1. I know you have all heard that dogs are man’s best friend. The working
dog is a Rancher’s best friend and out of all the working dogs, the Border
Collie has always been TOP DOG!
My name is, Jacob Wollweber. This is my first year at the Jr. Livestock
Show and am showing two goats. I am in the 3rd grade and go to Christian
Heritage School. I belong to the Sprague-Lamont 4H club.
I am going to explain why the Border Collie is TOP DOG when it comes to
working.
Everything about the Border Collie makes them perfect for hard work.
○ FIRST is their size and shape.
○ - Border Collies are medium sized dogs that weigh between
25-50 lbs. This size helps them to have lots of endurance and
to be quick and agile.
○ They have long legs and narrow bodies for their size which
makes them quick and athletic.
○ They have double coats of hair that make them weatherproof.
Water comes right off of them and the undercoat keeps them
warm and dry even in bad storms.
Many people think that all border collies look like this. They think
they are black and white with long hair. Actually, border collies can
be lots of colors and can have long or short hair. Long hair is called
rough coat. Short hair is called smooth coat. Here are some different
looking border collies.
This is my border collie, Timme. He is a smooth coat tri color border
collie.
The second thing that makes a border collie so good at working
hard is their temperment.
They are super smart. In fact, they are often considered the
smartest breed of dog. They are constantly learning things even if
you aren’t trying to train them. Timme is so smart that he
2. understands what we are saying. For example, he knows what toy to
go look for if we say it. Border Collies are easy to train because they
learn quickly.
Border Collies have long attention spans and can focus on their
job for a long time.
Border Collies love to work and will choose to work even over
eating.
If you set a piece of steak out for Timme and then went to work with
our goats, he would leave the steak to come help.
Border Collies have natural instinct
Border Collies are natural gathers and will round up any livestock or
animal that they can. With training, they can be taught to herd,
gather, and drive animals but without training they most commonly
gather the animals together and hold them in one spot.
This is Timme holding our goats after he has gathered them together
in a corner.
Border Collies also have instinct to stare at whatever they are
herding. It is the stare that makes a dog a true Border Collie.
Here is a picture of the classic Border Collie Stare.
Here are some more pictures of My dog Timme as puppy and now
as a full grown dog.
I hope you have learned why a border collie’s size and shape,
temperament, and natural instinct make them the TOP DOG when it
comes to helping on a ranch.
I got my information from bordercollie.org and best dog breeds online.
Are there any questions.
