Dog Personalities.

This afternoon I took the dogs back to Carquinez Straits for a walk. We haven't been there since spring! Sorry I took no photos.. but you can revisit the last trip I blogged...except the cows and the color of the grass, it hasn't changed much.

One thing about this walk, it struck me why Jake was sold as a "pet" and neutered as puppy inspite of his impressive "Border Collie" pedigree. His "grandparents" are/were all Scottish working dogs, his parents: California working dogs. He's bred as a McNabb.. short coat, flag tail, and a working weight of 55-60#.

He just doesn't have the work mentality to be a good working BC. The other BC mixes we've owned all herded us along the way: they would walk a short distance ahead, checking the trail. Regularly these dogs would circle back around us, touching each member of the "herd" once to make sure we stayed together and nobody was lost. They would run until dropped from exhaustion.

On this walk, Jake would regularly walk way ahead of us, concentrating on his own journey, oblivious to if we were keeping up. Most of his time, he was trying to find a shady spot to lie down in. The BC "work ethic" in him seems to mainly express itself as some obsessive behaviors.

Still, he's a happy boy who loves everyone and seems to have a very effective radar: he's growled at 3 men we've walked by in 4 years. One, I found out later that day, had just assaulted a girl at a high school. So I will trust his instinct to tell me when a "potentially dangerous" person is around. But I shall need to keep him onleash

Whatcha Doing Today? Wednesday: getting our family room ready to begin painting, and doing some sewing.

What's on TV Tonight? Project Runway!!

Steps? Tuesday:11664