Border Collie/Australian Shepherd Mix

[marydmjj]

Does anyone have a Border Collie/Aussie mix? What is the temperament? Because both are herding dogs do you find that it wants to herd way more than usual? Is it nippy? Any information you can give me would be great.

Thanks!

 

[Pixiedust34]

Our dog is most likely a mix of these 2 breeds. She is from a city shelter and she was a bit on the wild side when we first got her, but she settled nicely once she got to know us and our house rules. : )

She is intelligent and high strung. She does try to herd us, and I wouldn't recommend an Aussie for a family with very young kids. This type of dog is loaded with energy and need some exercise every day. She loves our kids and is slightly leary of strangers. She doesn't bark unless there's a reason to do so, but she whines (cries) a lot. She is a fun dog and is as curious as a dog can be. I've never seen a dog observe people as much as she does. She is by no means a lap dog, but she rubs around our legs a lot (kind of like a cat) and curls up in a letter "C" when we pet her.

When we first got her, she didn't exactly nip but she'd gentle put her teeth to our ankles or around our wrists. We were told that is part of her herding, but it was unnerving for me to have her do that. We broke her of the habit. She rarely uses her teeth to touch us now. She loves to go for walks and play fetch.

I think that this mix would make for a great pet for an active family with older kids or with an active couple. If you decide to get this dog, expect some intelligence and energy!

 

[Lanshark]

I have a lab/aussie mix and she is a wonderful dog but does need a lot of exercise. Very bright and very high energy. She is constantly trying to herd my golden retriever.

 

[Beca]

We lost our Border/Aussie mix of 18 years last December. She was the BEST dog we have ever had!!! She was smart, funny....and, almost human.

She was HIGHLY trainable, and once attacked someone trying to break in our home, only to get pepper sprayed in the face....she never gave up, or even wimpered at the pain...she was amazing.

She was extremely loyal, and slept beside me for many years. She did "herd" us on walks (it was subtle, but we always wondered why we were bumping into each other.. ). She was never "nippy", but would not hesitate to put herself between me and anyone she thought might hurt me.

She was extremely tolerant and kind to my dd after she was born....she was hurt that I had a dd, but she never would've harmed her in any way.

I now have an Aussie/Golden Retriever mix. She is a GREAT dog, but no dog will ever be as amazing as my Baby Dog. My heart literally breaks whenever I see an Aussie/Border Collie....it is just impossible for me to describe how AMAZING those dogs are!!

 

[ColoradoBuffaloMom]

We have an Australian Shepherd/Border Collie mix. Axel is 2 years old and we got him from a puppy rescue place about a year ago. He is just a goofball. Every now and then he gets what we call "a crazy" and just starts running laps around the house or he will jump on my bed upstairs, race downstairs, out his doggie door and right back in, up the stairs and onto my bed and then do this about 5 times in a row. It probably doesn't help that we sort of encourage him

My kids are 15 and 17 and at night Axel sleeps in my daughter's bed. She is very protective of him-maybe babies him too much whereas my son rough houses with him.

Axel will take a toy or treat we have given him and walk around with it in his mouth looking for a place to bury it-sometimes he buries it outside but sometimes he buries it in the corner of the couch-too funny.

All is all Axel is a great dog and we love him to pieces.

 

[Swimnoid]

I have an aussie mix and she is great. She loves to be outdoors. very friendly and bright.

On the radio today they were talking about peoples' pets and this one lady called in about her border collie. She also had a baby and the dog would stay in the baby's room when the baby was napping and as soon as the baby woke up he wold go get the mom. Then when the baby started crawling he would try to herd the baby to stay in the same room with the mom and if the baby got away the dog would very gently grab the baby by the diaper or seat of the pants and tug him back in the room.

 

[Beca]

We have an Australian Shepherd/Border Collie mix. Axel is 2 years old and we got him from a puppy rescue place about a year ago. He is just a goofball. Every now and then he gets what we call "a crazy" and just starts running laps around the house or he will jump on my bed upstairs, race downstairs, out his doggie door and right back in, up the stairs and onto my bed and then do this about 5 times in a row. It probably doesn't help that we sort of encourage him

Both my old and new dog do this!! They are SOOO funny. I think they just "have" to run, sometimes. Baby Dog used to run laps around the soccer field. Now, we have two sets of stairs in our house. Our new dog runs up one set of stairs, across the playroom and down the other set. Then she runs around the house and back to the original set of stairs to start the whole thing again. Our old dog also would get into "spells" where she would herd all of our cats (all 8 of them) into one room...she was SOO funny!!! Also, both of these dogs LOVED their stuffed animals. They would (one still does) carry them around for HOURS...I think it must be the hunting instinct.

They are just SOOO great!!!

 

[marydmjj]

Thanks for all the info. They sound like great dogs. My son really wants a border collie he can train to do agility. I just don't know much about the breed and there seems to be a lot of border collie/aussie mixes in this area.

 

[cristit14]

We have an Australian Shepherd/Border Collie mix. Axel is 2 years old and we got him from a puppy rescue place about a year ago. He is just a goofball. Every now and then he gets what we call "a crazy" and just starts running laps around the house or he will jump on my bed upstairs, race downstairs, out his doggie door and right back in, up the stairs and onto my bed and then do this about 5 times in a row. It probably doesn't help that we sort of encourage him

Our dog does this too (except we say he is spazzing out). It is pretty funny! He is a border collie mix too. We are not sure what he is mixed with, possibly lab? He is definately mixed with something bigger than a border collie. He is my 65lb lab dog.

 

[Pixiedust34]

Both my old and new dog do this!! They are SOOO funny. I think they just "have" to run, sometimes. Baby Dog used to run laps around the soccer field. Now, we have two sets of stairs in our house. Our new dog runs up one set of stairs, across the playroom and down the other set. Then she runs around the house and back to the original set of stairs to start the whole thing again. Our old dog also would get into "spells" where she would herd all of our cats (all 8 of them) into one room...she was SOO funny!!! Also, both of these dogs LOVED their stuffed animals. They would (one still does) carry them around for HOURS...I think it must be the hunting instinct.

They are just SOOO great!!!

This is too funny! Our dog also has these crazy running episodes. We call it "The Blur" because she goes so fast that all you see is a black blur zipping all over the house. She'll run in circles or up and down the stairs like mad for several minutes and then stop. We've learned to just stay out of the way when she does this so she doesn't run us over!

Stuffed animals are also a favorite here!

 

[Pixiedust34]

Thanks for all the info. They sound like great dogs. My son really wants a border collie he can train to do agility. I just don't know much about the breed and there seems to be a lot of border collie/aussie mixes in this area.

This would be a great mix for agility training! These dogs are intelligent and they love to exercise. Agility training would be a perfect fit for an Aussie mix.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Thanks for all the info. They sound like great dogs. My son really wants a border collie he can train to do agility. I just don't know much about the breed and there seems to be a lot of border collie/aussie mixes in this area.

Great for agility. If you are selecting a dog for that I would think you need a very good temperment that will listen to your son, preferably a female dog.
OH! Also make sure the dog is NOT "fearful" or shows apprehension of things.
I think selection of the dog is primary to start with. Maybe meet with someone first that does agility and perhaps you can get some good breeder names!

I have a tri-color border mix (possible terrier, not sure). She is a very sweet dog, has to be with her "people". Very smart and is "ball obsessed". She herds her ball so she gets to play with it when we let her.
I want to teach her frisbee since she does the fantastic frisbee jump but wants nothing to do with them because she prefers her BALL.

I would like to do agility with Gracie, she would be great for it!
Good Luck to you!!!

 

[Sammy]

We rescued a puppy in July and we think he's a border collie/shepherd mix as well. He also gets the "crazys" when he runs around the yard like a mad dog. He's extremely smart and trains soooo quickly! Sometimes, he's almost too smart! IRight now,he's still in his puppy stage of nipping and jumping on people, but we're trying very hard to break him of those habits. He's very loveable and does try to herd us when we are walking him! He forever crossing in front of us, or moving in close to our side to force us into a tighter group....! We're working on that too. Here's a pic, tho' it's about 2 months old right now:

 

[golfgal]

My in-laws have their second border collie mix dog. Their first one they found on the side of the road, great dog. When the grandkids came she would patrol the yard when the kids were out. It was funny to watch. Their dog now was a rescue and has obviously been abused. She is somewhat unpredictable but is getting better. She is HUGE, very tall, probably a husky/border collie mix because she has really pale blue eyes.

They SHED a lot but are really smart. Agility training would be great, they are fast and agile. Another bread to look into for agility training are Rat Terriers. They are a small dog with a big dog attitude. They are very fast and agile.

 

[Bearvet]

We have a 9 1/2 year old border collie - our first and probably our last. While he's a great dog and good with the kids, he's always on edge and has energy to burn. We've actually installed an invisible fence to keep him OUT of our yard because he's torn it up (we live on 17 acres with few neighbors, so this isn't a problem). We have an in-ground pool and he loved to run around it to "contain" the kids while they were swimming, but he made 6" deep and 1 foot wide rut all the way around it!

He loves to "work" and we have a friend that owns a farm and she borrows him to keep the Canadian geese away. He enjoys it, but now that he's getting older, he can hardly walk because he runs himself so hard! DH read that owning a border collie is like having a 4 year old boy for 12 years!!

My advice is to make sure that you have PLENTY of room for it to run and some kind of "work" for it to do. Hopefully the agility training would give it work with a focus. Please learn all you can about this breed - even the breeder tried to talk us out of a border collie as a "pet" or house dog. DH is a vet and felt he had researched it enough - he admits it wasn't the best choice for us.

 

[VirtuallyMe]

Our Max is 1 1/2 years old and is a border collie/australian shepherd mix...

And he is a little funny with some of the herding but it has never been excessive- he has never nipped or bit any of us- even our 2 yo little boy when he does his herding but has been known to trip us. he does have some energy so wouldn't make a good apartment dog but does fine with us- we have a large back yard and he runs well.

He was really easy to train- and does not run off away from our home- so when we are in our front yard he will often join us too and even if other kids or dogs come by he is fine with them.

DH took him to the vet the other day and they kept him for the day while doing all his tests and giving shots and getting him dipped (fleas)... and when dh picked him up he said that Max had to be one of the best dogs he has ever seen. Really friendly and loves attention but most of his attention seeking is wanting to be petted or just near us after we have been at work and school all day.

He does have a habit of collecting things- doesn't tear or chew them up but does collect things outside- if dh leaves tools or gloves or whatever he will go and get them and bring them to one spot- of course this would be fine if he brought them out of the elaments but he tends to leave them between a tree and the fence lol- we keep trying to get him to pick up tree branches outside and put those in a pile but he doesn't seem to get that idea lol-

But he does herd us- but he knows we are dominant to him- so it is more of a following very closely to us and staying around us- great for when I need to go to the back garage in the dark- he will leade the way- and then come back for me and stay close- so I can tell if anything is in my path-

I have a coworker that ended up with a sibling of his- and he said that his dog- a female from the same litter- is a great dog and he has never had any problems either.

Good luck