Border Collies are famously one of the most intelligent dog breeds in the world. Originally bred as herding dogs, they're still commonly used by farmers for herding sheep. Their intelligence and athleticism makes them a highly trainable dog, often found in competitions. The key to their happiness is training and work; they have very high energy levels which can often pose an issue for ownersCommon health problems. Collie eye anomaly (CEA) and epilepsy are considered the primary genetic diseases of concern in the breed at this time. CEA is a congenital, inherited eye disease involving the retina, choroid, and sclera that sometimes affects border collies. In border collies, it is generally a mild disease and rarely significantly
Health: Collies are generally healthy dogs, but they can be prone to some health problems, such as hip dysplasia, elbow dysplasia, and Collie eye anomaly. Collie History
Black & white dogs, blue dogs, and blue merle dogs all have at least one dominant gene at the B locus -- in other words, they are either BB or Bb. If they had two recessive genes (bb) at that locus, their base color would be what working border collie people call red, and kennel club people call chocolate or liver. Hip Dysplasia (HD or CHD) HD is by far the most prevalent known genetic disease that affects Border Collies. Factors that contribute to the development of HD ultimately cause the hip joint, which is normal at birth, to be damaged. Joint damage called osteoarthritis, also known as degenerative joint disease (DJD) results in response to stresses1) Farmers noticed that merles have more health problems. 2) The pattern is associated with a certain working style and/or temperament that they didn't like for work. (This is something I've heard directly from hill shepherds.) So because of a bias, most if not all merles were lost to the working population.mXQnyO. 343 428 458 253 54 406 456 237 9