It was christened the "Border Collie" because it was originally bred and flourished in the border region between Scotland and England.

Dogs are pretty smart in general, but no breed can beat the Border Collie in intelligence. They rank 1st out of 138 breeds in Stanley Coren's The Intelligence of Dogs, which presents a ranked list of breed intelligence based on a survey of 208 dog obedience judges across North America.

Originally bred to herd sheep, they excel at the task because of their strength, stamina, intelligence, and work ethic. Border Collies are famous for using "the eye"--staring intensely at members of the flock to intimidate them. When the earliest recorded sheepdog trial took place at Bala, Wales, in 1873, the crowd was astonished that the breed was able to herd sheep into a small pen, guided only by hand signals and whistles from their owners.

Old Hemp was a tricolor dog born in Northumberland in September 1893. He was a quiet, powerful dog to which sheep responded easily. Many shepherds used him for stud, and he is believed to have sired as many as 200 pups over the span of his life. In fact, all pure border collies alive today can trace an ancestral line back to Old Hemp.

The breed's herding trait has been deliberately encouraged by selective breeding for generations. If a Border Collie doesn't have sheep to manage, it may satisfy its need to herd with small children, cats, and other dogs.

Known as "the world's smartest dog," Chaser was a Border Collie with the largest tested memory of any non-human animal. By the time she was three years old, she could identify and retrieve 1,022 toys by name.

Their speed, agility, and stamina have allowed them to dominate in dog activities like flyball and disc dog competitions. Their trainability has also led to success in dog dancing competitions.

While black and white is the most common color pattern, the breed appears in just about any color and pattern known to occur in dogs, including black tricolor (black/tan/white), liver and white, red tricolor (red/tan/white), blue, lilac, red merle, blue merle, brindle, and Australian red.

Bandit was Laura Ingalls' second dog. Originally he was a stray that Charles noticed trying to steal food. While Charles was on the way home to Walnut Grove, Bandit jumped on his rig and became a member of the Ingalls family.

They've broken all kinds of records. A Border Collie named Jumpy holds a Guinness World Record for skateboarding 100 meters in less than 20 seconds. Another, named Striker, set the canine record for rolling down a manual car window. And in 2008, a Border Collie-mix named Sweet Pea set a record for balancing a can on her head and walking 100 meters in just 2 minutes and 55 seconds.