Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Here's a good place to start reading about 'em.

#1 Rule about Border Collies:
They are dogs that should work stock, therefore dogs that don't actively work stock should never be bred.

American Border Collie Association

Thanks for the insight, however, they are still creatures who deserve playtime, love, and a family to care for them.

Just because people love borders enough to own them as pets, does not mean they are doing a disservice to the breed.

I respect where my dog came from, e.g. her geneology, and one day hope to have the means to put a border to work, e.g. a farm with a herd. I was not brought up in these surroundings, although I respect them completely.

This stern and old-fashioned outlook on the breed needs to be viewed with the eyes of a dog. They are creatures who love to bark, run, complete tasks, please their owners, play with other dogs and people, and sleep. I see not one of these things is excused when owning a border as a pet.

Thanks for reading, and keep on breeding.

Of course - one who owns a pet has a responsibility to provide it with a nice life.

But that doesn't negate the fact that if a person who wants a pet buys from a show breeder or a puppy mill or an agility breeder they are contributing to the destruction of the breed.

Therefore - if you buy a puppy from someone who bred dogs that didn't work livestock - you are destroying the very thing you claim to love.

Border Collies who don't work livestock should NOT be treated poorly! They just should never be bred.

Once a puppy is born it is too late to discuss whether it should exist.

In a perfect world all puppies would live perfect lives.

So it's great if you love your non-working Border Collie.

Most Border Collies won't be livestock working dogs and that is normal and fine. It's just that the ONLY ones that should be bred are those who SUCCESSFULLY work livestock AND DO IT EXCEPTIONALLY WELL.

Many of their puppies will go to homes like yours where they are not expected to work. THAT'S THE WAY IT SHOULD BE. The reason that border collies make great pets for many people is a direct result of a couple of hundred years of breeding for livestock working ability only.

Breeding for anything else will change the average specimen of the breed in a way that the average Border Collie will be less likely to have the ability to work livestock.

Buying a puppy from a breeder who breeds for anything else besides the ability to work livestock will effect this negative change in the same way.

I don't suppose that is what you want, is it?