When you see Border Collies, you may not resist their adorable nature. The sheepdogs may not do many things like other breeds.
What are Border Collies not good at? Every time I walk my Border Collies across the stress for its daily work, I often notice that she can experience some stress.
How does my dog cope with visitors or strangers? Sometimes, she wants to stay alone and deal with things independently. Border Collies may not be at ease with the crowd, especially growing old.
If you want this breed to be socially sensitive to people, you should begin your training early. You don’t want your dog to be stressed after meeting people at the park.
When I realized my dog is often stressed because of the crowd, I trained her to adapt to more people.
What are Border Collies not good at?
Border Collies are sensitive to fast movements, especially those they cannot regulate or control. You may feel hesitation or discomfort if you bring some Border Collies around traffic.
Here are other things that your Border may not like:
- Noise
- Change
- Presence of visitors or strangers
Cope with the presence of strange dogs
Your Border Collies may feel comfortable around familiar pets that live around them, but may not want to mingle with other strange dogs.
I recommend that you take your dog to places where other dogs play to help it tolerate them. While some dogs may not react aggressive when they see strange dogs, they may feel stressed after the encounter.
If you live on the farm, your dog may not be able to leave the farm and this could affect this social life. If you are in such situation, you should learn to balance things with your dog.
Resilience and sociability may not form some of the traits of your Border Collies. You should not try to force them to become social overnight, especially for the shy ones.
It would take a little training to help you Border Collie cope with the crowd, visitors, and other strange animals.
Even as a family pet, some dogs struggle with stress to cope with the attention and moving around crowded places. The best way you can handle stress and anti-social behavior of these dogs is by introducing them to people and other pets.
What problems do Border Collies have?
Border Collies are a healthy breed and have an average life span of 12-15 years. However, some may not live up to this length because of health concerns like hypothyroidism, epilepsy, and hip dysplasia.
· Hip Dysplasia
Hip dysplasia is among the most common health challenges that this breed suffers, and it happens when the ball of the hip joint does not fit correctly into the socket of the hip joint.
When this happens, they suffer from two bones rubbing against each other, which results in pain and inflammation. If not treated, it can cause arthritis and leave them bedridden.
You can easily discover this problem when you take the dog for hip radiographs and orthopedic examinations. I recommend PennHip and OFA screening to help you learn more about the condition.
Pet owners who find out early that they dogs is suffering from hip dysplasia save their pets from further pain by taking them for surgeries The surgeries could range from mild to major surgeries.
· Epilepsy
The breed can be prone to a seizure disorder called epilepsy and this can happens from two to five years of age. You can use anti-seizure medications to take care of this condition.
· Collie Eye Anomaly
Sometimes, Border Collies can suffer from Collie eye anomaly, which is a genetic eye disease. This can cause your dog to suffer from eyes’ malformations that can lead to blindness or vision defects.
You can find this malfunction from birth, but you can see it when they reach the age of five weeks or more. You should ask questions before you bring a puppy home to learn bout their genetic history.
· Multidrug Resistance Mutation (MDR1)
Border Collies can suffer from a mutation in a gene called Multidrug Resistance Mutation (MDR1). This problem can affect the dog to become sensitive to pet drugs.
As a result, you may find it difficult to treat tick or flea with drugs on such dog.
· Trapped Neutrophil Syndrome (TNS)
Have you heard of trapped neutrophil syndrome (TNS)? TNS is a genetic condition that Border Collies suffer, which can compromise their immune system.
When this happens, it can result to chronic infection and the disease can be seen at birth. The dogs with this disease ten to grow at a difficult rate and remains small. Unfortunately, you cannot treat TNS because it has no cure
In addition, TNS is fatal and does not spare dogs suffering from it because they don’t live long. However, you can use drugs to take care of this condition, but not cure it.
· Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinosis (CL)
Border Collies suffer from neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (CL), which is genetic mutation that can cause blindness, personality changes, and seizures.
You can notice the symptoms from 15–20 months, and CL can drastically reduce lifespan.
A Final Thought
If you don’t work out alongside your Border Collie or bond more with him, the dog may shut away and stay in a non-stimulating area to relax. As a result, you should prevent the dog from causing mischief before of boredom.
I recommend that you ensure that your dog has daily walking or exercising routine if you don’t have livestock to herd or other energy-impacting activities.
FAQs
Can Border Collies be nasty?
Border Collies are not aggressive but can try to herd anything that moves.
Is a Border Collie a good family dog?
Yes, the breed can make a great family pet, but you should provide a home with space for moving around. Do not confine your dog to a little space if you don’t want it to get obese or cause havoc at home.
What age do Border Collies calm down?
When your Border Collie gets to about six years old, he would begin to calm down. Border Collie’s life expectancy is about twelve years.