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7B Bar Border Collie Photo Album (click to
view)
The Border Collie is a thinking
dog, for not only does it work to commands, it also uses its
own initiative. Working in the hills, often a shepherd
will lose sight of his dog. Here the Border Collie
must use its head and its own ability to bring the sheep.
When they are working stock, these dogs change into
completely different animals. They go into a world of
their own, with their attention fixed on the animals they
are herding. Often they appear completely oblivious to
anything else which is taking place around them.
The modern Border Collie
through its "eye of control" plays a significant part in
modern sheep farming. Man has taken full advantage of
the natural instinct of the dog to stock and wear down its
prey by its hypnotic stare, while retaining the ability to
guard, gather and drive livestock which were bred into the
dogs.
Dogs designated for specific
purposes by the ancient herdsman were selected by color.
Those kept for guarding the flocks from wild animals or
human predators were usually white, or mainly white, and
being brought up from puppy hood with the flock, sheep had
no fear of them but they proved efficient guards when the
occasion arose. Modern shepherds do not like white or
mainly white sheepdogs - they say sheep do not respect them
-- but, as the saying goes, no good dog was ever the wrong
color! The droving or general stock dogs were usually
black, black and tan, or brindle, while the blue merles or
parti-colored were selected to blend in with the environment
on crags, mountainsides and cliff tops were this natural
camouflage assisted when a cautious approach in dangerous
conditions were required.
According to the AKC the Border
Collie originated in the border country between Scotland and
England where the shepherds' breeding selection was based on
biddable stock sense and the ability to work long days on
rugged terrain. As a result of this selective
breeding, the Border Collie developed the unique working
style of gathering and fetching the stock and wide sweeping
outruns. The stock is then controlled with an intense
gaze known as "eye", coupled with a stalking style of
movement. The selective breeding over hundreds of
years developed the Border Collie's intensity, energy and
trainability which are features so important that they are
equal to physical size and appearance. The Border
Collie has extraordinary instinct and an uncanny ability to
reason. One of its greatest assets is the ability to
work out of sight of its master without commands.
Breeding based on this working ability has made this breed
the world's premier sheep herding dog, a job the Border
Collies is still used for worldwide.
My heart is devoted to Border
Collies as my dog of choice. We are in the process of
training two registered Border Collies 7B Bar Leo and 7B Bar
Paige, who are both less than a year old. Both of the
dogs have a strong herding instinct and are starting to be
worked regularly with ducks for training and then herding
dairy goats. Dairy goats can be a bit on the stubborn
side at times and this is where Leo and Paige come in.
Our dairy goats are moved daily and these two dogs are
pushing to move faster in their training.
Leo and Paige have been raised
as one of the family. We obtained both puppies when
they were 6 weeks old. They have been socialized with
children and adults and have been exposed to our livestock
guardian dogs, our three Great Pyrenees. Paige last
fall got to go to the Carroll County Master Gardens annual
Heritage Days to help teach Carroll County 4th graders about
their heritage. Paige was exposed to approx. 2500
children during the three day event. Paige did great
and loved the biscuits that Mr. made each morning to
start off the day.
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Blue
Merle & Red/White