 Barked: Wed Jan 18, '12 12:35pm PST |
 | |  | | Before you take the plunge into border collie ownership, I would suggest doing a lot of research. Go to an agility/flyball/frisbee/rally/herding event and watch the border collies run, go to a confirmation show and talk to breeders.
You can walk a border collie for days and it will not fulfill the exercise needs of this breed. They were bred to run for miles and miles (intermittently) herding their 'flock'. They need much more strenuous physical work
When I was working a typical 8-4 job living in an apartment in NY living with a border collie mix and a cattle dog/whippet this is what my weekday schedule looked like to keep my dogs happy and well exercised (mentally and physically).
5am--wake up and take the dogs for a 2 mile walk
5:45--shower get things ready for work, eat breakfast etc.
6:45--take dogs to the park (a block away) and play some fetch or do some training
7:25--both dogs got stuffed kongs and I left for work
Mid-day--I hired a dog walker for a mid-day break for a 30 minute walk
5pm--returned home took dogs to the park for some fetch/frisbee/training (if the dogs had a training class we skipped this)
6pm--came home and fed the dogs and myself
7pm--Took dogs for a 3 mile walk around town
7:45--Both dogs got training time
8:30--Down time for me for a few hours to catch up on work, watch TV or do other non-dog things
10:30pm--frozen kong for the dogs (or other long lasting chew or puzzle toy)
11:30pm-- last potty trip.
Weekends were packed with off-leash hikes, trips to the beach, socializing with doggie friends.
Now that I'm living in a place with a big yard it's a little less strenuous since i can just go in the yard and play fetch or take a trip to a farm to let them run about. It still takes several hours a day of strenuous exercise to keep my dogs from driving me nuts at night because they weren't exercised enough.
The breed can get along with other dogs of any size as long as they are socialized appropriately-- mine lives with a Shih Tzu (though he's not that small).
They are an amazing breed but they really are not right for everyone. If they are under exercised and under worked they will find their own jobs and those aren't generally the same jobs you'd like them to do (like destroying your couch, herding children, hiding all your tupperware, getting into the fridge, etc). |  |  | |  |
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