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What's your ideal border collie look like?


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Is that because there are some breeders that just breed for color?? Most breeders I saw in Texas with the merle coats wanted them to go to competitive sports...so I guess they were breeding for color and competitive qualities. Is that necessarily a bad thing?

 

Is a merle considered a rare coat color? Reminded me of an Aussie so thought it was a common trait in some pups! I found a woman with beautiful red merle working dogs in South Texas who occasionally has a new litter of pups. If I were to get a merle one day it would be from someone who works them on a ranch or competitively...like where our Effie was from.

Nearly all breeders who produce a lot of merles and/or dilute colors are breeding mainly or exclusively for color. Merle IS common in Aussies (because it's bred for), but not among working border collies (because it's almost never bred for). You can't get merle pups without one of the parents being merle -- it doesn't just pop up unexpectedly. I've got nothing against merles -- I truly shouldn't be posting in this thread because I just plain don't have any appearance preference in border collies -- but experience has taught me that those breeders talking about their dogs' colors on their websites are talking about that because that's what they care about. They're breeding for color first, and you bet that's a bad thing.

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Nah, I don't have an ideal . . .

 

BlackandWhite.jpg

 

To pinpoint, my ideal is mostly black face, long coat, and stand up ears. The reason for that is pretty obvious!

 

I am not a merle person (of course I love my merle!). Bandit has made me partial to more white on the face, but really just on him, not in general!!

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Ooo. This is fun! Lol

My ideal type would be:

Size: small <18.5 inches,

Built: medium bone, awesome angles!, good rib cage, and overall balanced

eyes: appropriate for their color or super dark eyes or blue eyes ♡♡♡

Colors: black and white, black tris, chocolate red, light aussie red, or golden.

Markings: any type

Ears: pricked or semi pricked

Coats: any type

 

♡♡♡

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Border Collies have some stop - My girl's nose is pretty sloped, honestly, but not quite as much as a rough collie.

 

But then there's this:

 

demi3.jpg

 

Which is more step than stop. Definitely more extreme than I see in most working bred dogs.

 

 

*shakes head* That doesn't even look like a real border collie. It looks like a stuffed toy. How could those little short legs do a 600 yard outrun or gather sheep off the hills? Sad.

 

MY ideal, though ... If I could push a few buttons and get a border-collie-to-order ... it would be a medium-coated tri with minimal white, and a dark head but bright copper on the cheeks and eyebrows. Bitch or dog would be fine, any sort of ears fine, too. I just love me a dark copper tri with eyebrows. :wub:

 

~ Gloria

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Interesting question that. I guess I don't really know.

 

When I went to check out Golan (who was 14 weeks at the time), I spent the two hours noting his behavior with me and the two dogs I brought along. I noticed his apparent health, agility at play (with the puppy I brought along), and I looked briefly at his vet records.

 

It was only after I got him home that I noticed the asymmetry of his head markings, or that he had two different colored eyes! Our old BCX (who I had brought to initially check him out) is a short-coat, and he's a rough coat with lots of feathering at the rear. The old girl had an all black face and head, and he's got a long white snout, with the 'part' in his black top hair off to the side. Clearly I just didn't care, as long as he was healthy and seemed to have good character. In that sense, I couldn't have asked for better.

 

I guess I realized it didn't much matter, even though I hadn't thought about it.

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demi3.jpg

When I first decided to get a BC this is what I would have said was my ideal. When I was 11 or 12 a friend called me to say her parents had taken her to the shelter and got her a dog. She had a BC cross and it looked very similar to the photo. I really wanted a dog and I loved Lassie Collies and here my friend had an "Almost Lassie". I remember being happy for her but I so wanted that dog to be mine.

 

After spending way too much time on these forums I understood that BC come in all shapes, sizes, and colors and I began to really love the slim, long-legged look and all the different coat types and colors. I couldn't decided what look I liked best until one day I saw a post by Tess's Girl and I couldn't believe how beautiful Tess is. So Tess is my ideal Border Collie.

 

This, however, is my ideal puppy:

 

post-16122-0-29661000-1413694004_thumb.jpg

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Your ideal pup is really close to mine, and I can't imagine why.

 

M6_zps7408a7cf.jpg

 

Honestly, more and more I am all about the long legged, sharp, INTENSE, looking border collies. I think that's why my preference mostly drifts toward smooth coats now - except in those saddle-backs. And I don't know what my deal is, there.

 

Mostly my image of 'border collie' is just changing overall, thanks to the pups and dogs on this board. And it's changing for the better, I think.

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Sports breedings aren't really better than breeding for show when it comes to border collies. The philosophy on this board is that border collies should be bred for work PERIOD, since the ability to work is what defines a border collie - not colors or coat or ears. So anyone breeding for appearances or rare coat types (or anything but working ability) is breeding for the wrong reasons. J

 

Merles do crop up from time to time in working bred BC, though, and there's certainly no shortage of them in rescues.

 

 

Nearly all breeders who produce a lot of merles and/or dilute colors are breeding mainly or exclusively for color. Merle IS common in Aussies (because it's bred for), but not among working border collies (because it's almost never bred for). You can't get merle pups without one of the parents being merle -- it doesn't just pop up unexpectedly. I've got nothing against merles -- I truly shouldn't be posting in this thread because I just plain don't have any appearance preference in border collies -- but experience has taught me that those breeders talking about their dogs' colors on their websites are talking about that because that's what they care about. They're breeding for color first, and you bet that's a bad thing.

 

Aghh I see...first time border collie owner I'm glad I'm learning so much on these forums. :) Well I'm glad we got Effie from mainly working parents. The breeders were very nice and took good care of their border collies. They did say however they used some of them competitively. For the most part since we are in Texas most border collie breeders are on some kind of ranch...I haven't seen any breeder pages that advertise rare coat colors nearby.

 

I still want a merle eventually but only from a rescue or working family! I plan on getting involved with some kind of rescue group in the future when we have a huge back yard.

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My ideal border collies looks like a beautiful outrun with a natural cast…looking, reading the terrain, seeking. It covers pressure with a clean crisp authoritative flank. It has a nice steady forward stride, adjusting pace as it reads it sheep…..direct and confident. It covers ground with grace and reacts with fluidity. It seeks the shed and pen with confidence awaiting the call. It is my partner.

 

I don't think it looks anything what CaptnJack posted….but what do I know. Maybe it does.

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Your ideal pup is really close to mine, and I can't imagine why.

 

M6_zps7408a7cf.jpg

 

Honestly, more and more I am all about the long legged, sharp, INTENSE, looking border collies. I think that's why my preference mostly drifts toward smooth coats now - except in those saddle-backs. And I don't know what my deal is, there.

 

Mostly my image of 'border collie' is just changing overall, thanks to the pups and dogs on this board. And it's changing for the better, I think.

I had to talk myself into a smooth coat. I thought that Nattie might be a smooth coat because her dad is and my daughter was fine with a smooth coat (Nattie is her puppy and I wanted my daughter to be happy). I have a difficult time picturing Nattie as an adult. At this point she is all legs, long tail and floppy ears! I adore her but sometimes she is just so silly looking to me.

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My biggest hangup with Molly, silly as it is, is that I really, really like longer socks and full collars on BC. Could have gone for a wider blaze, too, to be honest. Obviously that didn't stop me getting the puppy that was right for me and wouldn't, but it's a thing. A tiny, tiny thing, but a thing.

 

Absolute truth? Sometimes I see the dog she's turning into and I am pleasantly surprised and I think she's going to be stunningly beautiful. Other times I look at her and just can't even BEGIN to see how in the world it's all going to come together. It really depends on her growth pattern at any given time for me. Sometimes she's almost together. Other times her butt's higher than her front end, or her shoulders grew more than her head, or she's growing longer fur in weird places and has a mohawk or whatever, and I just shake my head.

 

I guess we'll both have a pretty good idea in about 6 months - and a better one in 18.

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Agreed, Elizabeth, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't have preferences within a litter when choosing a pup. Not that many of my dogs have come to me as pups...

 

My eyesight at a distance is not great. I had a solid black dog that was hard for me to see at the end of an outrun against a tree line or when the light was poor. My split face is the easiest for me to orient with regard to the sheep; I can react on the cross-drive faster based on which color I'm seeing. I can read the intent of a dog with light eyes better than dark ones.

 

Those are some of my preferences that are actually based in function.

 

Then of course are the health risks of a blue-eyed or white-headed dog; what people claim sheep like (ex more white settles them); and biases toward talent (red or smooth). I understand environmental situations where people like smooth coats, they're just not for me.

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I prefer as much black as possible - and a face that is not split and has no odd eye area coloring. I am not keen on merles or reds.

 

I prefer rough coated, prick earred, smallish collies with light/med brown eyes, mid length legs and full tails. The "wolfier" they look, the better for me.

 

That all said, give me a good hearted dog with athletic skill and a good work ethic and I will take a short haired lilac merle with wall eyes and legs to kingdom come.

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After spending way too much time on these forums I understood that BC come in all shapes, sizes, and colors and I began to really love the slim, long-legged look and all the different coat types and colors. I couldn't decided what look I liked best until one day I saw a post by Tess's Girl and I couldn't believe how beautiful Tess is. So Tess is my ideal Border Collie.

 

Awww. Tess says, "Thanks!"

 

IMG_0543_zpsf432a5df.jpg

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I would have to approach this from the what I am not drawn to, end.

I do not like heavy, short legged or bodied. Split faces are very unattractive. Especially if there is little to no pigment around an eye. Having said that, I am not terribly thrilled with blue eyes either.

Ears don't much matter. Mine are too different. Coat does not matter although the TX climate kind of makes a super rough coat not very practical.

I like an athlete. So I guess I am partial to the leaner type dogs.

When I raised a litter for me, I usually got to keep what was left. And it always worked beautifully for me. When I go look for a pup, if they are old enough, I look for a certain presence.

With my Fee, I had to pick from a pile of 3 week old blobs. So I picked the one who's markings appealed to me. Although, I will admit, I would have picked the red if it was not taken already. I never gave it a second thought that she may very well be a smooth coat or have bat ears. Mind you, mom is a smooth and has prick ears. I would like to believe that I saw a twinkle in her brand new little eye balls....that I knew she was the one...but I think, as long as they work and are great companions to me....I don't really care.

When I did look around my crew, I have a predominately black tri group. But I do love a nice red!

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What does my ideal border collie look like?

 

Well, it has a head, four legs and a tail...

 

 

Oh, yes, and eyes. Eyes that gleam with a desire to "do stuff" with me: gather livestock, fetch ball, run obstacles, whatever. Eyes that reveal the fire within. Eyes that show the desire to learn and work with me.

 

Colour, coat type, ear set? Doesn't matter a jot.

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I forgot body style, I like them long and lean. Not skinny but I don't like the look of bulky and stocky dogs.

Seconded. I like looks that say "I can run really really fast".

 

But I find that my preferred exterior follows the looks of my current dogs. Which actually means I don´t have any preference for color/coat/ear type.

 

Gláma (avatar dog) is a smooth coated standard black/white patterned dog. Max is a rough coated one, slightly heavier build (but he is a male). The main reason I choose him was the self confidence of his sire.

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In the past I would have probably said something along the lines of smooth coat, prick ears, maybe a little tri coloring.

 

The DBF picked Timber out of photos, it was the breeding I picked so he got to pick the pup and he picked the mostly black, pudgy, homely, rough coated dog. I tried convincing him otherwise, this was my last pick.

 

We have since developed the 'rule' that I will do the leg work on finding the litter, but if there is a choice of which pup, that goes to DBF. He says it was in the eyes, I didn't see it, but do now and the sheep definitely do and that's what really mattered anyway.

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