New Camping Buddies

[toedtoes]

Last May, I lost both my dogs, Moose-dog and Bat-dog. Moose-dog to old age (15 yr old shep/poodle/newfie) and Bat-dog to a brain tumor. She was 11yrs.

Anyway, it was very lonely so I adopted a very beautiful, very sweet shepherd, Cat-dog. Her only issue is with other dogs. She's afraid of them. However, she mothers her cats wonderfully.

So after time for her to adjust to her new home, I started looking into getting a puppy. The first thing was to see how she'd take to a puppy, so the local shelter's foster brought over a small puppy. Cat-dog was in love! She immediately washed its face and was just so happy.

OK. Now we're ready to find the right puppy. It needs to be 4 months or under, big enough for a large shepherd and I'd prefer a male. My preference was for a shepherd mix, but I was open to other mixes.

Rescues wanted as much as $750 to adopt a puppy. The ones I contacted about were adopted the same day they were posted on the websites. There were girls available, but they didn't want to adopt them with another female.

After 3 months of searching, contacting, failing, I contacted a shelter 4 hours away about some aussie mix puppies they had just posted. They were already taken, but she told me they had a litter of border collie mix puppies that would be ready in two weeks. So I submitted my paperwork and got scheduled for the first virtual adoption appt. Which meant I got my pick of the litter.

On Sunday, January 31, they posted their photos. There were 5 girls all but one brown and white shorthaired. The 5th was almost all white with just a touch of black. The 3 boys were each different. One was brown and white like the girls, the second was fluffy with a black with brown coat, and the 3rd was white with some black. For the entire night I kept looking at the photos and I just kept being drawn to the same one.

Monday morning, I had the virtual and they brought that puppy into the "camera viewing area". He was adorable and happy and friendly. They asked if I wanted to see one of the other boys and I couldn't pick between them. So I adopted the one and scheduled to pick him up on Tuesday after his neutering.

So which one came home? Here is what I found after the tornado hit the living room:


Cat-dog loves him! She washed him, she showed hime where to sleep - I don't know why but she insists on sleeping UNDER the bed. I have invited her on the bed, but she won't stay. He comes up for a nap sometimes, but likes to sleep with his sister.






I had my doubts about the border collie, so I got his dna tested.

At just under 8 weeks, he weighed 10lbs. He's the biggest of the litter. At 15 weeks he weighed 25lbs.

Any guesses as to what he is?

[toedtoes]

Saturday was Tornado-dog's first birthday. He got a bunch of toys earlier in the week because Cat-dog got a Coolaroo on-the-go dog cot for camping. Of course, Tornado-dog threw all his toys on the cot, which I set up in the living room, and enjoys playing on it. Cat-dog has layed on it, but is still not comfortable that far in the room.

He loves to pop the amazon air packets and bubble wrap. And he loves to help open the packages. The envelopes are best - he grabs the corner and pulls while I hold the other end until it rips. He's very good at it.

[toedtoes]

Tornado-dog almost looks collie in this pic...


And his sister Cat-dog looking beautiful as usual:



While processing these, I came across a couple shots of Moose-dog and Bat-dog. I still cry...

[toedtoes]

BCSnob wrote:
I met someone who has working JRTs (go into animal dens); he came to hunt groundhogs on our farm. He raised 2 working JRT pups at the same time. We have several times raised 2 BC pups but I wouldn’t want to raise 2 JRTs.

Here is his website: Terrierman

Cool. I'll be checking that out.

I really didn't expect to get a JRT. I always loved them but preferred not to be in the middle of all that hyperness. I was looking for a shepherd mix puppy when this litter was brought to my attention. They said they were border collie mixes and I didn't know otherwise until they posted the photos the night before my adoption appt. There were 8 puppies in that litter and Tornado-dog was the biggest and calmest of the bunch. Never would I raise two at once.

That's one of the "brain & size" issues I worry about. Tornado-dog really doesn't get that he isn't a 10-20lb JRT. I just know he's gonna go into some hole and get stuck because he's so much bigger than his brain thinks he is.

[BCSnob]

I met someone who has working JRTs (go into animal dens); he came to hunt groundhogs on our farm. He raised 2 working JRT pups at the same time. We have several times raised 2 BC pups but I wouldn’t want to raise 2 JRTs.

Here is his website: Terrierman

He has lots of insights on the instincts in jacks.

This blog post of his give a sense of how serious he is about working his dogs
Digging on the Dogs

[toedtoes]

BCSnob - I like the toy searching. I am considering doing some tracking with him once he's older. Just want to stay away from him having to "get through" things to get the object as a JRT is bred to dig.

Speaking of finding toys, one time I was sitting in the living room on the phone and Looney2 (cat) came down the stairs dragging a throw blanket behind him. He dragged it off the bed, into the hall, down the stairs, through the living room and into the dining room before abandoning it. He was about 6 months at the time. A few days later, he tried to drag the winter comforter off the bed.

I couldn't figure out why until I discovered that at night while I slept, he would bring one of his worms (elastic hair bands) onto the bed for me to throw for him and it would get caught up in the blankets. He was trying to get the worms out of the blankets.

Now, he corrals his worms in the bathtubs.

[toedtoes]

BCSnob wrote:
The issue most people have with pet Border Collies is that they only focus on their physical exercise needs and ignore their mental exercise needs. Running a Border Collie only makes them more fit and able to run longer and needing to run longer. Making them work their brains tires them out much faster and the effects last longer. The key to getting a calm Border Collie, work their brains.


RE Jobs for Border Collies

I retired my Nell (15yo in July) from sheep work when she was about 12, since then I haven't given her a job (I suspect she makes up jobs for herself). Recently I've started taking her on a walk to the mailbox (1/4mile from house) so that she gets more exercise (she no longer runs with the other dogs in the yard). During one of these I discovered a new job for her that she's enjoying: carrying the junk mail back to the house. One day I rolled up a newspaper flyer in a tube and play hit her with it; she loved snapping at the tube and then grabbed it and ran off (well fast trot) back to the house carrying the tube. Now it's her job.


RE first time swimming

Our first Border Collie was Duncan; he loved water (swimming, soaking, splashing and snapping at the splashes, snapping at water jets, etc) and with his long thick coat often had a mildew odor. Our second Border Collie was Starr; as a pup she was buds with Duncan. We took both to a county park for a hike to a stream where there was a pool of waist deep water in the stream. When we got there Duncan immediately ran to the water and swam across the pool. Starr followed her bud and also swam across the pool (first time swimming). When they got to the other side of the pool Duncan started swimming back and Starr realized she didn't know how to swim. When she started back from the other side of the pool she disappeared under the water. I ran to the other side of the pool expecting to need to jump in to save a drowning Starr. Instead I found Starr on the bottom of the pool walking around exploring the bottom. She came up on her own and then decided she really couldn't swim (at least for a few more times). She did eventually decide she liked swimming.

I grew up with, and then fostered, Siberian Huskies, so I learned about mental stimulation vs exercise. A bored Husky is major trouble. Not only are they smarter than people (like border collies), but they take a perverse pleasure in proving it over and over - and in a manner that makes man (and woman) look like a bumbling idiot.

The JRT is more on par with the husky in that they don't want to show you how smart they are, they want to prove that you are nowhere near as smart as they are.

Tornado-dog is actually part smooth collie not border collie. His coat is looking very smooth collie-ish now. We're looking at him being anywhere from 60 to 85lbs grown. I have been telling him he can stop growing now - but I don't know if he's actually listening to me. He was 32.6lbs at 19 weeks and growing 2lbs per week.

Tornado-dog wears us all out - his sister, Cat-dog; his cats, The Twooney; me; even his Bird. At the end of the day we are all curled up in our corners and he is running around the place like a crazed ax-murderer.

[toedtoes]

Deb and Ed M wrote:
Re: refocusing: the collie side wants to work. To "help" you. They need jobs - even if those jobs are silly. Jimmy (R.I.P.) was dedicated to carrying my socks downstairs so I could put them on. Augie picks up things I might drop (pen, cars keys, spoon, etc) and carry them to me. He's extended that job, to picking up the house: a scrap of paper or toy lost under the couch? "Here, I found this". His alltime favorite chore is popping those air pillows that come with an Amazon package. The delivery guy thinks Augie LOVES him because he jumps happily every time a package is delivered - while Augie is crazy-friendly (very un-Aussie) he knows what those boxes contain....>LOL!

How to refocus a JRT? No clue.....LOL!

Yeah, if he had more collie, it would be easier. I'm used to shepherds who want to please and can work with that.

The JRT is far less interested in making me happy and very focused on making himself happy. I do keep a big happy belly "rawhide" bone in the bedroom (and extras in the nightstand). He will settle down with one of those at bedtime thank goodness.

He really is amazingly smart...

NEWSFLASH - NEWSFLASH - NEWSFLASH

He has just discovered he can get on the bed without help. My last refuge is gone...

[BCSnob]

Duncan being our first dog (first Border Collie) and only dog for several years got a lot of our attention and time. We had him for 4-5 years before we started with sheep herding. We learned several key Border Collie owner lessons:

-Border Collies can play fetch indefinitely (at least longer than I am willing to throw)
-Playing fetch has short term benefits for the owner's desire for a tired Border Collie; the dog only gets more fit
-Throwing a toy (or anything, example stick, rock, glove, pinecone, etc) makes that toy a "throw toy" and no longer a self entertaining toy
-Working their brain provides the calm, resting Border Collie the weary owner desires

We discovered that playing hide n seek with one of Duncan's toys was a great way to wear him out. We would put him in a stay (sit or down). Show him the toy and then place the toy out of his sight. Come back to him and then tell him to go find it. As he got better at this game we would leave him in a place where he couldn't see what room we went into, he only knew we left the room he was in. He learned to scent for the toy, following the odor trail through the house as we went from him to the hiding location. This meant we had to get more creative; I started dragging the toy along the floor into other rooms before hiding the toy. He then scented and also had to visually search.


Herding livestock does both (work the body and work the brain) which is why this breed needs so much. I can take a very physically fit young Border Collie (able to play fetch for hrs) and exhaust them in 5min working sheep because of the mental focus that is involved with this activity.

[BCSnob]

The issue most people have with pet Border Collies is that they only focus on their physical exercise needs and ignore their mental exercise needs. Running a Border Collie only makes them more fit and able to run longer and needing to run longer. Making them work their brains tires them out much faster and the effects last longer. The key to getting a calm Border Collie, work their brains.


RE Jobs for Border Collies

I retired my Nell (15yo in July) from sheep work when she was about 12, since then I haven't given her a job (I suspect she makes up jobs for herself). Recently I've started taking her on a walk to the mailbox (1/4mile from house) so that she gets more exercise (she no longer runs with the other dogs in the yard). During one of these I discovered a new job for her that she's enjoying: carrying the junk mail back to the house. One day I rolled up a newspaper flyer in a tube and play hit her with it; she loved snapping at the tube and then grabbed it and ran off (well fast trot) back to the house carrying the tube. Now it's her job.


RE first time swimming

Our first Border Collie was Duncan; he loved water (swimming, soaking, splashing and snapping at the splashes, snapping at water jets, etc) and with his long thick coat often had a mildew odor. Our second Border Collie was Starr; as a pup she was buds with Duncan. We took both to a county park for a hike to a stream where there was a pool of waist deep water in the stream. When we got there Duncan immediately ran to the water and swam across the pool. Starr followed her bud and also swam across the pool (first time swimming). When they got to the other side of the pool Duncan started swimming back and Starr realized she didn't know how to swim. When she started back from the other side of the pool she disappeared under the water. I ran to the other side of the pool expecting to need to jump in to save a drowning Starr. Instead I found Starr on the bottom of the pool walking around exploring the bottom. She came up on her own and then decided she really couldn't swim (at least for a few more times). She did eventually decide she liked swimming.

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

Re: refocusing: the collie side wants to work. To "help" you. They need jobs - even if those jobs are silly. Jimmy (R.I.P.) was dedicated to carrying my socks downstairs so I could put them on. Augie picks up things I might drop (pen, cars keys, spoon, etc) and carry them to me. He's extended that job, to picking up the house: a scrap of paper or toy lost under the couch? "Here, I found this". His alltime favorite chore is popping those air pillows that come with an Amazon package. The delivery guy thinks Augie LOVES him because he jumps happily every time a package is delivered - while Augie is crazy-friendly (very un-Aussie) he knows what those boxes contain....>LOL!

How to refocus a JRT? No clue.....LOL!

[toedtoes]

Deb and Ed M wrote:

toedtoes wrote:
You mean he's showing a collie trait?? Finally something other than the JRT!

Of course it would have to be something like shredding boxes - otherwise his brain might explode from the conficting messages:

JRT brain cells - destroy it
collie brain cells - no be nice to it
JRT brain cells - destroy it
collie brain cells - no be nice to it
BOOM!

No more brain cells.

This made me burst out laughing!! At one time, I had 2 "herders" - Ike my Aussie and Jack my Cattle Dog. They were absolutely pals - inseparable; so when I heard Ike growl a lion-like snarl at Jack one day, I went to check out what the problem was! Ike was laying with a baby bird straddled between his front legs - he was going to protect it no matter what. Jack, on the other hand, was bouncing around because it was a "strange animal" that had no business on our property and "let's bite it and make it leave". Fortunately for the baby bird (that I placed back in its nest) Ike's sheer size (he was huge for an Aussie) won out.

I love it. Ike was a good boy protecting that bird.

Right now Tornado-dog's biggest hurtle is getting his brain to register his size. He thinks nothing of making a sudden impromptu jump onto the couch - right onto my head because he thinks he can jump into my lap but he doesn't fit.

My biggest hurtle is trying to refocus some of his tendencies while not affecting his single-minded happiness.

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

toedtoes wrote:
You mean he's showing a collie trait?? Finally something other than the JRT!

Of course it would have to be something like shredding boxes - otherwise his brain might explode from the conficting messages:

JRT brain cells - destroy it
collie brain cells - no be nice to it
JRT brain cells - destroy it
collie brain cells - no be nice to it
BOOM!

No more brain cells.

This made me burst out laughing!! At one time, I had 2 "herders" - Ike my Aussie and Jack my Cattle Dog. They were absolutely pals - inseparable; so when I heard Ike growl a lion-like snarl at Jack one day, I went to check out what the problem was! Ike was laying with a baby bird straddled between his front legs - he was going to protect it no matter what. Jack, on the other hand, was bouncing around because it was a "strange animal" that had no business on our property and "let's bite it and make it leave". Fortunately for the baby bird (that I placed back in its nest) Ike's sheer size (he was huge for an Aussie) won out.

[toedtoes]

The other day we took the dogs to the river. It was Tornado-dog's first ever outing. They both had a blast!

Tornado-dog saw butterflies and birds and discovered all sorts of smells. He waded in the river. At one point, he waded without thinking and hit a dip - he went in all the way over his back. He was hesitant to wade after that, but a few well placed sticks helped him overcome his worry. He did a lot of digging in the sand. And was very well-behaved.

The real surprise was Cat-dog. She happily waded in the water. And then she found a nice shallow pool and laid down all content. She kept watch over her baby brother and enjoyed being outside. She didn't worry about other dogs - other than when we were on the trail. She was happier than I've seen her outside of being around a puppy.

I think they will adjust to camping just fine. Now to get out there...

[toedtoes]

You mean he's showing a collie trait?? Finally something other than the JRT!

Of course it would have to be something like shredding boxes - otherwise his brain might explode from the conficting messages:

JRT brain cells - destroy it
collie brain cells - no be nice to it
JRT brain cells - destroy it
collie brain cells - no be nice to it
BOOM!

No more brain cells.