They are also a hearty farm dog.A hunting buddy of mine whose Father managed a Baby Farm { small farm } had a borde collie who lived outside and kept the few herd of cattle in line,and slept on the porch. That dog lived a long life despite never being washed or allowed indoors, which I highly disagree with.A dog should always be on a much higher plane of concern than any farm animal.
BC's were bred to be outdoor dogs, give them a shelter from the wind and rain and they'll do just fine outdoors...those of us who spoil them by bringing them indoors have our regrets, I'd estimate the damage to my home from my BC somewhere between 10-15K and he's only three so a lot of years left to demo my home...
yup that's the look, ...he's probably thinking "what's up with this idiot, I give him a ball and he keeps throwing it away"...then he leaves the ball behind in the deep grass where I can't find it, I've lost a lot of balls and frisbees...
Unless you count the fish in my koi pond, I have no pets. My dog died just before In retired and my wife and I decided to not get another dog. We believe in the old saying that, "Real freedom occurs only when the last child moves out of the house and the dog dies." When we had a dog living with us we had to be sure to come home to walk her, feed her and see that she had fresh water. Now, if we are out, we sometimes look at each other at the end of an evening and say, "Do you want to go home tonight or should we just get a hotel room and stay a day or two more?"
This is Major - he's our Golden Retriever. Major is eating the rest of my butter pecan ice cream at the moment...
I think there are basically 2 kinds of dog people.Those like Doris Day who is a modern day saint and those that don't really care one way or another about the feelings of a dog.Those in the - don't really care one way or another - category fail to even conseider when a dog may be hurting,as when the temperature falls into the single digits. Trust me,dogs are hurting then.Unless they can group together and keep each other warm with their bodies in a Barn with plenty of straw.Doris Day has spent her life rescuing dogs and finding good homes.Ever since back in her hometown of Cincinnatti as Doris Mary Ann Kappelhoff as a young lass she witnessed her little sweetheart dog run out into the street and get hit by a car. A staunch Republican who briefly dated Ronald Reagan shortly after his divorce from Jane Wyman,she Voted for George Bush in 2000 and said about his 2004 re-election ... " I'm pulling for him every step of the way. " Openly admits she prefers the company of her dogs to most any of the men in her life.
To me a dog is a working animal, do I look after him, bloody oath. He has a kennel, it is dry and warm in winter and has a flap for breeze in summer. I know he loves being indoors but loves to go out at night, because he asks at the door (oh ACDs can talk). No one would say that even Doris Day loves dogs more than I, we (dogs and I) have shared 58 years happily together. As for the poodles etc, Doris can have them. I live in a tough country and I travel to tough places, I need a tough dog. As for the cold/heat etc, they should get the right dog. The ACD was specifically bred for this country.
Thanks...he's a handful, but a sweetie. They are called "velcro" dogs for a reason. He needs to be near his people and at 80 pounds, he still thinks he's a lap dog..LOL
Standard size Poodles were on my short list along BC's and ACD's, I had fond memories of a toy poodle I had owned...most people are unaware that they're intelligent athletic hunting dogs bred for miserable cold weather...what we think of as femine puffy show dog comes from decades of silly kennel competitions...my brother had a Standard Poodle that he kept outdoors all winter and our winters get down to -40c and colder, what he didn't do was clip it's hair in the winter it had no problems in cold... the Standard Poodle was my first choice but at $1000+ it came down to a BC or ACD...climate made the decision to go with a BC and I have no regrets (other than my floor and stairs) it's far smarter than any Poodle...
Nice response. What can I say, except for the Standard Poodle choice, I would have done exactly the same in you position. Regardless of cost, I all ready knew that the poodle was intelligent, but I also knew the BC and ACD ran rings around them, literally lol. The BC will try to round up the kids if it gets a chance. BC are popular in Australia, but mainly on the coast. The major part of the interior of Australia is akin to Mars with an atmosphere, and like deserts its hot as hades of a day, and freezing of a night. Where unprepared travellers who break down, are often found dead, a few thousand metres from their vehicle. ACD have the dingo to handle the climate, and who knows instinctively how to survive at high temperatures and lows, and to conserve their resources, with food and water so scarce, The dingo too is a wild beast, akin to wolf and coyote. So it's shrewd and stealthy, strong and indestructible, it's a pack dog, it's fiercely loyal and protective. It will die to protect the Alpha male, it will obey him instinctively. The sheep dog side brings a quietness, more gentle side, but as it too will defend it's leader, the wild side makes it very formidable if it has to. The main attribute the sheep dog brings, is hundreds and hundreds of years of work experience, incorporated into it's very genetic code. A city raised BC when shown cattle or sheep, or any other animal that is not faster than it, or can't fly, and it will round them up into a bunch, and sit for hours on guard. The BC has this incredible ability to learn languages, and more than one as well as non verbal ones such as sign language and whistle codes. Now meld these two together then spend nearly a 100 years refining the good attributes, while negating the bad. You have the Australian Cattle Dog (ACD) more colloquially known as the Blue or Red Heeler, Queensland Heeler, or Hall's Heeler after the original breeder.
One guinea pig, one Colombian red tailed boa constrictor, and a crested gecko on the way (born recently, waiting for it to get a bit older before I take it from the breeder). The cat I grew up with was put to sleep about 5 months ago, and I still think about her everyday. She was a good friend.
My condolences. I have always had cats, too. Besides the dog, we have two cats....Jack and Jill. I also like your avatar.....
Mine comes in and says, "Hey man, stop arguing with that dickhead about Corby and come play ball". Maybe not in those exact words but he gets his point across pretty quickly.
Yes,it depends on the breed.Herding and some working class breds love the outdoors and it would be almost criminal to keep them indoor. As many Sporting class breeds. But a dog should not simply be a breed.Dogs,unlike sheep or billygoat or even birds have an innate sense of connection to human being. They have a great ability to display Unconditional Love. Cows are incapable of this.Horses can display love,but not to high degree. That is why a Dog or Cat are pets and in my estimation God's Gift to humanity.
Yes we have come to an agreement. He wants to be with me, 24/7. But he wants to just lie and gaze at the moon on a warm summers night, and who can blame him. On visits up country, there's rabbits and frogs and running and running and running, they say it's a dogs life.
Poodle is is the better choice as house dog, low shedding characteristics and doesn't eat stairs... which ours does, we deliberately go on walks and separate ourselves (some of us hiding) which gets him frantically running around trying to herd us together then seeking out those who hide, he knows if someone is missing from his flock... crossing with a dingo was a smart idea, although BCs come in many different coats bred according to regional climate adding a dingo to the mix certainly sped up the transition...there have been a few attempts to cross dogs with the N american coyote but that generally doesn't work out, coyotes tend to kill dogs at every opportunity...dog wolf crosses are fairly common but they're unpredictable which because of their size makes them dangerous pets... ya that amazed me...I bought our BC from a farm where the BCs were working dogs herding the cattle and horses...I never expected our city raised dog to automatically start herding kids...his crouching/stalking technique is a bit intimidating to other dog owners we run into, we have to apologize and assure them he isn't going to attack...
when a BC does it it is not nearly as intimidating as when an ACD does it though here is a link you may like http://www.politicalforum.com/humor-satire/213005-do-you-know-how-hard-aussie.html#post4606143
probably the BC is really shy and non aggressive but to those who aren't familiar with them it's threatening behaviour... no latin names? that seems like strange ruling I don't see the point of it, there many names on the forum that I can not interpret...if you haven't already done so send a pm to Makedde or cenydd and ask the reason... stubborn you may be but even in sports you need to accept the official rulings even when they're obviously wrong and get on with playing the game...
