I am curious about something... So if anyone has or had a border collie, hopefully you can answer this! .

First a little background on my Husky:
When I first adopted Okami, my Siberian Husky, I was told that it was a bad choice as a first dog because I had never owned a dog before. I was told that they are high-energy working dogs that require a large amount of exercise and mental stimulation, grooming, and what-not. In a nutshell, they are a handfull.

But as I've had Okami for 6 months now, she is nowhere near the kind of devil people/books/forums/google had warned me about. Okami is GREAT! There's nothing about her that I can't handle with relative ease, and I haven't had to make life-altering changes to my lifestyle to fit her needs (yet). And to me what is most surprising and confusing is that she's calm a lot of the time. I only take her to the dog park once a day for about an hour and a half. The rest of the day, she hangs with me and goes places with me because I don't work. Yet, she seems satisfied - she doesn't run crazily around the house, tear up my property, get into troubles, or anything like that. She's not lethargic either. I have heard that a tired Husky is a happy Husky, but really, an hour an a half of exercise? Well, she literally does go everywhere with me so in a way, her days are pretty filled with activities.

I sometimes wonder if my Husky is an exception. I don't find her a challenge at all compared to what books had scared me into believing before I got Okami. Then recently I called up Okami's parents' owners and told them about this, they were like oh, an hour and a half is more than enough exercise for her.

NOW, my question is:
Are Border Collies going to be one of those too, where books/people/google over-prepares me for this breed, as it had over-prepared me for Okami? I know that I don't live on a farm, have livestock for them to herd, or planning to enter them into contests. However, I can definitely provide for my Husky an abundance of happiness. So under these conditions, I know I can at least provide for a Border Collie's somewhat happiness, right? I don't want to be presumptuous, lol.

When I did a search for Border Collie vs Siberian Husky, their energy level was the same. Is this really true -_-? Somehow I feel that Border Collies will have more energy... I am thinking of adopting one, if you can't already tell... Lol. Do you think the lifestyle I'm leading is suitable for a Border Collie?

Border collies are a whole different ball park to me. The are intense. At least most of the ones including my mom's are. If you want a calmer BC, I would stay away from working lines and look more into show lines. They seem MUCH calmer than the intense staredown BC's I've met. lol. They are highly trainable though. But I don't think I could deal with a BC from working lines. I have met a couple from show lines and they seem more on par with siberians to me.


BTW, you'll find a bunch of us with lazy siberians. My Elara is pretty lazy and even Siku isn't as terrible as most descriptions of the breed make them out to be. It's just a way to make sure the new owner is truely dedicated into taking on the breed, because there are some who act terribly!

Yeah, I thought that since show dogs are not bred with their strong herding abilities in mind, they MIGHT be calmer.

Lol. So there are other lazy huskies! My Okami isn't alone! . I have yet to see a bad husky really... just bad owners though.

I have a 1 year old BC/Italian Greyhound mix. she has the look of the IG and personality of the BC. She is extremely hyper at times and tries to herd the other dogs when playing... but after about an hour of intense play daily and her walks she is laid back and will want to just sleep.
She and Snow are perfect for each other...they will play until they are both worn out and then they are angels in the house lol it definitely makes my life easier!
From what I've seen border collies are easy to train, and usually adapt to your lifestyle as long as you give them enough exercise.

If you like the independent nature of you Siberian, do not get a Border Collie. I loved Seamus (my previous BC) very much. He was a great dog. And still is a great dog to his family. But he was constantly up my ass and I couldn't go anywhere without him trailing inches behind me. While the Huskies were content to lay at my feet or in the general area around me, Seamus wanted to be ON me. If I went to the bathroom, he followed, sat in front of me, and stared. It was too much for me to handle initially. I taught him ways to get my attention that weren't so in your face... And it got better. But in the end I knew that he wanted someone to lavish him every moment of his life with attention. And that wasn't me. I like my indepent, ill get to you when I get to you, Sibes.

Also, at 6 months old you are still in puppy land I would wait until at least a year before adding a permanent member to your family. Personally, as a Husky person, I prefer Aussies over BC's and a surprising number of people have that combo. What I would suggest to you is waiting and foster one of each, or a few of each. That will give you the best experience.

.....and I thought I was the only one with a dog that followed me to the bathroom on a daily basis! Haha Mia definitely does this and it gets quite the look from visitors that come over. Lol

well everyone knows girls don't go to the bathroom by themselves. lol

i havn't been able to go potty or take a shower by myself in 5 years..... Guess how old my daughter is? lol


eta : oh Dakota is not permitted in the bathroom, he prefers potty water to the water in his bowl and has a toilet paper addiction.

Lol on the bathroom and shower stalking! Okami does this sometimes - she'll wander into the bathroom from time to time and then just sits and stares, or pokes her head in the shower and stares... Sometimes, she'll give a lick at my legs while I'm in the shower to let me know she's still watching. She makes me feel shy O_O.

I have been looking into options ahead of schedule lol; the plan is to adopt from the shelter when Okami is between 1 and 2. I have heard Aussies are easier-going than BCs (not to say that Aussies are easy at all!). From where I live though, there aren't as much Aussies as there are Border Collie mixes in the shelters. But maybe like one of the previous posts indicated, Border Collies mixes may inherit less of the intenseness, if that's a word. Lol. Thanks for everyone sharing their experiences! It has definitely shed some light on my research into this breed and whether it's right for me or not.

If you're going to get an adult, you should be fine. You'll know right away if the BC has the intense "eye" or not!

The best way to decide if the breed is right is to talk to owners of BC's and see/meet them in person. Join a BC specific forum. etc. There are many -many- more things that they could tell you that most of us could probably never even dream of lol. If it's a breed you're really interested in that's the best way to go, I think.

As far as "calm" Siberians and Border Collies - it is dependent on the individual, really. There are breed generalizations but each dog is an individual from that point. I have a decently calm Siberian. She has her moments as she is still a puppy but for the most part she is very calm inside.

However, she needs to be where we are. If we are in the bathroom, she's there, if we're showering she's (trying) to be there, kitchen - dog, living room - dog etc. Now - she's conditioned to be where we are - it was part of training so that I know for the most part if for some reason she ever gets away from me - I know with a great amount of certainty she will come back and be by my side.

My neighbors have two female Border Collie/Australian Shepherd mixes and they are wonderful dogs! One is very low key and lazy and the other is highly active! I guess it's a hit or miss on how active the dog will turn out to be.

I second fostering, that way you get a feel for the personality without the commitment.

I don't have much first hand experience with border collies, but I have spent a good deal of time with Australian shepherds. [In fact, my puppy's mother is half australian shepherd (making Maya 1/4 aussie... although she seems to have gotten the least traits from her aussie heritage, looking and acting much more husky & chow. She does have the uncanny agility of an aussie though...)] Anyway, before I get too off-topic.... Purebred Aussies are extremely intelligent dogs, high energy but not nearly as hyper as border collies, at least from the specific dogs that I've observed. They are very attentive and can learn a broad spectrum of commands and tricks. The ones I know/ have met almost seem to understand fluent English! Although watch out for nippiness... I knew one Aussie in particular that would herd anything that moved... including children.

I had a BC/Australian Shep. mix for 12 years. She was intense about things, balls, walks, and occasional herding of smaller dogs. She wasn't overly energetic, in fact, closer to a couch potato. She easily went days without any sort of exercise activity. She did however (like others have mentioned) like to follow me everywhere, a lot more than any of my Sibes. She also was scared of any sort of loud noises to the point of panic.

Another thing about Borders that I know for a fact is they obsess (ball, lasers, kids, small animals, other dogs etc) easily and it is something to watch out for often.

They will create obsessions if you aren't working their brain or of you engage in obsessive behaviors as something fun. For example: Seamus came "preprogrammed" with laser and water obsession. His previous mom thought it funny to "exercise him" using a laser pointer. His light obsession has now come to include shadows and his mom, Megan, works tirelessly with him on this because he's snapped at 2 of her kids while in his OCD mode. Not out of aggression, but out of want for the shadow.

I still stand by my suggestion of fostering as the best way to tell if t would be a good fit. I joined forums, read insane amounts, and it just wasn't a good fit. Maybe it was just this particular BC but it is what it is.

With all due respect, until you've experienced more of the husky "lifecycle" and gone through the teen years - you really haven't experienced your dog fully. You may luck out and get a very obedient and low energy husky or you may not. They change dramatically after puppyhood and if Okami is only 6 months old she hasn't fully developed yet. That said - definitely wait to add a second dog unless you're adding an older well behaved husky that can teach Okami the ropes. Or foster, as Kristina recommended.

I have grown up with border collies my whole life. The ones I had were crazy as puppies but eventually calmed down. The difference with them or sibes is their isn't really a stubbornness they strive to learn things. I think the one my mom has now has been more intense then others just because he was a puppy mill rescue as a puppy and my mom and I had to break him out of the frightened dog. I do want another border collie. I however love the fact that you can walk them off leash and they have a good recall. I think the aussies I have been around are more intese. We have all these aussies at work that drive me insane. The border collies maybe are intense for a little bit and chill the rest of the day.

This is Gingo he is 4 or 5. My mom's current BC

Him as a puppy

I've been around both australian shepherds and border collies. From what I've seen, they're both insanely energized compared to sibes. That being said...

The australian shepherd I was around was bred for barn work. He was also never really trained properly, and even though he was incredibly smart, I felt like his owner never really took the time to help him wind his energy or brain down. She was a close friend of mine and worked two jobs while doing college during his youth. I helped her train him some, and guided her on how to correct bad behaviors, but in the end, when I moved, he was still an incredibly over-active, jumpy, nippy, LOUD, separation-anxiety-suffering dog. He was also incredibly destructive and, if I remember correctly, went through several crates, a door, numerous shoes/blankets/pillows, I think a recliner... yeah.

The border collies I knew were a bit different. They were bred for working, and were trained to do agility. Of course, this also means they were getting proper exercise, proper training, socialization, and the owner was actually AROUND the dogs. They were high energy and got yippy, but they weren't nearly as bad as the shepherd. Both of the border collies also had that intense stare mentioned above. You never really knew if he was fixing to nip you or run to you and kiss you. I didn't trust the dog unless his owner was around.

I would suggest talking to owners. Ask trainers (if you have one) what they think. Foster a dog or two. And WAIT until Okami is fully grown and obedience trained. It's a mess trying to bring in an untrained dog to the family. Trust me. I would know ;D

Every dog can be calm if they get the exercise they need. But some dogs need to learn to be calm, so it is also a matter of training.