WHY ISN'T A BORDER COLLIE A GOOD PET FOR MY KIDS?

Border collies are one of the most attractive breeds of dog out there. Especially when they are fluffy rolly polly puppies, but even when they are handsome, intelligent looking adults, the striking contrast of colours in their coats and their enthusiasm and responsiveness make them natural people magnets. It's no surprise that people are so attracted to the breed.

But there is a lot more to a border collie than what meets the eye. Below that gleaming, fluffy exterior is the heart of a hunter, the brains of a criminal mastermind and the reflexes of Jackie Chan.

It's actually fairly surprising to me how many people think that border collies are the Ultimate Family Pet, when in reality, nothing could be further from the truth. There are breeds that are even less suited as family dogs, but border collies are definitely on the list. There are some really serious considerations to take into account when you are thinking about adding a border collie to your family no matter who you are, but especially when you have young kids or are planning on starting a family.

Myth #1 - border collies are good pets for children because they will "herd" the kids and keep them safe.

This is such a heartwarming notion, it's no wonder people hold onto it so tightly. It brings to mind tableaus like Gyp the collie bravely nudging little Timmy and his two best friends, who are running to retrieve their softball, away from a busy road seconds before a drunken driver careens over the center line and narrowly avoids killing everyone in his path.

Here's the real picture: Gyp the collie is more likely to chase after those three running boys nipping at their sleeves and pantcuffs, simply because they are moving. Border collies are highly stimulated by movement and one of the number one complaints of parents who have border collies is that their dog keeps biting the kids whenever they move faster than a slow walk. In fact, Gyp is more likely to make those poor kids run even faster to get away from him, and drive them right into the path of the oncoming car … if, in fact, Gyp isn't too busy already chasing the drunken driver and his careening vehicle.

Border collies do not "herd" children. On the whole, the breed is bright enough to know the difference between sheep and kids. BUT a border collie is also bred to react swiftly and meaningfully to movement and that is deeply ingrained in his character. That means that more than likely, your border collie will leap up and run after your kid and his friends every time they race across the living room or the yard, much like he would go after a tennis ball or a rat. There's a good chance than when he catches up to them, he's going to grab them with his mouth too, not because he's aggressive, but because that kind of response is natural to the dog. And even though little Timmy and his parents know this about Gyp, little Joey's parents, who aren't dog lovers, are likely to be extremely angry when their son gets nipped at and his shirt torn. That means potential law suits, and even death for poor Gyp, who was just doing what he was bred to do.

What's more, the activity of small children is actually likely to make a border collie agitated or overstimulated. Young kids are loud, have high pitched voices, they move in unexpected ways and don't follow any kind of pattern. This is all really stressful for an animal that likes to control things, who cannot help himself from responding to sudden movements or loud noises and who dislike the unfamiliar quite a bit. Lots of bites to children occur not because the dog is bad, or the child is bad, but because they just make a bad combination when they are together.

Myth #2 Border Collies are easy to train, so even my 6 year old can make him be obedient.

Wouldn't that be great? Nothing warms the cockles of a dog lover's heart more than to see a little boy and his dog companionably palling about like two peas in a pod in an empty field somewhere.

Here's what you're more likely to see: there goes Gyp, off and running around and completely ignoring the half commands and yells of the pint sized person that Gyp knows can't enforce squat when it comes to training.

Border collies have a real tendency to engage in what we call "ranking up." These dogs are super smart, that's true enough, but it makes them harder to train, not easier. For starters, Gyp has already figured out the family dynamic and he knows that he's smarter and more capable than your kid, so he figures "why on earth would I listen to that little guy? My instincts tell me that I should take charge when I know more than my handler does, so I'm going to do what I think is best here."

(Don't believe us? Try taking your dog out on sheep some time and see what happens. If you don't know a thing about herding, Gyp's going to suss that out real fast and your well trained dog is going to ignore your every command because his ancestry is telling him "take control, everything's going awry!")

Border collies are actually more challenging to train because of their smarts. They learn bad habits very easily (Once Is A Habit For A Border Collie) which means that as soon as Gyp figures out that little Timmy isn't going to follow through on enforcing a command, he's very likely to simply ignore it altogether. Border collies make tremendous working partners to adults that they respect; this is very often not how they feel about small humans at all.

Myth #3 - Border collies are such beautiful, friendly, tactile dogs who adore people and love attention.

This is not actually a child-dog myth, but it's an important one. Because so many people's exposure to border collies is often on television, they really get a one sided, unrealistic portrait of the breed as super social butterflies who live to please.

They see intense, adoring sheepdogs glued to the shepherd's knee in herding trials, or they see intense, handler focused agility dogs staring at their humans with unabashed expectancy. What you don't know, if you've been fooled by this already, is that to have this kind of relationship with your dog you need to work with him a lot and give him a reason to treat you as a sort of deity. The border collie who works at a task with his human partner loves that person in no small part because that person controls all the fun stuff in life, and that person is directly responsible for giving the dog meaningful tasks to do.

The breed does not tend to be really social, on the whole, and often doesn't respond well to unsolicited attention. They are often handler focused and indifferent to affection offered by other non-worthies, however sincerely that attention might be offered. The reason this is an important distinction to make when it comes to Gyp and little Timmy, is that Gyp might be really bonded to Tim Sr. and not have a lot of patience for little Timmy's unrestrained gestures of affection.

Many times I've had someone tell me their child is good with dogs because he is a "very affectionate kid" and they just know that Gyp is going to love all the hugs, pats and snuggles that Timmy has to offer. The truth is, if you have a child like this you've got to have a basically bomb-proof dog who can tolerate being mauled by a young child on a regular basis. For non stop motion machines like Gyp, who is ready to fly into action at a moment's notice, being crawled on and smothered by a child feels confining, claustrophobic and a little frightening.

And remember how we said "once is a habit for a border collie?" This applies to the social learning curve for border collies - one bad experience with an overzealous child, like an ear tug or an eye poke, and Gyp could be turned off kids forever. He might be actively afraid of going near little Timmy, or he might growl, snarl or even bite in anticipation of being hurt or frightened again.

Myth #4 - We've got a big piece of property, so a border collie would be happy here.

This myth is also a popular one. People are pretty sure that even though they have 4 kids under the age of 10 and a full time job, a border collie will be happy to live with them because they have 2/3s of an acre for the dog to run around on.

The sad reality - a really high number of border collies are turned into rescue or shelters because once Timmy Sr. and his wife had a baby, their world got turned a little upside down. Suddenly, there's not a lot of time left in the day for Gyp, who doesn't know what the little screaming bundle in the spare room is, so he's a little stressed; wonders why Tim Sr. shoos him from the room every time he barks at the baby; doesn't understand why he gets let into the yard and no one comes with him to play ball and is worried about Mrs. Tim who is so short tempered and sleepy all the time.

Or Gyp gets adopted when little Timmy and his three siblings are at that age where they're joining soccer teams, have swimming lessons, piano practice and ballet class. After a few months, the novelty of Gyp wears off and the kids aren't so eager to play with him every minute of the day. When everyone comes home from work and school he gets rushed into the backyard for a pee before the family heads off to do their various extracurricular activities and once again Gyp is left alone. If he's lucky, he gets bundled in the mini van and taken to Timmy's baseball game, where he is then forced to lie under the bleaches for a couple of hours watching action that he doesn't get to take part in. Gyp gets scolded and locked in his kennel a lot for chewing up Timmy's brother's soccer cleats because he's bored and when he starts digging in the garden, Mrs. Tim is really annoyed with him. But there's just not enough time in the day for Gyp - there are too many other family activities going on.

Border collies are interactive companions; they need your time and attention every single day to be happy partners. They can't just be let out into the yard for hours on end to amuse themselves, they want and need to be part of the family - and they need exercise and activity every day. This is not the job of Timmy and his siblings, this is Mr. and Mrs. Tim's job, and if Timmy's parents are too busy and stretched too thin to give Gyp what he needs, Gyp is the one who loses out.