Choosing the right dog breed for your lifestyle is as an important decision as bringing a dog into your life. Although every dog is individual and has a personality, each breed has particular traits. These traits can help you determine which breed will suit you and your lifestyle – ensuring a more harmonious home for you and your new pet.
The Siberian Husky and the Border Collie are both wonderful dog breeds. The Siberian Husky and the Border Collie are medium-sized breeds. They both have a weather-resistant double coat, are extremely smart and energetic, and need around 2 hours of daily exercise plus mental stimulation to keep them content.
Let’s look at some breed traits to help you decide. These are general breed traits, and you should remember that breeding and life experiences will affect each dog differently.
Breed History of Siberian Husky and Border Collie
Siberian Husky
The Siberian Husky is one of 14 ancient dog breeds. The Chukchi tribe bred the Siberian Husky to pull sleds over long distances in harsh weather conditions. The Siberian Husky would work in teams to pull the sleds and sleep beside the children on cold nights to keep them warm.
Only the most social and playful Huskies would be used to breed, as cooperation and good natures were most important to the tribe. These traits are still found in today’s Siberian Husky.
Border Collie
The Border Collie has been a herding dog in Britain for hundreds of years. It combines herding dogs brought by the Romans and Vikings to Britain during each occupation. The name comes from the Scottish, English, and Welsh borders, where the herding dogs showed their natural herding skills in the hilly landscape and are still used today for sheep and cattle herding.
Border Collies are intelligent, fast, agile, and obedient. They are used for herding, search and rescue, agility, flyball, and obedience competitions and make good family companions for active people.
Breed Specifications for Siberian Husky and Border Collie
Siberian Husky
The Siberian Husky has a thick fluffy double coat, with colors ranging from white, sable and white, grey and white, agouti, black and white, and black. Upright pointed ears and almond-shaped eyes can be blue, brown, mixed brown, and blue. In addition, they have a fox brush tail which is often held high in a sickle curve but can also be held low and trailing.
The Siberian Husky is a medium size breed. The adult male Siberian Husky stands at 21-23.5 inches, with an ideal weight range of 45-60lbs (20-27kgs).
The adult female Siberian Husky stands at 20-22 inches, with an ideal weight range of 35-50lbs (16-23kgs).
The life expectancy for a healthy, well-cared-for Siberian Husky is 12-14 years.
Border Collie
The Border Collie has a dense, weather-resistant double coat, medium long-haired or smooth short coat. The most common is black and white; however, the Border Collie has a wide range of color coats with white. In addition, the Border Collie has a broad head, ears medium-sized set well apart, erect or semi-erect, a moderately short strong muzzle, and a long tail sweeping upwards at the end. Intelligent, oval brown eyes, unless it is a merle-colored Collie which will have blue eyes.
The Border Collie is a medium size breed. The adult male Border Collie stands at 19-22 inches, with an ideal weight of 30-55 lbs (14-25kg).
The adult female Border Collie stands at 18-21 inches, with an ideal weight of 25-50 lbs (11-23 kg).
The life expectancy for a healthy, well-cared-for Border Collie is 12 – 15 years.
Common Breed Health Checks for Siberian Husky and Border Collie
Siberian Husky
The Siberian Husky breed is generally pretty healthy; however, breeders should regularly have the dams and sires screened:
- Hip dysplasia (BVA/KC)
- Eye testing – PLA (gonioscopy) (BVA/KC/ISDS)
- Eye screening scheme (BVA/KC/ISDS)
Border Collie
The Border Collie is generally pretty healthy. Good breeders should regularly have the dams and sires screened:
- Hip dysplasia
- Elbow dysplasia
- Eye screening scheme (including collie eye anomaly, Goniodysgenesis)
- Epilepsy
Energy Levels of Siberian Husky and Border Collie
Siberian Husky
The Siberian Husky is a bundle of energy with outstanding endurance! This dog is at its happiest when it’s running, exploring, and playing. It can run for hours and still have the energy to play. However, to keep a Siberian Husky content, it will need at least 2 hours of daily exercise and some mental stimulation.
Border Collie
The Border Collie is a high-energy, high-drive dog. It will happily spend all day working, herding, or trekking with its human. However, it requires at least 2 hours of daily exercise and is happiest if it has a job. The Border Collie is an intelligent, hard-working dog that needs lots of mental stimulation and physical activity.
The Border Collie is an excellent choice as a service animal. They have lots of energy and thrive on learning and making their human happy. The Border Collie is most content when it has a job to keep it busy and is with its human. The Border Collie has herding hard-wired in its DNA and needs this drive redirected if it’s not utilized as a herding dog.
The Trainability of Siberian Husky and Border Collie
Siberian Husky
The Siberian Husky is a highly intelligent dog. It was bred to decide whether to follow instructions or not for the musher and team’s safety. This intelligence is still present in the Siberian Husky. Once you know what motivates your Siberian Husky, training and cooperation are easier. Most Siberian Huskies are not food motivated, and you must get creative.
The Siberian Husky learns quickly and easily; motivating them to follow instructions consistently can be tricky. Furthermore, the Siberian Husky is not a biddable animal; they are not interested in pleasing their human. High prey drive also means that recall isn’t 100% for most Siberian Huskies.
Border Collie
The Border Collie is an intelligent dog, so much so that it’s widely regarded as the most intelligent breed. However, unlike the Siberian Husky, the Border Collie is human-focused and biddable. The Border Collie thrives on training and working with its human. Ongoing training is highly advised for this breed to help alleviate boredom and keep it mentally stimulated.
Being relatively easy to train with a good nature, the Border Collie is used widely as a service dog in search and rescue and Armed Services. They love learning and pleasing their humans – the Border Collie is a loyal, hard-working companion and thrives on continued training and challenges. In addition, the Border Collie excels in agility, flyball, and obedience competitions.
Friendliness of Siberian Husky and Border Collie
Siberian Husky
The Siberian Husky is friendly and cooperative with people and other dogs. They have never met strangers or dogs they didn’t want to play with. These were the main traits that the Chukchi looked for in their sled dogs.
The Siberian Husky loves children and being around children – they are pretty gentle. However, the Husky can get boisterous and accidentally knock down little children.
Border Collie
The Border Collie is friendly with people it knows but can be wary of strangers. Although the Border Collie can be aloof with other dogs and enjoys doing its own thing, early socialization is essential. The Border Collie will have lots of energy for playing with other dogs.
A loyal and loving companion, the Border Collie has strong herding instincts and will herd younger children and other animals. They are energetic and intelligent dogs, well suited to families with older children who enjoy going outside and have the time to put into training and exercise.
The Border Collie is loyal and will focus on its human when working. This focus can make the Border Collie seem stand-offish; this focus is what makes the Border Collie such a great working dog. However, if the Border Collie isn’t working, it needs lots of exercise and mental stimulation to burn off all its energy.
Grooming and Shedding of Siberian Husky and Border Collie
Siberian Husky
The Siberian Husky has a fluffy, luxurious double coat to keep it warm in the winter and cool in the summer. The fur has a protective layer that repels dirt and protects the skin, reducing the doggy odor that most other breeds have. In addition, the Siberian Husky is cat-like in its grooming, keeping its coat clean. As a result, they only need to be bathed a few times a year.
The Siberian Husky needs brushing regularly to keep the coat healthy. In addition, twice a year, the undercoat blows and requires daily brushing – there will be fur everywhere!
Border Collie
The Border Collie has a thick, weather-resistant double coat. However, it will require brushing twice a week to keep the shedding hair under control and the coat free from mats and clean. In addition, the Border Collie will only need a few baths throughout the year to keep them clean.
The Border Collie sheds a lot and will blow the undercoat once or twice a year. During this blowout, the Border Collie will require brushing daily.
Barking for Siberian Husky and Border Collie
Siberian Husky
The Siberian Husky doesn’t bark, as such. It does, however, huff, chuff, chatter, and howl – also known as singing. In addition, the Siberian Husky is known to chat and sing to their humans. Sometimes for no apparent reason and other times to communicate their point in the conversation.
Border Collie
The Border Collie is a protective, herding dog who can protect their area. However, they are not known for excessive barking. However, like many other breeds, the Border Collie will bark excessively if stressed or bored.
Overall Thoughts on Siberian Husky and Border Collie
Siberian Husky
The Siberian Husky suits active outdoor people with lots of time for training and exercise. They enjoy running, hiking, and biking – independent dogs who like to think and work things out for themselves. However, the Siberian Husky isn’t for everyone, as the extensive training and lifestyle can be intense.
However, once you have earned the Husky’s trust and loyalty, they are a fantastic companion and will give you hours of fun and laughter. So, if you are up for a challenge, and looking for a dog with a big personality, then the Siberian Husky might be for you.
Border Collie
The Border Collie is a great all-round dog. It is naturally gentle, loyal, and protective and wants to please its human. This makes training easy, ideal for experienced people or people with the time to put into training and exercise.
All dog breeds require time for training and exercise. However, the Border Collie’s natural biddability makes training easier for more inexperienced people. They make excellent companions if you have the time and energy to put into the Border Collie’s exercise and training needs. The Border Collie is a great dog that can adapt to many different environments.
For further breed-specific information, the Kennel Club UK and the American Kennel Club are excellent sources of information.
I hope you have found this article helpful.
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