Border Collie Characteristics

General Appearance | Temperament & Mental Capacity | Color & Markings | Size | Coat | Head (Eyes & Ears) | Gait

Over the years, Border Collies have been bred for their "soundness" and ability to work, not for their appearance. As a result, Border Collies can exist in a range of appearances.

General Appearance

As summarized from the Border Collie standard:
A Border Collie is a medium-sized dog that has a smooth muscular body that clearly demonstrates an athletic ability. A Border Collie is graceful and agile. Often Border Collies are known for their alert expression that has become an important characteristic to the breed. They are energetic and eager to please their owners. Border Collies are extremely intelligent and often exhibit an uncanny ability to reason.

Temperament & Mental Capacity

Border Collies are bred to be working dogs. They are high energy dogs and require lots of physical activity as well as mental stimulation. Simply stated, Border Collies are workaholics.

The biggest source of behavioral and training problems is boredom. The Border Collie is not a dog that is content to watch the world go by them; they want to be a part of it in every way. Border Collies can be very inventive, strong-willed, moody, territorial, and manipulative when left to their own devices.

Color & Markings

Border Collies appear in a variety of colors and markings. The three classification of color are

1. Bi-Color    —    Black & White (B&W)       and      Red & White (R&W)

2. Tri-Color    —    Black, White, & Tan (Tri)      and      Red, White, & Tan (Red-Tri)

3. Merle    —    Blue      and      Red      and      Slate

Size

Border Collies can vary in size depending on their gender, stature, and bone structure. Males can vary in height (at the withers) from 19" to 22" while females range from 18" to 21".

Coat

A Border Collie's coat texture can either be "rough" or "smooth."

Head

Eyes are set well apart. The most common eye color is brown, which varies in shade based on the body color darkness. Eyes can also be blue where the Border Collie has one blue eye, part of a blue eye, or both blue eyes.

Ears are also set well apart and are of medium size. They may be carried erect (a.k.a. "prick" ears), semi-erect (varying from 1/4 to 3/4 of the ear erect), or down. In some cases, a Border Collie may have a combination of ears where one may be erect and the other down. The Border Collie's ears are mobile and help to portray that "alert expression."

Gait

The Border Collie's agility allows them to change direction and speed very quickly while maintaining balance and grace.