Land n Sand Oct / Nov 2013 | Page 54

Like other highly intelligent and attractive dogs, border collies are often acquired as ‘status pets’ by people who cannot possibly give the dog the intellectual stimulation it needs. Many land up at rescue organisations because of it; beautiful, intelligent dogs, desperately needing extraordinary homes. If you are a laid back person who likes to snooze and relax, this is not the breed for you. If you have the time, savvy and desire to develop your own skills to interact with an intelligent dog though, you will be amply rewarded. If you don’t have a flock of sheep, alternative ‘work’ exists, even at competitive level. They dominate in agility competitions, and dog dancing, frisbee and flyball, or even traditional obedience work are options. Stay at home and have lots of fun, with some lateral thinking. Teach your dog to help with everyday tasks around the house, from the classic cartoony ‘fetch the slippers, to ‘find the other dog’. The daily frustration of finding the phone or car keys can become an exciting search and rescue game instead of the usual cursing. With creative, positive reinforcement training, you can even teach your border to open the front door to let guests in. They already sport the black and white tuxedoed, neat and crisp butler look. Indeed, life with a Collie can be just grand, old chap! “The daily frustrat phone or car keys exciting search a instead of the u IN! W Subscribe to our newsletter here & stand a chance to win! 1 x 2014 Bord 7 x prints o Subscri s