My BC named Harley (passed in 2023, RIP) was a boat dog. He came fishing with me every weekend, and absolutely loved it. One day during some particularly bad weather, Harley was underfoot when a wave came and I lost my balance. I stepped on his foot HARD. He screamed, and was completely non weight bearing.
We immediately headed to shore, and brought him to the nearest vet for what turned out to be a broken toe.
A full 2 years later, I caught him with his nose in the garbage can. I gave a sharp "Hey!!" to get his attention, and this little bastard turned to me, picked up the "injured" foot, and 3-wheeled it over to his bed. He hadn't even limped since about 3 weeks after I stepped on him, but unbelievably, his foot hurt again.
He used to make me hold his hand when we were driving somewhere lmao...
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His foot *did* hurt again. Your "Hey!" tapped into his emotional-physical memory, and the pain re-happened in that moment. Dogs store all their memories in their bodies, not their cognitive systems.
Harley was cognitively superior to a worrying amount of humanoids. Also it sounds like he had a rich and full life so you can definitely take solace/joy from that man
I break their treats in half. I know, I am a traitor. So when I get up, there are crumbs on my chair, and he eats it.
A few times, right after, he barked at the front door. When I got up to see why, he promptly went to my chair for the crumbs.
Not a BC but my maltipoo used to have housebreaking issues. We had to keep him in sight at all times so he wouldnāt pee indoors. Well, the little bastard knew it and would creep down the hallway while weāre relaxing on the couch so we would tempt him back with popcorn š little shit would take a few steps, look back at us and stare. Take another step and toss a puppy look over his shoulder. Worked every time.
Bentley uses his nose to bring a bell on our front door to tell us when he has to go potty. If he hears our upstairs neighbor bring his dog out (hears them walking down the stairs) he immediately goes and rings the bell because he wants to go outside and stir the pot lol! Theyāre too smart
My BC is also the master of playing "desperate for the toilet". Every morning he gets let out first thing, after around 30 mins the neighbours do the same thing for their dog. Every morning I fall for his whine and open the back door again, as soon as it's open he runs into the yard to bark through the fence at the neighbours dog!
My BC loves being the damsel in distress. A few times he pretends heās stuck behind the bins and whines, refusing to move. Extremely convincing that he really is stuck so we go outside to rescue him, get around 3 feet away before he trots happily inside with a giant smile on his face.
Mine is a drama queen about injuries to his paws (or minor ouchies, rather). One time he was running around in some fairly dense undergrowth, lots of lovely brambles, and he suddenly yelped and stopped. I called him to me and he took one pitiful step then stood with one paw held up, unmoving.
I rushed over to him, picked him up, carried him back to the path, and looked over his paw. Absolutely nothing wrong with it. And off he ran. Meanwhile I'd now cut my leg on a bramble and was bleeding all over my sock.
That was the first time, but this is very much a pattern now, any time he hurts his paw he will not put it down again until I've checked it out. It happened at agility and my teacher thought I was barmy when I told her "he just wants me to check it" but sure enough as soon as I'd checked his paw he was back to work š
my BC wanted her aussie brother's spot next to me by the couch last night. she went into _his_ crate, pulled out one of his toys, and dropped it on the other side of the room. sure enough, when the aussie got up to get it, and she stole his spot. sneaky weasel.
[the weasel and her brother.](https://i.postimg.cc/VNxGFNkY/IMG-9893.jpg)
This lol. This is the kind of stuff mine does. She is always meticulously planning sneaky ways to get what she wants. And when she doesn't, you HEAR about it lol. The groans and grumbles we hear when she has obviously been inconvenienced are ridiculous. She sees herself as a literal princess, and doesn't believe when anyone tells her otherwise š¤£
it's hard to say! i've only had the BC (echo, 4 y/o) since january, but i've had the aussie since 2013 (loki, 11 y/o). echo is missing a lot of foundational training that i would have put her through if i'd had her since she was a puppy, so that probably factors into it. echo does learn quickly and is eager to please, but i could say the same about the loki. they also have wildly different temperaments. echo is very gentle/sweet, while loki has always been a bit of a wrecking ball.
My BC plays the long game.
I have this all recorded and saved on video too lol thanks ring camera.
Monday: me and my BC - we go outside in the front to enjoy our daily morning garden time. She has some old dirty basketballs she loves to play with outside. She brought the ball to the door like she was bringing the ball in. Multiple times I told her weāre not bringing the ball into the house. She huffed and walked away.
Tuesday: me and my BC - we go outside in the front to enjoy our daily morning garden time. I decide to clean out the car. I went inside and came back outside quick to grab something - left the house door wide openā¦.
She waited until I was in the car and couldnāt see her - put her basketball in her mouth and pranced herself right into the house with her ball and popped down on the couch with it for me to find her minutes later.
Stinker.
Yes, my girl huffs and dramatically flops down if she can't get her own way. Thing is my Caucasian shepherd now copies her so I have 2 drama queens huffing and flopping all over the place, love 'em.
Our German shepherd mix does this too, itās such a mood.
Heās also decided that if heās bored and we arenāt playing with him, the right thing to do is let out this very slight whine like āsure would be nice if someone would play chase with me right nowā¦.ā
My BC Clover (passed 8/2023) had a memory like an elephant! We were heading out on a walk through the neighborhood one day and had gotten several houses from home when she discovered the remains of a bunny a hawk had snacked on. She didn't even get very close to it as I had seen the hawk with it when I drove through that day so I kept her a good distance away. We had our walk all around and came home from another direction where we didn't pass the bunny again. Several hours later that night, the bunny forgotten by me, Clover rang the bell to go out then made a beeline for the dead bunny and proceeded to push it around with her snout. Me in my pj's with a plastic grocery bag trying to get the bunny from her is a sight my neighbors will never forget! The rest of the story is that I placed the bunny in my trash can; the next day I realized trash didn't pick up for 5 more days and knew it would smell terrible. So I decided to toss the bunny over a 6' chain link fence surrounding a wooded/marshy area behind my house. I jumped up to throw the bunny out of the bag, it's foot hung up in the handle of the bag and it came right back down on the other side of the fence. That is how I slapped myself in the face with a day dead bunny. Life with Clover was filled with shenanigans \~ God, I miss her!
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My mixed breed girl pretended she needed to go outside, so when I got up to open the door for her, she ran around me and beat me back to the table to eat my cupcake. š
I have two stories about my childhood BC
Throughout his life Lucky was fed breakfast by whoever got up first, as makes sense. For about 6 months when Lucky was about 2 or 3, my eldest brother was that person and for the rest of his life Lucky would wait outside my brotherās door until someone got up and fed him. Every now and again one of us would get up early, feed the dog and then head out on our day - and Lucky would go curl up in front of my brotherās door. It worked a fair few times tooā¦
The other story (famous in our family) happened to my dad. Lucky was, like so many BCs, obsessed with fetch. My dad was his favourite fetch partner as heād throw the ball almost as long as Lucky wanted to chase it. Often, Dad would stretch out on his bed reading or watching tv and throw the ball out into the hall. Occasionally the ball would bounce badly and end up in the hall bathroom, stuck in the tub or behind the toilet in which case Lucky would come back and squeak like the oversized mouse he was until Dad got up and solved the problem. On this particular day, theyād been playing for a fair while when Dad heard the ball bounce into the bathroom. Sure enough, Lucky came back in full squeak and Dad got up to find the ball with the dog hot on his heels. As soon as he reached the bedroom door he stopped for there, in the middle of the hall, was the ball. Dad looked behind him and the dog was cheerfully curled up in Dadās recently vacated spot on the bed!
My BC is 16 and sometimes forgets to go to the door to go potty. I started using treat rewards to help him remember. At first, the refresher training worked very well. Then I noticed he would go to the door, go out, walk around the yard and come back expecting a treat without actually going potty. Heād even nudge my hand and give me āthe lookā when he didnāt get a treat. Maybe his doggy dementia is really just manipulation.
Every summer we go up North to a cottage. Brody got to swim almost every day and wander around off leash. One year when we went it was too windy to swim for 3 days. He started limping (he had suffered CCL injury the year before). I couldn't get into a local vet, so we packed up the next day and started the drive home. About halfway we stopped for a break and he jumped out of the car miraculously healed.
My dog pretends he "can't" get into my SUV when it's time to go home from the park.
I used to think he had a hard time because he couldn't jump that tall... I tried getting him foldable steps, even tried a ramp. Turns out, after a couple rainy days when we were stuck indoors, he could get in the car just fine š
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This menace, now 17, likes to nudge wine glasses, vases, eye glasses, the remote and whatever else she can reach towards the edge of the coffee table and then quickly glare at you until you give her attention! And it works every time
Mine refused to put weight on one paw for an entire morning, he was limping around and whining. I called out of work and brought him to the vet where they took X-rays and did a thorough exam. $300 later, I learned that he was completely fine, he just didnāt want me to go to work!
We often have other dogs over with their human companions, either for a visit or overnight doggy-sitting.
When my girl (a BC mix), gets sick of the shenanigans, sheāll run to the backdoor and pretend to be SUPER excited about *something* in the yard. This prompts the other dogs to race outside. My girl will graciously step aside to let them out, then refuse to go out with them.
She is sneaky ā¦ lol
For me it's the little things like understanding quid pro quo. She'll come up to me and be super lovely dovey, affectionate and getting me to give her loads of scratches.
Then when I've apparently had enough enjoyment from giving her scratches she'll bounce to the door, give me the look and take a few steps towards the back door.
If I don't follow she'll circle back in, give me the look again and go out the back. Then repeat until successful.
I have a border collie / Australian cattle dog and she is literally the sweetest girl but she knows she has me wrapped around her paw lol like if we make dinner but arenāt ready to eat yet she will repeatedly go to the kitchen and come back to us and grumble at us. Very food motivated lol
My Cooper (passed in 2022) would trick one person into thinking that the other person had forgot to feed him. Somedays he would have double breakfasts and double dinners. It took us about a year to catch on! What a little turkey! Iād give anything to be tricked by him again.
I knew a border collie when I used to work in dog daycare that during play (or the occasional play turned intimidation from the other dog) would show clear dog body language of submission. She would go low, roll on her back, tuck her tail and look away from the other dog to show she is 100% not a threat. It usually happened when wrestling got a little too rough for her liking and she was like "nah, you play too hard for me, I am done." The other dog would look all proud of themselves for "winning" and turn to walk away. The second they put their guard down and had their back turned to her the border collie would jump up, nip their ankle, and sprint away in like half a second. Like she wasnt trying to start a fight, it read more like she wanted to have the last word and make a point that the other dog was a jerk or something. It was clearly a calculated decision on her part and she was gone so quickly the other dog always just looked confused af and stunned by it as opposed to mad. All of the border collies I met were smart and clever as hell, and would play ball until they dropped dead lol
Lmao. Yes! My borgi (border collie/corgi mix) acts like he has to go pee really bad. Does his potty dance, hits his bells like he is in a band. He doesnāt have to pee the neighborsā dogs are outside and he wants to bark at them through the gate.
My 14yo BC Skip will go to the door like he needs to go outside, wait for you to get off the couch to let him out, then heāll run back & take your seat.
Mine trained me to give her a treat every time she went outside to use the bathroom.
She would sit at the door, I let her out, she would pee. Then she would come back inside and sit at the cookie jar. āOh! You want a treat?! You bet!ā I would give her a treat. This went on for a couple of weeks. Then one time I noticed she went outside, paused at the bottom of the stairs, come right back inside, and stood to the treat jar. I donāt know how long she was going outside and not going potty just to get a cookie. I felt duped.
One of mine (3 year old) is the most manipulative little shit that ever lived. First, she's EXTREMELY play/fetch driven and has always had an issue with resource guarding. We were cognizant of making trades with her from day 1 when she got things she wasn't supposed to as a puppy, so we're still unsure how exactly this developed, but she can get pretty spicy about it. Even now we always offer trades when we need her to drop something - food doesn't work and it has to be a toy or the opportunity to work/play.
Well, she takes advantage of this. Now if she wants to play and we tell her no, she'll go steal things and run under a piece of furniture until we go get a toy. In particular, she prefers to hold TV remotes hostage. She'll even stare at us and dare us to not go get a toy, and start a countdown until she chomps down and obliterates the remote.
So...I now have to keep stock of 2-3 extra remotes per TV in the house in anticipation of their eventual destruction. AirPods, eye glasses, and even cell phones seem to be fair game for her.
When my family's first BC was getting older (and wiser) she would just lay around outside with the underground electric fence keeping her contained.
Well more and more often we'd get calls from neighbor's asking us to get her so they could get back to their yard work. We were wondering how she kept getting through her fence. She was maybe 2 when we got it installed so she saw all of the flags.
Turns out, she realized there was a distance where the collar would beep to warn that she was getting close to the fence, but it wouldn't be close enough to shock her. She would find this distance, lay down, and just wait for the collar battery to die. After that she just wandered wherever she wanted.
Mine the other day was trying to make me fetch the ball. He ran to the other side of the yard dropped the ball, ran back to me and whined while trying to nudge me forward. He went and got the ball after a "who tf do you think you are?"
My daughter was outside with mine (he's a BC/GSD/Lab mix named Carl) the other day and throwing a ball. We have a younger dog with a lot of energy and she loves to play fetch. Lately Carl hasn't wanted to expend much effort in playing ball. He would rather sniff around while our other dog plays. We try to include him in it. My daughter was coaxing Carl into playing. He came over to her, took the ball out of her hand, and then waited for her to praise him for "fetching" the ball.
When the our non-bcās have a toy, bone or attention from a human that the BC wants, she will find a high value toy and bring it around the other two. She makes a big show of playing hard with the toy. Once she captures the attention of her victim she swoops in for whatever she was eyeing.
She will also direct the other dogs to the door only to step back last minute. Once the door is closed she immediately asks for one-on-one attention. She has the other dogs wrapped around her paw.
I think mine wants our other dog to want what he has. I've noticed when I give them both a chew, he will wait to chew his until she is done with hers. Then he revels in her staring at him while he savors it. She falls for it every time.
I have a border collie mix and she is super smart but very sweet. The worst thing she ever did was poop in our babies nursery while we werenāt home. STINKER
Ours will play with their toy, it rolls under the couch, they start digging for it and then we'll get it. They'll purposely sit right next to the base of the couch, do it again and then look at us
Adebisi believes that life is one big staring contest. Will just stare at me (no fucking joke, his patience is unmatched) until I acknowledge him. Even then, if I do not accommodate his request (outside/walk/food/toy/red friend (thatās a laser pointer - favorite).
My 10 month old red BC Pippa bratty barks when we play fetch indoors. She common sense barks when the ball goes on cabinets or under furniture...Good Girl! Dont tear up the furniture digging for the toy, but on a retrive of toy she plays keep away insted of dropping holding the toy out of reach and barking , " Now! Now!"
Shes in heat awaiting vet visit later this month, but even previously she has been Waking in her crate most every night 3 to five hours after bedtime to go potty.
She goes potty on verbal command in normal circumstances, but is hard to focus outside before bed time.
A couple months ago she was able to sleep thru the night.
Could it be her crate is too hot for sleeping? What other factors cause this early waking? Its killing my sleep health!
If my BC ever needs to go out to do her business during the night, she knows not to bark loudly. Instead, she uses her āinside voiceā which is enough that Iāll wake up to let her out, but my boyfriend sleeps through it. Sheās my dog at the end of the day so I donāt mind, and I appreciate the indoor voice so I donāt get startled awake.
In a morning if she REALLY wants her breakfast, sheāll use this indoor voice like sheās desperate to go out. Iāll wake up, walk downstairs with her, only to find her stood at her bowl waiting for me to dish up her breakfast. She doesnāt do it often as think sheās realised it doesnāt work, and sheāll only be fed at her set breakfast time. But she does still try it every so often, and because I want to avoid having her do her business inside on the carpet I always get up!
My BC/aussie mix figured out real quick that I would give him a toy or chew from the āmagic closetā if he was acting up. So he started acting up and then running to the closet, sit and wag his tail, as soon as I got up. He trained me lol. He doesnāt do it as much anymore now that heās a little older.
More recently, heās figured out that my cell phone is an attention suck, so when he wants attention heāll come knock it out of my hands or just put his snout in front of the screen.
Both momma puppy and her daughter will whine like crazy like they need to go potty, dart out the door then SLAM on the breaks turn around and look at me like aren't you coming too? We would like to play fetch. Momma takes it one step further however, if I shut the door and walk away. She'll go to each window and bark till she finds what room I'm in. And I yell go play. Then she runs off to go swear at a stick. Bc it won't throw itself. Or bc she doesn't have thumbs to throw it. I haven't quite figured it out yet.
While crate training as a puppy, mine learned that she could get dad off his ass in an instant with a reverse sneeze (sounds enough like she was having trouble breathing). All it took was once for her to do it any time she wanted my attention. Go out? Reverse sneeze fit. Play? Reverse sneeze fit! She only recently grew out of it (after four years) and I think it's cause I stopped reacting lol
My girl scratches at the door like she needs to go out for a piss, but when I go to the door to open it, she runs back, flops in bed, paws in the air, demanding Tum Rubs now that I am up and paying her attention.
My 13 year old BC likes to pretend that he's never, ever been walked a day in his life. I can take him on his evening 30 minute walk, then he will rush to the entryway again if you start messing about by the door. And sometimes, after I walk him alone, he will go to my partner and beg for another walk from him. If he doesn't get a walk that's "long enough," he will hold his bowels. This has led to accidents in the past. It's incredibly tiring, and unfortunately it's totally turned my boyfriend off from BCs. My first BC was not like this.
My Jake figured out how to open the doors in my house that have lever handles. I need to teach him how to close them, because he let's himself back in the patio door and leaves it wide open. In Florida in the summer, that's the LAST thing I want!
He also likes to sleep in bed with me, but he ends up sprawled out and I don't sleep well from the lack of space. So if I tell him to get down while I'm dozing off, he waits and tests to see it I'm asleep. He'll stand at the side of my bed and nose at my hand (usually I fake sleep to get him to leave me alone). If I don't pet him, he goes back to the foot of my bed and hops up, finds my legs to lay on, and goes to sleep.
We have to keep an eye on certain doors in the house too, bc she can open them. There is a baby lock on tge cabinet for the trash and she has figured out how to get in that one!
My dog is obsessed with the neighbor girl. When he hears her outside, he pretends he has to poop immediately so we'll take him out. Then he goes to play with her.
I love this! We have a bossie border too. I love how she herds everyone to the cookie jar! Newcomers, housemates, mailmenā¦.anyone! (Mailmen joke!}. In my life Iāve been fortunate enough to have had dogs that lived past 10 years. My experience is they get bossier as they age! I go along because they are my everything.
Our BC Caly, we have gotten into the routine of when itās time to go to bed. Yes she sleeps in our bed. Anyway we give her two treats and tell her itās time to go to bed. She runs, jumps and plops down on the corner waiting for us to pay the fee. Well during the night if my wife or I have to get up and go out of the room, she runs out the room with us. She will not return, no matter how much we try, until she sees us go to the treats grab them for her fee.
..Hi There..I'm looking for a Border Collie Female black and white color long fur 1yr or up for adoption š..If you know something about it please feel free reaching me out at [email protected] living in NYC Manhattan š š¦“ ..
My BC named Harley (passed in 2023, RIP) was a boat dog. He came fishing with me every weekend, and absolutely loved it. One day during some particularly bad weather, Harley was underfoot when a wave came and I lost my balance. I stepped on his foot HARD. He screamed, and was completely non weight bearing. We immediately headed to shore, and brought him to the nearest vet for what turned out to be a broken toe. A full 2 years later, I caught him with his nose in the garbage can. I gave a sharp "Hey!!" to get his attention, and this little bastard turned to me, picked up the "injured" foot, and 3-wheeled it over to his bed. He hadn't even limped since about 3 weeks after I stepped on him, but unbelievably, his foot hurt again.
I laughed so hard at this story! What a stinker!
Harley was a human being wearing a fur coat. Gosh I miss him š¢
It sounds like he was, this really cracked me up. Iām sorry for your loss, they are so special.
That is a very cherished memory to have. Sounds like a lovable scamp.
Thank you for the award =)
It's not much, you just told the story very well and I could imagine each part of it. You were both lucky to enjoy the time you had together.
He used to make me hold his hand when we were driving somewhere lmao... https://preview.redd.it/6dwnwvxw5d7d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c607358cc21a47a64862ad418c8df8b794e6ee36
What a love bug! Iām so glad you had him, and so sorry for your loss.
His foot *did* hurt again. Your "Hey!" tapped into his emotional-physical memory, and the pain re-happened in that moment. Dogs store all their memories in their bodies, not their cognitive systems.
I think this too. It reactivated his memeory of his pain within his body as an automatic response.
Harley was cognitively superior to a worrying amount of humanoids. Also it sounds like he had a rich and full life so you can definitely take solace/joy from that man
I break their treats in half. I know, I am a traitor. So when I get up, there are crumbs on my chair, and he eats it. A few times, right after, he barked at the front door. When I got up to see why, he promptly went to my chair for the crumbs.
My dog pulled this bait and switch on me too!
Not a BC but my maltipoo used to have housebreaking issues. We had to keep him in sight at all times so he wouldnāt pee indoors. Well, the little bastard knew it and would creep down the hallway while weāre relaxing on the couch so we would tempt him back with popcorn š little shit would take a few steps, look back at us and stare. Take another step and toss a puppy look over his shoulder. Worked every time.
šššš
Mine herds everyone to the cookie jar, my German Sheperd herds us to the kitchen for leftovers. Weāre retired and live to dote on them.
Bentley uses his nose to bring a bell on our front door to tell us when he has to go potty. If he hears our upstairs neighbor bring his dog out (hears them walking down the stairs) he immediately goes and rings the bell because he wants to go outside and stir the pot lol! Theyāre too smart
That's so funny! What a little instigator š Ellia does this too
My BC koda does the same thing! It only took a couple days for the āpotty bellā to become the āgo outside to play bellā
Mine rings her bell if we ask if she is ready for a bath. Definitely wants to be as far away from the bath as she can be.
My BC is also the master of playing "desperate for the toilet". Every morning he gets let out first thing, after around 30 mins the neighbours do the same thing for their dog. Every morning I fall for his whine and open the back door again, as soon as it's open he runs into the yard to bark through the fence at the neighbours dog!
My BC loves being the damsel in distress. A few times he pretends heās stuck behind the bins and whines, refusing to move. Extremely convincing that he really is stuck so we go outside to rescue him, get around 3 feet away before he trots happily inside with a giant smile on his face.
Mine is a drama queen about injuries to his paws (or minor ouchies, rather). One time he was running around in some fairly dense undergrowth, lots of lovely brambles, and he suddenly yelped and stopped. I called him to me and he took one pitiful step then stood with one paw held up, unmoving. I rushed over to him, picked him up, carried him back to the path, and looked over his paw. Absolutely nothing wrong with it. And off he ran. Meanwhile I'd now cut my leg on a bramble and was bleeding all over my sock. That was the first time, but this is very much a pattern now, any time he hurts his paw he will not put it down again until I've checked it out. It happened at agility and my teacher thought I was barmy when I told her "he just wants me to check it" but sure enough as soon as I'd checked his paw he was back to work š
Aww such a sweet drama queen haha, thatās so adorable
āExcuse me Mom! I need your assistanceā
Mine does exactly the same!!!
It's like he needs you to kiss his ouchie š„¹š„¹š„¹
This reminds me of a Sim who is stuck and can't move until you remove the plate from the floor š
my BC wanted her aussie brother's spot next to me by the couch last night. she went into _his_ crate, pulled out one of his toys, and dropped it on the other side of the room. sure enough, when the aussie got up to get it, and she stole his spot. sneaky weasel. [the weasel and her brother.](https://i.postimg.cc/VNxGFNkY/IMG-9893.jpg)
This lol. This is the kind of stuff mine does. She is always meticulously planning sneaky ways to get what she wants. And when she doesn't, you HEAR about it lol. The groans and grumbles we hear when she has obviously been inconvenienced are ridiculous. She sees herself as a literal princess, and doesn't believe when anyone tells her otherwise š¤£
Iāve seen this trick repeatedly
This is perfection.
Afaik aussies are known to be pretty bright too - which of yours would you say seems to be smarter?
it's hard to say! i've only had the BC (echo, 4 y/o) since january, but i've had the aussie since 2013 (loki, 11 y/o). echo is missing a lot of foundational training that i would have put her through if i'd had her since she was a puppy, so that probably factors into it. echo does learn quickly and is eager to please, but i could say the same about the loki. they also have wildly different temperaments. echo is very gentle/sweet, while loki has always been a bit of a wrecking ball.
My BC plays the long game. I have this all recorded and saved on video too lol thanks ring camera. Monday: me and my BC - we go outside in the front to enjoy our daily morning garden time. She has some old dirty basketballs she loves to play with outside. She brought the ball to the door like she was bringing the ball in. Multiple times I told her weāre not bringing the ball into the house. She huffed and walked away. Tuesday: me and my BC - we go outside in the front to enjoy our daily morning garden time. I decide to clean out the car. I went inside and came back outside quick to grab something - left the house door wide openā¦. She waited until I was in the car and couldnāt see her - put her basketball in her mouth and pranced herself right into the house with her ball and popped down on the couch with it for me to find her minutes later. Stinker.
Hahahaha the huff is such a vibe. Mine huffs at me all the time when she doesnāt get her way.
The huff is the best, they can get so grumpy š
Yes, my girl huffs and dramatically flops down if she can't get her own way. Thing is my Caucasian shepherd now copies her so I have 2 drama queens huffing and flopping all over the place, love 'em.
Hahaha Iām so here for this šš
Our German shepherd mix does this too, itās such a mood. Heās also decided that if heās bored and we arenāt playing with him, the right thing to do is let out this very slight whine like āsure would be nice if someone would play chase with me right nowā¦.ā
Hahaha, you got me with the huffā¦.mine huffs and practically rolls his eyes too if he doesnāt like the answer.
We donāt own them. They own us.
My BC Clover (passed 8/2023) had a memory like an elephant! We were heading out on a walk through the neighborhood one day and had gotten several houses from home when she discovered the remains of a bunny a hawk had snacked on. She didn't even get very close to it as I had seen the hawk with it when I drove through that day so I kept her a good distance away. We had our walk all around and came home from another direction where we didn't pass the bunny again. Several hours later that night, the bunny forgotten by me, Clover rang the bell to go out then made a beeline for the dead bunny and proceeded to push it around with her snout. Me in my pj's with a plastic grocery bag trying to get the bunny from her is a sight my neighbors will never forget! The rest of the story is that I placed the bunny in my trash can; the next day I realized trash didn't pick up for 5 more days and knew it would smell terrible. So I decided to toss the bunny over a 6' chain link fence surrounding a wooded/marshy area behind my house. I jumped up to throw the bunny out of the bag, it's foot hung up in the handle of the bag and it came right back down on the other side of the fence. That is how I slapped myself in the face with a day dead bunny. Life with Clover was filled with shenanigans \~ God, I miss her! https://preview.redd.it/z4shof3icd7d1.jpeg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=579cc31367d92fe1fbccacee280401a8c73619db
My mixed breed girl pretended she needed to go outside, so when I got up to open the door for her, she ran around me and beat me back to the table to eat my cupcake. š
I have two stories about my childhood BC Throughout his life Lucky was fed breakfast by whoever got up first, as makes sense. For about 6 months when Lucky was about 2 or 3, my eldest brother was that person and for the rest of his life Lucky would wait outside my brotherās door until someone got up and fed him. Every now and again one of us would get up early, feed the dog and then head out on our day - and Lucky would go curl up in front of my brotherās door. It worked a fair few times tooā¦ The other story (famous in our family) happened to my dad. Lucky was, like so many BCs, obsessed with fetch. My dad was his favourite fetch partner as heād throw the ball almost as long as Lucky wanted to chase it. Often, Dad would stretch out on his bed reading or watching tv and throw the ball out into the hall. Occasionally the ball would bounce badly and end up in the hall bathroom, stuck in the tub or behind the toilet in which case Lucky would come back and squeak like the oversized mouse he was until Dad got up and solved the problem. On this particular day, theyād been playing for a fair while when Dad heard the ball bounce into the bathroom. Sure enough, Lucky came back in full squeak and Dad got up to find the ball with the dog hot on his heels. As soon as he reached the bedroom door he stopped for there, in the middle of the hall, was the ball. Dad looked behind him and the dog was cheerfully curled up in Dadās recently vacated spot on the bed!
My BC is 16 and sometimes forgets to go to the door to go potty. I started using treat rewards to help him remember. At first, the refresher training worked very well. Then I noticed he would go to the door, go out, walk around the yard and come back expecting a treat without actually going potty. Heād even nudge my hand and give me āthe lookā when he didnāt get a treat. Maybe his doggy dementia is really just manipulation.
Sixteen! Youāre sure doing something right. š
Every summer we go up North to a cottage. Brody got to swim almost every day and wander around off leash. One year when we went it was too windy to swim for 3 days. He started limping (he had suffered CCL injury the year before). I couldn't get into a local vet, so we packed up the next day and started the drive home. About halfway we stopped for a break and he jumped out of the car miraculously healed.
My dog pretends he "can't" get into my SUV when it's time to go home from the park. I used to think he had a hard time because he couldn't jump that tall... I tried getting him foldable steps, even tried a ramp. Turns out, after a couple rainy days when we were stuck indoors, he could get in the car just fine š
Several hundred euros of vet's bills later it turns out that my boy Bob "just liked to be carried".
Hahahaha that's brilliant
He puts his ball under a piece of furniture, and starts chewing on it so I have to get up and throw the ball for him.
Mine does this too, but instead of chewing on the furniture, he starts talking and howling until I tend to him IMMEDIATELY šš®āšØ
https://preview.redd.it/ebwv5oqohf7d1.jpeg?width=4284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ad0d9a6defa05deaf0e0c2b9879fb93c3dce0f22 This menace, now 17, likes to nudge wine glasses, vases, eye glasses, the remote and whatever else she can reach towards the edge of the coffee table and then quickly glare at you until you give her attention! And it works every time
A cat in a dog suit
Honestly that would explain a lot
Mine refused to put weight on one paw for an entire morning, he was limping around and whining. I called out of work and brought him to the vet where they took X-rays and did a thorough exam. $300 later, I learned that he was completely fine, he just didnāt want me to go to work!
Makes sense.
Hahahaha. They have us humans trained well.
We often have other dogs over with their human companions, either for a visit or overnight doggy-sitting. When my girl (a BC mix), gets sick of the shenanigans, sheāll run to the backdoor and pretend to be SUPER excited about *something* in the yard. This prompts the other dogs to race outside. My girl will graciously step aside to let them out, then refuse to go out with them. She is sneaky ā¦ lol
Mine acts like he has to pee when he really just wants to go outside to see the dog next door.
For me it's the little things like understanding quid pro quo. She'll come up to me and be super lovely dovey, affectionate and getting me to give her loads of scratches. Then when I've apparently had enough enjoyment from giving her scratches she'll bounce to the door, give me the look and take a few steps towards the back door. If I don't follow she'll circle back in, give me the look again and go out the back. Then repeat until successful.
I have a border collie / Australian cattle dog and she is literally the sweetest girl but she knows she has me wrapped around her paw lol like if we make dinner but arenāt ready to eat yet she will repeatedly go to the kitchen and come back to us and grumble at us. Very food motivated lol
My Cooper (passed in 2022) would trick one person into thinking that the other person had forgot to feed him. Somedays he would have double breakfasts and double dinners. It took us about a year to catch on! What a little turkey! Iād give anything to be tricked by him again.
What a cute little faker!
I knew a border collie when I used to work in dog daycare that during play (or the occasional play turned intimidation from the other dog) would show clear dog body language of submission. She would go low, roll on her back, tuck her tail and look away from the other dog to show she is 100% not a threat. It usually happened when wrestling got a little too rough for her liking and she was like "nah, you play too hard for me, I am done." The other dog would look all proud of themselves for "winning" and turn to walk away. The second they put their guard down and had their back turned to her the border collie would jump up, nip their ankle, and sprint away in like half a second. Like she wasnt trying to start a fight, it read more like she wanted to have the last word and make a point that the other dog was a jerk or something. It was clearly a calculated decision on her part and she was gone so quickly the other dog always just looked confused af and stunned by it as opposed to mad. All of the border collies I met were smart and clever as hell, and would play ball until they dropped dead lol
great stories. so funny.
Lmao. Yes! My borgi (border collie/corgi mix) acts like he has to go pee really bad. Does his potty dance, hits his bells like he is in a band. He doesnāt have to pee the neighborsā dogs are outside and he wants to bark at them through the gate.
My wife's BC had her grandmother-in-law trained to open the fridge for him by whacking at it with his paw and give him cheese.
Gotta pay the cheese tax!
Mine will bump me towards the pantry where we store her snacks.
My 14yo BC Skip will go to the door like he needs to go outside, wait for you to get off the couch to let him out, then heāll run back & take your seat.
Mine trained me to give her a treat every time she went outside to use the bathroom. She would sit at the door, I let her out, she would pee. Then she would come back inside and sit at the cookie jar. āOh! You want a treat?! You bet!ā I would give her a treat. This went on for a couple of weeks. Then one time I noticed she went outside, paused at the bottom of the stairs, come right back inside, and stood to the treat jar. I donāt know how long she was going outside and not going potty just to get a cookie. I felt duped.
One of mine (3 year old) is the most manipulative little shit that ever lived. First, she's EXTREMELY play/fetch driven and has always had an issue with resource guarding. We were cognizant of making trades with her from day 1 when she got things she wasn't supposed to as a puppy, so we're still unsure how exactly this developed, but she can get pretty spicy about it. Even now we always offer trades when we need her to drop something - food doesn't work and it has to be a toy or the opportunity to work/play. Well, she takes advantage of this. Now if she wants to play and we tell her no, she'll go steal things and run under a piece of furniture until we go get a toy. In particular, she prefers to hold TV remotes hostage. She'll even stare at us and dare us to not go get a toy, and start a countdown until she chomps down and obliterates the remote. So...I now have to keep stock of 2-3 extra remotes per TV in the house in anticipation of their eventual destruction. AirPods, eye glasses, and even cell phones seem to be fair game for her.
When my family's first BC was getting older (and wiser) she would just lay around outside with the underground electric fence keeping her contained. Well more and more often we'd get calls from neighbor's asking us to get her so they could get back to their yard work. We were wondering how she kept getting through her fence. She was maybe 2 when we got it installed so she saw all of the flags. Turns out, she realized there was a distance where the collar would beep to warn that she was getting close to the fence, but it wouldn't be close enough to shock her. She would find this distance, lay down, and just wait for the collar battery to die. After that she just wandered wherever she wanted.
Mine the other day was trying to make me fetch the ball. He ran to the other side of the yard dropped the ball, ran back to me and whined while trying to nudge me forward. He went and got the ball after a "who tf do you think you are?"
My daughter was outside with mine (he's a BC/GSD/Lab mix named Carl) the other day and throwing a ball. We have a younger dog with a lot of energy and she loves to play fetch. Lately Carl hasn't wanted to expend much effort in playing ball. He would rather sniff around while our other dog plays. We try to include him in it. My daughter was coaxing Carl into playing. He came over to her, took the ball out of her hand, and then waited for her to praise him for "fetching" the ball.
Itās so fun to read these! Mine is a collie/Aussie/ heeler mix and he does SO many of these things. I feel seen lol
When the our non-bcās have a toy, bone or attention from a human that the BC wants, she will find a high value toy and bring it around the other two. She makes a big show of playing hard with the toy. Once she captures the attention of her victim she swoops in for whatever she was eyeing. She will also direct the other dogs to the door only to step back last minute. Once the door is closed she immediately asks for one-on-one attention. She has the other dogs wrapped around her paw.
I think mine wants our other dog to want what he has. I've noticed when I give them both a chew, he will wait to chew his until she is done with hers. Then he revels in her staring at him while he savors it. She falls for it every time.
https://preview.redd.it/c4xyygy7sk7d1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9ed8ae8c01d884614bd78c2af7d3cfca80c6cd4e Thought I would add a pic!
I have a border collie mix and she is super smart but very sweet. The worst thing she ever did was poop in our babies nursery while we werenāt home. STINKER
Ours will play with their toy, it rolls under the couch, they start digging for it and then we'll get it. They'll purposely sit right next to the base of the couch, do it again and then look at us
Welcome to the world of clever BC
She complains to the hilt or steals snd runs away until you give her a treat. Life is short.
Adebisi believes that life is one big staring contest. Will just stare at me (no fucking joke, his patience is unmatched) until I acknowledge him. Even then, if I do not accommodate his request (outside/walk/food/toy/red friend (thatās a laser pointer - favorite).
My 10 month old red BC Pippa bratty barks when we play fetch indoors. She common sense barks when the ball goes on cabinets or under furniture...Good Girl! Dont tear up the furniture digging for the toy, but on a retrive of toy she plays keep away insted of dropping holding the toy out of reach and barking , " Now! Now!" Shes in heat awaiting vet visit later this month, but even previously she has been Waking in her crate most every night 3 to five hours after bedtime to go potty. She goes potty on verbal command in normal circumstances, but is hard to focus outside before bed time. A couple months ago she was able to sleep thru the night. Could it be her crate is too hot for sleeping? What other factors cause this early waking? Its killing my sleep health!
If my BC ever needs to go out to do her business during the night, she knows not to bark loudly. Instead, she uses her āinside voiceā which is enough that Iāll wake up to let her out, but my boyfriend sleeps through it. Sheās my dog at the end of the day so I donāt mind, and I appreciate the indoor voice so I donāt get startled awake. In a morning if she REALLY wants her breakfast, sheāll use this indoor voice like sheās desperate to go out. Iāll wake up, walk downstairs with her, only to find her stood at her bowl waiting for me to dish up her breakfast. She doesnāt do it often as think sheās realised it doesnāt work, and sheāll only be fed at her set breakfast time. But she does still try it every so often, and because I want to avoid having her do her business inside on the carpet I always get up!
My BC/aussie mix figured out real quick that I would give him a toy or chew from the āmagic closetā if he was acting up. So he started acting up and then running to the closet, sit and wag his tail, as soon as I got up. He trained me lol. He doesnāt do it as much anymore now that heās a little older.
More recently, heās figured out that my cell phone is an attention suck, so when he wants attention heāll come knock it out of my hands or just put his snout in front of the screen.
Both momma puppy and her daughter will whine like crazy like they need to go potty, dart out the door then SLAM on the breaks turn around and look at me like aren't you coming too? We would like to play fetch. Momma takes it one step further however, if I shut the door and walk away. She'll go to each window and bark till she finds what room I'm in. And I yell go play. Then she runs off to go swear at a stick. Bc it won't throw itself. Or bc she doesn't have thumbs to throw it. I haven't quite figured it out yet.
She trained you well ššŗ
While crate training as a puppy, mine learned that she could get dad off his ass in an instant with a reverse sneeze (sounds enough like she was having trouble breathing). All it took was once for her to do it any time she wanted my attention. Go out? Reverse sneeze fit. Play? Reverse sneeze fit! She only recently grew out of it (after four years) and I think it's cause I stopped reacting lol
Itās part of their job description and I usually give into it because theyāre such sweet dogs.
My girl scratches at the door like she needs to go out for a piss, but when I go to the door to open it, she runs back, flops in bed, paws in the air, demanding Tum Rubs now that I am up and paying her attention.
My 13 year old BC likes to pretend that he's never, ever been walked a day in his life. I can take him on his evening 30 minute walk, then he will rush to the entryway again if you start messing about by the door. And sometimes, after I walk him alone, he will go to my partner and beg for another walk from him. If he doesn't get a walk that's "long enough," he will hold his bowels. This has led to accidents in the past. It's incredibly tiring, and unfortunately it's totally turned my boyfriend off from BCs. My first BC was not like this.
My Jake figured out how to open the doors in my house that have lever handles. I need to teach him how to close them, because he let's himself back in the patio door and leaves it wide open. In Florida in the summer, that's the LAST thing I want! He also likes to sleep in bed with me, but he ends up sprawled out and I don't sleep well from the lack of space. So if I tell him to get down while I'm dozing off, he waits and tests to see it I'm asleep. He'll stand at the side of my bed and nose at my hand (usually I fake sleep to get him to leave me alone). If I don't pet him, he goes back to the foot of my bed and hops up, finds my legs to lay on, and goes to sleep.
We have to keep an eye on certain doors in the house too, bc she can open them. There is a baby lock on tge cabinet for the trash and she has figured out how to get in that one!
My BC limps over for a fuss when anyone says āoh poor Dotty!ā
Byron rolls the soccer ball down the hill and looks at me, then points his nose at the ball like "Go on! Get it!"
My dog is obsessed with the neighbor girl. When he hears her outside, he pretends he has to poop immediately so we'll take him out. Then he goes to play with her.
I love this! We have a bossie border too. I love how she herds everyone to the cookie jar! Newcomers, housemates, mailmenā¦.anyone! (Mailmen joke!}. In my life Iāve been fortunate enough to have had dogs that lived past 10 years. My experience is they get bossier as they age! I go along because they are my everything.
Seriously everyoneā¦these stories are great! Thanks to all for sharing!
Our BC Caly, we have gotten into the routine of when itās time to go to bed. Yes she sleeps in our bed. Anyway we give her two treats and tell her itās time to go to bed. She runs, jumps and plops down on the corner waiting for us to pay the fee. Well during the night if my wife or I have to get up and go out of the room, she runs out the room with us. She will not return, no matter how much we try, until she sees us go to the treats grab them for her fee.
My boy suddenly needs a cuddle when we are about to leave the park. I know you just want longer in the field! Happy to oblige though
..Hi There..I'm looking for a Border Collie Female black and white color long fur 1yr or up for adoption š..If you know something about it please feel free reaching me out at [email protected] living in NYC Manhattan š š¦“ ..
My BC just turned 1 and so far heās more of a bargainer than a manipulator. But we shall see lol.
Just wait until they get some life wisdom lol, they are fast learners! š
If yours are you are doing something wrong .