The Border-Aussie is a crossbreed of two of the most well-known and popular of the herding dog breeds, the Australian Shepherd and the Border Collie. The Australian Shepherd that we know today is actually a newer breed that was developed in the farmlands of the United States in the late 19th century rather than in Australia, as the name might suggest. This breed was developed to herd cattle and sheep and was most likely derived from Basque shepherding dogs that traveled from Australia to America in the early 1800’s. When the Basque people came to America, they brought with them their shepherding dogs, most likely Pyrenean Sheepdogs that had been crossed with a Collie type breed which are believed to be the foundation stock for the modern Aussie. These capable herding dogs are believed to have been crossed with other hard working stock dogs once they reached America, creating an agile and enduring herding animal. The Border Collie, on the other hand, is an extremely old breed, believed to be a combination between small, spitz-like herding dogs that travelled with Viking raiders during the third century and somewhat larger Roman herding dogs that had relocated to Britain during the Roman invasion during the first century. The Border Collie is an extremely intelligent canine, considered by many experts to be the most intelligent overall breed of dog, in fact the Border Collie is often the dog chosen when scientists are trying to measure the upper limits of exactly what a canine can learn. These Collies were bred for performance rather than for looks and although they are an attractive dog, they are first and foremost a working dog and without a job, these dogs can become bored and destructive. Although the hybrid is fairly new, it is fairly popular and it has been around long enough that we can get a good idea of the quirks and attributes that the Border-Aussie has.
