time interacting with and enjoying her pup.
I wish she would avoid back flips, though. I had a cat who liked to do back flips, but the back flips in her youth caused her to develop painful compressed spinal discs in her old age that made her limp and forced her to be on pain meds.
That doggie is as gorgeous as she is smart. Such a cutie. Border collies are so smart.
My daughter and her husband have a 6-year-old mutt that is part Border Collie--a rescue from a pound at 9 months old. When she was first adopted, she stressed out when left at home alone, so she went all instinct on them. For her, as a herding breed, instinct meant: herd. When Becky and Matt would return home, Phouka (pronounced "Pooka--it's Irish, meaning mischievous imp) would have all their furniture rearranged.
Apaprently, herding dogs are bred to "contain" the livestock in a compact group, so Phouka would push all the movable furniture into a small area in the center of the room--"corral" it, as it were. Then she would push any other loose item she found on the floor--shoes, books, etc.--into the area, as well. Once her environment was rearranged according to her comfort level, she could relax and wait for her people to come home to her.
At first we didn't realize why she was rearranging furniture, for goodness' sake, but when I mentioned the behavior to a friend who knows quite a lot about dog breeds, she asked me, "Is her dog a herding breed?"
I said, "Yeah, part Border Collie. Why?" Then Melissa told me that is normal behavior for herding dogs. Very funny. Also very cute.
On edit: I just remembered--Phouka is not part Border Collie, but part Australian Shepherd. For some reason I always get that mixed up with her.
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