The Border Collie Labrador Mix

The Border Collie Labrador mix is a loving, gentle, and very teachable dog that needs positive reinforcement. The Labrador Border Collie fits best with an active family and needs long walks, jogs, or any other sort of exercise, and ideally, a minimum of 45 minutes to an hour each day. The Collie Lab is a mix between the Border Collie and the Labrador Retriever, and is an excellent combination with complementary traits and reasonable energy levels. The Border Collie Labrador mix can be more attached to just one family member over the others. So in families, it’s best for the dog to interact with — and be cared for — by all family members in order to try and short circuit that. Bonding with the family versus just one person can help minimize any suffering from separation anxiety that can happen if they attach themselves to one person over other family members. In this article we will be go over both parent breeds and then we will be going over in detail on the Border Collie Labrador mix.
Lab and Collie Mix sitting together Border Collie Labrador

The Labrador Retriever

  • Weight – 50 – 80 pounds
  • Height – 22 – 24 inches tall
  • Lifespan – 10 – 14 years
  • Major Health Concerns – Cold tail, Bloat, Progressive Retinal Atrophy (PRA), Hip Dysplasia, Retinal Atrophy & Obesity
  • Grooming – 4x weekly during shedding season 2x weekly during the non-shedding season
  • Fur or Hair – Fur
  • Colors – Black, tan, white, yellow, & chocolate
  • Eye Color – Brown
  • Exercise – They need long walks (or runs) plus playtime in the yard several times a day
  • Training – Labrador is very easy to train and very eager to be trained
  • Socialization – Positive exposure to other people and dogs daily for best socialization
  • Temperament – Playful, loyal, even-tempered, outgoing, agile, trusting, gentle & smart
  • Good in an apartment? – No
Labrador Retrievers are an agreeable and friendly companion that is one of the most popular choices of dogs in America. Labs or Labradors are highly social and have a love for all people, children, and animals alike, which can explain their widespread popularity. The Lab parent was bred in Canada, to help fishermen and hunters retrieve their catches. The people there needed a friendly dog that loved to go fetching and also enjoyed being in the water dog. Labradors are drawn to water, no matter the time of year. The Labrador was brought over to England by the 1800s by some English nobles. Those breeds are now the English Labrador Retriever, bred more for being a show dog as well as for companionship, and conformation. The English Labrador is shorter, stockier, thicker necked, and more mellow than their American cousins. You can find more information on the American Labrador VS the English Labrador, here.
black Labrador dog in Harness halter, black Lab mix in snow

The Border Collie

  • Weight – 30 – 55 pounds
  • Height – 18 – 24 inches
  • Lifespan – 12 – 15 years
  • Major Health Concerns – cold tail, bloat, seizures, PRA, collie eye anomaly (CEA), dysplasia, osteochondritis dissecans, lens luxation, ear infections, and compulsive behavior.
  • Grooming – 4x weekly during shedding season 2x weekly during the non-shedding season
  • Fur or Hair – Fur
  • Colors – Black and white, blue, brindle, gold, red, sable, white & gold, white & red, lilac, slate, white ticked, & white & blue merle .
  • Eye Color – Brown
  • Exercise – Collies are certified workaholics and so need a job to do every day!
  • Training – They are easy and eager to be trained
  • Socialization – Positive exposure to other people and dogs on a daily basis
  • Temperament –Playful, loyal, even-tempered, outgoing, agile, trusting, gentle, loves herding
  • Good in an apartment? – No
The Border Collie is an excellent dog breed if you’re prepared to be firm yet gentle in training them. Border Collies are workaholics who are eager to work. If they don’t have a job, then they will create a job and will expect you to be proud of what they have chosen to do. Before the modern day Border Collie came into existence we need to go back to the Roman times. When the Romans invaded Britania (for you non-history buffs Britania is now Great Britain), they brought their sheepdogs. The Roman sheepdogs were heavy and bulky, they pulled double duty as guard dogs and herders for their flocks. When the Romans left Britain in 400 AD the Vikings arrived, and they brought over their own dogs. Pretty soon after the Vikings arrived the Border Collie was bred, now all that was needed was just some refinement to get the modern-day Border Collie.
Border Collie Labrador mix puppy in snow Borador puppy with pink harness

Border Collie Lab Mix

  • Weight – 40 – 60 pounds
  • Height – 19 – 22 inches
  • Lifespan – 14 – 15 years
  • Major Health Concerns – Hip dysplasia, bloat, ear infections, knee dislocation, retinal atrophy, & obesity
  • Grooming – Brush 2x weekly during summer and winter, brush as many times as needed during shedding season fall and spring
  • Fur or Hair –Fur
  • Coat Colors – Brown, white, black, blue, & tan
  • Eye Color – Brown
  • Exercise – 30 – 45 minutes daily
  • Training –Start early, it will save you a lot of hassle in the end – 30 minutes daily
  • Socialization –On a daily basis take your puppy out with you and allow him or her to explore with you alongside them.
  • Temperament –Kind, loving, playful, easy-going, great with kids, watchful, non-aggressive to strangers, & great family dog as long as you exercise them
  • Good in apartments – No, needs a yard and a house
A Border Collie Mix Border Collie Mix outside

The Border Collie Lab mix is A Fantastic Family Dog!

The Border Collie Lab mix is another great family pet. Borador’s are smart and eager to please, making them easy to train. They have a long lifespan, are easy-going, child-friendly, and pet-friendly with a little training, making them an all around great family dog. Whether you’re a new or experienced dog owner, the Borador is a dog for almost every one. While this energetic breed does have its mellow lab side, most of them do need good daily exercise to stay balanced and happy and not destroy your home. If you can provide your Borador socialization, exercise and training, you’ll both be happy and well adjusted. These three ingredients are the recipe for successful relationship with the Lab Border Collie mix. The appearance of the Collie Lab mix will be a medium length double coat, with white markings or patches. A double coat is a finer layer of shorter fur closer to the skin and a longer and thicker coat on top, kind of like our clothing and then our outer coat, but they wear theirs all the time.
Collie Labrador Mix

Training of the Border Collie Labrador Mix

The Lab Collie mix is an offspring of two of the smartest dog breeds in the world! Training the Border Collie Lab Mix will be quick and easy if you put in the time and effort into it. When they are puppies, you need to train them for the bare minimum of 30 minutes a day and preferably more. Training them non-stop for thirty minutes will be a hard task especially for a puppy. So you can break it up into 10 minutes of training and 5 minutes playing. It does not matter how long you are playing around with them; just make sure to train them on a daily basis. By the way, the Borador will have herding tendencies, this is a very intelligent breed and can be trained to herd, but you can also train them not to if you don’t want them nipping at your — or your kid’s — heels. With a few training sessions, your Lab mixed Border Collie could be trained not to jump on people, to softly play, not to bite, and many more commands. Just as long as you remember to properly and frequently train your puppy at a young age.

Exercise Needs For the Bordador

While the Border Collie Lab mix is a puppy running or walking them up and down your driveway or backyard is alright! But gradually give them more lots of exercise by walking them up and down the neighborhood. You want to gradually get them up to 45 to an hour of hard exercise but this is only when they are adults. If you give them long runs, jogs, or walks as a puppy or teen, you can run the very severe risk of severely damaging or ruining their tendons. So only go for long journeys when your dog is about fully grown in order to save yourself from that painful experience.
Border Collie Labrador Retriever Mix Labrottie.com

Socializing the Border Collie Mixed With Lab

Socialization is the next step, and all pets need to be socialized no matter the size! Dogs need to know how to properly interact with other animals and humans. Dogs also need to get used to strange new things, like trash cans, bikes, other animals, and anything else that may be scary to them. A badly socialized Border Collie Lab can become a pill for everyone in the house and neighborhood. As a puppy take your Border Collie Lab mix out to the world. Allow them to experience cars, trucks, noises, people, and different smells.
The Borador

Temperament of the Labrador mixed with Border Collie

Well, the Border Collie Lab mixed breed temperament is quite friendly, to anything that stays still long enough to be sniffed, scratched, or pee’d on. They love anything and every one it would be hard for them not to be since both dog breeds are quite friendly! They are:
  • Friendly
  • Loving
  • Caring
  • Loyal
  • Playful
  • Hard worker
  • Kid-friendly
  • Animal-friendly

Border Collie Lab Mix Health Issues

The parent breeds have some health issues, but that does not mean that they will be passed down upon their offspring.
  • Bloat – Bloat happens when the dog is exercised right after eating. The stomach forms up gasses and the stomach starts twisting.
  • Seizures – Even the best of the best have some bad health issues.
  • Retinal Atrophy – PRA is short for a disease that causes blindness over time.
  • Hip and Elbow dysplasia
  • Obesity – Again if they are given the chance between walking or eating a whole bag of dog food they would choose the second option.
  • Cancer
  • Deafness – The Lab Collie can suffer from congenital deafness
RELATED: Our old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel had seizures and daily doses of CBD oil stopped them altogether.
The Border Collie Lab Mix

Grooming For the Labrador Mixed With Border Collie

Your Border Collie Lab mix needs a really good brushing during the spring and fall shedding season! Be ready for hair all over the house! Even after you spent an hour scrubbing and brushing loose hair away!
The Border Collie Lab Mix - Labrottie.com

Conclusion on the Border Collie Labrador Mix ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

In general I would give the Border Collie Lab a five-star rating. They are easy to handle, easy to train, great for first-time dog owners, and amazing family pets. The Labrador Border Collie Mix will need a job to keep them happy and well balanced, so if you can give them that, you’ll be off to a happy life with your new dog! If you have a Border Collie Lab mix and or any dog and you want to share them with us, we will place your special fur baby on our Labrottie Nation photo gallery! If you just got a puppy, or are thinking of getting a puppy and you are looking for the perfect dog name, have several dog name articles to get you started: Boy dog names and Girl dog names.

Happy Tails!

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