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Border Collie Puppy

The Border Collie is a working and herding dog breed developed in the English-Scottish border region for herding livestock, especially sheep. It was specifically bred for intelligence and obedience.

Ranked number one in Stanley Coren's The Intelligence of Dogs and typically extremely energetic, acrobatic, smart and athletic, they frequently compete with great success in dog sports, in addition to their success in sheepdog trials and are often cited as the most intelligent of all dogs. In January 2011, a Border Collie was reported to have learned 1,022 words and acts consequently to human citation of those words.

Description

In general, Border Collies are medium-sized dogs with a moderate amount of coat, which is often thick and frequently sheds. Their double coats vary from smooth to rough, and come in many colours, although black and white is the most common. Black tricolour (black/tan/white or sable and white), red, white, and red tricolour (red/tan/white) have also been seen regularly, with other colours such as blue, lilac, red merle, blue merle, brindle, and "Australian red/gold" seen less frequently. Some Border Collies may also have single-colour coats.

Eye colour varies from brown to blue, and occasionally eyes of differing colour occur; this is usually seen with merles. The ears of the Border Collie are also variable — some have fully erect ears, some fully dropped ears, and others semi-erect ears (similar to those of the rough Collie or sighthounds). Although working Border Collie handlers sometimes have superstitions about the appearance of their dogs (handlers may avoid mostly white dogs due to the unfounded idea that sheep will not respect a white or almost all white dog), in general a dog's appearance is considered by the American Border Collie Association to be irrelevant. It is considered much more useful to identify a working Border Collie by its attitude and ability than by its looks.

Dogs bred for showing are more homogeneous in appearance than working Border Collies, since to win in conformation showing they must conform closely to breed club standards that are specific on many points of the structure, coat, and colour. Kennel clubs specify, for example, that the Border Collie must have a "keen and intelligent" expression, and that the preferred eye colour is dark brown. In deference to the dog's working origin, scars and broken teeth received in the line of duty are not to be counted against a Border Collie in the show ring. The males' height from withers comes from 19 to 22 inches, females from 18 to 21.