Aussie Shepherds And Border Collies

[Parkeyre]

Australian Shepherd Black Tri Colour Male Pup with Natural Bob Tail.

This little guy's ears were very light for a while and kept rising..

Aussies shouldn't have erect ears. They should be saddleflap pricked or rose.

Him I could understand being mistaken for a border collie.

ETA: Ew, just realised he was blowing coat. ;)

Edited February 1, 2010 by Bonnie Parker

[Kirislin]

OK thanks, I can definitely see the difference in the heads now.

[pie]

LOL -have a look on my webpage.... there is a tailed one on there . She gets called a BC SO many times!

Yes I saw Zara in one of your videos the other day and noted the long swishy tail ;)

I've seen them on line, but never in real life, I don't know if that's because the docking laws aren't as strict here, or because the agility people prefer NBTs, or because I'm just unobservant. Probably the latter I'm going to keep my eyes extra peeled from now on though!

[Parkeyre]

OK thanks, I can definitely see the difference in the heads now.

No stress. I do find however that there are not very many Australian SHepherds without copper.

SO if you see a fulltail aussie that looks all black and white and you think it may be an aussie;

check his undertail and his legs and cheeks for a little bit of copper. ;)

In town; the border collies are very sleek and foxxy.

Whereas the whole seven aussies here are boofier, and furrier around the face.

Border collies ears are different here too; they are mostly erect while the aussies mostly have saddleflap.

[JulesP]

I've had borders for 18 years now and I am careful about saying whether a dog is a border or Aussie Your stockier tri border can look a lot like a lighter Aussie and a lighter framed Aussie can look a heap like a border. They do move very differently though.

And yes I have a sable border and I am sure no one is going to know what she is!!!

[Gayle.]

Mine get mistaken for Border Collies all the time, but my daughters friend has a BC bitch and when she is with my two, the differences are distinct. Mine have bigger, broader heads with stubbier snouts. They are all over more solid, squarer and have a shorter coat with thicker feathering on their legs. The Aussies have rounder, more chunky feets and their ears are a lot smaller and sit tucked into the side of the head.

Benson has a tail, althoug he is missing the white tip so he is actually a bobtail. Dusty doesn't have a tail and that's how I prefer Aussies to be (and I never thought I'd say that!)

However, I can recall being at an obedience trial with Leopuppy one day and we met a black and white dog and we stood there wondering if it was a BC or an Aussie, then finding out it was an Aussie so we decided it was a bi-colour.....haha, then checking his bum and seeing he was actually a tri with no copper points! This'd be the expert Aussie owners with 4 (now 5) pedigree Aussies between them.

So, it's easy to be confused.

[Guest *Pixie*]

I had some very strong disagreements with people when I was walking around a showground with these two

The red tricolour Aussie is my boy River and the blue merle Border Collie is Pax's girl Rhythm - they're best mates to this day and continue to confuse the hell out of people who get their breeds in reverse ("NO, she's an AUSSIE, she's BLUE MERLE" - "that's not an Aussie, it's got a TAIL" - I'm sure many members of the general public think it's me who is unfamiliar with the breeds ;) )

[Kirislin]

very cute little puppies Pixie.

[Perry's Mum]

For comparison here are some Koolies. The black and white long coat is Perry and she has been mistaken for a border by border breeders. I have recently seem some photos of a German Tigerhund and Perry looks just like one of them.

Blue merle male long coated Koolie

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o285/scouserdog/008.jpg

shortcoated tri merle male Koolie pup

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o285/sc...og/DSCN0771.jpg

Perry - Blue Merle female long coated Koolie

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o285/sc...ramePerry17.jpg

Perry

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o285/sc...ramePerry10.jpg

Red Merle medium coated female Koolie

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o285/sc...0495_edited.jpg

Red Merle short coated female Koolie

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o285/sc...og/DSCN0089.jpg

Edited February 1, 2010 by Perry's Mum

[leopuppy04]

Hahah - pixie They confused me too

Zara is very BC like at the moment as her legs remind me of BC's but she's very tall if she were a BC (well she's even tall for an Aussie lol!)

You are right about the rounder feet I think...

[Ons]

I thought that i could tell the difference between an aussie and a border collie but now Im not sure

My coolie is a blue merle tri colour. coolies can also come in chocolate, black, black and white, chocolate and white, black, tan and white, black and tan along with the merles. Coolies are normally finer than kelpies, I'd like to say that I could tell the difference between a coolie and a kelpie but Im not sure about that either

[Perry's Mum]

At the last Koolie sheepdog school a Kelpie breeder could not tell the difference between a solid Koolie and a solid Kelpie but all the Koolie people could so don't feel too bad.

[Ons]

Perry's Mum - coolies jsut look different from kelpies don't they, I just couldnt explain why

here are photos of my tri coloured blue merle boy, he has a typical coolie look but alot smaller than other coolies (except maybe width wise and we are working on that - he got his human mum's fat genes )

[Perry's Mum]

They do and they work differently and they have very different personalities. Koolies are just perfect,

[Sayly]

Just because I can:

Red merle Aussie bitch, she's out of coat in this picture.

ETA: BCs and Aussies also work differently.

Edited February 1, 2010 by Lyndsay

[benshiva]

Is it my imagination or do the Aussies have rounder, tighter cat-like feet wheras the BCs seem to have smaller, more oval shaped feet?

Yeah, I can see that too in the pics provided, the borders shown look like they have more of a hare foot.

Border Collies do not have hare feet. They have oval feet with very deep pads.

[Guest Clover]

The head and body shape is completely different, as is movement. Although a lot of the showline BCs these days are very chunky/ stocky/ blocky, so i can see why people find it hard to tell the difference.

I dont think i have ever been confused by the 2 breeds, but have been around both breds for years now to be able to tell the difference.

[Gamby]

I've been ging to make a coat for Gambit with a sign on it "I'm an Aussie, NOT a Border" Instead I ask the people to wait until I turn him around and then they say, He's not a Border, What is he.

"He's An Australian Shepherd" I say. What's an Australian Shepherd? Ummmm they are stockier, clowns of the dog world, love everyone etc., etc

[Parkeyre]

I much prefer people confuse my dogs for Border Collies then husky retriever mixes.

Border Collies will always hold a place in my heat and I will one day have another.

I don't mind too much that people don't know what an Australian Shepherd is, but I do mind when they tell me it's a deginer mutt and I've been fooled into buying a BC husky mix. Sigh..

[Parkeyre]

However, I can recall being at an obedience trial with Leopuppy one day and we met a black and white dog and we stood there wondering if it was a BC or an Aussie, then finding out it was an Aussie so we decided it was a bi-colour.....haha, then checking his bum and seeing he was actually a tri with no copper points! This'd be the expert Aussie owners with 4 (now 5) pedigree Aussies between them.

So, it's easy to be confused.

How is he a Tri Colour with no copper? That makes him a bi Colour.

Edited February 1, 2010 by Bonnie Parker