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I was wondering If the border collie is right for me. I have a brother who is ten and a sister who is eight. I think they are pretty mature for their ages. I also have two cats. I am interested in agility or fribee(disc dogs?) I want to teach him as many tricks and games as I can come up with. I live in a 1600 sq foot home with a large park/field down the street. I would give him 2 hours excercise and at least an hour training session every day. He would never be left alone except for about 6 hours two days a week. So do you think the border collie is right for me? If not could you give me a hint as to what breed would be good for me? THANKS A BUNCH!! JDLYK

A question for you: How old are YOU? If you are still living at home and have plans to go on to college or some other career that might not let you have the dog, then you have to make sure that your parents want this dog,also.

Border collies do need lots of exercise, otherwise they will make their own exercise, which might include destroying things. If you will keep up on his exercise and the agility and the frisbee, then it sounds like a good life for a border collie.

You will want to watch the dog around the cats. My b/c mix is VERY interested in our cat, luckily the cat does not come down to the main part of our house, which is where the dog lives. They can have a high herding instinct, which can make life interesting for the cats. Some border collies will chase them and possibly could hurt them.

These are only my opinions, others may have different ones.

Good luck with your search for a dog.
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sue, cheyenne the American bulldog bully, and nehi, her long suffering border collie/pit bull mix

>>I was wondering If the border collie is right for me. I have a brother who is ten and a sister who is eight. I think they are pretty mature for their ages. I also have two cats. I am interested in agility or fribee(disc dogs?) I want to teach him as many tricks and games as I can come up with. I live in a 1600 sq foot home with a large park/field down the street. I would give him 2 hours excercise and at least an hour training session every day. He would never be left alone except for about 6 hours two days a week. So do you think the border collie is right for me? If not could you give me a hint as to what breed would be good for me? THANKS A BUNCH!! JDLYK

How about a Shetland Sheepdog instead? They are extremely bright, tend to be easy to live with except for their excited barking, agile, and quick learners. While you'll need to monitor any dog with your cats, a Sheltie is unlikely to be able to do something horrendous like kill one of them. Shelties are smaller than Border Collies, make lovely house dogs, and can get a lot of exercise just scampering around the house. When you go to college or wherever life takes you next, a Sheltie who has been a house dog will be easy for someone else to take care of if you can't take him or her with you.
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series at www.veterinaryforum.com