Articles

Meet Brac, the Incredible Balancing Border Collie

by rain | Articles

Submit your Border Collie to be featured

Like Us On Facebook!

Submit your Border Collie to be featured

Sometimes, keeping your beloved dogs happy and occupied can be very demanding. However, Border Collie owner Sally Turner found a way to ensure that her 10-year old dog, Brac, keeps occupied.

Say cheese: Mrs Turner, a photographer, lives with husband Paul, 55, a management consultant, in Wilmington, Kent, along with the endlessly obedient Brac With the use of a few simple commands and lots of patience, Turner trained Brac to balance an incredibly almost anything on his head. Among the things, Brac is able to balance are sausages, bacon, and orange. Brac can also balance even three eggs on a spoon using his mouth. Aside from this, the incredible 10-year-old Border Collie is also trained to turn on and turn off the television as well as close doors behind people. Mrs. Turner and her husband Paul lives in Wilmington, UK. According to Mrs. Turner, they both trained Brac to stand perfectly still whenever they say the word “steady”. Mrs. Turner also added that Brac will remain standing still until she says the phrase “what a good dog”. At this point, Brac already knows that Turner is about to remove the object and a reward is awaiting the good dog.

Before beginning the balancing act, Brac is already trained to turn on the television as well as close doors behind people. Mrs. Turner also added, “I think the main reason why Brac does this is because of his breed. He is a Border Collie who is known as working dogs.He always wants to do something. He likes to help us a lot”.

Obedient: Mrs Turner said Brac loves performing his tricks because he wants to be the centre of attention

When Brac was about six months old, he could already recognize all names of his toys. Since then, he has learned too many commands until the couple lost count of them. “Brac loves to please us. At first, we were just messing around when we train him. Whenever he gets to balance things, he always gets a treat”.

“Brac definitely enjoys being the center of anyone’s attention. Teaching Brac those tricks is just another way to keep him busy and to tell you honestly, it is really a bit of fun”, Mrs. Turner added.

What a cracker: Mrs Turner said teaching Brac the balancing tricks are a god way to keep him busy, adding that 'there's nothing worse than a bored border collie'

Border Collies are known to be bred for use as sheep dogs. They are among the most highly intelligent dogs and they are commonly known for their abilities to pick up almost any commands extremely quickly. Aside from this, Border Collies are also known to have lots of energy. However, they can get easily bored which is why they need to be kept constantly occupied. Check out Brac’s incredible skills in the video below:

Save

Comments
comments

Save

A Border Collie’s Journey to Flyball – Sasha’s Story

by rey | Articles

In this article, Nadine Lewis and her border collie Sasha have graciously agreed to share their amazing journey together to become confident Flyball competitors. Get an insight into the fascinating and fun world of Flyball competitions – a competition that border collies can truly excel in!

Hello everyone,

My name is Nadine Lewis and I sent a photo of my border collie Sasha going over a Flyball jump to Border Collie Fan Club and was then asked to do a little piece about her journey from being a scared little girl to a confident flyballer. Here is her story…

Just over 5 years ago my husband and I were blessed to welcome Sasha into our home and into our hearts. Sasha was 12 weeks old when we met her, she was the last remaining puppy from an unplanned litter from two Welsh working border collies. Arriving after a long trip to meet Sasha, we were shown an extremely scared and nervous little bundle of fur. My heart melted. We met her Mum who hadn’t been socialised due to her being a working dog, so she too was extremely nervous, cringing away from us. This should have been a warning sign but Sasha had stolen our hearts and she was coming home with us.

She settled into our home and made friends with the elderly Border Collie we had at the time but I found she was extremely nervous and scared when outside of her comfort zone; to the point where she would wet herself, would not approach any new object and even tried to run away from her bum when she had noisy diarrhea! We tried a socialising class as soon as we got her, but her fear was enormous and it really didn’t work. I also found it difficult taking her anywhere where strangers and/or their dogs were present as her fear was so great that she’d try to hide behind me, shaking and wetting herself. I reached the stage where I couldn’t take her anywhere which would cause her such distress. She also showed signs of fear aggression if she felt trapped and/or threatened.

The good news was that Sasha was still very active and quite ‘ball obsessed’ even as a puppy – she would repeatedly take her ball to anyone she felt comfortable with for them to throw for her!

When she was nearly two years old I happened to see a Crufts Flyball video and wondered whether this would be something Sasha would take to and whether it would boost her confidence. So I approached a local Flyball team (Bristol Ball-istics) and explained my ‘issues’ with Sasha. They were super supportive and invited us to attend a training session. With great trepidation, Sasha and I arrived at their first training session in January 2015 and as feared, Sasha was incredibly nervous. Flyball training sessions and competitions involve an awful lot of noise from the dogs and people.

But, the Bristol Ball-istics were tremendous with Sasha. The club captain and trainer advised fellow team members to keep themselves and their dogs away from her and kept handling of her to a minimum (i.e. only handling her when holding her to practice run-backs). This is where someone holds the dog at the box and the handler runs to the end of the jumps. The dog is then released to run to the handler over the jumps and get their ‘reward’, which is usually a tuggie or a treat. The dogs are box trained, (ie. trained to jump onto the box with all four paws), which triggers a ball that they then catch. This was a bit of an initial effort for Sasha as she really wanted to get the ball, but would sometimes shy away due to someone being nearby. After a few training sessions, however, Sasha was doing full runs and she was clearly starting to love it.

A few months later, Sasha entered her first starters competition and performed brilliantly! Since then she’s progressed in leaps and bounds and I find she is so obsessed with Flyball that when at a competition she pays little to anyone or anything else. As mentioned earlier, Flyball competitions are extremely noisy with dogs (and handlers) being hyper excited and barking, screaming, shouting etc… Finding that this no longer bothers Sasha makes me really happy for her! In fact, she now joins in with the barking!

By participating in Flyball, Sasha is doing something she really loves, she’s working (which is what Border Collies love to do), she’s keeping fit and, most importantly, she isn’t scared when flyballing.

Sasha is now in her third year of racing and has progressed to running with the Bristol Ball-istics top team who are currently the 9^th seed in the UK. Our fastest time recorded is 16.29 seconds.

Sasha will always be a nervous little girl with weird things going on her head when not playing Flyball or when outside of her comfort zone and she’ll always be wary of strangers, noises, etc… but Flyball has made such a massive difference to her life and we are so glad that we have found something that has made such a positive impact in both her life and ours.

Comments
comments

Like Us On Facebook!

Facebook

Looking for a Good Book To Help Train & Raise Your Border Collie? We Recommend…

Border Collie Dog Care Manual: Border Collie Temperament, Pros and Cons, Health, Care, Training, Costs and Medical Concerns by Jacob Highcombe

About This Book..
Historically, Border Collies are known as a working dog breed. Due to this very fact there are certain dog behaviors and instincts particular to Border Collies only. These behaviors and instincts define the personality of the dog. Understanding these behaviors and instincts is imperative if you desire a well-trained/behaved dog. This book is based on years of experience and thorough research helping you to choose, raise, train and live in harmony with your Border Collie. This book has been written by truly taking into consideration the breed as well as its abilities as this aspect is often ignored by owners of this dog. The content of this book will provide you with an insight of how a Border Collie relates and interacts with its owner and the outside world. Once you’ve read this book, you’ll be better equipped to own and take care of a Border Collie so that it becomes the wonderful companion it’s meant to be!

Holiday To-Do List Hot Cocoa, PJs, Border Collie T-Shirt
$17.00

Shadow’s Story – A Deaf Border Collie’s Achievement

by rey | Articles

Rachel lives in Nebraska, USA and wanted to share her beloved Shadow’s story with the world. Shadow is a deaf, pure white border collie who has never let her disability prevent her from achieving some great things! In this great Q&A, you can learn more about how Rachel has managed to help train Shadow to pass The American Kennel Club’s Canine Good Citizen test (CGC).

What is the name of your border collie and tell us about her (age, place of residence, any interesting background history, unique habits, etc…)?

Shadow is 3 years old and lives in a small town in central Nebraska. Shadow was part of a puppy mill that was breeding intentionally to get pure white dogs. She started learning adapted American Sign Language at the age of 9 weeks and now knows 42 commands. She learns very quickly, she was fully potty trained by the age of 10 weeks. She loves to play Frisbee, fetch and chase bubbles.

How did Shadow become part of your family?

We found Shadow on Craigslist listed as “White Shepherd Puppy”. When I called to inquire, the lady told me the puppy had been rejected by her mom at 4 weeks old and she was eating on her own. She also informed me that the puppy was turning 6 weeks and it had to go because she could no longer care for her. With the OK of our vet we went and picked her up at a gas station not knowing exactly what breed she was.

Tell us about Shadow‘s condition? How did you find out?

We discovered that Shadow was deaf when she was 9 weeks old, The smoke detector went off and it didn’t startle her or even wake her up from her nap. So I contacted the previous owner and she finally admitted to me that the mom and dad were both Merles. With a lot of online research and calling breeders, I was told that she is deaf due to the breeding of 2 Merle* dogs.

*What is a Merle? Merle is a gene that gives the dog a marble pattern on the dogs coat. When breeding 2 Merle dogs there is a 25% chance of each pup being blind, deaf or both. If a puppy is born with 2 copies of the Merle gene, it can strips the coat of color/pigmentation which can causes the eyes and ears to not fully develop.

Has being deaf been an issue for you and Shadow? How has it affected your relationship?

Shadow‘s deafness has never been a issue. Although we have had our fair share of obstacles along the way, it’s nothing that a little patience and practice can’t fix. Shadow‘s deafness has had no bearing on how strong our bond is, It is the quality time spent with her that has made that bond strong.

You mentioned that you’ve been working with Shadow on attaining her trick dog titles, can you tell us more about that? Why did you decide to go for those titles?

We were looking for something fun and challenging to do with Shadow, so I bought some books called 101 Dog Tricks and 10-Minute Dog Training Games. These books encourages the trick training to help you to engage, challenge and bond with your dog. The author of the books has a website called Do more with your dog and they offer trick dog titles at different levels of difficulty. Shadow caught on quickly and had fun with the trick training, so I decided to do the titles in memento of our hard work and accomplishments.

Save

You mentioned that Shadow recently earned her AKC CGC? What is that? How did you work through Shadow‘s disability to ensure she followed command and learned her tricks?

The American Kennel Club’s Canine Good Citizen test (CGC) is a certification program that evaluates dogs in simulated everyday situations. Dogs that pass the CGC test are considered reliable family and community members and will receive a certificate and title (if registered with AKC) from the American Kennel Club.

To ensure that Shadow followed the commands we started practicing for the CGC almost a year prior to the test and took a CGC class so we knew what was expected during evaluation.

What is next for Shadow? What does the future hold for you and her?

The AKC just changed their rules to allow deaf dogs to compete in Agility, Rally Obedience, Tracking and Sent Work. We may try out some of these sports in the future.

Do you have any advice for other Border Collie Fan Club members who have dogs with a hearing issue on how best to care for and train them?

Patience and positive reinforcement is a must! The obedience training is the same as any other dog but it’s crucial that the dog focuses on you to learn the hand signals. “Watch me” is one the most important commands that your dog will learn. It will create a sturdy foundation to build your obedience training on because your dog will be always paying attention to you for the next command. Make sure your hand signals are distinct and keep your training sessions short but sweet to avoid frustrations.

Follow Rachel & Shadow on Twitter: @lolligurl83

Comments
comments

Meet Jones! A Modern Day Working Border Collie!

by rey | Articles, Intros & Hellos

Gareth Evans would like you to meet ‘Jones’, a seven year old border collie from the small fishing village of Polperro in Cornwall. If he looks familiar, it may be because you have seen his images before on various dog related products, websites, calendars, posters and greetings cards, as Jones is a model in the K-9 world! To see more of Gareth & Jones’ work, check out: http://www.pawprintsdogphotography.com/

From a young age it was clear that he quite enjoyed having his photograph taken and appeared to pose for the camera at any given opportunity, proving an ideal model for his human ‘Gareth’ to take photographs for competitions not only on dog related sites but also on a wider scale to far larger audiences.

This exposure created tremendous interest with several individuals and companies suggesting that his photos would sell on the open market, and so his modelling career began!

Obviously any dog that works in this field has to have obtained a certain level of obedience and be able to follow instructions. Jones undertook this training at a basic level as a puppy before going on to enjoy a couple of years competing reasonably successfully in the junior classes.

Gareth believes this training has helped Jones become such an easy model to work with in front of the camera, often having to show great patience and hold a pose whilst the photographer is waiting for the correct light or the water to settle around him for a clear, sharp reflection shot, but stresses that it is important that it remains a fun activity for Jones to do, always being rewarded with a ball game or treat during and after each session. Of course there’s plenty of perks too, whilst working on a shoot for a brand of specialist doggy ice cream recently, Jones did rather well for cool treats on a hot Summers day!

Jones now appears on a range of his own Border Collie products including mugs, cards and posters, with photographs of him selling worldwide.

As I’m sure Jones would tell you himself if he could ‘it’s got to be an easier way of making a living than herding sheep up at ridiculous times in the morning on a cold winters day!’