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Border Collie temperament testing:
Each Border Collie has its own unique temperament. Temperament testing is designed to help you pick out the type of dog or puppy you want. You may need a dog for herding, agility, companion, or etc., so you need to find out if the dog or puppy has the traits needed for that particular task. Temperament testing begins when you go to look at the dog or puppies, by just noting how the dog reacts to the other dogs or puppies.
Types of dog temperament: There are three types of dogs in a litter or pack of dogs, the dominate, submissive, and neutral. In general, the dog or puppy that is biting, growling, or putting its paw on another dog's back is the dominate dog or puppy, this is only a problem if the dog or puppy does it to a human. Likewise, the submissive one is the one that is cowering or tucking in its tail. The neutral one is the one that is not biting or cowering and is just playing or watching the rest of the dogs or puppies.
Herding Temperament:
For herding it is important to find a dog that has a desire to herd things. Also, a working background is helpful in finding a suitable dog or puppy, ideally both of the puppy's parents should be working dogs. You can test the dog by putting the dog in a small round pen with dog broke sheep, and see what the dog does. You may want to have the dog on a long line, so that you may easily stop the dog. If the dog shows interest, such as "balancing" the sheep to you, or "fetches" the sheep and brings them to you, the dog has the potential to be a good worker. Keep in mind it may take a few times on sheep before the dog starts to "balance" sheep, etc., but usually well bred border collies will do it instinctually. Also, other factors including a certain amount of dominance, eye strength, and physical characteristics, and the kind of livestock you want the dog herd plays an important part in your decision.
Agility Temperament:
For agility you want a dog with a high "play drive", to test for play drive see if the dog or puppy has interest in toys, by throwing the toy. The more the dog or puppy loves toys the better candidate for agility. Also, you want a confident dog, that will get along with other dogs and people. This is also true if you want to get involved in other activities with your dog, like fly ball, frisbee competitions, and search and rescue work. Puppies from working parents generally would be your best choice.
Companion Temperament:
A companion dog or puppy needs to show a desire to be with humans. These dogs may make excellent therapy dogs. To pick one out they should be confident, not shy or aggressive, or hyper active. To test for shyness get an umbrella and open it up quickly in front of the puppy. Also, another way of testing for shyness is taking something that makes a lot of noise like a pan, or keys, and hit the pan or drop the keys. The less the response the better.
Child's pet temperament:
A child's pet needs to be very calm, confident, not aggressive, shy, or hyper active. If you want a Border Collie just as a child's pet- you may want to consider another breed. Border Collies need training, attention, and someone who has a little experience, or can seek help from professional trainer, who should gladly help. Unruly children are not good candidates for Border Collies.
The dog's nature is to herd, and some will not discriminate between stock or young hyper children. However, some Border Collies, do get along well with children. If you are still interested in a Border Collie as a child's companion, consider not getting one from "working stock", because their herding instincts will probably be very strong. Maybe, consider an adult dog- their temperament is more permanent, and the owner should know if they are good with children. Keep in mind the dog and child will both need training.
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