Miniature Border Collie

Most probably, the term “Miniature Border Collie” can be used in reference to some kind of small-sized conformation Border Collies, which may be developed by some amateur breeders or dollar-oriented breeders, who do not bear any relation to any major Border Collie breeding project. The Border Collie is not the kind of dog to be bred for conformation, as the existing breed standard does not specify any uniform look of this dog.

What true Border Collie breeders are after is creating an intelligent and truly working breed of dog, capable of withstanding severe physical strains and learning new things with great ease. Although Border Collies do not have any universal conformation portrait, they do have a universal performance portrait. These dogs are evaluated according to their working qualities. As to their appearance, best quality Border Collies may have features that would be considered disqualifying faults in other breeds. For example, a Border Collie with one eye brown and the other one blue but showing good performance is much more likely to win a championship than a dog with both eyes dark brown and well trimmed coat but showing lower performance results. Indeed, breeding performance dogs is much harder than breeding conformation dogs, because working potential is more difficult to evaluate than appearance. Needless to say, a Miniature Border Collie would not be as good as a common-sized dog in an agility event and hence it would not be as valuable.

As we can see, true Border Collies are evaluated in accordance with their performance characteristics. “Miniature Border Collies” are not recognized by any major breed association. Different species may have different types of coat, coat color, eye color, body built and size. However, each and every Border Collie must be enduring and athletic in its own way. There is yet another characteristic that these dogs are famous for – its ever-burning desire to work. Border Collies were bred initially as a sheep dog, and they have developed enviable cattle driving abilities. As they exert great effort to please their owners by carrying out assignments in the best way possible, they can withstand long hours of rigorous training. All Border Collies have different performance styles, and there is no limitation as to their temperament. With Border Collies, it is exactly the case to say “the goal justifies the means”, where the “means” is the manner, in which the dog works, and the “goal” is the result of work.

Border Collies are no lap dogs. This is something anyone should think about when considering the possibility of purchasing a Border Collie. Due to their tremendous potential and limitless energy, they cannot stay out of action and may become demolition hounds if bored or neglected. For this reason, they are not good for elderly people. As Miniature Border Collies have no valuable registry, very little is known about their temperament or how they can be used.