The Border Collie: The Epitome Of Versatility

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406 – November/December, 2023

By Amy Fernandez

The border collie is truly a purebred anomaly, one of those rare crossover breeds that somehow gained traction as a stalwart worker, an unrivaled athlete, a fun companion and a show dog. That unexplainably broad appeal makes as much sense as the rest of its history. Herding dogs represent some of our earliest selective breeding efforts and their value is illustrated by their multiplicity. Quite possibly, more breeds have been developed, popu-larized and forgotten in this group than any other strain, type or landrace.

The really peculiar thing about this one is the fact that breeders had only one straightforward agenda in mind when they cooked it up. No one anticipated a spiking demand or the big bucks that go with trendy breeds. They simply didn’t care about that stuff. They needed a hardy, reliable worker with the brains and stamina for a grueling job.

Breed authorities continue to debate the precise formula that yielded this purebred creation. Frankly, no one cared much about that either. The baseline was the dogs had to be good at the job. It was also the reason why in the mid-1800s Border Collies were among the breeds shipped off to the forbidding down-under continent of Australia. Collies in every shape and size were exported to Britain’s new territory with hopes that one of them would prove to be capable of a job that instantly enlarged the entire definition of a Herding dog. Herders and ranchers also needed a formidable army of working dogs as sheep became the linchpin of Australia’s burgeoning economy.

Click here to read the complete article
406 – November/December, 2023

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Posted by AnthonyA on Dec 18 2023. Filed under Current Articles, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.