Border Collie

The temperament sheet

Start with the line that decides everything: energy is rated very high, the top of our scale. That rating means real occupation every single day, not a weekend hobby. Tolerance for time alone is poor — this is not a dog to leave to its own devices for long stretches, and the sheet says so without apology.

With children the rating is needs supervision: an adult in the room, as a matter of course. As a first dog the answer is no; the matcher reserves this breed for owners who have kept a dog before and know what a working temperament asks of a household. A garden is required — a flat is not on the card.

The practical side

• Size: medium. The body is the manageable part; the mind is the big one.
• Grooming: moderate. A routine brush does the job.
• Shedding: moderate. Some hair, nothing scandalous.
• Barking: moderate. Announcements when warranted.

The sheet is not the dog

Averages built this breed sheet; they never built a dog. The individual Border Collie outranks every rating above, and meeting the dog itself outranks everything else on this page.