Stupid question but here goes anyway :? If a border collie (farm) was being rehomed as it wasnt any good working would it still have the chase instinct if rehomed in a house with small pets/furries? :?
Collies don't actually 'chase' sheep but the short answer is - yes! Even if it cannot drive, head, back, herd, sheep the instinct to do so will be hard-wired - especially in a farm bred dog. It may attempt to do all of the above with people, cars, bikes, birds, other dogs, other pets, etc. They are intelligent dogs and their instincts can be overcome to a degree by training, but those instincts are never fully extinguished - only suppressed.
I totaly agree with SB, they can be calmed but they never lose the herding instinct, even Blackie, who most of the time has not got a inclking of herding instict in him will occasionally display it - I hope that makes sens, I'm having a blonde day!! Ian
We had a farm bred BC when I was growing up. We had her from about 6 weeks old (she was the runt and the farmer was going to drown her) so she never had the chance to be around sheep but the instinct was definitely there. We had various other pets at the same time and the BC lived harmoniously with them all but she would round up the cats and herd them out of garden if she got the chance
The instinct , like everyone has said, will always be there. Welaugh and say our BC hasn't got a herding bone in his body...but he has, he herds all the ornaments into corners given half a chance...!!!!! He also discreetly herds us all together when we're out and about. To answer your question though, it would depend on the age of the dog and how much exposure ( and the type of exposure) it had had around small creatures before being rehomed. Impossibel to say with no more info really.
As others have said, the dog would probably still have a herding instinct inherent in his/her make up. However, this may not necessarily be a problem. My own collie is farm-bred and initially was trained on sheep. However, when I realised he wasn't going to be able to be worked with sheep on a regular enough basis, I stopped the sheep training and discouraged him from herding anything. He now looks but doesn't attempt to herd (or chase) anything. Is this a dog you are considering rehoming?
I had two rough collies at one time, one of which exhibited strong herding insticts, but bringing them up with two cats was not a problem. Once they realised that the cats belonged in the home as well, they accepted it. Saying that, I think rough collies are generally more placid than border collies, and less likely to having their natural insticts suppressed. The collie in the avetar picture above, was the one with the strong herding instict
my ben is a collie cross, and when he plays with anyone he will hook them with his front paw, trying to heard who ever it is, he is also brought up with 2 cats and alsthough joins in the chasing games (gets a bit noisy some times LOL) he hasnt tried to herd them.
Agree with SB, the instinct is always there. Recently found out from the vet that she thinks Cassie was farm bred, which is why she thinks she is quite small. She still tries to herd but has never been around sheep.
Your vet could be right, but not all farm bred collies are small though - my Moss is farm bred (ISDS reg) and he is HUUUUUGE! LOL! His father, who was a working and trialling dog, was also tall and leggy. I think the thing with "farm bred" collies is they come in lots of shapes and sizes because they are primarily bred for working ability rather than looks.
Yep, I agree. Never seen a collie quite as tiny as Cassie. She's nearly 2 and 10.2 kgs fully grown. Just seen a new pup on Dogsey, 9 weeks old and 4.5kgs, guess Cassie is just small but perfectly formed. She's more of a Sheltie size with longer legs
