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H there, I have four Old English Sheepdog they love camping, they don'tmoult either.  We have to have them clipped, they certainly are not coming in my bed when the have been doing this ;-

because it means alot of this

But then its all worth it when they collapse and look like this, tucked up in their sleeping bags, oh and bye the way only take two at a time because I need a bit of the bed.

and

are n't they good when they are asleep?

Karen

hi

they do tend to shed alot of hair, but dont let that put you off, you just need a good vacuum cleaner, and brush them a couple of times a week. cant say i've noticed any really bad doggie smells, but be warned they will roll in smelly stuff when out on walks if they come across something(doesn't happen often) he just needs a good shout if i think he's going to do that, and yes muddy foot prints as well, but then the kids also do that

their a wonderfull breed of dog, wouldn't change a thing, and they return the love and effection, make sure they know who's boss,and fairly their easy to train,

pics of ben on my profile

Hi Grunty

I have both dogs clipped usually 2/3 times a year depending on temps etc cost £48 for both (know cos were done today at home) I have Izzy clipped quite short  for summer and as Lottie gets tangled easily, she is also clipped short. Both my dogs (bitches) were spayed and yes their coats did get thicker but as I have no intention of breeding, I chose to have them done! I brush them regularly and Izzy is always in the water anyway so she self cleans. I have a good vacuum which picks up all the hair. We all tend to get changed when we get home as otherwise your good clothes get a bit hairy. Any more questions, just let me know    

Quote: Originally posted by slinger on 16/4/2009

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We have a Border Collie and I couldnt imagine going camping without him. We go walking so every day we get up early, have breakfast and then go on a good 4 hours or longer walk and then find a nice pub to have lunch and a few drinks, the dog is asleep all that time. At night he sleeps in his crate in the tent, on site during the day he is tethered up to one of those dog "cork screws" available from Go Outdoors for about £3. One thing is for sure though, there is no way anyone would be able to pinch anything from our tent, check out the photo  

 

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Sorry to go a bit off topic folks.

Slinger - I see you are a fellow Blue Merle collie owner - don't they just love watching things!!  Yours has some gorgeous markings!

Heres my Jasper.  This was taken a couple of years ago when he was still a sprightly 10 years old, now he's almost 13 but apart from being a bit stiff after long hikes he's showing no signs of slowing down - in fact he regularly chases round with my mum and dad's barmy young springer spaniel.

Blue Merles are renowned for being a bit mental - Jasper has more phobias than any dog I ever knew, but he's mellowing in his old age - how have you found yours?

We have a trailer & roof box, kids & dogs get the back of car

xx

Quote: Originally posted by natsandjasper on 18/4/2009

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Quote: Originally posted by slinger on 16/4/2009

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We have a Border Collie and I couldnt imagine going camping without him. We go walking so every day we get up early, have breakfast and then go on a good 4 hours or longer walk and then find a nice pub to have lunch and a few drinks, the dog is asleep all that time. At night he sleeps in his crate in the tent, on site during the day he is tethered up to one of those dog "cork screws" available from Go Outdoors for about £3. One thing is for sure though, there is no way anyone would be able to pinch anything from our tent, check out the photo  

 

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Sorry to go a bit off topic folks.

Slinger - I see you are a fellow Blue Merle collie owner - don't they just love watching things!!  Yours has some gorgeous markings!

Heres my Jasper.  This was taken a couple of years ago when he was still a sprightly 10 years old, now he's almost 13 but apart from being a bit stiff after long hikes he's showing no signs of slowing down - in fact he regularly chases round with my mum and dad's barmy young springer spaniel.

Blue Merles are renowned for being a bit mental - Jasper has more phobias than any dog I ever knew, but he's mellowing in his old age - how have you found yours?

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I thought you had stolen my dog then, he's my Ollies doppleganger!

This is him at about 8 months old I think:

I notice your from Lancashire also, you didnt get him from a farm in Bacup did you? They look identical, although mine has grown a slightly longer coat since that photo.

Ollie is very well behaved, he does exactly what I say but has a fettish for fetching your socks and shoes when you dont want them, I think its a sign of him wanting to go for a walk! His temperament is very good and he loves playing with our nieces and nephews but we had one slightly worrying thing happen the other week when we were away. We were sat outside a pub in the beer garden with our friends and their Black Lab and I had my back turned to our dog while putting my coat on and I hadnt noticed this guy who apparently creeped up on him ut of nowehere while he was asleep stood up straight and pointing his finger out to him to approach him. Well Ollie didnt like this he must have thought he was sneaking up on me and growled at the bloke, it scarred the chap half to death so I had some apologising to do. Thing is I was really angry about it afterwards, as while I wont condone a dog growling at anybody, he should have asked me if it was alright to approach my dog. Only after talking to him later he said that they used to own a Border Collie and it had turned on his wife one day and mangled her leg, so I can understand their caution when approaching a dog, but wouldnt that make you even more sure to ask if its ok to approach someone elses dog?   Anyway Ollie is under no illusion that he's not allowed to do that again.

One phobia ours seems to have is getting in cars, he will instanly lie down on the floor as soon as he see's our car but this last couple of weeks, after some perseverance, he has started to jump in now.

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I thought you had stolen my dog then, he's my Ollies doppleganger!

This is him at about 8 months old I think:

I notice your from Lancashire also, you didnt get him from a farm in Bacup did you? They look identical, although mine has grown a slightly longer coat since that photo.

Ollie is very well behaved, he does exactly what I say but has a fettish for fetching your socks and shoes when you dont want them, I think its a sign of him wanting to go for a walk! His temperament is very good and he loves playing with our nieces and nephews but we had one slightly worrying thing happen the other week when we were away. We were sat outside a pub in the beer garden with our friends and their Black Lab and I had my back turned to our dog while putting my coat on and I hadnt noticed this guy who apparently creeped up on him ut of nowehere while he was asleep stood up straight and pointing his finger out to him to approach him. Well Ollie didnt like this he must have thought he was sneaking up on me and growled at the bloke, it scarred the chap half to death so I had some apologising to do. Thing is I was really angry about it afterwards, as while I wont condone a dog growling at anybody, he should have asked me if it was alright to approach my dog. Only after talking to him later he said that they used to own a Border Collie and it had turned on his wife one day and mangled her leg, so I can understand their caution when approaching a dog, but wouldnt that make you even more sure to ask if its ok to approach someone elses dog?   Anyway Ollie is under no illusion that he's not allowed to do that again.

One phobia ours seems to have is getting in cars, he will instanly lie down on the floor as soon as he see's our car but this last couple of weeks, after some perseverance, he has started to jump in now.

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Oh wow - Ollie is fab!  Absolutely gorgeous!  He sounds angelic as well!

I don't think we got Jasper from Bacup, but it was somewhere in the Rochdale area.  They really are very similar to look at though - its uncanny!  Theres quite a few blue merles round here though - someone walks a really handsome one in my local park quite regularly.

Sounds like Ollie has a lovely temperament - unfortunately Jas is not so good.  We never met his sire - which is the hugest mistake when getting a dog but we trusted the people who'd recommended them and I was 16 and determind to have him!! - but I know that sadly several of Jasper's litter were rehomed or destroyed for various types of bad behaviour. 

So, to save me describing every possible ill - which would leave you thinking he was a total monster - lets just say that over the years everything from fireworks and thunderstorms, to children, carrier bags, hats and bikes have been some sort of issue to Jasper!!  And some days I think he just wakes up in a bad mood and dislikes everybody!  But he is mellowing in his old age (the deafness helps!!)

As for cars - well, lets just say that I nearly lost him at 6 months old because he thought it would be really fun to run at cars!!  He's definitely a few sandwiches short of a picnic.  He loves travelling in the car though, because he knows he's going somewhere fun with me.  He just jumps straight in and happily curls up on the back seat and sleeps until we get there.

You're right to be annoyed at people approaching your dog without asking permission - pointing directly at a strange dog, were they daft or what??  It drives me mad when I am so obviously doing everything possible to keep Jasper away from people, that they'll go out of their way to come up to him.  Usually small, brightly dressed, noisy, shrill children - can you imagine how scary a slightly unhinged border collie finds that!!  My nerves!!!

Anyway - its lovely to know that Jasper has a well-behaved, good with kids, obedient doppelganger - its like the universe is in perfect balance :0)  So I shall continue to keep my delinquent on a short lead in the knowledge that Ollie is carrying the flag for the wonderful, well-behaved blue merles!!

ha ha oh he's far from angelic believe me!  He's my second BC though so I knew what to expect this time and as soon as he'd had his vaccinations he was booked onto an obedience course and has been brought up around children and other dogs. Both his parents we're working dogs and we got to meet them both when we bought him so that was a good thing. I can relate to the chasing cars though, thankfully that only lasted a couple of months with him, cars and bikes were his favourite, though motorbikes scared the life out of him, and god help anyone if they had a ball near him! Now he only bothers what we're doing and ignores everything and everyone else around him and he really seems to have calmed down since Christmas.

Jasper looks fantastic, I think we can allow our dogs the odd misdemeanor for all the joy they bring us cant we?

Quote: Originally posted by slinger on 20/4/2009

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god help anyone if they had a ball near him!

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I can definitely relate to that