How is a border collie supposed to look?
Border Collies were and are bred as working dogs. As such there was never any “look” standards: generally they are black and white, red and white, tricolor or merle. They can be almost completely black (or red) with just a little white on chest, on feet…. or almost completely white with just a little black or red…. They are generally between 35 and 60 lbs with rough, medium rough or smooth coat. Breeding dogs were and should be selected from good working dogs with looks being unimportant. However farmers and ranchers will of course take the overall structure of the parents into account – after all farmers & ranchers have been breeding lifestock for generations. None of the “working” registries have published a standard. The idea is that border collies should be selected for breeding by their working ability rather than looks. Many other breeds have lost not only their working ability but in many cases even good physical conformation as they were bred more and more to do well in the
