Cool Facts on Border Collies

Border collies are a lively breed of herding dog from the border regions of the United Kingdom's England and Scotland. These midsize canines are known for their desire to please and their reliable, industrious temperaments. Border collies are kept as beloved household pets internationally.

  1. Historical Facts

    • One cool border collie fact is the breed's appreciation in the royal world during the 19th century's latter portion. Once Queen Victoria caught wind of border collies while at a Scottish castle, she turned into an avid fan of them -- and a lot of the British public swiftly followed suit. She owned several dogs of the breed, including one named "Sharp." The name "border collie" came into common use in around 1915. Before that time, the dogs were referred to simply as sheepdogs.

    Sheep

    • Border collies have strong historic ties with sheep -- they used to even be known as Scotch sheep dogs. These tireless dogs' basic obligations involved, essentially, assembling sheep and therefore assisting shepherds. Border collies boast other characteristics that are useful for these types of responsibilities: fixed gazing and stealthy crawling abilities.

    Vigilant Behavior

    • Border collies are extremely vigilant pooches. If someone is approaching or lingering around a residence, border collies are generally the first ones to know. If you hear your border collie barking persistently, he may be trying to notify you of the new or unfamiliar presence. These doggies are not slackers in any sense of the word.

    Loving Dogs

    • Border collies tend to be family-oriented, loving and appreciative animals. These faithful dogs are so staunchly devoted to the familiar people in their lives that they often display almost aloof and distant attitudes around newbies -- all in attempts to safeguard their loved ones against potentially harmful outsiders.

    Coat Types

    • For the most part, border collies have black fur and prominent white markings on key parts of their coats -- think the neck, face, limbs, feet and tail ends. Some of these dogs display beige markings, as well. They exist in both "pure" and multicolored coat forms. They have double coats that are long or short. Their fur texture is also variable: soft or coarse. The longer coats, which are coarse, are usually roughly 3 inches long, while the shorter, soft coats are approximately 1 inch long.

    Hemp

    • One of the border collie breed's ancestors was a pooch called "Hemp." Hemp was a tricolor sheepdog from the Northumberland line. His father had a beige, white and black coat, while his mother had a fully black coat. This stud dog's highly effective shepherding style involved a lot of daunting fixed gazing along with a lot of barking. Hemp's working style set the stage for diligent border collies for generations to follow.