The Working Border Collie

This is book #2 for me on raising border collies. I started with what I would call 'Border Collies for Dummies' Your Border Collies Life : Your Complete Guide to Raising Your Pet from Puppy to Companion, which I highly recommend as an introduction to the breed. This book by Marjorie Quarton picks up where the other left off. Ms. Quarton's experience with and deep sensitivity to this breed shows throughout the book. She is so close to the land and the patterns of the dog's life that I want to jump right into the scene with her. That said, for American readers in particular, 'The Working Border Collie' is better read after the primer book has been digested. This book by Ms. Quarton does focus more on working dogs, but I found it 80% or more relevant to the breed in general. I give this book my highest rating, for a combination of content and style. There may be more information than the average owner wants to know about breeding, but I found the material rather interesting even though breeding is not my intent. It will allow me to ask better questions of breeders for my next dog. A nice supplement to this book is the latter section by Carole Presberg, from Massachusetts, on the American border collie. We do view our dogs somewhat differently here than the English/Irish do, and this section gives an American context to some of the breed definition and club/organization topics covered by Ms. Quarton. I confess however to being delightfully amused at times with the core sections written by Marjorie Quarton, in all of their Irish/Englishness; a litte bit of Barbara Woodhouse and James Harriot combined.

This book was good. It helped me learn things about my dog that I never knew before. I wish I had this book before. If you have a border collie you really need to read this book.