Did Your Dog Turn Out Like You Thought He Would?

My dog is a 7month old Border Collie. When we got him when he was only 8 weeks and I had specific expectations, you know, him being a Border Collie and all. Hi energy, smart, intelligent, and loyal. None of them panned out, except for his intelligence, he is super smart. He shows no interest in play, I have literally bought 50 different types of balls and frisbees, but none interest him. His trainer said keep the play interesting. But no amount of jumping up and down, making funny noises, can get him even slightly interested in play. I cant even get him too look at me when making a fool out of myself. All he wants to do is sniff the ground and find something to put in his mouth. He used to like playing with other dogs but not anymore. He is super chill and lazy, and LOVES food. FOOD FOOD FOOD. At first I was SO worried, took him to numerous vets and certified Border Collie breeders. Everyone said he is ok, its just who he is. He's just not a typical border collie. His trainer said I just need to accept it. But I didnt for a long time. I tried everything, I would take him out to the park for 40 minutes to get some play out of him. I wouldnt give up until I could get him to fetch ONE ball. Eventually I just got so tired and started to get super frustrated with him and thinking "Why cant you just be NORMAL?". I love him so so much, but I also wasnt going to give up on the perfect dog I was imagining when I got a Border Collie. Its only been a few days that I have finally accepted him as who he is. If he doesnt like play, and enjoys sniffing and watching other dogs play more, then that is ok. I am not fully there, but I will get there. I love him a lot so I will adjust eventually. I do have to admit that I am a bit heart broken and feel like I have lost and have been a bad dog parent though. I keep thinking maybe it is my fault or I did something wrong somewhere that he is now like this.

We adopted a rescue beagle mix female 3 months ago. I wanted a walking partner. She was the most frightened puppy at the rescue. She seems to have such global fear that we can't take her anywhere because she goes into a trance like mode of trembling and crying. We have tried a puppy class (she finally came around on the last 2 classes). She is so sweet and loving to people and likes other dogs. A visit to the vet is a major chore. I won't give up on this fur baby. Every day we try something different to get her to move out of her comfort zone, I am losing confidence in myself to help her. We love her very much. My expectations are different but my love for her is stronger than ever.

I was just thinking about whether you'd taken him off leash yet. It's great that he stayed close, I bet that was fun. Have you seen him point? I love that your focus is "shifting to adventure." Sounds like he's maturing into a great all-around dog.

I love this post. It's great to see how accepting you are of Remy. It's also a good reminder that he's young and still growing into who he's going to be. Congrats on finding some activities that work for both of you. Good job on the off-leash hiking already!

Baxter has turned out to be the dog I hoped he'd be... I think. As my first dog, I didn't really know what to expect. His compulsion to chase anytime he things there might be something interesting to catch is still challenging, and we haven't been quite as diligent with the obedience as I expected we would. But he's a dog that we can take pretty much anywhere and do anything with. He's super calm and mellow, which is exactly what we envisioned when we thought about adding a dog to our family.

To be honest, Link isn't turning out how I expected at all and I'm still learning to be OK with that. Link's parents were much bigger than Hiccup (especially his mother) and I was excited to have a bigger dog. Link turns 6 months in two days and he's still a bit smaller than Hiccup. Honestly, I'm embarrassed how disappointed I am by this fact. I picked Link because he was the second calmest of the littler, didn't bite, didn't bark, and loved people. He fell asleep in my arms and I carried him to the car. I thought he'd have a good temperament to be a therapy dog, but turns out he's a little scaredy cat that doesn't really like meeting new people. He's also yappy, which is my least favorite characteristic in a dog. In the end, I think he's the dog I needed, not the dog I wanted. I'm learning so much about socialization and patience. He's also grown to have a one-ear-up, one-ear-down situation and it's the cutest thing I've ever seen. I love my little bunny dog and I'd adopt him again even though he wasn't what I expected.