An organisation advocating for the improved perception of Border Collies has claimed that herding is a learned behaviour rather than the product of breeding.
Tom Crisp, speaking on behalf of the Border Collie Appreciation Society, told The Lampoon “Border Collies have always had a bad press, partly due to their portrayal in pop culture, and partly due to people never wanting to give them a chance.”
“What people need to understand is that the herding incidents that are reported are due to the owners who encourage herding behaviour in their dogs, not because specific breeds of dogs are necessarily predisposed to herd.”
“These figures are completely bogus,” Crisp assured The Lampoon. “All too often, these so-called ‘statistics’ are collected by non-expert interest groups with a vested interest in demonising Border Collies as an entire breed. We see this all the time, particularly in the aftermath of another dog, or a kitten, or a small child being viciously herded.“
“The fact is, there are many Border Collies who go their entire lives without suddenly snapping and committing an act of savage herding, for all the horror stories we are inundated with of these dogs, completely unprovoked, herding an innocent bystander without mercy.”
Featured image: Wikimedia Commons
The Toon Lampoon 