Cocoa was a mixed border collie and her sister (Pepper) were both from the same litter. We had both of the pups for 15 years before old age caught up with both of them. Their hips began lacking the strength to hold them up, especially in icy conditions. For Cocoa, she also suffered from dementia as she would stare off and then gently wimper or bark for no particular reason. Both of the pups would visit the horse manure pile like it was the dessert bar at a Golden Corral. No amount of shooing them away from that buffet line ever worked. I guess that may have been their secret for a long life. Together they truly loved every horse camping trip that we took them on. While we would ride from camp, they were put in the horse compartment and they were truly in poop heaven while they waited for our return. Each of them had a wristwatch on with an alarm set for 5 am each morning for their breakfast. And if you thought you could sleep through their barking, you were dead wrong. Both of them were incredibly loyal and faithful pups who loved to explore and to chill at every campsite we visited. Cocoa's one bad habit was when she was younger, she'd try to chase the outdoor cats, never caught one (fortunately) but she'd still try until she couldn't move very fast anymore and then the cats realized that she wasn't a danger anymore and they would parade in front of her knowing full well there wasn't any threat from that big blond pup.