by Josephine Polifroni

Created on: June 11, 2008

Border Collies are intelligent dogs, bred to be working dogs, more specifically herding animals. Primarily because of their reputation for intelligence they have become attractive candidates for family pets, but as with every other potential pet there are many things to be considered.

Intelligence is a difficult to define concept. While Border Collies are intelligent in so far as they are able to learn and remember a large number of fairly complex commands and behaviors, they must be taught, they do not simply absorb the information about what is expected of them. On the other hand, as they spend time in a household they may begin to perform certain actions because you have made it clear, to them anyway, that this is something you want done.

For example, a Border Collie of my acquaintance was adopted by a family with a three year-old child. The child was in the habit of climbing a large hutch. Her parents would scold her and take her down. The dog took it upon himself to grab the child by the seat of the pants whenever she started to climb the hutch. He was not told or encouraged to do this, he simply modeled his behavior on what he had seen the parents do in the same situation. In this case, the dog had to be trained not to do this as he was sometimes inadvertently nipping the child as he grabbed the seat of her pants.

In this sense, Border Collies behave as though they are partners with their people and do not behave in the subservient manner many pet owners take for granted. This can be difficult for some people to tolerate as they find their dog racing off to take care of a problem in their own special way that they may stubbornly cling to from a sense of knowing' what should be done.

For others, having a smart and savvy Border Collie is endearing and interesting. Many people like feeling as though they are communicating closely with their animal companion and that the animal is, in turn, "in tune" with them. If you are prepared for this type of independent thinking a Border Collie may be the pet for you.

The herding ability of Border Collies is legendary. They are the stars of the show at herding exhibitions at county fairs and have been seen on late night TV herding sheep into elevators or taxicabs. Always poised to collect a stray, responding to commands quickly and efficiently, Border Collies seem to have an almost supernatural ability to keep a large number of animals in check.

It is a remarkable ability in light of the fact that herding is actually a modification

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