Thanks.......sorry if I feel strongly but post/texting etc can give the wrong impression at times. Glad it's now all sorted...all the best

Jess, I do have to admit that it was the combination of your reasons for chosing a bc in the first place (i.e. not because you wanted one but because you felt you should have one), your comments that you only had yourself to blame if you were wrong (i.e. seemingly no thought to the dog) and your very firm views on other health matters that caused me to pick up the point about the long walk.... I'm afraid it did make me wonder.

I do accept that whatever your reasons for getting him, you are now truly committed to your pup and that you do only want what's best for him.

I suppose this is one of those things where you as an individual do what you think is right for your own pup, just as others do with things you may not necessarily agree with.

Please don't think that I 'felt' I should have one. I feel I should have all the rescues under the sun too, but I don't. My curiosity was piqued, and I felt at a loss as to why so many are destroyed so frequently. I work with a local rescue center that frequently puts down healthy BC's.
I have a terrier, and I know how they can be, so I can help people all the more with their terriers (I get alot of terrier phone calls ''please help me, my owner does not understand my need to do as I please and my lack of respect for living life'') (no offence to anyone that has a wonderful terrier, mine is NOT but I can't help loving that little killer)
I made the choice to have a border collie, more from the NEED to know them better.

I do want to do what is best for him, obsessively. And I do understand Hali, that BC's are renowned for 'working' through pain to their own demise.

It's not that I do not agree with you, I have taken what Mini said on board, and I will continue to question myself over his exercise, you might not know it, but please believe me I am more worried than all of you put together about this wee guys body.

Any damage done to a young pups skeletal system through over exercising in it's youth may not become apparent until the dog is much older. Puppies will go on and on and on and on and on and not necessarily show signs of tiredness, especially as so many people have already said, Border Collies.
I know Border Collies and I know a fair amount about puppies and I personally feel that it is even more important with a BC pup to manage it's exercise incredibly carefully, until it reaches 12-18 months.
It isn't worth risking it's joints.

Jess, I find it very difficult to understand where you are coming from.
You obviously care very much for your dogs, but you put them at real physical risk, I truly find it very hard to understand how someone who is 'obsessed' (your description) with dogs, can have such little regard for their physical welfare. I am very confused.

''can have such little regard for their physical welfare''

That is of course a subjective comment, I would hope others, especially others who know me in real life would not feel the way that you do.

Off topic vaccination posts moved here..

http://www.dogsey.com/showthread.php?t=75812

Just a little something i've noticed....you say you've worked a 14 week old pup up to walking 4 hour walks....you haven't had very long to work up to that time.
I enjoy walking, as does my dog, but to work up to walking 4 hours (especially when it's a pup) should be done gradually, not over a few weeks.
It's not just muscles/bones that need to be able to take the strain, it's stamina etc too.

I have to just put my comments on this thread to, being a collie owner/lover.

I also think 4-6 hours of walking is far too much for a 14 week old pup of ANY breed. Border Collies, as has been said already, are extremely hardy, they love to exercise and will walk/run through any pain threshold. I think if you walked a pup to the point where it was laying down and physically couldn't walk any further then you have walked a pup way past it's endurance and may well have caused some lasting damage Therefore I would never suggest exercising a pup until it was exhausted.

Just my thoughts.

''Just a little something i've noticed....you say you've worked a 14 week old pup up to walking 4 hour walks....you haven't had very long to work up to that time.
I enjoy walking, as does my dog, but to work up to walking 4 hours (especially when it's a pup) should be done gradually, not over a few weeks.
It's not just muscles/bones that need to be able to take the strain, it's stamina etc too.''

Hi Hev,
I have had him 3 months today (!) in fact, and he has been out since day one. I would say at about 8/9 weeks he was more on the ground than in my arms.

Moobli
''Therefore I would never suggest exercising a pup until it was exhausted.''
I don't think anyone suggested that, in fact I believe I keep mentioning that I watch him like a hawk for physical exertion and can happily say he comes homes and plays futher still. Maybe there is something wrong with him?!
Lol.

I guess all there is to say is that I will report back here in a year and let you know how he is getting on.

Hi Jess your rethink is noted and appreciated.
If you will forgive me for saying so you still seem to be making statements to which you appear to have given little thought like the one highlighted above.

Experimentation in some things is good, but not always particularly when it comes to animals and in this instance puppies. Make a mistake and the damage can be irreparable .