Why is it that BC's... Training

are soooo good offlead? Most of the people I see walking where I live ALWAYS have their BC's offlead. I know they shouldn't but that's beside the point. One lady I know has a BC and a BC x beardie and she takes them down the street off lead no bother, they lie outside the shops and don' budge an inch until she comes back. SO many others walk along with their collie merrily trotting along in front, stopping and waiting at the bits they should (to cross the road etc). It amazes me as I couldn't ever do that with my 6 year old lab (wouldn't anyway but it'd be nice to know I could!)!

Training training training!

yep - training!!! There are very owner focused dogs and are often looking for the next command. Our Lottie was never 100% off lead though, I think her epilepsy had something to do with it, as she was never 'normal', even for a collie!

I wouldn't like to trust mine off lead on a main road, but other than that, they are rarely on their leads (my shepherds too).

I remember being mightily impressed the first few times I went on holiday up to the NW coast of Scotland, as just about every dog was a farm bred collie, and none were ever on lead. They all seemed to move to the side of the road and lie down when my car went by and then up they would get and carry on with their owner. Pretty impressive stuff

Not all of them are so behaved! My ripley has hit the kevin stage and much more- she tests every bone in my body some days!!! I am hoping it will eventually pass...sooner rather than later!

Here's my two cents:

i think its because any "good" BC owner knows that this breed can be difficult and therefore needs training training training and loads of mental stimulation... Do it right and you get the best dog in the world, do it wrong and you've got hell on wheels! Luckily for BC's they have a reputation for being high-maintenance, meaning that few first-time owners who simply want a pup for their kids will go for a BC... Sadly some idiots do, they're the ones who end up with hell on Wheels.... A BC needs attention, a job (doesn't need to be anything to do with sheep... Keeping kids safe is enough) and needs to be a full member of the family (no-one in their right mind would leave a young child alone for hours on end, so don't do it to a BC)... Do this right and your BC is your best friend for ever... No questions asked!

This is exactly it! It certainly is impressive

Fabulously put

Two of mine Reah and Skye walk without leads.
Bruce yes if he's with me although I pop him back on near busy roads, however if Pat takes him walking he keeps him on lead until he gets right in the park.....as Pat doesn't feel confident with Bruce and Tess only in safe places as she is far too young yet;-)

The best behaved dogs I see regularly are with "benefit people" (by this I mean people who do claiming benefits as a lifestyle/career choice if you know what I mean) as they never have their dogs on a lead and they just follow them along through the city without any commands. I guess it is because they spend so much time with their owners.

I just wish their owners were a bit better about poop-scooping though! One of them said to me that he couldn't manage it with having three dogs and I replied perhaps you could if you left your beer can at home!

I wish I could walk my 2 through a busy city centre off-leash (not that I would for safety reasons of course but it would be nice knowing they would behave and not just go off and do their own thing!).

I agree its training but its also expectation. Many people get collies and expect them to be good offlead (or just generally obedient) therefore they train for it. If people get a breed that they believe is bad off lead they tend to just except it, with the result that they train it less.
With terriers (I have one) this expectation thing com,es into it alot. How often do you see people with manic jrts that they say could never be reliable off lead but also how often do you see jrts that walk to heel ect. All down to expectations and the training that comes with it.
For the record my Jrt is as good off lead as the collies.

Adam

Oo yes I agree, if we had a family fortunes "name a good dog offlead" question, I would say BC's

We had a border X bearded collie as a kid, and I honestly never remember it being on a lead

Yes Adam, I agree. My male Kerry Blue terrier has a high prey drive but will recall if in full flight after rabbits on the heath. He will stop immediately if I call him and come "haring" back (forgive the pun!). He also surprised me by coming straight back when he was in pursuit of a cat that was in the middle of the field that he spotted before I did. In this case I wasn't expecting him to come back (he hates cats) so don't know why I called him in a really happy tone of voice but it worked! Got a jackpot of treats as a result. other (jealous?) owners say that it is because I "bribe" my dog (he gets a small treat for returning) but I prefer to call it a reward. My friends at heelwork to music classes who have Collies are always commenting on how motivated Parker and Cherry are.
Well done for your well-behaved Jack Russell as though we see a lot of these in our travels I have only met one I would describe as well-behaved. Owner expectation though a you only get out what you put in. A lady with a JRT that we know took half an hour to get her dog back when it had run off on the heath chasing rabbits. She called it and it came back to her and she walloped it! I said I know you are upset but that is why your dog won't come back to you. She replied that her dog knew it had done wrong (doh!).

With my BC cross it's part training and part personality. My dog is a velcro dog, she's very owner-focused like a lot of BCs are. She wants to do everything right. She's actually more likely to keep US together than to move away from us (if one of us lags behind she tries to herd us back together). During the first week or two we had her, we went out to the car and she escaped out the door. Where did she go? Right to us. We pretty much guessed then that she'd be good off lead and began training for it right away. It didn't take much. I DON'T allow her off lead where there's traffic, though I know she could do it (just safety and because sometimes random things spook her a bit; plus it's illegal and I don't want to get in trouble!). But she's off lead a lot.

So I guess you could add "practice" to that too. She's not off lead once in a blue moon. She's off lead several times a week.

Love it My sons JRT Pappi is fabulous Off lead...rarely does she go on a lead, and she has all the hunting instincts too but once my son says ''close'' thats where she stays put

Im the only one with a norrrrrty collie

No I have Tess..........the other norty one

mine are better off the lead than on! They all know a "with me"including little zo, whose done a loveley "with me" three times this week. A with me is that they all stay behind my legs & walk as close to me as they can.

Collies in general are forward thinking & quite bad on the lead & quite competitive. o are often worse on the lead than off.

I wouldnt have them off lead along a road though or in a town or along ANY road in a group. If i take one out at a time they can go off along my cul-de-sac.

Collies in general are forward thinking & quite bad on the lead & quite competitive. o are often worse on the lead than off.

Oh yes

Indeed! We have a norty one here too.;-)

Chase is on lead by the road because I'll never take any chances, but he gets let off lead as soon as we're going up the path to the forest park where we walk, he runs ahead and waits at the entrance to the field, in a down, until I get to the open field on the way up because thats where we play ball for a bit on the way up!

I've had dalmatians in the past, who were great off lead, but recall dubious if there was something more interesting....I'd say that BC's are the best breed I've had personally off lead. Will see if that still applies as Storm grows - I think he'll be a little more difficult than his big bro!