Table des matières
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Origine
Le border collie est une race de chiens de berger développée dans la région frontalière anglo-écossaise pour garder les troupeaux de bétail, plus particulièrement les moutons. Elle fut développée à partir d’un type de collie largement répandu dans les îles britanniques, notamment pour son intelligence et son obéissance.
Étant donné sa création le long de la frontière anglo-écossaise, la race tire son nom de cette origine; le mot border signifiant frontière en anglais. La mention du type » collie » ou » colley » est apparue pour la première fois à la fin du 19e siècle, bien que la forme » collie » soit plus ancienne et ait son origine dans le langage écossais. On pense également que le mot » collie » viendrait du vieux mot celtique signifiant » utile « .
C’est en 1915 que James Reid, secrétaire de l’International Sheep Dog Society (ISDS) au Royaume-Uni, utilisa pour la première fois le terme » border collie « . Il voulait distinguer les chiens enregistrés par l’ISDS des collies enregistrés au Kennel Club et qui provenaient à l’origine de mêmes lignées de travail, mais qui avaient développé une apparence différente à la suite de leurs débuts dans les concours de conformation en 1860 et des mélanges avec divers types au sein de la race.
Apparence physique
Le border collie peut avoir deux types de fourrure : une double fourrure relativement abondante ou encore un poil plus court et uniforme sur le corps, les deux procurent une très bonne protection contre les intempéries. Selon les standards de cette race, les deux sont également acceptables.
De plus, une grande variété de couleurs est permise, mais la couleur blanche ne devrait jamais être dominante. Voici notamment des couleurs que l’on peut retrouver chez la race : noir et blanc, bleu merle, noir tricolore, bleu tricolore merle, brun et blanc, rouge merle, sable et blanc, etc.
Les oreilles sont normalement semi-dressées et tombent vers l’avant de la tête lorsque le chien est attentif. Les mâles devraient mesurer environ 53 cm (21 po) de hauteur aux épaules et les femelles devraient être légèrement plus petites, autour de 50 cm (20 po). Le poids moyen d’un mâle devrait se situer de 14 à 20 kg (30 à 45 lb) et celui d’une femelle de 12 à 19 kg (26 à 42 lb).
Le border collie doit avoir une expression vive et intelligente et, autre que pour les couleurs merles où il peut avoir un ou deux yeux bleus, ses yeux devraient être brun foncé.
Longévité et santé
L’espérance de vie du border collie est généralement de 10 à 14 ans, avec une durée de vie moyenne de 12 ans. Les causes principales de décès chez cette race, autre que la vieillesse, sont le cancer et les affections vasculaires cérébrales. Le border collie, comme toute race, est sujet à des problèmes de santé plus spécifiques à sa race.
L’anomalie oculaire du colley (AOC), qui est une maladie oculaire bilatérale congénitale et héréditaire du chien, affecte la rétine, la choroïde et la sclérotique. Cette maladie touche plusieurs border collies et peut être une maladie bénigne ou, dans les cas plus sérieux, causer la cécité. L’AOC est causée par une simple anomalie génique autosomique récessive, et il n’y a malheureusement aucun traitement en ce moment.
De plus, la surdité, l’ostéochondrite disséquante, la dysplasie des hanches et des coudes, le glaucome et d’autres maladies au niveau des yeux touchent principalement la race. Elles sont plus fréquemment rencontrées lorsqu’on accouple deux individus de couleur merle, un mélange qui risque de donner des Chiots avec des problèmes de santé importants.
Niveau d’énergie et tempérament
Le border collie est un chien très intelligent, et la race est souvent considérée comme la plus intelligente de toutes. Comme il a beaucoup d’énergie, pour éviter qu’il ne fasse des bêtises en votre absence ou lorsque vous avez le dos tourné, il faudra occuper son esprit et lui faire dépenser son énergie. Voici de bonnes options que le border collie adorera : aller courir, jouer au frisbee, faire des parcours d’agilité ou du canicross.
Par contre, s’il n’est pas suffisamment stimulé, il risque de devenir angoissé et frustré, surtout s’il est laissé en isolement, ignoré ou inactif. Comme beaucoup de races de travail, les border collies peuvent être sensibles au mouvement et avoir tendance à vouloir chasser les véhicules et les vélos qui passeront à proximité. Toutefois, ce comportement peut être modifié avec de l’entraînement.
De plus, le border collie n’est pas agressif à la base, il est bon avec les enfants, mais il faut tout de même superviser ces derniers pour ne pas qu’il arrive d’accidents. En effet, il pourra avoir tendance à vouloir rassembler un » troupeau » d’enfants turbulents! D’ailleurs, le border collie adore travailler et faire plaisir à son maître. Les sports canins sont donc une excellente façon de développer cette complicité entre le chien et son maître.
Entretien
Avec sa fourrure double, le border collie devrait être toiletté une fois aux 4 à 8 semaines, sans compter un brossage quotidien pour éviter que des nœuds se forment dans le sous-poil, ce qui pourrait causer des problèmes de peau. Un toilettage plus rigoureux pourrait être nécessaire au printemps et à l’automne, lorsque la mue se produit. Tant que le sous-poil est bien entretenu, la couche de poil de garde (le poil plus long sur le dessus) devrait être en mesure de bien protéger votre chien contre les intempéries.
Saviez-vous que…
Une border collie du nom de Chaser, aux États-Unis, possède la plus grande mémoire testée de tout animal non humain. Elle peut identifier et récupérer 1 022 jouets par leur nom. Le tout lui a été enseigné par Dr John W. Pilley, professeur à la retraite et psychologue du Collège Wofford, qui a également publié une recherche formelle sur ce sujet. Voyez-la en action : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omaHv5sxiFI
Jean-Christophe Boulingez,
Juge de conformation au Club Canin Canadien
Pour bien accueillir votre border collie :
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La couleur Merle
La couleur Merle
La couleur Merle se manifeste par des tâches de pigments dilués, mêlés à la mélanine normale, et souvent par des yeux de couleur bleus. La couleur se manifeste dès la naissance.
Quelles sont les principales races concernées
Berger Australien, Colley poil court et poil long, Border Collie, Berger des Shetland, Cardigan Welsh Corgi, Teckel, Chihuahua, Beauceron, Berger des Pyrénées.
Particularités sur les mariages de deux chiens couleur merle :
La mise en reproduction de deux chiens de couleur merle entraine la naissance de chiots « double merle » avec une couleur de robe de blanc envahissant et souvent associée à un large panel de troubles auditifs, et ophtalmologiques.
Dans le cadre de la reproduction, et dans un souci de santé, le mariage de deux chiens de couleur merle est donc à éviter (cf ci-dessous : Les accouplements à risque de production de chiots « double merle » MM )
Particularités du Merle Cryptique » Couleur Merle cachée/fantôme (Mc) «
La couleur Merle est dite dominante, le phénotype Merle s’exprime donc lorsque le génotype est Mm et MMc.
Cependant certains chiens ont un génotype McMc ou mMc, appelé Merle Cryptique ou fantôme. Dans ces deux cas, le phénotype Merle ne s’exprime pas. On dit que la couleur Merle est cachée.
Seul le test ADN Merle permet de dépister les chiens porteurs du Merle cryptique.
Lors des accouplements, la copie Merle cryptique peut se transformer en copie Merle de façon aléatoire et se transmettre ainsi à la descendance, produisant alors des chiots de couleur Merle bien que les parents ne le soient pas.
Il faut donc connaître le statut de ses producteurs afin de ne pas produire de chiots « double merle (MM) » avec des risques de santé.
A quoi sert le test ADN Merle ?
Le test ADN Merle permet de détecter les chiens porteurs du caractère « Merle » (Locus M) et de mettre en évidence les homozygotes « Merle » (doubles merles MM) et les » merles cachés McMc ou mMc « .
Grâce au test MERLE, vous pourrez adapter vos accouplements afin de mettre en reproduction des chiens qui produiront de l’hétérozygote merle ou au contraire sélectionner vos reproducteurs afin de ne pas produire de chiots exprimant la couleur Merle.
Les statuts génétiques possibles
| Génotype | Phénotype | ||
|---|---|---|---|
 |
mm |
Non porteur Merle |
 |
 |
mMc |
Porteur Merle cryptique |
 |
 |
McMc |
Homozygote Merle cryptique |
|
| MMc |
Merle porteur Merle cryptique. |
||
| Mm |
Hétérozygote Merle |
||
| MM |
Homozygote Merle (Double Merle). |
Crédit photo : collie online |
|
Que donneront les productions de vos mariages ?
Il faut au préalable connaître le statut génétique de vos reproducteurs pour savoir s’ils sont porteurs de la Couleur Merle ou Merle cryptique.
Les accouplements sans risque de production de chiots » double merle MM «
Berger australien bleu merle
La particularité des couleurs du Berger Australien reste qu’en fait, il n’existe que deux couleurs de base pour la robe de ce chien, soit le rouge et le noir.
Cela étant dit, il faut noter que d’autres gènes permettent de contrôler les autres aspects de la robe. Effectivement 3 gènes vont influencer les robes :
- le gène dit « merle »
- les gènes pour les marquages « feux »
- les gènes pour les marquages blancs
Les bergers australiens peuvent alors être :
- De robe unie : sans feux ni blancs
- De robe bicolore : sans feu mais avec du blanc ou sans blanc mais avec du feu
- De robe tricolore : avec des marquages blancs et feux
Le berger australien bleu merle aura donc un fond de robe nommé bleu. Le bleu est un mélange de poils blancs et de poils noirs, plus ou moins marqué, complété par des tâches noires. Ces dernières peuvent être diverses et variées : du mouchetage ou grosses tâches noires bien marquées recouvrant dans certains cas le corps quasi entier du berger australien.
Les bergers australiens bleus merles ont les paupières, la truffe ainsi que les lèvres noires. Ceci reste une particularité de cette distinction de couleur.
Ils ont un Berger Australien bleu merle
Sandra (33 ans) : Nous avons un magnifique Berger Australien bleu merle. Avec ses couleurs bleu merle, notre chien a régulièrement le droit à des « il est trop beau votre chien ». En plus des amis, notre Berger Australien est très copain avec nos 2 enfants. Si nous devons reprendre un chien, nous reprendrons un Berger avec ses couleurs bleu merle.
Mathieu (24 ans) : J’ai un Berger Australien de 3 ans. Au moment de l’adoption, mon choix s’est porté sur la couleur bleu merle. Après plusieurs mois de cohabitation avec mon Berger, je ne regrette pas mon choix !
Vous avez un Berger Australien bleu merle ? Envoyez-nous votre avis.
Border collies are frequently thought of as just being black and white, however this is actually far from the truth. Border Collies come in a multitude of different colours and whilst black and white represents the most commonly seen colour combination, a black and white border collie can carry the genetic ingredients for a variety of colours. So just because you may have a black and white Border collie, this does not mean that they will produce just black and white puppies.
It’s worth noting that for the serious Border collie breeder the colour of the breed is of little importance. They are more concerned with breeding to obtain the correct temperament, right character and good health than they are the colour of the animal.
Any living animal and even humans for that matter inherit many characteristics from their parents. These inherited characteristics are controlled by genes.
Offspring inherit genes from both their father and their mother in equal measure. For each genetically controlled characteristic a dog will carry two genes, one passed down from their father and one passed down from their mother. Likewise the father and mother will each carry two genes for each genetic characteristic inherited from their own parents. Although dogs carry two genes for each inherited characteristic, only one gene for each characteristic is passed on from their father and only one gene is passed on from their mother, this is how we get diversity.
Each gene has a dominant and recessive form, so for example a dog may inherit the gene for solid black coat colour from his father and the gene for solid red coat colour from his mother. Because the gene for solid black is dominant and the gene for solid red is recessive the solid black gene will mask out the solid red gene and the dog will be black and white in colour. When the dog produces offspring he will pass one gene only onto each of his puppies, some may inherit the gene for solid black coat colour whilst others the hidden recessive gene for solid red coat colour.
Genes control many characteristics such as coat colour, ear carriage, length of coat, eye colour etc… Yet a litter of four pups may vary from one another in these characteristics, one may have pricked ears, while another has low ears, one a long coat while one a smooth coat. One of the most interesting aspects of inheritance in the Border Collie breed is coat colour. One litter may contain for example; a black and white, a red merle, a red, and a blue and tan (blue tri) puppy.
The Border Collies hair follicles are made up of cells containing two colour pigments, eumelanin (black) and phaeomelanin (true red); so basically eumelanin is the pigment that produces the darker black and brown shades, phaeomelanin produces the true red. There are a vast number of genes that control the creation of these pigments within the cells and therefore control coat colour, each with a dominant and a recessive form.
The table below shows the four main genes involved in determining coat colour in the Border Collie breed and defines the dominant and recessive form of each gene.
Genes Dominant Recessive
Gene 1 Solid Black Solid Red
Gene 2 No Tri (no tan) Tri (tan)
Gene 3 No Dilute Dilute
Gene 4 Merle No Merle
Below are some examples of how this works.
Black and white
The colour most often encountered in a Border Collie and to many people the true border collie colour. The Border Collie is in fact a white dog with patches of solid colour sometimes broken by the merle or diluted gene. The solid colour is referred to genetically as « spotting » the classic Border Collie markings are referred to as « Irish Spotting ».
Black is the dominant gene for solid coat colour so a black and white dog may be masking a recessive gene, it is not possible to tell by looking at a dog what recessive genes they are carrying, if they are carrying a dominant gene that would mask the recessive genes.
Tricolour (black white and tan) Border Collies
The tricolour markings show typically as tan spots above each eye, and around the face, the top of the front legs and the lower coloured part of the back legs. Dogs showing tricolour characteristics must carry two recessive tri (tri switched on) genes.
This dog has one dominant black gene for solid coat colour (another gene for solid coat colour unknown, either black or red) and two recessive genes for tricolour switched on, hence the tricolour markings. Tri colour varies in its intensity from dog to dog.
Red (brown or liver) Border Collies
The red gene for solid coat colour is recessive to the black gene for solid coat colour, so in order for a dog to appear red the dog must carry two recessive forms of the gene for solid coat colour (i.e. red). This means that both the dog’s father and the dog’s mother must each carry at least one copy of the red recessive gene for solid coat colour.
The colour referred to as red in Border Collies is the same colour genetically as that referred to as brown or liver in some other breeds. Red is prone to bleaching in the sun and red dogs tend to have light coloured eyes and liver coloured noses.
Blue (slate) Border Collies
The blue colour is the result of the dilute gene. The two forms of the gene are no dilute (dominant) and dilute (recessive). Dilute is not a colour but acts to reduce the strength of a solid colour (either black or red) evenly across the dog’s coat. This is not the same as a blue merle – the merle gene is quite different.
In order to show a blue coat colour a dog must carry two recessive dilute genes – one from each of their parents so, either their parents must have been solid black or solid red and carried the dilute gene or been blue or lilac (dilute red) themselves.
Blue Tricolour Border Collies
Because the coat colour of the Border Collie is determined by a number of genes all independent of each other several colours may manifest themselves in one dog. Here the dog is basically a black and white who also carry’s two recessive genes for dilute and two recessive genes for tri colour (black and tan). The dog might carry one gene for solid red but we cannot tell.
In the case of this dog we know it has two recessive dilute genes or it could not show dilute blue or lilac and two dilute genes for tri or it would not show tan , we also know that it does not carry merle as merle is a dominant gene and it would show.
Red Tricolour Border Collies
Here the Border Collie is both red and white so it must carry two recessive genes for solid coat colour, black is dominant, red is recessive, and two recessive genes for tri colour, black and tan. As with the blue tricolour, the black and white and the red and white, we know that this dog does not carry merle. If merle is present it will show because it is dominant.
What we cannot tell by looking at this dog is whether or not it carry’s the dilute gene. The dog does not carry two dilute genes or it would be a lilac tri and because the dog has a solid red coat colour. But it could carry one dilute gene and one no dilute gene, the no dilute being dominant.
Blue Merle Border Collies
Merle is an interesting gene found in many breeds of dog including shelties and rough collies but often referred to by different names like dappled in Dachshunds, Harlequin in Great Danes or tweed in Australian Shepherds and so on. The merle gene is dominant so that if a dog carry’s just one merle gene he will display merle characteristics.
Merle acts to break up the solid colour of the dog’s coat whether it is black or red. It does so with a patchwork of white and irregular spots or patches of black or red, depending upon whether the dog carries the dominant black or recessive red gene for solid coat colour.
Red Merle Border Collies
Because merle is dominant it might be expected that it would be very common, but this is actually not the case. Merle is what is known as a semi-lethal gene and a merle dog should never be mated to another merle. If this is the case those puppies which receive two merle genes, one from each parent are likely to suffer severe health problems.
Puppies which carry two merle genes are likely to have a completely white coat, be blind or have abnormally small or possibly no eyes at all. They may well also be partially or completely deaf. So merles must always be mated to a solid colour (whether dilute or not).
Blue Merle and Tri Border Collies
Merle is one of the few dominant genes where it is possible to determine that the dog also carries a recessive gene for no merle because of the absence of the health problems described above. Merles sometimes produce blue eyes.
The most usual form of merle is Blue merle. Here the dog carry’s the dominant black gene for solid coat colour which is turned to a marbled blue by the dominant merle gene. If the dog also carries two recessive genes for tri he will show the tri colour as well as the blue merle.
Red Merle and Tri Border Collies
As might be expected the red merle colour is less common because red is a recessive gene. Here the dog carry’s two recessive genes for the solid red coat colour and two recessive genes for the tri markings. In addition the dog carry’s one dominant gene for merle, hence the coat is marbled with white and one recessive gene for no merle. This will not cause any health problems.
Dilute blue or lilac merles are very uncommon due to the recessive nature of the dilute gene and the relative rarity of the merle gene. Most breeders would avoid such colour combinations concentrating on temperament, type and quality rather than novelty value.
Lilac Border Collies
An uncommon coat colour, seldom seen in the canine species. Lilac is the result of the recessive red gene for solid coat colour and the recessive dilute gene for diluted coat colour acting together to create a pale red silver-grey. This colour is commonly seen only in the Weimaraner breed although it can occur in Border Collies.
White Border Collies
Not a colour, but an absence of colour. So called white Border Collies simply lack the « spotting » or colour from most areas of their coat. Few Border Collies are completely white but have limited areas of colour usually on their head, particularly around the eyes. A « white » Border Collie may carry any of the colours described above but white will predominate.
White Border Collies have always been unpopular in the herding world and show ring, the standard states that white should not predominate. Although no proof exists that white Border Collies are less healthy or poorer workers than well coloured specimens, it is probably unwise to mate predominately white Border Collies to other predominately white Border Collies.
In addition to the colours mentioned above other colours appear in border collies from time to time. Sable and shaded sable are less frequently encountered colours but certainly do exist in the pure bred Border Collie. Other colours such as brindle are most certainly the result of cross breeding and some other colours such as yellow are sometimes seen abroad. These colours are probably inherited from other local breeds. The standard for the breed states that a variety of colours are permissible but that white should never predominate.
K Locus There are three alleles on the K locus.
The K locus controls how the A locus is expressed.
KB – KB is solid. Nothing on the A locus can be expressed when KB is present, so no tan points or sable etc the dog will just be the base colour (black, brown, lilac or blue). It’s the most dominant on the K locus. That means that if the dog has one copy of KB the other allele on the K locus is not expressed.
Kbr – Kbr allows whatever is on the A locus to be expressed, but with brindle over it. So sable becomes brindle, and tan point becomes brindlepoint. Kbr is recessive to KB and dominant to ky.
ky – ky means that whatever is on the A locus can be expressed. So, sable, brindle, agouti or recessive black.
A Locus There are four alleles on the A locus.
The A locus controls which genes produce eumelanin (Black, brown, blue, lilac).
Ay – Ay is sable. The hair is tipped with the base colour but often looks red. It is the most dominant of the A locus. Sable can hide merle as merle is only able to be expressed on eumelanin (black, brown, blue, lilac) and cannot be expressed on Pheomelanin (red such as clear sable or ee red).
aw – aw is agouti also known as « Wolf » sable and has banded hairs. It is very rarely seen in border collies and is what typically marked German Shepherds look like. aw is dominant over at and a but recessive to Ay.
at – at is tan point. It causes red or « tan » to be expressed at the points of the dog. Like Ticking, tan cannot generally be seen at birth, only under the tail, but develops quickly.
a – a is very rare and hardly ever seen in any breed, let alone Border Collies.
B Locus There are two alleles on the B locus.
The B locus controls whether a dog is black or brown.
B – B is black. It means the dog will have black fur, nose and eye rims.
b – b is brown. If a dog has two copies it means the dog will have brown fur, nose and eye rims.
D Locus There are two alleles on the D locus.
The D locus controls whether a dog is non-dilute or dilute.
D – D is non-dilute. It means the coat will not be diluted to blue or lilac.
d – d is dilute. If a dog has two copies, it means the dog’s base colour, black or brown, will be diluted to blue or lilac.
E locus There are four alleles on the E locus.
The E locus controls which genes express phaeomelanin.
Em – Em is masked. It means that if this gene is present the dog will have a mask of eumelanin.
Eg and Eh – Eg/Eh is grizzle/domino and is specific to Salukis. It looks a lot like shaded sable.
E – E is normal extension. This means the dog will express eumelanin (colour) and will be either black, brown, blue or lilac.
e – is recessive red or « ee red ». This means the dog will express phaeomelanin (red) and be golden/yellow. The base colour will be seen through the nose and eye rims. Examples of ee include, white poodles, golden retrievers and samoyeds. The reason that some of these look practically white and some look gold is because of a theorised « Intensity locus » or « I locus »
M locus There are five alleles on the M locus, though many are very newly discovered and cannot be tested through many conventional testing sites, these are also fairly rare.
M locus controls whether a dog will display the merle pattern over it’s normal coat (normal eumelanin). Merle is an unstable gene and easily mutates into different lengths which will create a different look on the dog.
M – M is merle. The dog will have merle patterning over it’s eumelanin.
Ma – Ma is atypical merle, a mutated merle allele with a different length. The dog will have an almost seal-like, dilute affected coat with few spots. This is theoretically safe to breed with other merles.
Mc – Mc is cryptic merle, a mutated merle allele with a different length. The dog will display little merleing but can mutate back to merle in it’s puppies if the dog is bred. This should be treated like normal length merle.
Mh – Mh is harlequin merle, also known as herding harlequin. The normal merle patches are changed to white, much like in great danes.
m – m is non merle. This means it won’t express any merle over it’s normal coat.
S locus There are two known alleles and two theorised alleles on the S locus.
The S locus controls how much white a dog has. White hairs are when cells can’t produce any pigment.
S – S is no white. All the cells are able to produce pigment.
sp – Sp is piebald. This means a dog will have lots of cells that are unable to produce pigment, particularly when they are homozygous Sp.
si – si is irish spotting, also known as the typical collar, white legs, tip of tail and blaze of white found in border collies. This gene is unidentified, and therefore untestable but it is theorised as most theorised si dogs breed « true » meaning all their offspring are also irish spotted and so on.
sw – sw is extreme white. It is theorised that this is responsible for extreme white such as english bull terriers but it is not known or identified. Most extreme white dogs test as spsp.
T locus There are three theorised alleles on the T locus. Their dominance hierarchy is unknown.
The T locus controls whether there will be spots of pigment on otherwise white sections.
T – T is ticking. These are small or large spots also referred to as « Naughty spots » and it is what’s responsible for Dalmatian spots.
Tr – Tr is roaning. These are large clusters of spots and are what are responsible for Australian cattle dog like spots.
t – non ticking. This means that the dog has no pigment spots.
H Locus There are two alleles on the H locus.
Harlequin turns the dark grey patches of merle to white. This is different to Mh (although Mh does the same thing) as H harlequin, also known as « Dane Harlequin », has it’s own locus and is inherited separately. So, a harlequin dog will be HhMm, but a dog could also be Hhmm and it not be expressed due to the absence of merle.
H – is Harlequin. The dog will have white patches where merle would’ve been if the dog is merle. If the dog is not merle then the harlequin will not be expressed but the dog will still be genetically harlequin.
h – is non-harlequin. The dog will be a regular merle if merle, if not merle it will not be genetically harlequin.
A note on Natural Bob Tail Natural Bob Tail (NBT) is a mutation in the T box gene where a dog is born without a tail. This does happen in border collies but is most common in Australian shepherds.
BT – is Bob Tail. This dog will be born with a shortened tail.
n – is not NBT. This dog will be born with a normal length tail.
For more in-depth information and examples of the above loci on real dogs, please visit « Dog Coat Colour Genetics » website below;
