26/07/2025
I came across an article this evening that brought up the topic of dog breeds and nature vs nurture.
As most of you reading this know😉, we are preservation Collie breeders and raise Collies. Collies historically were raised as herding dogs. They are rarely used for actual herding of animals today. We often take our youngsters to be herding tested at the annual herding regional. Typically the majority of dogs are not raised on a farm and have never been exposed sheep or livestock prior to the test. They go into a ring with 4 sheep and are given 10 minutes to demonstrate whether they have the instinct to herd. And it’s rare they don’t demonstrate that instinct almost immediately. So although Collies are bred to primarily be family companions today, that instinct remains.
As much as people would like to think it’s all about nurture and you can love the instinct away; it is not so. While abusive treatment can absolutely exacerbate the instinct; the instinct still remains.
People should always consider what respective breeds were bred to do when they are considering adding a dog to their Family. And use reason not emotion when making such an important decision for our Families.
This artwork was part of a piece done by the very talented Cindy Alvarado and the Collie is our Teddy, our first homebred Champion and Collie Club of America Versatility Excellent recipient.
