week.

[RuffMuttK9z]

No coming home from a tough day at school and plopping down in your recliner to decompress; you will need to take your friend out for exercise and fun right away, especially if the dog has been left alone all day. It sounds like you are prepared for this, so good luck to you.

No offense, but I get so sick of hearing this! These dogs are as active and psychotic as you LET them be. I have 13 dogs in my house and guess what? My dogs have not so much as gotten to RUN in two weeks. Literally. It's been so wet here for the past 6 months my dogs haven't been outside of their 400sqft potty yard in that timespan. During the week, it's almost dark when I get home from work. Yep, that's right. I work during the day, too! And this time of year I come home, feed the dogs and plop down to watch TV because it's dark. On the weekends we normally go for long hikes/runs/swims but the past two weekends it's been rainy so we haven't. And guess what? My dogs are perfectly sane. Why? Because they're taught to be. They're taught to be chill in the house regardless. They're not allowed to pace around and demand a park trip from me. You can allow your dog to control you or you can control your dog. All I know is that me having control over my dogs works best for me. If you like letting your dog call the shots, then be my guest. But please quit making these dogs sound like psychotic bundles of energy that might explode if not allowed to run for 12 hours a day. It's simply not true. A dog's behavior is a direct result of the way it's trained and handled by its owner.

[ajones]

Also id love to adopt a puppy, (who wouldnt) but being new to the breed im assuming it would be better to adopt a younger rescue.

Based on my own experience, I would definitely recommend a young adult rescue dog for your situation. I was a grad student living in a third-floor apartment when I got my first BC as an adult; he was an 18-month-old who had been returned to the breeder for lack of interest in stockwork. So I had a good idea of his personality and needs and could determine that he'd be a good fit for my living situation and lifestyle.

I was also lucky to have other dog-owning friends in the apartment complex, and we exchanged keys and made ourselves available for letting each others' dogs out if any of us got stuck too long away from home. Because my work/class schedule could sometimes be unpredictable, this arrangement was a huge help and might work for you, too, in the ways Bustopher has mentioned.

[BustopherJones]

Gee, RuffMuttK9z, I guess I must be a really lousy dog owner, according to you; I probably don't belong on this board.

(Now I understand why people leave this board, when they are treated this way by the adminsitrators and moderators. Add one more to the list...)

[RuffMuttK9z]

Gee, RuffMuttK9z, I guess I must be a really lousy dog owner, according to you; I probably don't belong on this board. [/i]

I think you took all of what I said a bit too personally. None of my comments were directed AT you at all. I don't recall ever saying that having a dog that demands walks (or anything else) equates to you being a bad dog owner either. What I said was...this breed is as demanding as you LET them be. If you LET them demand walks and tons of exercise, they will. If you set rules and boundaries and require that they're calm inside regardless of exercise, they will be. I stand by my comment: a dog's behavior is a direct result of the way it is trained and handled by its owner. If your dog demands walks and exercise it is because you LET your dog demand that of you and go along with their demands. If you are okay with that routine, why would you be offended by what I say? If your dog demands exercise and you don't like that and want things to change perhaps you should look into discussing with a trainer on how you can make the desired changes in behavior.

I laugh everytime I talk to a friend of mine who has one dog. It could be pouring down rain outside and will tell me "Well, Cooper wants his walk so off we go." Really? I don't care if my dogs WANT a walk while it's raining...or any other time for that matter. We go for a walk when I say so and that likely is not everyday. I mean, there are a lot of things I WANT in life that I don't get and I am still relatively (and arguably ) sane.

Bustopher, I apologize if I offended you. That was not my intent. I just get really sick of people preparing potential owners for an apocalypse of their border collie doesn't get a 6 hour walk everyday.

[joe]

I going to have to chime in here. Debbie your way may be right for you and it works for you. It however wouldn't be my preferred way. My wife is home all day with my dogs but that doesn't always equate to exercise as her health doesn't allow for much of that. To me it is important that I get then out for at least some Frisbee in the yard every night. I really like when I also have time to walk Capp as he isn't big on play. I also like to do a bit of training stuff just to keep their minds moving. I think that is what makes for happy, well balanced BC's that can come and relax when it is time to. I don't feel telling someone it's Ok to leave their Border Collie in a crate for 10 hours and then do nothing with that Border Collie is sound advice. Even GHF will not adopt a BC to a home that will leave it alone more then 4 hours a day. The reason is because usually BC's left too long to entertain themselves will eventually end up back at the rescue they came from. I know what you do works for you but it far more of an exception than the norm for this breed.

[joe]

Gee, RuffMuttK9z, I guess I must be a really lousy dog owner, according to you; I probably don't belong on this board.

(Now I understand why people leave this board, when they are treated this way by the adminsitrators and moderators. Add one more to the list...)

What Administrator or Moderator has treated you badly? I'm not aware of any of us doing anything.

[TDBCR]

While I agree that people have a tendency to exaggerate the needs of this breed to some degree, I don't agree that it's good advice, or even realistic advice, to suggest that it's okay to acquire border collies and then ignore them for half the year because it's raining, or it's dark. The breed is an active one, and happy active dogs are mentally and physically satisfied by a blend of a reasonable amount of exercise and quality time with their handler. 'Ignore their needs for 6 months at a time' isn't reasonable advice.

My dogs don't nag me in the house, nor do they get 6 or 12 hours of running a day. What they do get is a reasonable amount of outdoor time and a reasonable amount of my attention in the form of training. There is no question who is in charge in this household, but I have enough respect for my canine companions that I recognize they don't exist solely for my amusement, only when it's convenient for me. The great thing about both people and dogs is that neither melts in the rain, so you can still enjoy time together even in inclement weather.

As suggested, how one lives with ones dogs is up to them - but OP, you'd be wise to take the dog's needs into consideration as well, and expecting a dog to get no exercise for weeks or months at a time does not take that into consideration. I think you have a good grasp on the needs of the breed, and might be able to offer a border collie a nice home. I raised many border collies in the last 10 years in an apartment, whilst working full time, and with some creative planning, it was not at all difficult to keep them happy. I now live on 10 acres, but our routine remains basically the same, except that about half of our exercise occurs on our own property rather than the city's.

I realize that I'm about to be lambasted with outrage, but I really cannot agree that it's okay to suggest to anyone that it's reasonable to acquire a super smart and naturally active breed and then ignore its needs because you don't feel like catering to those needs. There are lots of dumber, lazier dogs for whom this lifestyle might be better suited.

[joe]

No one should get lambasted with outrage, including me. I know I have been sworn at, cursed at, and called every conceivable name in the past but I have no inner need for that to happen again. This is a discussion so lets all try to keep it that way.

[ajones]

In considering a dog's exercise requirements/activity level, I guess I come back to the OP's idea of getting a young adult dog instead of a puppy. With an adult dog, I believe you would have a much clearer idea of what the dog would need and if you could provide that, given your work schedule, living situation, etc.

For example, my dog William was very mellow, and we got along fine while I was an apartment-dwelling, over-scheduled grad student. The challenge came when I acquired his puppy half-sister, Kate, who was at the other end of the energy spectrum. Thankfully, I had moved to a house by then, as I don't think I would have been able to manage Kate while living in my apartment (not to say that other people wouldn't have been able to do it--I'm sure they could have--but I would not have succeeded). Just house-training alone would have worn me out with all those flights of stairs!

[RuffMuttK9z]

Leave it to Sheena to exaggerate everything.

I am not going to "lambaste" anyone. I will merely request that you not twist my words into statements that are no longer true. Me saying that I choose not to exercise my dogs when it's dark or raining hardly equates to my dogs being ignored for 6 months out of the year or that they are here solely for my amusement. I have three times as many dogs as you, Sheena. You have NO IDEA how much less trouble it would be to NOT have them at all. And I can only dream of the amusing things I could do with all of the time, money and energy I put toward my dogs that would be much less trouble than owning a dozen dogs. I have my dogs because I enjoy having them around all 12 months out of the year. I think you also conveniently forgot I do not live in the same geographic area as you do. I live in Texas, where it rarely* rains and is light more often than dark.

So to clarify, I never suggested ANYONE "acquire border collies and then ignore them for half the year because it's raining, or it's dark." What I did say is that your border collie is not going to spontaneously combust if you do not walk him every. single. day. of. the. year. He's not. And teaching your dog to accept that fact is good for him. It's advice. You may take it or leave it. It's advice that works well for me and many other border collie owners as well.

PS, if you want an ACTIVE breed, get a Malinois. I've got one of those in my house right now. Wowzers.

*The past 6 months in TX have been VERY UNUSUALLY wet and rainy. I would NEVER intentionally reside in a geographic location where it is rainy this often SOLELY BECAUSE I don't like to exercise my dogs when it's rainy/wet.