Cycling UK Forum

Psamathe wrote:

Mick F wrote::lol:
Border Collie.
Tough as old boots.
From a farm dog litter.

He's our fifth BC and we know what we're doing.

Wide awake again, and wants another walk!

Unfortunately the bone plates are not so tough so that you have got away with it in the past does not mean they are "tough as old boots" (not even in a farm Border Collie). Border Collies are very good at "overdoing it". The risk is to the joints and the issues tend not to emerge until later life.

Still you "know what you are doing" so why listen to anybody else? (e.g. vets, Kennel Club, etc).

Ian

So very true! Still the manufacturers of Metacam are grateful to collie owners everywhere.

Cugel

What's Metacalm?
Never heard of it.

Sorry, I don't worry in the slightest about him now or in the future.



BTW, just weighed him.
10.9Kg

He's not eaten his breakfast.
Mrs Mick F has been looking at his gnashers. She reckons he's got gum-ache. Teething, poor thing.

Mick F wrote:What's Metacalm?
Never heard of it.

Sorry, I don't worry in the slightest about him now or in the future.



BTW, just weighed him.
10.9Kg

Metacam is an anti-inflamatory for dawgs. A daily low dose in the dinner improves mobility and resilience in the dog joints and connective tissues.

Many a collie is on the metacam by age 11-12 as it tends to increase mobility so that they are eager and not reluctant to exercise. It reduces their pain from the joints et al and seems to improve their ability to resist the twangles suffered during the mad dashing about after stick and ball. The Metacam is a means to keep the dawg healthy and happy via lots of exercise, well into old age.

There are risks, as with all drug. Long term use can cause stomach bleeds, for example (like with the low-dose aspirin taken by we gimmers). But overall, those risks are far less than that of the dog becoming moribund and morose through lack of exercise. Also, one can reduce the risk by giving half recommended dose and always with food. If a slight limp, twangle or other sign of a painful bit manifests, a day or three on standared dose has always put thing right.

*****
I'm sure you care for your dog, despite the rather offhand "I don't worry in the slightest about him". I don't know why you occasionally lapse into this "proud of my ignorance" mode, though. I'm sure you love the pooch and would worry enough to ensure his health and happiness. ... wouldn't you?

Cugel

Thanks for your reply.

It's the "worry" you seem to have landed on.
We don't worry.

"I don't worry in the slightest about him now or in the future" is very different to being interested in his health and happiness now and in the future. Surely this is a better statement?

We are not worried in the slightest.

We've had four BCs over they years and all lived to a ripe old age. Megan developed diabetes as an older adult and we injected insulin every day after taking wee samples. She's the only dog we had who had any medication.

Mick F wrote:Thanks for your reply.

It's the "worry" you seem to have landed on.
We don't worry.

"I don't worry in the slightest about him now or in the future" is very different to being interested in his health and happiness now and in the future. Surely this is a better statement?

We are not worried in the slightest.

We've had four BCs over they years and all lived to a ripe old age. Megan developed diabetes as an older adult and we injected insulin every day after taking wee samples. She's the only dog we had who had any medication.

"I'm not worried" can translate as "Am I bovvered" meaning "I don't give a toss". I was sure you didn't mean that - although it is easy to get a bit Panglossian about one's dog's well-being (or even that of the ladywife or oneself). In the infamous Lancashire phrase, "It'll be reet". Then one day it isn't.

I confess that my feelings of responsibility for the collies sometimes shades into worrying. I'm not nearly as bad as the ladywife, though but. She would coddle the rascals whilst I will let them be collies even when this means a bit of twangle or an unfortunate incident with an uppity German Pointer!

Still, collie one isn't nick-named "Whizz" (as in whizz-bang) for nothing. Explosions of various kinds requiring a vet can and do occur. Even today, the other one is feeling morose after a few days enforced lack of tearing about in the forest as his stiches following a torn skintag removal heal.

Cugel

Cugel wrote: "It'll be reet". Then one day it isn't.

I'm a Lancastrian.
Tha'll be reet, or he'll be reet maybe.
Maybe it's because I'm a Wiganer.

One day, it may not be right.
There, but for the Grace of God go we.

PS:
1.5 hilly miles this afternoon, plus playing in the garden.
Fast asleep again now.

When does a collie stop growing, how much does an adult weigh, how long do they live?

Many different sizes and shapes. No pedigree and no standard. Short hair, long hair, shaggy, or smooth.
I mentioned Megan a post or so ago, she was a Welsh Border, and quite light and nimble, about the size of a large Shelty and very pretty indeed.

Rascal, our last one, was twice her size even though he was one of her sons.
She had 30 pups in her lifetime, and Rascal was No. 29 born in March 1991.

At least three years old before they finish growing and settling down.

Did you give them away, or what?
Hamish Brown took his Shelty 'Kitschy' to all the munros, he published lots of photos of the hound but few of himself
'You must be Hamish Brown, no idea what you look like, but I recognised the dog!', people would say to him

Doubtless Welsh Collies are best

Sold, but not for megabucks.
£50 or so if my memory serves me. Last litter was 1991, so it's a while back of course.
Sailor was £140, so it's about right.

Mrs Mick F did it all, and "vetted" the prospective owners. Some were refused.

PS:
Megan had three "husbands" .
First was a mongrel in Scotland when we lived there, second was a local farm dog in Cornwall, next was a friend's collie, and then three from the Cornish farm dog down the road again. Sam, the farm dog down the road, had a steel plate in his hip, but that didn't stop him having a hareem of willing ladies.

No. 29 Rascal fathered a few litters locally. Mrs Mick F used to do a bit of matchmaking.
No doubt there's some collies round here who have connections to us .......... and Sam.

Her puppies must have been of many different shapes and sizes, heinz 57?

Sailor was one of three.

Father and mother quite old, and it was a surprise litter. Father (Jack) has three legs.
Two boys smooth-haired, and one girl as fluffy as you can imagine.

Sailor is nicely marked as a classic tricolour BC, the other boy didn't have much white on him, and the girl was almost black all over.

This is Tess the mother allowing them to feed.
Mrs Mick F's green wellies can be seen in the shot.

Cyril Haearn wrote:When does a collie stop growing, how much does an adult weigh, how long do they live?

It depends .....

Cugel