At a glance
- Type
- Purebred, FCI No. 297, Group 1 (sheepdogs)
- Height
- Males about 53 cm · females slightly less
- Weight
- Typically about 14–20 kg (the FCI standard sets no weight)
- Life expectancy
- About 12–15 years
- Coat
- Double coat, smooth or moderately rough; many colours, white never predominant
- Grooming
- Brushing once or twice a week; more often during the spring and autumn moult
- Exercise
- Over 2 hours a day, a good part of it training and other work for the mind
- With children
- Good with older children; tends to round up small ones who run
- In an apartment
- Rarely: only with an owner at home a lot who works the dog every day
- Cyprus summer
- Will keep going in any heat, so you set the limits: exercise at dawn and after dark
- Our price
- from €1,250
About the Border Collie
There is no honest way to describe the Border Collie without starting with the work. This is a sheepdog, still used as one, and the qualities the standard asks for — tenacity, keenness, and a willingness to be directed — belong to a dog that expects to spend its day thinking and moving. Everything good and everything difficult about the breed comes from that.
For the right household, nothing is more rewarding. A Border Collie learns faster than you can teach, reads your body language before you have finished the command, and will work at agility, obedience or scent games for as long as you can keep up. He bonds intensely and is neither nervous nor sharp.
For the wrong household, the same dog is a problem. The Royal Kennel Club puts his needs at more than two hours a day, and that means real activity, not a stroll. Without it the herding instinct finds its own outlet: circling, chasing cars, nipping at running children, fixating on lights and shadows.
Be realistic about Cyprus. Summer means training and exercise at either end of the day, with shade and water in between, and this is not a dog for a small balcony. Give him space, a large garden and a job, and the Border Collie is an outstanding companion for twelve years and more.
Origin, purpose and temperament follow the official FCI breed standard; exercise, grooming and family suitability follow The Royal Kennel Club (UK). Every puppy is an individual — ask us about the one you are considering.
Living with a Border Collie in Cyprus
An athlete with no off switch. A Border Collie will chase a ball at 38 °C until he collapses, so the limits are yours to set. From June to September run him at first light and after dark only. Swimming is the ideal summer workout: hard effort while the sea does the cooling. At midday, work his brain indoors with scent games or a new trick.
A job, not just a walk. Long walks only make a fit collie fitter. Without real mental work he invents a job: rounding up delivery scooters, stalking the cats under parked cars, or taking the sofa apart while you are out. Daily training, food hidden around the house and an agility or herding class tire him more than extra kilometres.
Fireworks. Many Border Collies are sensitive to sudden noise, and Cyprus is loud at Easter, at summer weddings and on New Year’s Eve. Before the first season, set up a den in an inner room with the shutters down, and talk to your vet weeks ahead about calming options. A frightened collie bolts, so keep the lead on and the gate shut on those nights.
Goats on the hillside. On open hillsides the herding instinct meets real flocks, and the goatherd’s own dogs will defend them. Keep him on a long line near livestock. The scrub hides ticks, and from about May to October sandflies, which carry leishmaniasis, bite at dusk; see our puppy care sheet and ask your vet about a repellent collar and the vaccine.
