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Train a female Cane Corso with patience, consistency, socialization, and positive reinforcement for a well-behaved, confident, and happy dog.
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Find a healthy, well-bred Border Collie from a responsible breeder, and be honest about the exercise and mental work the smartest dog breed needs before you bring one home.
Border Collie
Border Collie
Border Collie
Border Collie
Border Collie
Border Collie
Border Collie mix
Border Collie
Looking at Border Collie puppies for sale, it is easy to fall for the smarts and the striking looks. The harder, more important question is whether you can give a working dog the exercise and the daily mental work it was bred for.
This guide covers what the breed needs, a fair price, the health to test for, and how to avoid scams. The listings above refresh as sellers add new dogs, so read on before you send anyone a deposit.
Short answer
The Border Collie is the smartest dog breed, and that brain is the whole challenge. Bred to herd all day, it needs one to two hours of hard exercise plus real mental work. Without a job, a bored Border Collie invents one: chewing, barking, or spinning in circles. It is a brilliant dog for an active home, and a poor fit for a quiet one.
The Border Collie is ranked the most intelligent dog breed, learning a new command in fewer than five repetitions. That brain needs work, not just walks.
A job means an hour or two of real exercise a day, plus mental work like training, agility, flyball, herding, or nose work. Even ten or fifteen minutes of focused training tires a Border Collie as much as a long run.
An under-stimulated Border Collie does not just nap. It chews, digs, barks, and escapes, and it can develop compulsive habits like spinning or chasing shadows.
The herding instinct is part of the package. Bred to move livestock, many Border Collies chase and nip at moving things, including children, bikes, and cars. It is instinct, not aggression, and it needs redirecting into a sport or a task.
Be honest about the fit. This is a wonderful dog for a runner, a hiker, a farmer, or a dog-sport home. It is a hard dog for an apartment or a busy, away-all-day household.
Considering another high-drive working breed? See our German Shepherd buyer guide.
Short answer
A Border Collie puppy usually costs $600 to $1,500 from a health-testing breeder, with show and proven working lines higher. One choice matters more than the price: working-bred pups have the most drive and are the hardest to satisfy in a pet home. For a busy family, a sport or show line is the smarter pick. Color is not a quality marker, so do not pay extra for a color like merle.
The line matters more than the price. The American Border Collie Association (ABCA), the working registry, breeds purely for herding ability and drive. AKC show lines are bred for appearance and tend to have a calmer off switch. The ABCA prizes working ability so highly that it removes any dog that becomes an AKC conformation champion.
Here is what that means for you. A working-bred puppy has the most intense drive and is the hardest to satisfy in a normal home. Unless you herd livestock or compete seriously, a pet, sport, or show line is the kinder match for both of you.
The biggest cost is your time, not the purchase price. Food for an active medium dog runs about $60 to $80 a month. Routine vet care runs about $400 to $700 a year, with pet insurance around $30 to $60 a month. Budget for agility, herding, or training classes too, since they double as the mental work the breed needs.
For more on what really drives a puppy's price, read how to find a quality puppy within your budget.
Short answer
Border Collies are fairly healthy, but carry a few inherited risks worth testing for: hip dysplasia (a poorly formed hip joint), eye disease (Collie Eye Anomaly), and epilepsy. A DNA panel also covers the MDR1 drug-sensitivity gene and two fatal puppy diseases, TNS and NCL. Buy from parents with hip, eye, and DNA results you can check. Most Border Collies then live 12 to 15 years.
The most common inherited orthopedic problem is hip dysplasia, where the hip joint forms poorly and wears painfully. A breeder screens it with an OFA hip X-ray (the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals, a health-screening registry) on the parents. By OFA records, about 11 percent of screened Border Collies show some hip dysplasia.
Collie Eye Anomaly (CEA) is an inherited fault in the layer behind the retina that can harm vision. It is less common in Border Collies than in Rough Collies, and there is a DNA test plus a yearly eye exam (CAER) by a veterinary eye specialist.
The MDR1 gene is a change that lets certain common drugs build up to dangerous levels, including some dewormers, anesthetics, and the anti-diarrheal loperamide. It is far less common in Border Collies than in Collies or Australian Shepherds, but a cheap cheek-swab test is worth it, and an affected dog needs different drug doses.
Two fatal puppy diseases are worth a DNA test: TNS (Trapped Neutrophil Syndrome, where the immune system cannot fight infection) and NCL (a fatal nerve disease). Both are simple to test for, so a careful breeder clears the parents.
Epilepsy (seizures with no clear cause) is more common in Border Collies than in the average breed, usually starting between one and five years. There is no DNA test for it yet, so ask about the family history.
With healthy parents and good care, Border Collies live about 12 to 15 years. For the full breeding-side health detail, see our Border Collie breeding guide.
The AKC judges every Border Collie color equally, so coat color tells you nothing about a dog's health or working ability. Classic black and white is the best known, but the breed comes in many colors.
Source: the AKC breed standard.
Short answer
Most puppy scams open with a price that looks too good and a push to pay by Zelle, wire, gift card, or crypto. Scammers favor in-demand breeds, so verify any seller no matter the breed. The Better Business Bureau put the average puppy-scam loss at about $1,293 in 2024. Insist on a live video call with the puppy and its parents, and never send money you cannot get back.
The Better Business Bureau tracks thousands of pet scams. Reported puppy-scam complaints fell about 21% in 2024, even as the average loss climbed. The FTC gives the same advice: insist on a video call, and never wire money. For more, read our guide on how to avoid puppy scams.
A good breeder welcomes your questions and screens you in return. Here is what to see, verify, and expect.
The breed's health program is CHIC (the Canine Health Information Center, a shared checklist run with the parent club). It asks for hip and eye (CAER) checks, and responsible breeders also run the DNA panel for CEA, the MDR1 gene, TNS, and NCL. Verify any result yourself, free, in the OFA database.
Petmeetly connects you directly with people listing Border Collies, with no broker in the middle. Use the checks above, and be ready to give this dog the job it needs. Open to an adult dog instead of a puppy? See how to adopt a Border Collie.
Sources
Get answers to common questions about buying Border Collies responsibly
A health-tested Border Collie puppy usually costs $600 to $1,500 in the US, with show and proven working lines higher. Color is not a quality marker, so do not pay a premium for "rare" colors like merle. Remember the bigger cost is your time, since this breed needs one to two hours of exercise and real mental work every day.
A Border Collie can be a wonderful family dog in an active home, but it is a poor fit for a quiet or apartment-bound life. It needs one to two hours of hard exercise plus a daily "job" like training, agility, or herding, or it gets bored and destructive. Its herding instinct can also lead to nipping at running children, so it suits older, active kids best.
The main inherited risks are hip dysplasia (a poorly formed hip joint), Collie Eye Anomaly (an eye disease), and epilepsy. A simple DNA test also covers the MDR1 drug-sensitivity gene and two fatal puppy diseases, TNS and NCL. Buy from parents with hip, eye, and DNA results you can verify. With healthy parents, Border Collies usually live 12 to 15 years.
MDR1 is a gene change that lets certain common drugs (some dewormers, anesthetics, and the anti-diarrheal loperamide) build up to dangerous levels. It is far less common in Border Collies than in Collies or Australian Shepherds, but a cheap cheek-swab DNA test settles it, and an affected dog needs adjusted drug doses. If your dog is positive, tell your vet before any medication.
Insist on a live video call showing the specific puppy with its parents, and never pay by wire, Zelle, gift card, or crypto, because that money cannot be recovered. The Better Business Bureau put the average puppy-scam loss at about $1,293 in 2024. Verify the parents' health tests yourself on ofa.org before you send anything.
More vetted material for Border Collie buyers
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Discover puppies and dogs for sale from various breeds and find your perfect companion
Browse Border Collies listed on Petmeetly, then use the exercise, line, health, and seller checks above before you pay.
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