Judy Taylor
Its name already suggests it, the history books quickly provide clarity. The Border Collie comes from Great Britain. Its predecessors were already coveted souvenirs by the Vikings around the year 800 when they undertook their raids against what was then Britain. Because the British shepherd dog of the time was more than a dog’s nose ahead of the native dogs.
In England, or in the English-Scottish border area, peasants and farmers always kept only the most intelligent dogs in order to be able to drive and guard their herds of cattle. But dogs were also used for work on the farm, e.g. to monitor one’s own property.
#1 In the Middle Ages less importance was attached to optics and standards, rather the driving force behind the breeding selection was to create animals that were as intelligent, obedient and willing to work as possible.
#2 John Caius, personal physician to Queen Elizabeth I, conveyed the first facts that provide information about the breed in his book “Of Englishe Dogges” in 1576. In it he expressed both delight and astonishment at the shepherd dogs he observed at work and noticed that they always brought the sheep exactly where the shepherd wanted them to be.
#3 It took a few centuries for the Border Collie as we know it to take shape.
Old Hemp, whose nickname was Hemp for short, is considered the progenitor of the breed and thus the first Bristle Collie. Hemp was seven and a half years old and lived from 1893 to 1901. Due to his outstanding herding skills, he was one of the most popular stud dogs at the time and was owned by the breeder Adam Telfer.
