Border Collie Breed History

Border Collies are one of the oldest recorded dog breeds. Although Border Collies were only recently introduced in the American Kennel Club, shepherds have been using dogs similar to Border Collies for centuries. History books record that in 36 B.C.(no pun intended) lived a breed of dog described as a large, tricolored herding dog used to protect sheep. These dogs were the ancestors of Border Collies as well as many other breeds.

Many breed books tell stories of Vikings owning Border Collies to herd thier reindeer. In fact, these dogs were Spitz-type dogs. A crossing of these Spitz-type dogs and the Romans much larger herding dogs resulted in an agile herding breed. The crossing of these two breeds became popular, thus leading to the evolution of the modern Border Collie.

By the late 1800’s shepherds were holding sheepdog trials, the first one being in 1873 in Bala, Wales, much like the ones you see today. By 1906 the International Sheepdog Trials Society was formed. One of the first things this foundation did was to establish set rules for sheepdog trial competition. This set of rules has been the standard for border collies ever since. In 1915 James Reid, the Secretary of the International Sheepdog Society referred to this breed of sheepdogs as the Border Collie.