— Breed of the Month —

Border Collie

The Border Collie is a well-balanced, medium-sized dog of athletic appearance, displaying style and agility in equal measure with soundness and strength. Its hard, muscular body conveys the impression of effortless movement and endless endurance.

The Border Collie is extremely intelligent, with its keen, alert expression being a very important characteristic of the breed. 

Border Collies thrive when they have a job to do and space to run. This high-drive breed is extremely energetic and requires beyond just a walk around the block or a romp in the yard.

Due to their tendency to herd objects and people, they do their best with mature, well-behaved children. 

Back to Breed of the Month

Breed Traits and Characteristics

According to the American Kennel Club, here are some breed characteristic you can find in Border Collies. 

 

  • Height

    19-22 inches (male), 18-21 inches (female)

  • Weight

    30-55 pounds

  • Life Expectancy

    12-15 years

  • Coat Type/Length

    Double-Wavy/Medium

  • 100 Affectionate with Family
  • 60 Good with Young Children
  • 60 Good with Other Dogs
  • 100 Trainability Level
  • 100 Energy Level
  • 80 Barking Level
  • 60 Shedding Level
  • 20 Drooling Level

History

Ever since man started raising sheep, they needed a trusty dog to help protect stock and herd from pen to pen for safe keeping. A dog’s natural herding traits was carefully bred into the Border Collie's ancestors, which originated in the border regions between Scotland and the Northern parts of England.

Farmers would show off the prowess of their best sheep dogs to other farmers while at the markets and soon developed a reputation for having the best working dog litters. The original outstanding dogs that were used to herd and guard sheep or livestock in the 1800’s were further enhanced through breeding and natural selection.

In the late 1800’s, Queen Victoria saw one of the dogs at a show and became an enthusiast of the breed.

A gentleman by the name of R.J. Lloyd Price is one of the first people to organize sheepdog trials. In 1876, he brought a hundred wild Welsh sheep to the Alexandra Palace in London for a sheep herding demonstration. The Livestock Journal described the astonishment of the spectators at the sharpness of the dogs, whose only assistance from their handlers was in the form of hand signals and whistles.

About Border Collies

An Energetic Breed

If you are thinking about a Border Collie as your next dog, you need to give some thought to the time you can devote to such an energetic breed. It would be unfair to keep this breed couped up for long hours – they are definitely not “couch potatoes.” They do not do ‘home alone’ too well and can exhibit separation anxiety. If you lock them up for hours on end, it won’t be long until you get complaints from your neighbors about endless barking.

If you have a busy lifestyle, then consider day care or dog walkers. Always do your own research into the right people to care for your precious pet. Also check that they hold adequate insurance and have experience in dealing with this breed.

Popular Working and Sporting Dog

The keenness of the Border Collie and its attractive look and appeal, is what made it a popular dog for obedience trials, dancing with dogs’ competitions, and agility competitions. Once you see a Border Collie perform, you will be impressed.

They move gracefully with determination, focused on the task ahead which is a learned behavior from their sheep dog herding ancestry. Once they lock their interest on something, nothing else takes their focus.

Border collies were bred for their stamina, always presenting their ‘A’ game. They ran all day, without exhaustion, as they accompanied the shepherds at a moment’s notice.

Border Collies are easy to train, but beware if they get bored, that’s when mischief begins. Suddenly they will be chasing squirrels, barking, chasing cats or digging. Make sure you have the time to devote to keeping their mind and body engaged. Their personality is characteristically alert, energetic, hardworking, and smart. They learn quickly — so quickly that it's sometimes difficult to keep them mentally challenged.

They are a visual breed who constantly scrutinizes your face. They are highly sensitive to your moods and subtle looks and will predict what you are about to do, even before you know what you are about to do yourself.

Border Collie Personality & Temperament

The Border Collie is renowned as a fun loving energetic breed with an outgoing personality that is constantly seeking gratification from activity. They love activities that are focused on running or chasing after things and often mix well with people and other dogs. If their energy is not pointed to something meaningful, their strong herding instinct can lead to chasing cars and small animals.

They generally have a very stable temperament, capable of fitting into most households. They can be trained to herd chickens, ducks, geese, and any livestock.

The Border Collie is a breed without too many ‘hang ups’. They generally have the perfect temperament/personality to be a safe family dog.

This can of course be dependent on their temperament, upbringing and positive exposure to things as they grow and mature.

The breed is not generally renowned for any guard dog abilities, but will naturally bark at strangers or a perceived threat. They do need to be strictly controlled or they will bark at any kind of movement if their behavior is not kept in check.

The Right Training

You need to be absolutely sure what type of training you need for your Border Collie. These are a very trainable breed but they do need understanding, patience and some thought to the type of training that suits their intelligence. They need consistency and direction and some guidance in how to hold their focus.

A highly intelligent breed such as the Border Collie needs to be doing something every single day.

Capabilities of the Breed

This is a highly capable breed that likes nothing more than to be working at any task you set for it.

  • Great dog for farm work of any kind
  • Excellent Frisbee catching breed
  • Top dog for sheep and agility trials
  • Excel at obedience competitions
  • Brilliant breed for Dancing Dogs Competition
  • Search and rescue
  • Great family dog
  • Good companion for jogging

Points of Interest

  • Great all-round fun dog
  • Easy to train
  • Stable temperament
  • Good family dog
  • Need to be monitored when with children, due to their herding traits
  • Energetic and athletic-great companion for the fitness loving dog owner
  • Not commonly known for aggression to humans or other dogs
  • Great dog for things like agility, obedience competitions, Frisbee throwing, dancing with dogs and much more.
  • Love retrieving, often obsessively, especially with tennis balls
  • Must be actively engaged regularly
  • Highly intelligent and easy to train with basic obedience and general commands
  • Barking issues are high on this breeds issues, but fixable

Bark Busters Experience with Border Collies

Border Collies are an all-round sweet dog, usually very soft in nature, but are highly driven by the chase of a ball or something that moves quickly. They are generally easy to train and love to work either in obedience trials or other types of events such as fly ball, agility or sheep herding trials.

They are fairly easy to care for, just a brush every day to make sure their coat does not get tangled, especially behind their ears.

Border Collies love to be around the family, but still happy to be on their own, but without proper training they can be a nuisance with their barking and herding tendencies. f you are consistent you will have no problem training a Border Collie, they love to learn new things.

Case Study with Donna Ryan, Bark Busters International Head Trainer

Millie – a rescue puppy -- was 6 months of age when Bark Busters was called in to address her unpredictable aggression towards strangers.

Millie would growl and snap if strangers approached or tried to touch her. This is quite common behavior in temperaments such as the one that Millie has, which we diagnosed as ‘fearful’.

Many puppies are born with a fearful or shy temperament that makes them predisposed to overacting when strangers approach or try to touch them.

We started out explaining dog psychology to her doggie parents and the fact that all dogs need strong leaders and especially dogs with Millie’s temperament.

When they don‘t get the much-needed leadership and security they crave, they become concerned for their own well-being and they then take matters into their own control and start acting out.

This aggression can commence at about 6-12 months of age and when it happens it catches everyone, who knows and loves them, by surprise.

It’s a self-protection response that is simply indicating to the approaching stranger that they should STOP their approach or the consequences could be dire.

The reason that this ‘aggression to strangers’ generally starts somewhere beyond 6 months of age, is due to the fact that young pups won’t deal with things, they usually just practice avoidance, until they feel capable of seriously repelling an approach.

We started her owners off with some basic commands for them to gain control of Millie’s aggression. We explained that she needs to always know that she can default to them when things don’t go her way or when she feels she needs protection. Where the owner is concerned, it’s a ‘we have this’ approach, so she learns that her humans will take care of things that scare her.

We also had them change the way people interacted with her. They have to be pro-active, raise their hand in a stop signal, and hand the approaching person a packet of treats. Visitors should then throw her a treat versus trying to pet her or stare directly into her eyes.

This worked amazingly. In no time Millie felt less concerned or worried about approaching strangers, knowing the humans had control and she was in safe hands.

She actually began seeking people out more as they approached and waited for the treat she knew was coming.

Border Collie Health

Everyday Illnesses and Injuries

At any stage of life, here are some of the most common injuries and illnesses you should be aware of when bringing home a Border Collie:

  • Arthritis
  • Epilepsy
  • Eye issues
  • Hip and elbow dysplasia
  • Joint disease

Your Border Collie’s health concerns will change over the course of their life. A puppy might be more prone to eat something they shouldn’t, a 2-year-old Border Collie may be more likely to show signs of separation anxiety, and a senior Border Collie is far more likely to develop arthritis as they age. Border Collie’s also have personality and physical traits that may make them more prone to certain conditions or situations—because they are an incredibly intelligent breed, a Border Collie without enough mental stimulation may become frustrated more likely to get into trouble.

Genetic Health Concerns

The Border Collie is generally a healthy breed, but this doesn’t excuse them from genetic conditions like hip and elbow dysplasia. Most reputable breeders now have their breeding stock checked and scored for these hereditary ailments by a vet. You can request proof that the puppy you are purchasing comes from parents that have been checked for these issues.

Because many other health issues are also hereditary, you should do some research on the ancestry of your puppy and any health issues of that particular breed.

Many rescue organizations also check for common-ailments before making them available for adoption.

Common Behavioral Issues with Border Collies

Barking

The Border Collie is a barking breed. They are easily visually stimulated which is often why they bark so much. They will bark at anything that moves quickly, such as bikes, skate boards and the like.

Barking in the car, barking at people on bikes, and barking at lawnmowers are high on the list of behavioral issues that Bark Busters training addresses.

Dogs do not have great discerning abilities. They see something whizzing past and it concerns them. They don’t recognize it as a human on a skateboard or a human on a bike. They bark just to send it on its way. The fact that it was already going that way is lost on the dog and it mistakenly believes that their barking is what dispatched it.

With the Border Collie breed, you also have the strong herding instinct and that just adds to the problem.

As mentioned earlier, the Border Collie is easily stimulated visually. It’s that look that they use to intimidate the sheep that is at play here. Dogs can become over-stimulated in cars as images do flashing by.

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Hear from Bark Busters Clients Who Have a Border Collie

I called Karen after adopting a young border collie mix that immediately began to show resource guarding and growled and barked at visitors and the neighborhood children. I called Bark Busters as I was very concerned and had read good reviews. I’ve had decades of dogs and dog training but I knew I needed serious help. Karen is fantastic! The training method is humane, smart and powerful. I was no longer a treat puppet for my dog but a pack leader. With just the first session there was a tremendous improvement. Several sessions later, I now have a sweet docile dog who looks to me for guidance and is calm and not stressed. She doesn’t need to challenge me and feels safe with my command. She lets the neighborhood kids pet her and enjoys it immensely. Karen is calm, direct but very considerate and truly the best I’ve worked with and and the method works.
Wow. We have a Border Collie puppy. Really thought there was no hope but after just one visit with Connie we were surprised at his progress. Now a month in we have a dog that listens and responds to us. Her advise has been invaluable and we highly recommend.
We adopted our Border Collie mix Mattie about 6 years ago. As time went on Mattie became more aggressive and possessive of me and her property. After on session with Michael we have made amazing progress. Mattie no longer barks excessively at every car or person who goes by. Truly amazing!
Patrick is fantastic! He cares about his clients and has been a huge help to me in training my border collie pup Harley!
In one visit, we have experienced a complete transformation. Thank you, James. I'm not sure what we're going to talk about next visit. Maybe we can figure out what is wrong with the cat? 😂
John was amazing. He gave us so much info and I feel so confident this will work.
John was exceptional at training my 3 dogs and providing training for me to continue. I'm excited to implement the training by myself.
The experience with Orlando was very helpful and hands on. By understanding the pets needs I was able to understand how to help my pet during the training process. This training session was very helpful and informative thank you so much!
The training session was outstanding. Dottie who always is aggressive responded quickly to the lessons and became a sweet girl.
Orlando is amazing!!! We've seen such improvement with our dogs in one day. Orlando is a professional who is well educated in his profession. We feel so at peace now regarding our dogs safety and future.
Very informative with training our Draco. Will refer Barkbusters & Orlando to others. We are very pleased with Barkbusters and Orlando very personable.
It was super helpful understanding the dynamics at play in the home and how we are unknowingly contributing to Georgie's belief that he is the leader. I'm looking forward to implementing the tips Carrie showed us!
We had a great session! Our dog is already responding to the exercises and Carrie was great with her. Carrie was very helpful to us humans too with how best to interact with our dog for consistent results. I'm shocked by how well our dog is behaving already and can't wait to see how she improves with continued practice.
Loved working with Jared with our 2 year old Mini Aussie with reactivity issues. As many others have mentioned, there is no quick fix to these type of problems but Jared is great at providing a really unique and thorough perspective to look at your pet's issues! We use his techniques daily and his method of thinking like a dog has really helped us. Beyond that, he is easy to work with on scheduling and follows up regularly. Highly recommend!
We recently had the opportunity to work with Jared. What a terrific trainer! The results we experienced with our dog Franklin far exceeded our greatest hopes. He is much more relaxed, responsive to us, and his behavioral issues with other dogs have mostly been resolved. Best of all, Jared shared his expertise with us to help us continue working effectively with Franklin on our own. Jared's love and understanding of dogs made all this possible. We recommend him highly!
We feel confident in the tools we were given by Pascha and look forward to applying them moving into this season with Polly.
We couldn’t be happier with the progress our dogs have made thanks to Jared! We started our journey with Jared last December, and from the start, he was incredibly understanding of the issues we were facing. Our dogs were experiencing serious sibling rivalry that led to intense fights, so we had to keep them apart. We also mentioned to Jared that neither of our dogs had any prior obedience training, to which he assured us that it would not be an issue and he would be happy to work on that as well. During our first couple of sessions, Jared focused on basic obedience training, which we diligently put into practice at home. We truly believe that it was this consistent obedience training, along with our commitment, that helped slowly reduce the sibling rivalry. Over time, the fights have been reduced to zero, we no longer separate them and they play together once again! Of course with a watchful eye to make sure no tension
My dogs responded well to the commands and showed reasonable improvement. The session was engaging and positive. I appreciated the structured approach.
We noticed an immediate change in Kody's behavior. Joshua was great at teaching us the proper body language and tone so our pup would understand. So happy we decided to work with Joshua!
We described our dog's behavior and shared the goals we wanted to accomplish with reactivity and Bark Busters gave us clear insight on how to be successful. Demonstrations were provided and we got the chance to apply those techniques on our dog ourselves with visible results!
I saw noticeable difference in Toby's behavior today - I feel I've been given some great tools to improve our behavior.
Amazing improvement
Trainer worked fast and well with me and my dogs
Trainers are very professional and experienced
Deb is very knowledgeable and our family needed this in depth education. Deb's observations gave us a few quick changes that worked along with our mutual understanding why it is best for our dog to be her leader! Deb agreed to support us going forward and the price was worth it to have her help us.
The biggest lesson I learned today was posture and intensity make a difference.
I was very skeptical that it would work, but within a few minutes, she started responding. By the end of the training, she stopped barking
Josh was great. We saw noticeable improvement while he was here with regards to barking! We look forward to putting the training in to use. Thank you, Josh!
Just had my initial meeting with Deb and 100% recommend! She explained everything thoroughly and took my questions/concerns seriously while giving me guidance on how to address them. She showed me the techniques and I have seen great response from my girl in such a short time and cannot wait to keep working with her!
Judy,
Both Angelina, my daughter, & I cannot believe the difference in US, as leaders, & Millie, as the perfect student since your precious, calm, professional, friendly, fabulous husband Mike arrived this week!!!! Like he said, “No one is late to the party, they just suffer longer than they need to!” … as for Angelina, she will be on track the rest of her life with this approach & ‘tools’ in her mind! She even mentioned it to her sister, who came in last night with her Maine Coon cat, Phoebe, & WOW all around positive changes that she noticed all night long!!!
She loved hearing about it & also amazed what a difference in just ONE session!!!!

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