Dog sitting my sons pets. Good lord they are active. The Aussy has been tripping me every time I walk down the hall way. That whole herding thing. I decided I would go throw them a Frisbee at the park... two hours later they weren't close to tired and my arm was dead I love those dogs but I don't have the energy to keep up with them.

That is all.

I feel your pain!

Great dongs, and smart too.

Aussy mix dad here. She is going to be 10 years old in August. People think that she is a puppy. Very, very active and talkative. Being limited sighted because of her diabetes hasn't slowed her down at all.

I don't know how many times I step on she a day, always under my feet. Loves, and I mean LOVES to go bye bye. Always have loved riding in the car.

I take her everywhere I can. She just sets there and watch me drive, or looks out the window. I don't know really how well she sees, but she can see.

Best pup I have ever had.

ARman

It never occurred to me why our Aussie-Lab mix is always under foot until you mentioned the herding instinct. Sometimes it's almost difficult to walk.
Lots of energy and very intelligent dogs.

Borders and Aussys are wonderful dogs. They don't let anyone get close to the house without me knowing about it. Great dogs. Just don't teach them Frisbee

quote:

Originally posted by Bytes:
Borders and Aussys are wonderful dogs. They don't let anyone get close to the house without me knowing about it. Great dogs. Just don't teach them Frisbee

My pup is scared of the Frisbee. She use to play with it all the time, but one day catching it, the Frisbee cut her mouth badly. Ever since then, she has been scared of them. She sees one and runs away and hides. My friends Whippet is nuts over Frisbee, and when he's playing with one my pup hides.

ARman

There is a 30 y.o. gal here in town that has one of those.

She walks / jogs it four miles in the a.m. and another four after the supper dishs are done.

I asked her if she had considered putting her smart watch on it to record it's functions.

She said they might not even registar,as they would be too low.

Best friend has an Aussie, great dog when alone or, on the trail but, once she's around other dogs, she turns into a giant A-hole. Barking like crazy, herding and hounding, can't go to a dog park or, a party with other dogs, without her working to separate and divide all the dogs into separate corners. It's humorous at first then it devolves into annoyance and aggravation.

Before we had kids we had two border collies, both bred from "low drive" lines. The first was exhausting, adding the second made them a bit less exhausting as a pair (they played together) but they were both incredibly smart and incredibly driven. I can only imagine what a "high drive" border collie must look like.

We lost them both pretty in a short period of time, knew we wanted dogs again, but weren't at a point in our lives where border collies made sense, so we adopted a pair of retired racing greyhounds instead. Such a wonderful change to have dogs that sleep until 10:00, amble downstairs to sleep on the couch until noon, maybe think about getting up and having breakfast and I suppose we could go outside a bit, then settled down for their afternoon nap. :-)

I will always have a soft spot in my heart for border collies, but am not sure I'll ever own one again. Even after I retire I'm not sure I'll have the time to give one the attention it deserves.

The border and aussy are really smart and I love them. I really like them protecting my "herd". Good Lord, my Frisbee shoulder hurts

quote:

Originally posted by Bytes:... my Frisbee shoulder hurts

LOL! Learn to just flick the frisbee with either hand across your body so that the frisbee is sent rolling on edge. It triggers the chase impulse in our 6 month old lab like nothing else. It’s all in the wrist when you use the flicking motion.

Six year old Border Collie here. She has calmed down quite a bit the last year or so. I use a chuck it asnd a tennis ball as well as a frisbee. As well as letting her jog alongside the 4 wheeler for a mile or so on the trail behind our property. The 4 wheeler will quit running well before Oapl does.

They are great pets, super smart, zero issues, easy to train, etc.

Yep, I too feel your pain.

Ours just turned 8 last week. Hasn't changed much at all from her original Aussie pup behavior, (although less of the hardwired herding when kids are around). It was hilarious to watch her as a pup herding multiple soccer balls at the same time. She still thinks it's a big yuck to carry one toy in her mouth while batting a ball around with her paws.
Will follow you to the bathroom for sure. Spot on about other breeds of dogs. Sigh.
She just wants to herd them-

I’ve got a 16.5yr old mini Aussie and a 5 yr old standard Aussie female

They are both at my feet always

Awesome dogs. BC’s are have a whole nother level of drive psychosis That’s bred into them

Rinehart, my sons Aussy (Sereph), my grand dog looks just like yours. Took them for a walk before I went to work this morning when it was totally dark. Those two girls were in total protection mode. Borders and Aussies are great pets.

We are the proud owners of two Mini's, wonderful companions, have had them on an off my whole life. Not everyone is meant to own Aussies. They are really a breed apart!

Here's my Aussie Doodle:

Good for you, babysitting the kids. These herding dogs are energy driven, as you're finding out.

We've had our Border for 12 years, she's always been amazing. I don't think, at 76, I have the energy to raise another one.

quote:

Originally posted by Bytes:
Rinehart, my sons Aussy (Sereph), my grand dog looks just like yours. Took them for a walk before I went to work this morning when it was totally dark. Those two girls were in total protection mode. Borders and Aussies are great pets.

Dogs are certainly a blessing to mankind.
Each breed has their own little "usually" charming traits. I have been around and owned a number of different dogs over the years, from Labs, Irish Setters, Goldens, bulldogs- (I had a Weimaraner when I was young). While the Aussies can be hardwired/stubborn they love tasks and instructions.
Here's Millie when she was a few years younger in her waiting for the word pose.