Herding Cats

My border collie is 8 months old and settling down real nice. She still has not figured out that cats do not like to be herded. She always has a scratch on her nose from the Tom cat.

Gotta get her some animals.

Our two dogs are a Boxer (inside at night) and a Siberian Husky / Border Collie cross outside 24/7.

The Boxer will chase the cat. The one time she caught it she got a nose full of claws.

The Husky is a lot more mellow. When it is cold the cat and he snuggle up together.

They will "double team" possums and coons. The Boxer also is a "digger". She will bring up a mole every couple weeks, and look at us like "see what I found".

Full blood Border Collies are very smart, and need something to do. Our Husky mix will grab our Boxer by her collar and drag her back if he knows there is something she shouldn't be doing. DOUG

I generally help my dogs herd the cats. Any type or size scatter gun works good as a "cat driver"

Gene

True story here but the spelling maybe a tad wrong. Many many years ago I had a Siamese cat and the neighbor had a pair of collies. Well one day the cat was out side and the collies saw her. One took off after the cat. Well my dad had a work bench in the car port. The cat jumped up on the bench and when the one collie walked under it looking for the cat well the cat jumped down and onto the dags head. That dog ran out in the yard and rolled over a few times to get the cat off its head and that dog took off down the road with that Siamese cat hot on its tail and the other dog was close behind his friend. Neighbor fell down laughing at the dogs

Siamese are the wrong cats to tangle with. They will attack the dog. Your story dovetails with my experience, I owned one.

My parents have a border collie. Great cow dog, but other wise just a bit neurotic. It's always herding a cat, or the chickens, or just setting at the feedlot staring at the calves. She is terrified of tractors, loud noises, strangers, and anything new, but she has no fear at all going after a 1500lb cow, go figure. They are definitely a dog with a purpose, and that is herding animals.
David

Check this link for tips on herding cats. LOL.
Herding cats

She was also my guard cat as in for the most part she lived in my room and no one and I do mean no one could get in my room with out that cat either attacking them or her waking me up or both

most of the fellows on this forum like cats,not a good place to run your mouth about killing cats.

Our Border Collie loves to ride in my truck.He wont let anyone get in the truck.He will let my wife get in,hes very fond of her.Contrary to what the experts say the Border Collie makes a good pet.They watch their people closely .If I pick up my check book,look in my wallet or make a shopping list Gus runs to the door.He knows many words and even knows the spelling of some.

(quoted from post at 16:57:44 03/14/12) Gotta get her some animals.

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Our friends got a border collie and bought it some sheeps (I know the plural is sheep, but get a kick outta them calling them sheeps)....

They now have 3 of the stupidest BC's and about 60 of equally (hard to be worse) stupid sheeps....... I had never saw a stupid BC til I got over here and see the rejects that gullible folks pick up..... I think a lot of it is the people that screw them up also....
The only time I see these dogs when they aren't a nervous wreck is on the rare occasion you see them sleeping. I saw a really decent one once that folks had and was talking with them. They said that they just don't get excited around it and and give it less stress "jobs"... Also have a few chickens and some runner ducks for it to take care of.

Where's the pics????

We had a Siamese once who jumped up on the seat of my JDB whenever he saw me heading for the tractor; he"d stay right up there in ride with me.

My grandpa had a border collie years back. That was the smartest dumb dog there ever was.....

His name was Tippy (after his white feet) and he was never trained to herd cattle, although he would give "em his damndest! He usually would "help" by running the cattle the wrong direction of what I wanted him to!

He was a bit loony too, if you turned on an appliance in the house, he would run circle around the house till you shut it off. He would trim the trees....any branch that was lower than 6" was promptly removed....or he hung on it till it came off. That dog followed my grandpa in the field everywhere he went. Was truly a great companion.

I have a dog that will ride on.in any thing I drive or ride around the place. He has ridden in all my cars and trucks and many of my tractors and even the motorcycles. Problem with the motorcycles is that he has a hard time holding on to the top of the gas tank

(quoted from post at 21:16:31 03/14/12) She was also my guard cat as in for the most part she lived in my room and no one and I do mean no one could get in my room with out that cat either attacking them or her waking me up or both

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I read a book (Homer) about a lady who adopted a blind kitten from her vet. Her job required her to move often; each time she would introduce the cat to the apartment by showing Homer the litter box and food bowls. The cat would then map the perimeter of the apartment then fill in the other details of the floor plan. If she neglected to pick up her shoes for example, the cat would crash into them and then avoid that spot for several weeks after the shoes were picked up. The cat was also very skilled at catching flys by listening to their buzzing then jumping to catch them in mid-flight.

To my point: the cat also slept with the lady and was very protective. One night the cat went on full alert and she could sense there was someone else in the bedroom. As she reached for the phone beside her bed, a voice said, "I woul"; Homer locked in on the intruder's location and launched. The police found Homer several blocks away from the apartment complex, very lost. The intruder was never found.

To fully appreciate the story you need to know that Homer was an all black cat with no eyes. Consider that it is not possible to see an all black cat with no eyes in a dark bedroom - the intruder would have had no clue.

We have 2 Border collies. One 10, one 2 years old.

The old one takes care of the kids. She walks them to the bus every morning, gets them off every afternoon(1/4 mile each way).

The pup stares at the chickens. That is her life, unless the kids are around, then she is right by their side.

Great family dogs, ours are too high strung to be inside dogs.

I do miss "Far Side". . .

(quoted from post at 13:17:33 03/15/12) I do miss "Far Side". . .

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Me too!!!! You just reminded me that I have several FS books in the schrank that I gotta dig out and read again.........