border terriers

shibamistress

So one of my friends is interested in Border terriers. She has a German Shepherd, and she lost her golden retriever last summer, and her GSD is pretty lonely. She also has birds, and at first was worried about a terrier with birds, but it turns out the BTs are less "terrier" like than some other breeds, and as the dog show we met a breeder who also has birds, so her pups were raised with birds. She said she hasn't had any problem with her dogs trying to get at the birds (unlike my dogs, who when the visit, pretty much sit in front of the cage, fixated on them). Her GSD does ok with other dogs, and actually tends to be better with puppies and smaller dogs than with larger adult dogs, as he's kind of rude with dogs his size (never aggressive, but just in their face, jumping, bounding, etc). He's really gentle with puppies and small dogs, so we're pretty sure he'd be ok with a smaller dog.

The BTs sound good for what she'd like: a lively companion dog that is smart, fairly biddable as terriers go, but still has personality. I thought the ones we met were wonderful, but of course, they were at a show, and no doubt on their best behavior. I wondered if anyone else had experience with them? Thoughts/tips?

tjbart17

My neighbor has a Border Terrior, Lulu. She's a spitfire! I really like her. She's somewhat biddable. He's a pretty good trainer, but she is a smart girl. I know she has to go to doggy daycare 5 days a week or get crated in the home. Lulu likes to get the party started when the parents are away. For the most part though, she's on top of commands.

Aren't they kind've rare?

lindsayt

They seem pretty chill for terriers. I like the breed and have met some nice examples.

shibamistress

I don't know how rare they are. There were about 15 or so at the show, more so than any other terrier group, and there are at least a couple of local breeders. I don't know if we just have a bunch of them here, or what...

Edgewood

My horse vet always has a border terrier with her. They are cute and friendly and I agree that they are on the calmer side as far as terriers go. But they still are a terrier

ShikokuSpirit

My friend has one of those! She's pretty cute. DEFINITELY a little spitfire but that's energy wise. Her temperment is very social and stable thus far. The only thing that really sucks is having to hand-stripe the wire coat.

BT's are SUPER expensive though from what I hear...they make Shikoku seem super cheap. =p

shibamistress

a breeder here says $1200 for a pet quality, so it's not much more than any other purebred. Perhaps prices vary.

kaikenone

I have met a few BT. Very cute. I know a breeder near lansing MI that raises them.

ShikokuSpirit

$1,200 is an excellent deal for a BT! I was told around $3,000-$3,500 but perhaps that is "show quality". Or it might just vary from breeder to breeder -shrugs-.

venus

we have 3 at training and they are lovely dogs, super cute looking with their otter faces, full of energy and have sweet natures. they do seem to get distracted easily in class from what i've seen of them but the dogs at training are all still very young so its to be expected. athena finds them a little full on and doesn't like to socalize much with them. i don't really know much about them. of course they are much more common here in the uk and you'd pay around 800 dollars for a puppy and most breeders sell all puppies for the same amount regardless of wether or not they have show potential.

shibamistress

I think we're going to go see the puppies this weekend. I don't think my friend will actually get one from this litter, which is probably best as I'm not sure she has the committment for ANY puppy right now, but she at least wants to make a connection with this breeder for the future. One small additional thing a BT would be good for is that she has a mouse problem, as do many people who have birds, and her GSD tried to "herd" the mice but doesn't hurt them at all. I've offered to loan her a Shiba, but while the Shibas would go after the mice, they also try to get the birds. In the cages. So they're not very welcome at her house.

And I have to admit I'm WAY more interested in them than I thought, even thinking, huh, a local breeder who shows....if I wanted to get into showing dogs, she'd be a great resource, and training a terrier for show seems easier than trying with my sheebs....(not that mine are showable, but....if I wanted to show Shibas, it would be more complicated with no local Shiba people around here). But really that's just a fantasy of mine....though who knows? Maybe someday.

In the meantime, I'll be interested in seeing the dogs and talking to the breeder more. She was pretty interesting about the dogs, the background, also how long she waited before she was able to finally get one and start showing etc.

shibamistress

Well, she got one! I'm hoping this is a good thing for my friend--I mean the puppy is great, but I hope she's ready for a puppy after all. We met the dog family, and it was pretty interesting, because there were about 5 border terriers, and they were pretty chill.....interested in us, but not yappy, not too attention demanding (though they were happy to have visitors), and all around pretty cool dogs. The breeder was very up front with us, talked about potential health problems in the breed, the testing she's done on her dogs, offered to help teach my friend how to hand strip the coat, and also said that if she's interested in canine sports, she'll help her (the breeder does lure coursing, earth dog, and agility).

Here is a pic of him: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150190324878195&set=a.462498073194.247185.545233194&type=1&theater