Bill Kelly

Border Collie Herding Instinct



Posted: Thursday, March 12, 2009

by Bill Kelly

You have probably seen pictures and videos of Border Collies herding sheep or cattle either on a farm or in a competition. Its amazing to watch as the dog, seemingly by sheer will, controls several or dozens of animals at a time. In some of the sheep herding competitions you can watch as one dog, with minimal instruction from his owner, can split a herd of sheep in two and put one group in a pen and another in a different pen. The most amazing video Ive seen so far is a 40 pound Border Collie literally staring down a 2000 pound bull that simply did not want to move. They both stood their ground for almost a minute until the bull gave in and went where the dog wanted him to go. That bull could have killed the dog in an instant yet the will of the dog was greater!

What many people hear about these dogs is the cutesy stories of them herding kids or ducks and subtlety herding all the people at a party into one room. While it may make for a good story it does not make for good living conditions. Those that do not have experience with this breed are bound to radically underestimate the amount of focus and intensity they posses. These folks may feel that once they get one of these dogs into a family environment the dog will just calm right down and blend right into the family. What they need to understand is that the dog that will stand up to a 2000 bull and control it by its force of will alone is the same dog they are bringing home.
The herding instinct inherent in the Border Collie breed has been honed over the past several hundreds years. While many people think that this trait has been bred into the breed it in fact has been there all along. What we refer to as the herding instinct is really the hunting and killing trait of the wolf albeit a modified version. As you may know all modern domesticated dogs are decedents from wolves. Wolves in the wild naturally run, live and hunt in packs and to bring down their prey they use the circling and grouping moves we see today in the Border Collie. The difference is the trait has been bred to keep the circling and grouping ability yet remove the final killing part of the equation. What simply must be understood for the Border Collie owner is that this is an instinct that is very much alive and present in the breed and is not something that can be trained out. Im going to say it again; you can not train the herding instinct out of this breed. It will be there the first day you bring him home and for his entire life. So what is there to do?

It is essential that you refocus the herding instinct into something else and this is, simply put, not an easy thing to do. Do your homework before getting one of these dogs. If you are not ready, willing and able to handle their unique characteristics it will be a trying and unpleasant time for you and your family. If you are prepared it will still be challenging but, in my opinion, vastly more rewarding that any other dog youve owned. Be sure to do your homework and be ready to train, train, train!Bill and his wife are Border Collie owners with a great appreciation for the breed. He shares his experiences at BorderCollieHelp.com as well as videos of the tricks his dog has learned so far.


Bill spends way too much time running Druids, Hunters and Priests around the Battlegrounds and Arenas of World of Warcraft. Chances are you'll find him running amok in game or adding to his websites at WoWDruid.com and HunterPvP.com.
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