Hi all! We had a Border Collie, and loaned her to a friend until she got bred, which never happened( but that's another story). here's my question: I had wanted to breed her to another BC, though she is not papered, I thought that any pups would be easier to find good homes for. But when I was a girl, we had a Border Collie cross and a purebred Australian Shepherd. The pups from that breeding always went fast, in fact we were able to sell them, and the buyers sometimes came back for another one because their first had been stolen! They were really nice puppies. What if she were bred to say, a regular Collie? This dog is gentle and very nice, but she needs constant supervision or she chases cars on the county road. I was hoping that a litter of puppies might settle her down so she could come back home.

-- Rebekah (daniel@itss.net), August 03, 2001

Answers

Rebekah, a BC MUST have a job to do. If they don't have one, they will invent one. So with your dog it sounds like her job is to make sure the cars keep moving down the road. If you can teach her another job, it would probably be okay, but I am of the opinion that if she doesn't have a clearly defined job she will teach the pups to chase the cars down the road.

I have two borders now and have had two in the past. One of my present dogs job and joy is to chase the frisbee and keep the birds in their pen until I tell him it's okay. The other ones job is to follow the first one around, and guard the barn kitten and my shoes. Sounds ridiculous, but it is true! They also are good at letting me know if anyone is coming, or if there are any animals here that shouldn't be. They do help me when any goats get out and are great companions as well.

With Borders I have never seen anyone having trouble finding good homes for the pups in an area where there is any kind of stock. They make a rotten city dog, in my opinion. They need to run. I don't know about a collie mixed with her....might create somewhat mellower pups. I had an Aussie Border cross that was the best watch dog on earth. I still miss that guy. Good luck!

-- Doreen (bisquit@here.com), August 03, 2001.

We had a collie and border collie that bred once. Had really gorgeous pups, and they went really fast, although we only asked $20 a piece for them. We kept a female tri pup I was very fond of, but like her dad the border collie, she had to go to the road, and we lost her to the traffic:( Doreen's right that those border collies have really gotta be doing something.

-- mary (marylgarcia@aol.com), August 03, 2001.