The Border Collie is a Fine Dog Breed

The Border Collie has been with functionality as its number one priority. These sheep herding wizards have been abundant in Great Britain since at least the 1800s. Most of these dogs were considered to be fetching dogs who had the ability to circle stock and guide them back towards the shepherd.

Sheepdogs (as the Border Collies were called) became very popular and in 1873 the first official sheepdog trial took place to test the qualities and functionality of these animals. These events led to the emergence of one of the first famous Border known as Hemp.

Hemp did very well at the trials and later on sired a high number of offspring. In fact, he is often considered to be the father of the Border Collie. Hemp's way of herding was done with intimidation, using eye contact with the livestock - exactly the same way as we so often associate today with the Border Collies method of herding.

Although these dogs were very popular and functioned superbly at their sheepdog abilities, it wasn't until 1915 that the Border Collie was officially announced as the proper name for the breed. And as soon as the Border came to America they were instantly appraised by serious shepherds who needed these animal's magnificent herding abilities. Amazingly enough, it took many years until the AKC finally came to officially recognize the Border Collie dog breed as a show dog.

Personality

As far as temperament is concerned, Borders have enormous amounts of intelligence and are highly obedient with the right owner. While these attributes are positive, it can make for a disastrous house dog when kept enclosed with little exercise and no discipline. Border Collies are tremendously loyal and can be very protective concerning its family, so be aware of its somewhat reserved and almost guardian-like personality to pop up whenever in the company of other new dogs and or strangers.

Border Collie Health Information

Typically, Borders have a life span of up to 15 years or so, with 12 being about the average. This dog breed, compared to many others, does not have as many health problems as many purebred dog breeds do. Major concerns are things such as seizures, hypothyroidism, PRA, PDA, CEA, OCD, and lens luxation.

Taking Care Of Your Border Collie

This is one dog breed that completely thrives off of physical and mental stimulation - and they must have it each and every day. You could easily say that the border collie simply needs a job to do whenever possible - but then that would not be completely true. These dogs MUST have a job to do to be most happy! Of all dog breeds, the Border is by far the most extremely work-oriented. In fact, they are practically genetically programmed for work.

Borders can certainly live outdoors in very mild to cool climates, but of course it prefers and enjoys the company of its family inside the house, especially at night. However, this is one dog breed that should never be forced to live in a small apartment - they need exercise, exercise, exercise. Best advice I could ever give you is that if you want to get a Border Collie, then make sure that it is given plenty of exercise - or you too will be very unhappy. A tired Border is a happy Border.

Seed Newsvine

Bookmark this article in your preferred program

Comments

Add Comment

Popular Articles in this cathegory

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.