Hours and hours and hours of PLAY!!! With Our Border Collie/Australian Shepherd Mix

by Willy's and Rush's Owner
(USA)

I play with my dog every summer. I play with him every day of the summer for about 6-11 hours a day, maybe a little less this year. Only a little!

He's a Border Collie/Australian Shepherd mix. He's 70-80 pounds. He's black/gray/white with black splotches over his white fur. He has gray stockings on each leg with gray leopard spots on the inside of each leg, 2-3 inch long fur and a gray face (short fur on face) with black ears, ear feathering and a black spot over one eye. He has white feathering on one back thigh and black on the other.

He's eight years old. I'm eleven. So I've played with him every summer forever almost. We play fetch and tug-o-war.

Then I brush him. He's not tangled but he can lose a whole shopping bag full of fur sometimes. PS, when he is matted, it's so bad, but ya know we fix that up in a day, painlessly to him, painstakingly for me, lol.

And we feed him dry Blue Buffalo brand dog food (Longevity) and he loves it. We add table scraps, though, nothing toxic, lol. I've researched dog food quality/importance for about 30-40 hours so yeah, all in like a week. ha!ha!

He's not allowed inside cause he's not potty trained and he sheds like mad. But we let him in in winter to sit on the fireplace hearth.

We trim his nails, brush his teeth, etc... and walk him 5-6 miles in the park every other day or so. He has a covered dog bed with our old clothes inside for warmth and to remind him of us. Even though he won't forget overnight.

On vacations we have our grandma care for him and we don't send him to the dog hotels. He HATES those. And he hates the groomer's, vet's, etc. But if he has to go, he has to go!

When it's raining we put him in our warm garage with his bed, food, water, and our cat for company. Oh man, don't get me going on how we spoil our cat. Oh wow, it's b-b-b-a-a-a-d-d-d. No, it's toxic and contagious. Yep, we got us a spoiled kitteh. But, sadly, you asked about our dog.

He's not that spoiled, as you probably know by now. He doesn't were clothes. That's stupid x 1,000,000. He knows how to sit, stay, lay down, wait, heel, shake hands/paws, herd horses, is friends with my cat but hates other ones, and knows how to jump when you've got treat for him. He also knows how to stand up so he's as tall as me (5'1").

He's our only pup, and we got him from the pound.

We give him premium dental treats with no by-products or beef, only lean lamb muscle and bone. He can doggy paddle, but doesn't like to swim. But he loves to play in water, lol. He runs around when the sprinklers are on, chasing the water and cupping his mouth over for a drink. We wet him down with cold water in the hot days (over 90 F), he loves it. And when the pool filter turns on, he runs back and forth around the pool, excitedly barking as loud as he can and wagging his long tail. That reminds me, when he was little and had a little puppy bark, he startled himself big-time with his first manly dog bark, lol!

I massage him all the time. Have you ever seen a dog smile? Cause Willy (our dog) REALLY smiles huge when I do it! and have you seen a dog shake his leg when you scratch his belly? Do you feed your dog mac-n-cheese? Cause I do! How 'bout Cheese-Its? Yep.

Oh, when our (long story short) indoor cat gets loose outside, Willy shows us where he went! He looks at me, looks at where our kitty is. Back at me... back at Rush. and so on.

So how do I spoil my pooch? Massages, constant exercise, health care, water fun, play, belly rubs, grooming, a soft bed, and a backyard to explore. How 'bout you?

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Note From the Editors at Dog-Spoiling


We enjoyed your story and the fact that you have so much fun with your dog and obviously take good care of him. A picture of him would have been great!

Just to let visitors know what he might look like, we have included two items on the page - one showing the Border Collie and one showing the Australian Shepherd, both great dogs!

Thanks for your contribution.