Border Terriers

[Vicstress]

Hi all,

Just interested to learn about the breed as considering one as a friend for archie my cocker. Would be a bitch as he's better with bitches.....

Any info gratefully recieved!

 

[Clodagh]

In my experience the dogs and the bitches are like a different species! Bitches have all been easy, loyal and lovely. dogs have all been wild, dog aggressive and difficult. A friend has a dog though ( he is only 6 months at the mo) and he is lovely natured.
Not very trainable and ours have been the hardest to housetrain of any breeds we have had. Will be best friends for life though.

 

[hogged cob]

We have an 11 month old border dog, he is fantastic, very loyal and brilliant with other dogs, the horse and the chickens. He is a great pal to my 6.5 year old daughter. He comes everywhere with us, goes to work with my husband and travels very well in the car. He is our fourth terrier (the others died from old age, 19, 18, 16). He is our first border and I dont know if it is because he is our only dog but he is very well behaved. Dont get me wrong he does have sudden deafness when he sees another dog on the park but he will come back once he has said hello.

 

[Solo1]

Brilliant little breed IMO.

Tilly is of the firm opinion she's a much larger dog and has disdain for smaller dogs. She has endless patience and has sat for up to an hour having her ears chewed on and tail pulled and being hauled around the yard by small children. Never, ever snapped or shown aggression to a human. She was reversed over and her broken leg handled without sedation, even throught this pain she was licking and reassuring us. Unfortunately the leg had to come off, which she was a little depressed about at first. Then she got a friend and she's back to the bouncy, loving adorable little bundle.

I do have to say they're not the most trainable of breeds, she grasps the basics e.g sit, lie down, stay and come back and house trained quickly but that's about it, all attempts at learning 'tricks' are swiftly forgotten! And the garden had to be dogproofed as if she saw someone in the lane she buggered off to say hello...

Lives alongside cat, but hates rodents and will eat them (excellent mouser as she can fit in small gaps!)

Sweetest dog ever.

When she had all four legs...

 

[Vicstress]

Ahhh she's lovely!

I've had a male terrier before and not sure I would again - lovely but far too headstrong.....

Archie gets on better with bitches anyway but I think we'd be looking to rehome a slightly older bitch than get a puppy.

Keep the stories coming, I will print off and show boyfriend!

 

[pedilia]

Fantastic breed IMO, I have a 7 year old Border amd 4 children he is amazing with them, the horses and the cat!!

 

[Vicstress]

It's good that they can be ok around cats - Archie loves my mum's ginger tom....they go hunting together (no seriously!) so be nice to have another dog that Sam can boss around!

 

[Shrimpy]

I initially wanted a bitch as I'd heard they had a better temperament etc but I ended up with a dog and he is a star. Loves people and other dogs and has never shown any signs of aggression. I'd have another in a heartbeat.

 

[Clodagh]

There is a really good Border Terrier Rescue nationwide if you are looking for something older than a puppy.

 

[Red30563]

This is Katy, our 2 year old border - she won the rosette for being Best Pedigree at the recent Essex Dog Day!

We have had her since April (rehomed from a friend's mum who is ill) and she is an absolute delight. Great with dogs (she grew up with lots of dogs, both big and small) and great with adults and children alike.

We do agility with her which she excels at. Of the seven dogs in her class, 3 are borders!

I have met some males who are grouchy with other dogs, but I also have a friend with a bitch who is slightly dog aggressive too, despite being well-socialised from a puppy.

Katy is reasonably easy to train but she is very definitely a terrier! Her recall is good, unless there is a rabbit in the vicinity. She does chase cats given the chance and will try and pull your arm out of its socket if she sees one when she is on lead.

Other than that she is a total poppet. Very cheerful and she makes me laugh every single day. I can't imagine a more fun breed to have!

 

[stargirl88]

I think theyre great littke dogs, not personally ever owned one but those that have come to classes have been delightful.

 

[littlemisslauren]

We have a 2 year old bitch. She has spent the day being handled by several different people with lots of different dogs (at my work) then she zoomed home with me and played with my 3 year old god daughter for hours. GD isnt overly aware of boundries with dogs at the moment so playtime did involve loads (I mean loads) of high pitched squeals and teasing with toys and the occasional accidental grab of hair / ears. Betsy didnt flinch once, she followed every command sqealed at her and was so very gentle with her. We then went to visit the in laws and Betsy was nibbled by their puppy for a good hour... no grumbles. She is pooped now.

She has the patience of a saint when it comes to kids and has never ever shown any agression to a human. I dont think she has it in her to. She is good with other dogs, a little too wary at times but never any agression. She is so good that I am bringing a friends dog home for the weekend tomorrow, the dogs have never met but I know that the worst thing that will happen is B will skulk around with the RSPCA face on.

As for trainability, she was housetrained quickly and picked up tricks easily. Re-call took a while! But we have it now.... when there are bunnies around it is questionable.

She chases cats and would eat small furries but she met CAYLAs cat and wasn't quite so brave up close.

My last border was a dog, we lost him at 15 last year. He was an amazing character, he did develop dog agression issues but they were down to fading eyesight and my poor handling! He broke his leg in his last months and didnt even whimper, just held it up and looked at us. He was my childhood best friend!

I would have another border in a heartbeat!

 

[Olly's crew]

We have a border dog, 'Doug'. He is a lovely dog,and would have another one again. We have found he is quite trainable for basics; sit, stay, down, wait for it, paid for......
will also beg and does some good 'showjumping' with our youngest daughter! He also loves music and will sing along, often choosing to sit leaned against the piano whilst being played!
He lives with our Weimeraner bitch and they get on very well,but he is 'protective' of her when out which means I don't loose him off around other dogs when she is there.
Bad points.... barks like a terrier lol and has an inherent desire to chase small furry animals.

 

[Bradsmum]

I inherited my border terrier when he was 8 years old. He had previously lived outside all his life but was the easiest dog to house train (a big plus in convincing OH that he could stay!). He has been with us since feb 2012 and only one mishap which was left on the kitchen floor during the night . He loves everyone and is the best natured dog ever. He too has moments of 'deafness' when out but once he has 'investigated', he happily comes back. He has been an absolute pleasure and I am so glad I was able to take him on.

 

[Jools1234]

lovely breed, used to have lots of them in my classes at dog training, i would consider them (if i did pedigrees), they do need early socialisation with other dogs, the most biddable terrier in my opinion with a nice sunny nature
great fun and generally amazing with kids

 

[lachlanandmarcus]

Mine lives with a rescue Doberman and she holds her own....

She is vaguely obedient but has very selective hearing when she finds something interesting. She will wander if not monitored - not run off, just wander off. Which is a pain and before we knew of this she did wander off and end up on a road - thankfully she was picked up and her chip got her back to us (this was the first wander and we had recently moved to the house and so she got lost once out of sight we think).

She is not aggressive at all unless teased to the point of over excitement, when she might nip...they are terriers and so can be terrierists!

She has bad hip dysplasia which is rare but apparently becoming more common so do watch out for that if getting a pup - dont believe people who say Borders wont have it.

She is a fantastic natural ratter - will sit by a shed for hours if she thinks there is something in there.

I love her to bits....

 

[brighteyes]

A border will be my next dog (bitch).

 

[EAST KENT]

Must admit to never before hearing of HD in borders, is she hip scored??

 

[Dizzle]

I have one, he's nearly 11 months old now and he's the best little thing ever. As other have said recall can be interesting, he will always come back but once he's finished saying hello to whoever he has just run off to meet! I bought him at 8 weeks old, took him home on the Saturday and he'd mastered sit by the Tuesday, he's actually fairly easy to train (he'll do anything for cocktail sausages).

He's my first dog and such a snuggly little thing, even my non-dog loving family are pretty taken with him!

 

[Hairy Old Cob]

Get a Working strain Lakeland wont start a fight but will finish one equaly as bidable as a Border but without the silly KC price and just as loyal My black & tan Dog coming up for 12 years still fit as Flea and has only ever been to the Vets once.

 

[MerrySherryRider]

I have a 5 yr old BT dog, fantastic animal. Just wants to please so easily trained, gets on with all dogs, loves children and can be trusted with the free range guinea pigs and cats. He'll run for miles along with the horses too, is as tough as old boots and never sick or sorry. An easy going chap who is happy being with his people and thinks every other dog is a potential best friend.

 

[lachlanandmarcus]

Must admit to never before hearing of HD in borders, is she hip scored??

She was x rayed - AFAIK Borders arent (or havent been) normally hip scored because of the low incidence of HD? That might have changed since she was diagnosed tho, as shes 8/9 now and was diagnosed at 6 months. Basically very little in the way of socket.

Hydrotherapy helped a lot to avoid surgery, we dont do the long walks we might otherwise but she potters very happily and hasnt been lame at all since the initial episode/diagnosis and hydro courses. She is a fantastic ratter too.

 

[L&M]

Our experience was not so good and had to end up rehoming....

He was an escape artist, agressive and would attack livestock, and we finally decided to re home him when he latched on to one of our neighbours sheep's back legs!

With me he was a popppet, but would nip strangers and fought with our other male dog (both castrated). I would never trust him on his own with my child or other dogs - however he did once chase a staffie off which was quite an achievement!

His sister had similar issues so imagine just a 'bad' litter.