The Border Collie is a British breed of herding dog of medium size. Widely considered to be the most intelligent dog breed, they are descended from landrace sheepdogs once found all over the British Isles, but became standardised in the Anglo-Scottish border region. They are now mostly used as working dogs to herd livestock, specifically sheep.
Border Collies are extremely energetic, acrobatic, and athletic. They frequently compete with great success in sheepdog trials and a range of dog sports like dog obedience, disc dog, herding and dog agility. Border Collies continue to be employed in their traditional work of herding livestock throughout the world and are kept as pets.
Border Collies are extremely energetic, acrobatic, and athletic. They frequently compete with great success in sheepdog trials and a range of dog sports like dog obedience, disc dog, herding and dog agility. Border Collies continue to be employed in their traditional work of herding livestock throughout the world and are kept as pets.
Notable Border Collies
- Rico, who was studied for recognising up to 200 objects by name. Another border collie, Betsy, was found to have a vocabulary of over 300 words.
- Chaser had a vocabulary of 1,022 words, could reason by exclusion, and could recognise objects by the groups they belong to.
- Shep, who was the long-term companion to John Noakes of the BBC's Blue Peter and Meg, companion of Matt Baker, former presenter of the same show.
- Shep was also a dog that appeared at a railway station in 1936 and watched his dead master be loaded onto a train. He remained there, waiting for his master to return, for the next five and a half years.
- Striker, who is the current Guinness World Record holder for "Fastest Car Window Opened by a Dog" at 11.34 seconds.
- Jean, also known as the Vitagraph Dog, who was the first canine movie star (owned and trained by Laurence Trimble).
- Bandit, the stray Scottish Border Collie from the TV series Little House on the Prairie was Laura Ingalls' second dog on the show.
- Peggy, awarded the PDSA Certificate for Animal Bravery or Devotion.
- Sheila, the first civilian dog ever awarded the PDSA Dicken medal, for her part in rescuing the crew of a B-17 Flying Fortress, which crashed into the Cheviot Hills, Northumberland.
- Mike the Dog, appeared in TV and film including Down and Out in Beverly Hills.
- Finn, companion of Tank Museum curator David Willey, and co-star of the museum's Q&A with Curator David Willey YouTube series.
- Frankie, subject of a viral Instagram video.
- Mr. Pickles is the titular protagonist and the Goodman family's pet border collie, the physical embodiment of the Devil and who loves to eat pickles.