Are two border collie puppies/dogs happier?

[William Draper]

Our 10 yeat old blue merle Border Collie (Blue) passed away this week. Extended high summer heat is the only thing we can put it to. We "retired" him about a year ago as we could see him wearing down It is very sad.

I'll be looking for a replacement(s) next spring. I have owned a Border Collie for 30+ years and am fully aware they are high energy animals. Have only owned one at a time in the past. Can anyone tell me if Border Collies are happier in pairs? Have thought about buying two at a time but was scared they would be jelous of one another. On the other hand, they will wear a person down until he/she is exhausted playing. Would they may be happier as a pair so they can play together.

My dogs are used as pets and light hearding. [/font]
Thoughts?

Thanks in advance,
Bill Draper

[LadyDaniela]

I will never go back to having a single dog. The age difference between our youngest/oldest is less than a year and a half. For a while there it was nothing but potty training and teething, but totally worth it IMO. Our borders Freckles and Tucker are as tight as they get - to the point of separation anxiety if we split them up. They've never displayed any jealousy toward one another so far. We got Freckles when she was 5 mos old. Freckles was 10 mos old when we got Tucker who was between 4-5 weeks old. We got BennE 5 months later when he was 4 mos old.

[William Draper]

(08-03-2011 06:18 PM)LadyDaniela Wrote:  I will never go back to having a single dog. The age difference between our youngest/oldest is less than a year and a half. For a while there it was nothing but potty training and teething, but totally worth it IMO. Our borders Freckles and Tucker are as tight as they get - to the point of separation anxiety if we split them up. They've never displayed any jealousy toward one another so far. We got Freckles when she was 5 mos old. Freckles was 10 mos old when we got Tucker who was between 4-5 weeks old. We got BennE 5 months later when he was 4 mos old.

[William Draper]

Thanks very much for your response. One dog just wears you out, I think we have had six or seven pure breed Border Collies it is time to try something else. They just have too much energy. We have never had any serious health problems, I find Border Collies require more care than mixed breed dogs. Their immune system is not as strong until about age two and Border Collies do do not typically live as long as mixed breed dogs but they are so smart it is worth it. Border Collies mind if they understand, I have never had to punish one besides speak in an aggressive voice. I take mine to the vet for an annual physical and watch their diet so I know shorter life is not lack of care.

Thanks for your response,

Bill Draper
Waterloo, IA

[Toddsmom]

(08-03-2011 06:58 PM)William Draper Wrote:  Thanks very much for your response. One dog just wears you out, I think we have had six or seven pure breed Border Collies it is time to try something else. They just have too much energy. We have never had any serious health problems, I find Border Collies require more care than mixed breed dogs. Their immune system is not as strong until about age two and Border Collies do do not typically live as long as mixed breed dogs but they are so smart it is worth it. Border Collies mind if they understand, I have never had to punish one besides speak in an aggressive voice. I take mine to the vet for an annual physical and watch their diet so I know shorter life is not lack of care.

Thanks for your response,

Bill Draper
Waterloo, IA

Bill,

I am very sorry for your loss firstly. No matter how old they get, it always seems like they are too young to pass.

I'm from Iowa as well and I would just suggest that you are careful who you purchase your pups from if you are planning on purchasing them within Iowa. There are quite a few border collie breeders, but only a handfull of which I would even dream about purchasing pups from.

Have you ever had two pups at a time? They tend to bond more closely to each other than to their human if not trained and socialized separately and can learn to depend on each other more than is healthy for them. My two girls (littermates) though not BCs, are very dependent upon one another and could've easily gotten so attached to have the issue of seperation anxiety, not a good thing. If you choose to go with two, crate them separately, play and train with them separately, and start and end play time together with separate playtime with humans so they realize humans are the source of everything fun instead of each other. I would suggest atleast waiting a few months or more in between pups so that they can train them on their own personally. Some people are able to handle more than one pup though, and only you can judge whether you are one of those people or not. Would love updates and pics on your decision(s) when you make them.

[only-borders]

So sorry for your loss.

I have always had more than one Border Collie at a time. I have also had two littermates. The widest range in age I have had at one time was 3 years.

I did not have problems with the littermates bonding to each other more than me, could be because I had 4 dogs at the time and always made time for one on one time with them.

I think most people believe that having two dogs is easier because they play with each other, not true. I have never experienced that. All my dogs always have wanted to interact with me. They do play together but not in a way that it is enough for them. They always want me to play as well.

"IMO" owning more than one dog at a time comes down to if you can afford it. Vet bills, food, time, it's all doubled. If you can't afford it, than one dog is enough.

For me having multiple dogs changed after the third one. Up to 3 was not much different than 1, then after 5 it changed again.

I don't really think it's about the number of dogs a person has, it's all about what the person does to interact with those dogs that matters.

[Oenoke]

I won't have 2 pups from the same litter and would wait until the 1st pup was at least a year old and their training already well established, personally I like a 3-4 year age gap between my dogs.

[Vicky]

I had Holly and cross collie, and personally after what i went through with the cross collie, i'm not ever going to have more than one dog, i think one dog is enough for me anyway, and Holly is more than happy on her own she has not missed Bella at all, she is much more relaxed and happy everyone said's that know.

[Vicks]

I've not had two BC's together as pups but I had Shadow (BC) and Storm (Lab) who are just 8 months or so apart (I say or so because we rescued Shadow and don't know exactly how old he is!).

It was heaven and hell all at the same time. I sincerely believe that two pups are like having two young children, they egg each other on, they create mischief but there is SO much pleasure to be gained from watching them grow up together. I won't tell you about the hell, but let's say that a sofa and a wall were severely damaged!

Again, like the others have said it's training & cost. We're lucky because all three of ours are due jabs different months so that helps, and Shadow had a good basic training before we got Storm.

I guess it depends on the dog as well. We only got Storm because Shadow seemed so lonely, he was much happier once he had company and is even happier with two other dogs in his life!

[kai_10]

Duke and Flash are littermates and they are inseparable. they are 8 now, but we tried to train them separately and all they would do is bark and bark and want to be back together. Flash, the female, is the alpha of the pair but Duke, the male, doesn't care at all. he just goes with the flow. i think having 2 border collies is much better because they can keep each other entertained(especially when nobody is home) and play with each other and just be each others companions.
Hopefully Ollie, a puppy we just introduced will be accepted into the pack soon enough.

[david]

Im considering getting a second border collie as well. Dottie is about 2 1/2 and my question is since she is female what would be the best gender for the 2nd dog? Im not interested in breeding her if that helps.. Just curious on that fact. Ive read this forum for a while and thought I would post, its a nice community.

[Toddsmom]

(08-04-2011 05:28 PM)david Wrote:  Im considering getting a second border collie as well. Dottie is about 2 1/2 and my question is since she is female what would be the best gender for the 2nd dog? Im not interested in breeding her if that helps.. Just curious on that fact. Ive read this forum for a while and thought I would post, its a nice community.

I don't think the dog's gender is a huge issue unless she has known issues with one gender. I prefer male dogs, so most of my dogs are males. Some people prefer female dogs though too. I think that as long as the two dogs compliment each other and get along well that the gender is a non issue. Just look for the right temperment and personality to match your current dog. Welcome by the way!

[Caseykay]

I would never get two littermates or BCs very close in age. I really don't like having just one dog though. My 2 boys died 6 months apart leaving me dogless. Got my girl BC puppy and managed to wait 18 months before I got the 2nd. That first puppy was hard work, no canine family to wrestle with! Another 7 years later I got girl puppy #3 and my two lovely older girls were a fantastic help raising her. From now on I'm hoping to do a 3-4 year age gap. Gael is just coming up 2 though and I have puppy fever

[William Draper]

(08-04-2011 08:44 PM)Caseykay Wrote:  I would never get two littermates or BCs very close in age. I really don't like having just one dog though. My 2 boys died 6 months apart leaving me dogless. Got my girl BC puppy and managed to wait 18 months before I got the 2nd. That first puppy was hard work, no canine family to wrestle with! Another 7 years later I got girl puppy #3 and my two lovely older girls were a fantastic help raising her. From now on I'm hoping to do a 3-4 year age gap. Gael is just coming up 2 though and I have puppy fever

[William Draper]

I agree that training two at once would be a big deal. I like your idea of additional puppies a few years apart.

Regards,

Bill.