Where in the world  did dogs come from? It seems as though dogs have been around forever...it's as though they've  been with mankind since Eve took that first big bite. They appear on cave walls as drawings done by ancient man and in Egypt as part of the Heiroglyphics of the Pharos and Kings. They have been with us from the onset as working partners and faithful companions.

There is something extraordinary, almost mystical in the relationship between a Border Collie and its' master. This dog, in my humble opinion, can actually think and reason to a certain degree. Instinct of course plays a large part but  the intellectual ability these dogs posses makes even verbalizing a possibility!!

"Moonlight Over Water"

There are a number of different theories as to the name origin of the word "Collie". We know that "border" comes from the border area seperating Scotland and England. In the ancient Celtic languages "collie" seems to have a couple of meanings, one being "black" another meaning "faithful" and still another meaning "useful"....and they all fit the description of this dog of dogs. For centuries the name of  collie was used by the sheperds of the British Isles to describe any long hair herding dog...the  "Border" was finally added to differentiate this collie from all others, to let everyone know that the borderland between Scotland and Britiain indeed had produced a dog of the rarest of intelligence and work ethic. It wasn't until 1915 though, when the secretary of the international Sheepdog Society, James Reid officially named the dog by adding the word "Border" in front of collie on that years registration forms.

As stated earlier, border collies have an intense desire to please and don't take kindly at all to harsh training methods, which I believe shouldn't be employed with any dog. These are very soft creatures when it comes to training which understates their extreme intelligence. They remember just about everything...including the point in their training where harsh discipline was evidenced. They'll get to that point in the lesson and either shut down by ignoring you  or become very agitated  by trying to do everything that was learned all at once because they don't want to fail again...and of course this leads to failure. So be gentle and reassuring in your training methoids. These animals are smart enough to learn in only a few lessons and what they learn they won't forget.

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