Brackenvue

16/03/2026

14/03/2026

Little dog in the big city!

09/02/2026

Beautiful Ben. Best boy, waiting in anticipation for dinner.

25/01/2026

Lara has given Rigby the best life ever. A true water dog, he loves exploring along the river. And yes those ripples are Rigby out in the river

23/01/2026

Beautiful Callie. Out for coffee with Anna and Bill. She has the best nature.

15/01/2026

Koko straight from the groomer. That chocolate coat colour 😍

04/01/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1ETPXrjzpj/

Why pricked or semi-pricked ears in Border Collies? Because form followed function long before aesthetics did ...… and genetics allowed the diversity to remain.

In early canines, survival belonged to the best listeners. Upright and mobile ears gave dogs a sensory advantage - detecting movement earlier, mapping direction faster, and reacting sooner. For a breed that would later become the world’s most motion-driven herding dog, ear mobility supported spatial hearing, environmental scanning, whistle cue localisation, and tracking flock movement without breaking visual focus.

But here’s the key: Border Collies were never bred for ear shape.
They were bred for intelligence, stamina, temperament, and stock sense. Ear carriage is polygenic (influenced by multiple genes), and as long as a dog could hear, read movement, and work efficiently, ear type wasn’t selected against. So the breed retained natural variation.

That’s why today we see a mix:

Pricked & semi-pricked ears - firmer cartilage + strong ear-base muscles = highly mobile, directional hearing

Floppy ears - softer cartilage, later muscle tension development, or heavier ear leather — still capable, but more common in pet or show-selected lines where expression and appearance became more valued than paddock acoustics

Puppy ears shift as they grow - many begin floppy, go upright during teething, then settle as cartilage and head/ear muscles mature through adolescence

So the real reason for the mix is:

* Multiple genes at play

* Different breeding priorities (working, show, pet)

* Cartilage + muscle development timing

* No strong selection pressure to remove the floppy ear trait

In essence:
Ears listened - brains predicted - bodies responded.
And the breed was stronger for keeping that diversity intact.

Because in Border Collies:
Function shaped the dog. Genetics preserved the variety.

- Donna Williams,
Emerald Park Border Collies.
www.emeraldparkbc.com

"My mission is to make life better for at least one dog today!"

26/12/2025

Looks like Ollie was a good boy this year!

15/12/2025

Rueben living his best life

13/12/2025

Luna's December 2024 litter are 1 today. Thank you to Rob for the reminder. Trey is sending a big high 5 out to all his siblings- Rocket, Toby, Koko, Tilley, Ollie and Nova

07/12/2025

Rocket is being given the chance to try working sheep and she's loving it. Showing so much herding instinct!

22/11/2025

Sisters from another mother, well almost. Molly (Jazz and Fergus) and Charlie (Meg and JayJ) had a great play date recently. Plenty of parallel play but happy doggos running free.