I came across a quip the other day; It said that Border Collies are expensive to keep because they don't reach their full potential unless allowed to graduate from an Ivy League school. Since these Dogs routinely score at the top of intelligence tests, I can almost believe it. A Dog named "Betsy" was featured on the cover of the March 2008 edition of National Geographic for being able to comprehend 340 words, while another Border Collie, "Rico," is being studied by scientists for his ability to identify more than 200 objects by name. I think the Brits have the right idea: In England, they occasionally offer performance competitions just for Border Collies - alone and separate from all other breeds. After all, why damage the self esteem of 200 other perfectly good breeds?
One of my favorite "Far Side" cartoons made me realize just how much cartoonist, Gary Larson, understood Border Collies. Underneath the drawing of a party attended by sheep, the caption read, "Henry! Our party's total chaos! No one knows when to eat, where to stand, what to.. Oh, thank God! Here comes a Border collie! (as the Dog arrives at the door).
I read that Border Collies can be traced to a single Dog, "Old Hemp" who was born in 1893. Evidently, Old Hemp distinguished himself at herding trials by calmly staring (or "giving eye") at the sheep and intimidating them into moving. The sheep (known as "headers') probably never knew what hit them and only later would ask each other in stunned bewilderment, "How'd we get here?"
I lived with a Border Collie for a day. I was in therapy for a month. To go from living with a breed only reputed to have eyes to spending time with one whose eyes never blinked was more than I could tolerate. It was like living with a portrait, its eyes following me everywhere. Only the Border Collie's eyes really DID follow me everywhere. They were on me as I prattled to the kitchen. They followed me to the bathroom, and then to the garage where I got into my car. Sixteen miles from home and I could STILL feel the dog's eyes on me. To those who affectionately say that their religion or heritage instills guilt, I sneer. Being stared at by a Border Collie, now THAT made me feel like I'd done something wrong, perhaps not moved fast enough from one room to another.
The dog was a sweetheart true to his breed and I had agreed to watch him for a friend. But towards the end of our stay together, I threw some detached Puli cords over his eyes just to survive the day. I felt marginally better as he 'blended" in with the other dogs, but something about him was still different from all other dogs. I always knew when he spotted something of interest from his posture: He didn't raise his head, nor did he lower it. Mostly, he bent his legs in five different places and crouched down like a cougar stalking its prey. The first time I saw him do this, I could swear I heard the theme to "Jaws" wafting through the air.
Our time together over, his owner collected him and off they went. Weeks later over lunch, she mentioned that her dog had developed a few behavioral quirks that seemed to date back to the time he'd spent with me and my dogs. When pressed for details, I was puzzled by why she thought the dog had a problem. He sounded like a Puli to me.
S.E.Szeremy, a writer by profession and a breeder/owner/handler of Pulik since 1978, is also the creater of KnobNots and BabyKnobNots. Follow her blog at http://knobnotes.blogspot.com/
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