David Cohen said:
Delenn wrote:
Quoted message said:Quoted message said:I'm worried about the activity level. I'm home and available to take
him for a short run at lunchtime. I've also got two boys who have
signed up to do morning and afternoon walks.
NEVER get a dog assuming the kids will have anything to do with it.
Anything you get from the kids, or the husband, is a bonus. It's unfair
to the dog to assume otherwise. Get the dog for YOU.
I hear your words of wisdom. One of the ironies in our house is that
Ela (our Lab) thinks she belongs to my husband. She adores him. But
*I'm* with her all day long, I took her to training, I run with her. He
shows up and feeds her and she adores him. The boys come home and she
adores them. I'm just not appreciated. <sob>
Quoted message said:Quoted message said:We've got tennis balls and
wooded trails for running on, but we honestly don't take Ela
out running more than once or twice a week - a lot of our exercise is at
the gym or on bikes. I'm working as an accountant, not a forest ranger.
And we don't have a herd of sheep. Can an active family of five in a
suburban environment HAVE a border collie?
Sure, if "active" is stuff the dog can do, too. If "active" is the gym,
the Marxist Bridge Club, the Swinging Oldies Wife Swap Get Together,
and an occasional walk in the woods, no.
It's spooky how well you know me, David. Are you sure you don't have a
webcam on me?
Quoted message said:Quoted message said:I'd rate us as better than
average dog owners, but border collies are sort of the big league in
terms of need.
So, get some other breed. A Liberal Left Wing East Coast Foo Foo dog.
Something French. A Petite Basset Griffon Vendeen, maybe.
Excellent suggestion, and that was my second choice.
I just got back from visiting our neighbor who has a rescue border
collie who has terrible manners. The dog jumps on everyone and licks
and licks and so most people stay away from her, but I crouched down and
got thoroughly licked and then could speak to her. She's really quite
delightful in a bouncing-off-the-walls sort of way. One of my kids is
sort of like that (his nickname isn't very catchy, but is descriptive
non-the-less: we call him Relentless-Boy.) Anyway, we've both got half
acre lots with half-ass fencing and I asked her about how having a
border collie is working out for them and they said they love her and
would get another one.
Damn the peer pressue.
I've got to get this settled because we're going to be visiting these BC
puppies for a week while they're 6-7 weeks old. We must be firm in our
resolve if we're resolving not to do it.
Delenn