Border Collie Temperament

Border Collie Temperament

As with any dog, Border Collies have both some good points and also some bad. The temperament of your dog will depend, mostly, on the way it is brought up, and the way it has been trained. Obviously, if a Border Collie isn’t trained as a puppy, you will find that it is more bad behaved and less obedient to your commands. It’s behavior is also dependant on the characteristics of it’s parents, and how they were trained and brought up.

The best thing about a Border Collie is its willingness to learn. They are very eager to please their owners and thrive on praise and encouragement. They are dogs that do better with a “job” to do, like helping to pick up the dirty laundry etc. and can be taught this from an early age. This is not cruel, they have been bred for generations to be working dogs and they enjoy nothing more than helping around the house or garden. They are incredibly enthusiastic, but if they have not been given enough to do, they will wreck a room in only a small amount of time! They get bored easily and will need constant mental and physical stimulation.

However, saying that, they are incredibly responsive, and are serious perfectionists, meaning that they will do everything they can to make it right after they have done wrong. Again, this all comes down to the right training and guidance. This dog is an incredibly demanding dog, and if not stimulated, will become neurotic and may even become over-possessive to their owner or toys. They can be distressed when bored and will revert to their natural characteristics of “retrieving” and “herding,” even to the point where they will “herd” small children or other animals.

This can become quite distressing for your children, so if you are a family, I would either recommend training this dog at a young age, or always keeping it busy, with jobs to do. If you are not prepared to do this, you may want to choose to adopt another breed of dog. So many Border Collies, of all ages, end up in animal shelters, and also much worse, simply because the families that “adopted” them just didn’t have the time or the energy to dedicate to them every day! I simply cannot stress exactly how high maintenance this breed of dog is, and how much stimulation they need.

After all that, I can assure you that it isn’t all bad! These dogs maybe slightly difficult and high maintenance, but they are incredibly loyal to their owners, and will be very rewarding if you want to enter things such as dog shows or dog sports competitions. They can help out around the house and are perfectly content with doing any task you may set for them. As long as they are correctly trained and then looked after, you and this breed of dog will have very many happy years together!

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