karleee, you openend an important debate. I don't agree on crossed breeds like labradoodles and so on. What are these new breeds made for ? At the origin, each breed had a role in the human society. Now they're mainly used for company and beauty contests. And we cross breeds to create new ones for the human pleasure, I don't agree.
As far as border collies are concerned, in France, they can only be confirmed on work, not on beauty and I hope it will remain so. In Belgium, they have beauty contests for border collies : they are fat, hairy and not very good at herding. I think it's a disaster. I've only seen one kelpie at herding and I don't know how they are confirmed but from what I have seen, they are made for herading and should also remain working dogs and should be selected on these qualities.
Each breed has its quality. If we continue crossing them together, we won't get both qualities, but we'll loose the initial qualities of each one. My border collie has no paper so I decided to get her spayed. I leave reproduction to professionals who know what they are doing (let's hope they all do). There are plenty of health and genetic tests to respect to avoid severe diseases on top of doing the best working selection.
If we have such brilliant dogs, it's because some people have made a strong selection on they health, physical and mental ability to work, so that's why they are so intelligent. Let's not kill our dogs instinct in long terms.
I don't mean we shouldn't have dogs for company, but we should respect what dogs we choose for what they are. That's why I go herding with Fly and I don't regret it. You said it yourself : smart and fast, both in speed and mind. Not everybody can handle that. And as border collies tend to be very fashionable at the moment, a big amoung of them end up in refuges because people say they can't cope with their destructive dog (who is lacking mental activities in fact). And kelpies seem to be an even more difficult dog to have at home and you have to know the breed before making a choice.
Anyway, Dazzle doesn't seem to lack activity and have a very pleasant living environment, and she looks very happy. Can you imagine her in an appartement in the city waiting for you to come home in the evening ? That's also why they try to keep control on breeding.
Aww - what a cute dog
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