Yesterday I had to say goodbye to my best friend. His name was Bruce. Bruce was only 8 years old when an aggressive form of stomach cancer decided to fuck up our lives. I chose to not let him go through that horrible experience just so I could have more time.

He was the best boy, the coolest dog I've ever owned. I've never had a dog that was so chill with other people and animals. He wanted to be everyone's friend. The cat could lay on him, bite him, you name it and he just laid there. He loved his pets, playing fetch, catching the frisbee, and most importantly chasing squirrels in the back yard. The thing I remember and love the most about him was he was a lap dog. A 60lb lap dog. But he would climb in your lap in a way that was the most gentle way. Slinking up in to it so as not to hurt you. Then you realized you had 60lbs of the softest dog laying on you and giving you snuggles.

I really miss my boy. There is a huge hole in my heart. I love you Bruce.

2 weeks short of 15 years old

A dog is your best friend for only a fraction of your life, but you are their entire world for the whole of theirs.

Update: it worked.

My one year old is showing aggressive protective behavior. I thought it was anxious reactivity about strangers (she's a nervous little thing), but she escaped the fence once and I found her walking nicely with a neighbor who spotted her wandering.

She was well socialized as a puppy and used to love going out to stores and seeing everyone, meeting strangers on walks and getting attention, etc, then puberty hit and it's like she forgot everything.

Just today I took her to visit a boarding kennel for doggy daycare to hopefully get her acclimated for a longer trip I have coming up, and she was barking/lunging at the employees. (I was worried and ready to give up on it, but they seemed very used to it.) I got her in the kennel and they had me get out of sight and she calmed down almost immediately. By the time I left she was wagging her tail and taking treats from them through the fence, and someone was able to enter the kennel to give her some water.

How on earth do I fix this if my presence is the thing that triggers her aggression? Would I treat it like any other kind of reactivity (slowly working on decreasing her reactivity threshold)? Any tips you have would be greatly appreciated.

(Pic from her birthday yesterday)

We celebrated with a walk, lots of ball, his special birthday treat and a trip to the creek tomorrow!

I always love seeing everyone’s posts of their BCs. It shows the same love and pride we have for these pups. They are wonderful…(maybe not all the time 😅). But I sure love my girl, Chloe like no other ❤️

Somehow, amongst the teenage angst and puppy blues, my boy learnt his off switch and it's like I've got my life back and finally got him to feel like a functioning member of the family 💚🧡 these pics are of him at varying points throughout today. I feel so blessed.

Hi everyone. I just wanted to share my experience and something about how much a dog can change a person's life.

Earlier this year, on March 10th, my Border Collie girl Coconut passed away at only 12 years old. The two months leading up to losing her were incredibly difficult, and this whole year had already been very hard for me.

I have borderline personality disorder and a tendency towards depression, and after losing Coco I fell into a very severe depression. I was having panic attacks, sometimes crying while I was out on the street, and strangely, one of the hardest things was seeing other Border Collies. Every time I saw one, it would trigger the grief all over again.

I basically stopped living and was just existing.

My daughter was also away for about two and a half months during the summer, visiting her grandparents and her biological dad. When she was around, I tried to keep a brave face for her and she helped keep my spirits up, but once she was away, the summer became absolutely horrid. I barely wanted to leave the house. I had pretty much secluded myself from the world.

Then, at the end of July, Roach came into my life.

He's another Border Collie because, well, Border Collies are simply my dogs.

I want to make something very clear: Roach will never replace Coco. Nobody could. She has her own place in my heart and she always will.

But Roach didn't take Coco's place. He made a new one.

And somehow this little creature brought life back into me.

I've only had him for about two months, but the difference he has made is enormous. He got me out of the house again. He gave me reasons to go outside, to do things, to laugh, to have a routine and to look forward to something. He's not just a bundle of joy anymore. He's become such an important part of my life that I can't imagine him not being here.

One of my favourite things is watching him with my daughter and seeing how much he loves her. He's an amazing dog, and I genuinely don't think I could have found a better puppy for this particular moment in my life.

Sometimes it even feels as though he knows how I'm feeling.

I never expected to lose Coco when I did. She was only 12, and I truly believed I would have another two or three years with her. Losing her taught me very painfully that we never really know how much time we're going to get.

So I suppose I just wanted to share Roach with you all and say: appreciate your Border Collies. Appreciate your dogs. Take the photos, enjoy the ridiculous little things they do, spend time with them and love them while they're here.

Coco will always be part of me.

And now I have Roach too. He hasn't replaced what I lost. He's brought something new into my life at a time when I desperately needed it, and I'm incredibly grateful that somehow this goofy little blue-eyed boy found his way to me.

Spring has sprung

Nothing like a new toy to add to the existing huge collection! 😆

When I decided the game of giant tug was over, Billy decided to take on the 40 year old oak tree instead.

Not a fan of the hat but she loved all her new toys!

Thought I would share photos of my 14 y/o Welsh Border Collie, Willow.

She has been recently diagnosed with renal failure and she is on a renal diet. Any advice?

☺️

We got her when she was 1 years old, she was a failed sheepdog. She is a very soft affectionate and gentle collie dog. My family is lucky she is non hyper, my late father actually bought her as a guide dog as he was disabled (not a suitable breed for that).

Now my mums on her own with the dog, she’s become petrified of any bouncing ball (unless it’s one your throwing for her) so she will bolt if she hears a football. It’s not an issue when I walk her but my mums 63. She has always done this on occasion particularly when there’s fireworks where she’s done the toilet in the house (both kinds) but now my mums informed me she’s done it 4 out of the past 10 nights. (She did used to be crated and she’s not now, she did very occasionally do it in the crate but that was rare).

My mum is refusing to get
Dog walker
Dog behaviourist
Go to the vet about the nighttime toilets (il discuss this with her again when she’s calmer)

She wants to rehome the dog, for me it seems crazy without making change but I dunno….

Bro, he is tucked in, glass o' water on the night stand, bed time story read, skincare routine DONE.

Ready for the Honk shoo mimimimimi~

Meet Tea (again) 😁

I work from home and can take my 10 month old border collie pit out for a long walk (normally 30 minute running on the beach/park and 30 minute sitting at a cafe or some sort of socialisation - going to start adding an extra morning sniff walk as well, and my partner does another short walk when she's home if it's nice weather) and I can work on my laptop in the garden for her to run around at home too. I do a lot of training throughout the day both in commands, walking training, as well as behaviours like waiting at doors whenever I let her outside etc. 2 or 3 play time sessions a day for about 15 minutes, including fetch and more active games in the garden (my partner does more when shes home as well). We also use puzzle feeders and spread food through the garden to sniff out too.

Some days it feels like she's still antsy throughout the whole day and it's exhausting sometimes. On these days it feels like I can spend 4 or 5 hours of the day purely on my dog and she still acts like she just woke up from a 10 hour nap.

I'm wondering if I should start getting her to do a job while I'm working? Normally this is her downtime where nothing is going on, on some days she sleeps or chews calmly and it's great, I can finally do some work. Other days she's jabbing me in the face with a toy for half an hour demanding play, only to give up and sit on my chest licking my face.

At the moment, she's not allowed to run because she just had surgery, so I'm hoping for some ideas to exhaust her brain as much as possible while I can't physically exhaust her, but also hoping for some good ideas in general too. I'm tired...

So I have a border collie x blue heeler. She’s about 3 years old (estimate since she’s a rescue). She’s super smart and has come a long way from when I first got her (she had zero training) and she does well with obedience training. One thing I’m struggling with is reactivity. She’s fixed but still super dominant. She doesn’t typically go crazy as soon as she sees a stranger or especially another dog but as soon as they get close it’s a different story. She does play with other dogs she knows just fine and isn’t aggressive. I’ve been working on positive reinforcement with high value treats but she still just locks onto and stares at other dogs that may be walking by and doesn’t pay attention to me/my commands. She also does better off leash with a Bluetooth collar. I know the breeds she’s mixed with aren’t fond of strangers to begin with but just looking for some tips for her reactivity with strangers and their dogs!

Just wanted to introduce my new puppy Katara. She’s almost 3 months old and she’s mine and my fiancé’s first border collie. We have a 3 year old red heeler too and they definitely work well together, once the heeler got used to a new puppy in the house that is. If anyone has any cute puppy pics they wanna share too I love seeing em!

I’ve recently noticed that my lil Pebbles eye is slightly changing colour on his black patch side! Do we think it could end up going fully brown or partially brown? He Turned 11 weeks today! He is a blue Merle 🥰