[Dogs] Thinking about getting a Collie

[Turtle]

And not because it's the dog from Lassie, but I've been wanting a more intelligent dog, probably two, for a while now and from the basics of what I've read, Collies are a bit high maintenance, but otherwise cool headed dogs.  I could be wrong though.

Does anyone have experience with the Collie breed or similar?

[EngineNo9]

My dad has had border collies for his last three dogs (unfortunately the second one was killed) and he absolutely loves them.  They were all trained to be cattle dogs but he doesn't even have cattle anymore.  My stepmom has been using their current one in those dog athletics classes (whatever they're called) and they both enjoy it and do really well.  The dogs have all been very sweet, obedient, kid-friendly and love to chase things (balls, frisbees, whatever).  Their natural herding instinct can make for some funny times when they try herding birds and such. 

I don't know if they would be a very good choice if you don't have a yard, though.  Something to think about.

[Lockdown]

Turtle, my best friend in high school had a collie when we were growing up.  They had a very small yard that Laddie had access to, plus a decent sized home.  This was in Southern Cal.  I do not remember one, not ONE incident where Laddie ever misbehaved in any way, shape or form.  Man I loved that dog. 

[ATB]

Just don't forget a dog is a decade long commitment.

[CeeKay]

Just don't forget a dog is a decade long commitment.

+1.  Sometimes it doesn't hit home until you start planning something, say like a month long backpacking trip in New Zealand, and then you look over at the couch and remember two reasons why a trip like that would be a bad idea.

[Purge]

Man, I thought the subject line was "Thinking about getting a Coffie" and was wondering if that was a US spelling. I need sleep.

I have me a Cockerspaniel/Poodle (apparently people like the name cock-a-poo, I do not. She's not a bird, nor is she a sex-ed book for 5 year olds). I love the fact that she doesn't shed. I don't know how badly Collies shed, but I'd look into it.

[unbreakable]

I like Shelties.  Same look, but smaller.  It looks like Lassie got hit with a shrink ray.

One thing I dislike about larger dogs (not that it's their fault, it's just sad) is that when they get older, many of them are prone to either having hip problems or getting arthritis in their hips.  My grandfather had a beautiful German Shepard which was just really sad and in pain when she got old; he eventually had her put to sleep because she was always in pain when she walked.

[PeteRock]

And not because it's the dog from Lassie, but I've been wanting a more intelligent dog, probably two, for a while now and from the basics of what I've read, Collies are a bit high maintenance, but otherwise cool headed dogs.  I could be wrong though.

Does anyone have experience with the Collie breed or similar?

Are you dead-set on a Collie, regardless of temperment or needs, or are you just looking for a dog that fits certain interests and a Collie sounded like a good place to start?  The reason why I ask is because many people wind up with a certain breed of dog because they simply like the way they look, and they don't always research the breed.  When 101 Dalmatians was popular, many people took home dalmatians and to their horror found out that they were way more trouble than they expected (in terms of exercise needs, social disposition, etc).  My wife once wanted a Bull Terrier, but after researching the breed it just wouldn't fit our lifestyle.  She also wanted a Weimaraner until we discovered how much exercise they would need, how badly they do without attention (we work all day), and how vocal they can be when upset (we live in a townhouse and couldn't afford to have a dog prone to excessive barking, especially if due to lack of attention).  

I, on the other hand, chose our dogs based on breed.  Labs fit every attribute I was interested in (intelligent, easy to train, very social and friendly, energetic, loving and extremely loyal), and we now have two brightening our lives.  If you aren't sure about the type of breed you're interested in, perhaps you might want to check out this breed selector quiz.  It might give you some better direction in terms of what breed would best fit what you're looking for and your lifestyle.  

Also, do an online search on Collies and read up on the breed itself.  Even Wikipedia is a good resource for some breed background information, and you'll inevitably run into forums or websites discussing your breed of interest.  When we were looking at Weimaraners, we even found sites that had sections saying "you should answer these questions before even considering a Weimaraner, and if you can't answer 'yes' to all questions, perhaps you should consider another breed."  Sites like that were very helpful in ruling out Weims and instead sticking with Labs as we've had such success with our first.

I can't be much help on the Collie breed itself, but hopefully I've given you some direction on how to find out more about the breed.  I think being knowledgable about the breed is one of the most important deciding factors on the type of dog to bring home.  Buying a dog based on looks is a bad idea.  Do your research and see if Collies fit your lifestyle and interests.  If not, you have to be ready to move on to another breed.  My wife was unhappy at first that we couldn't get a Weim, but based on all of the research, it just simply would not work.  I wanted another Lab, anyway.      

[Crux]

Australian Cattle Dog ftw!

[PeteRock]

I like Shelties.  Same look, but smaller.  It looks like Lassie got hit with a shrink ray.

One thing I dislike about larger dogs (not that it's their fault, it's just sad) is that when they get older, many of them are prone to either having hip problems or getting arthritis in their hips.  My grandfather had a beautiful German Shepard which was just really sad and in pain when she got old; he eventually had her put to sleep because she was always in pain when she walked.

Many large dogs are prone to hip problems such as hip dysplasia, but if you buy from an organized, reputable breeder they should have records on hip testing going back as far as four generations in a dog's lineage.  I will not buy a Lab without hip dysplasia testing and records having been done on at least the first two generations (dog's parents and grandparents) because I just don't want to deal with the emotional trauma associated with watching a dog slowly deteriorate in such pain.  Granted, hip testing is not a guarantee against hip problems in the future, but you are far better off knowing a dog's lineage and medical history than going in blind (or buying from some sort of "puppy mill" where breeding is done indiscriminantly and you can wind up with all sorts of potential ailments).

[Thin_J]

We have a Border Collie mutt named Maggie right now and she's easily the best dog we've ever had. We've had her going on 13 or 14 years now, I forget which, which makes her 16 or 17 (!) and the only thing she ever misbehaved with in all that time was one of our cats during the cat's first week in the house.

I happened to be standing there when it happened and I smacked her on the butt just that one time. She's never gone after another cat since. In fact once she got a little more acustomed to them she would almost herd the two cats in the back yard. She kept them pretty close together and didn't generally let them outside the edges of the yard. It was really funny to watch.

One other quick example of how smart they can be. We use one of those baby gates people use to keep their kids in certain rooms of their houses to keep our smaller dog in one end of the house away from the carpet. Maggie actually unlatches the gate and just scoots the one side of it over and walks right on past. It took us a few days to figure out what was going on because a lot of the time the gate would eventually fall over. Then one day I was standing outside the kitchen window and happened to look in and actually see her lift the little latch with her nose and scoot the one side of the gate over.

Still, even with the occasional challenge, easily the best behaved and most people-loving dog we've ever had. Wouldn't hesitate to own another one at all.

She does have arthritis though. Nothing as bad as the above mentioned hip displaysia, but just plain old arthritis. It usually catches her worst when she lays down on the tile floor for a long time and then gets up. She moves a little rough for a few minutes and once she gets going she's pretty much fine. She has her bad days though, for which the vet has prescribed half an aspirin with her food. It works wonders.

I fear the day it stops working and she can't move though

[Old Negus]

We have an Aussie, which is similar, and she is very intelligent. We made a list of words she understood, and it numbered around 80. If you ask her to get a toy from the backyard, she'll immediately go to the exact one you said, skipping all the others. I'm constantly amazed by how smart she is. And she's very well behaved, if you keep in mind that she's very protective.

Just know that they're also extremely energetic and need to be walked at least once a day and played with as often as you can. If they don't get their energy out constructively, they'll start being bad, doing things they know they shouldn't do (get up on couches, beds) trying to get your attention. If you don't have a yard, I'd advise against it.

You'll want lots of time just to take advantage of their incredible intelligence and train them to do all sorts of cool stuff. Definitely a commitment.

[Turtle]

Thanks for the info guys.  I'm set on one of the more intelligent breeds out there.  Doesn't have to be pure bred, in fact if there's less problems with mixed breed I'd prefer that.  But, intelligence is a trait I really like, I'm willing to deal with some troubles surrounding that trait.  The look of a dog isn't that much a concern to me.

I'm very aware that it's a long term commitment, and I kind of want that in my life about now.

To be honest, coming from an family where pets weren't very well taken care of, I both want to, and feel a small obligation to raising a pet as a long time companion.  I'm not kidding when I say every pet I had when I was a kid was neglected or abandoned by my parents.

I won't be getting a pet until after I graduate as I'm too busy and working on campus too long to take care of one, but I've been planning for that day when I get a pet of my own, train it, and take care of it.  It's sort of a milestone in my life.

[mori]

I have had 3 collies over the years. They were all discarded by others after they became too much hassle to care for in town. Being adult dogs when I got them, none of them were trained so they were not much help on the farm. But the price was right so we took them in. One thing they all had in common was that they were the sweetest, most affectionate dogs. Which is good because they are magnets for kids who want to pet Lassie. Almost too affectionate if you have small children as they are large dogs and can accidently push kiddies down. They shed a lot and require a lot of grooming to keep neat looking. 

[PeteRock]

Thanks for the info guys.  I'm set on one of the more intelligent breeds out there.  Doesn't have to be pure bred, in fact if there's less problems with mixed breed I'd prefer that.  But, intelligence is a trait I really like, I'm willing to deal with some troubles surrounding that trait.  The look of a dog isn't that much a concern to me.

I'm very aware that it's a long term commitment, and I kind of want that in my life about now.

To be honest, coming from an family where pets weren't very well taken care of, I both want to, and feel a small obligation to raising a pet as a long time companion.  I'm not kidding when I say every pet I had when I was a kid was neglected or abandoned by my parents.

I won't be getting a pet until after I graduate as I'm too busy and working on campus too long to take care of one, but I've been planning for that day when I get a pet of my own, train it, and take care of it.  It's sort of a milestone in my life.

Caring for and raising a wonderful pet is an extremely rewarding and fulfilling experience.  I adore my lab Simba and have worked very hard at raising a well behaved, loving, friendly, social dog, and the time I have put in has paid off ten-fold.  We've been obedience training him since he was 12 weeks old (the youngest age most classes will allow a dog to begin - any younger and they have a pretty short attention span), and at 1 year and 8 months we're about to enter him into the Canine Good Citizen (CGC) trials in order to try to earn a CGC Certification.  He is now entering Advanced training which takes everything we've learned so far and forces us to refine his training further because most of the class is conducted off-leash.  And once we finish Advanced training we will be entering into the Companion Dog (CD) trials.  The difference between CGC and CD is that CGC is a pass/fail trial, while the CD trials are judged and are a competition for places (1st, 2nd, and 3rd).  Also, in the CGC everything is conducted on-leash, while half of the CD is on-leash and the other half is off-leash.  Plus, the CD is scored and is much more stringent.  If your dog walks too far ahead of you or behind you, you lose points.  If he takes too long to sit, you lose points.  It is a great challenge, but Simba loves to be able to focus his attention and energy toward something, and all of our attention and training has helped us to raise an amazing dog.  One who loves us dearly, who does anything we ask, who only wants to please us, and who follows our rules to the letter always with a wagging tail. 

And because our experience with Simba has been so amazing, we've added a second puppy to the mix.  Nala arrived at our house on Wednesday and has been an absolute joy from the start.  Even though I'm running on six cups of coffee and have gotten about six hours of sleep total since Wednesday, I couldn't be happier.  Simba and Nala are inseperable, her housetraining is coming along scary fast, and we can't wait to begin obedience training with her. 

The reason why I say all of this is because your experience as a dog owner will be based on the effort that you put forth.  We have worked very hard with our dogs, giving them the attention and training that they want and need, and because of how much effort we have put forth our dogs have turned out better than we could have ever imagined.  Simba loves every guest that comes into our home, he is trained to the point that he doesn't go upstairs because he knows it's off limits (with no barricade), he's never begged a day in his life, he doesn't jump on guests, he waits in the living room until they've come in and shut the door before greeting them, and he couldn't be happier the moment we come home.  And, he has adjusted to having a young puppy in the house almost instantly.  He has become calmer, more easy-going, and even more nurturing as we all work to raise our second puppy as we raised our first, with help from all parties, including me, my wife, and even Simba.

If you are willing to make such a long-term commitment, and plan to put forth the effort necessary (and it sounds like you do in both cases), then your life will be that much more pleasing and rewarding.  Even with the sleep depravation and time commitment, I couldn't be happier.  Simba is amazing, and Nala has been an absolute joy.  I wish you the best of luck, I hope your experience with your upcoming pet is even more rewarding than my experience has been, and if you have any questions, comments, etc, feel free to contact me through PM at any time.  I love to talk about dogs and my experiences with my own, and I will offer any input you want.  I have only had Simba for a little over a year and a half, and Nala just arrived in the last few days, and I couldn't imagine my life any other way. 

[PeteRock]

Also, if you're looking for particular attributes and don't necessarily have a predetermined breed in mind, be sure to do your research on all breeds that fit your wants and make an educated decision on which breed fits your wants and lifestyle best.  Aesthetics obviously has to factor in somewhat, but I would advise against using it as the determining factor.  Granted, I am slightly biased toward Labs because of my experience with them, but they fit your criteria and are at least worth a look.  I don't know enough about Collies, but when it comes to intelligence, loyalty, friendliness, and obedience, I have yet to be disappointed by either of my dogs. 

If Collies have a similar disposition, then you will adore every day you spend with your new dog (even the bad ones).  It's difficult to explain, but like people with children, you have to raise a dog in order to really understand just how much they bring into your life.

[Tebunker]

I can't recommend German Shepherds, Labs, and beagles enough. I thnk any of those three would satisfy all of your needs. Consider a Beagle if you are looking to have more than one dog as well, Beagles tend to bond more with other dogs than anything so they make great second dogs, they do well both in and outdoors, but if you are going to keep them inside just be sure to play a lot of hide and seek and retrieve type games. Beagles love using their sense of smell to find things.

Nothing is more rewarding than seeing that my Beagle, Rose, watching us and our routines and learning how to be in step with everything we do. She's playful, a blast to walk through the woods with, she gets along excellently with our other dog, practically worships her to be precise, and just has that sense about her that she knows more than we do about what's going on in and around the house.

[stimpy]

Meeko the Sheltie.

Still in the Collie family, but much lower maintenance.
Not as high strung.
Great family dog and companion.

I miss her.

[Thin_J]

Shelties are awesome.

I've wanted one for years but the puppies are just so expensive I can't bring myself to do it.