I've had it with these ridiculous Border Collie people.

Yes, Wesley is a Blue (dilute black) although he is a pretty dark shade. His eyes are dusty grey (exactly the same color of his coat) and I guess some people argue that grey eyes is a result of insufficient pigment and should be bred away from. I can't win apparently. Fiona and Wesley are from the same breeders, and I chose to get Wesley because Fiona has such an amazing temperament (seriously). Wesley has lived up to all my expectations and more in his temperament and structure... we will get him on sheep when the snow has died down and he's a little bigger, although he has been out to watch Sadie work to get his gears turning.

Personally, I think its all a little ridiculous. To say that a brown eyed, classically marked black and white Border Collie with no measurable herding instinct should be bred from, while a split-faced, blue-eyed Border Collie who has a ton of eye and works perfectly well shouldn't be... its silly. Boo on them.

Border collie politics are pretty intense.

Yeah... while this election is going on I'm sitting here like "Did you see the debates last night?" (response) "Yeah, Romney/Obama totally won" me: "What? I meant the debate about whether or not the herding instinct test at the national was judged fairly... what are YOU talking about?"

Hmmm..merely curious..considering Border Collies are a bit infamous for their eye on stock...is there any difference in herding abilities between blue and brown eyed dogs??

Not really. Fiona has a ton of eye, and hasn't had any problems with control or pressure. Most working bred BCs tend to have a lighter eye (yellow/light amber), because dogs with super dark eyes (the type that are so common in the show ring) have been widely regarded as less effective on stock.

I tend to think of the lighter eye as being typical for BCs. I'd imagine the darker eye is only popular for show because it's preferred in so many breeds. And I don't think it necessarily has to do with pigment. I've seen dogs with strong pigment and light eyes.

I like dark eyes in my own breed, but they aren't bred to control stock via staring at it.

No. Let's look at is this way. We assume animals can't see in color, correct? So eye color doesn't matter.

Even more so, the only people who say merles cannot herd at all would have to be ones who are not active in the herding world, so therefore, their claim = invalid.

Dunno, I've never liked all the bickering back and forth in the breed. Just go work your dog and let that speak for itself.

I can only imagine.
I joined the BCboard for about...37 seconds. LOL It was a little too intense for me.

"Oh hi, my name is Bob and I'm considering getting a border collie puppy this summer"
"RELEASE THE KRAKEN!! SHOW BREEDERS ARE EVIL!!"
"WORKING BREEDERS!!"
"RUINING THE BREED!"
"umm.. I found a responsible breeder but she works within the AKC.."
"THIS IS SPARTA!!"
"DISHONOR ON YOU! DISHONOR ON YOUR COW!!"
"YOU ARE AN ANTICHRIST!"

It's like jesus everyone calm down!

Elegy, you coulda probably passed Bean off as a piebald but then you had to go and tape the ears. Tsk tsk. You should just send him to me now. That'll solve everything.

No I am not just trying to steal your dog, I swear.

Well, even if an animal can only see in greyscale they'll still be able to distinguish a light (blue) eye from a dark (brown) one. Plus I think the working theory is that most animals have the ability to see some range of colour, just perhaps not the reds/greens that we can see. (Then there are animals who can see beyond our visible spectrum too.)

I would agree that eye colour won't much matter on a quality working dog, but I think that the colour blind argument is probably moot.

:rofl1:

Frighteningly true! And not just in BCs either...

Hey! I have Bean-dibs!!!

Clearly she's not reading the right message boards or she would know this is unpossible.

Just as long as you're aware he doesn't come with a mute button....

Bean's eyes are very dark brown. Steve has light brown and blue eyeballs.

Bean is half sporter collie, half conformation-bred.
Steve is half working bred and half sporter collie.

Poor confused dogs. I will take them.

I've lived with shelties and then Mia. I'm immune to dog barking, whining, and screaming.

I haven't even looked at a Fila board for YEARS.

And of course, I'm going to be the ruination of the breed because *gasp* my dogs can function in public! That, or they must not be real Filas in the first place.

Love it. :rofl1:

Sorry. But a border collie in the show ring isn't a border collie IMO.

I need to develop that immunity because :wall:

Just about all herbivores are R-G color blind, but they can see blue. Probably helps them keep the sky and ground separate in their heads? So sheep can be sufficiently terrified by a blue eyed dog to move along, but a deer can pick out your jeans before your orange vest.

This is why I won't be participating in any breed boards if I/we should get a dog someday. I just want a dog. As long as he or she is healthy, I don't care whether or not he or she doesn't have a certain eye color or has a smudge of white where it should be tan.

I know what I want in a dog and I'm educated on breeders and rescues.

Why is it so important to these dog clubs whether a dog has a certain color eyes? Shouldn't they be more concerned with function and preserving its history?