03/09/2026
UNIQUELY ATTACHED: Today our breed expert Carol Price explores why some collie-human partnerships are more special and whether Border collies really are ‘one person’ dogs
The loyal and faithful nature of the Border collie has long been renowned. And similarly their tendency to bond particularly strongly with their owners. Such bonds lie behind the more remarkable things these dogs will achieve with their handlers in everything from livestock management or Search & Rescue work to any number of different competitive canine disciplines.
You cannot, however, just automatically expect to have this more special bond with a Border collie because you ‘own’ them. It is something that also has to be earned. For until it is earned there can be no real surrender of trust by the dog. And without the trust, there is also no special relationship.
CHEMISTRY
With the best collie-human partnerships, there is nearly always some extra level of personal chemistry involved, too. And I am sure many of our followers will know of dogs they just couldn’t ever fully ‘click’ with or work with, compared to other collies they had owned. Yet put those dogs with someone else with whom they clicked far better and it could be a whole different story. Or vice versa, in that you took on a dog someone else could not gel with, or which was supposed to have a number of different ‘problems’. Which disappeared as soon as they got another owner who could better match or fulfil their needs. Or who could just better understand them, full stop.
What I have always admired about Border collies is their ability to see through you, as a person; all your weaknesses and flaws and inconsistencies of mood or behaviour. Yet still forgive them, if there is enough else about you that retains their affection and trust.
SINGLE PERSON ATTACHMENTS
Border collies can also have the habit of wanting to bond, primarily, with their one ‘special person’. Which should not be that surprising, given that they are dogs who have been bred for generations to respond to one particular handler, while screening out any other competing distractions. Some can be more rigid about this than others, in terms of how hard they may find it to adapt to a new owner, should they have lost the previous one.
If dogs have been ill treated by a previous owner, then that trust that is so vital in the canine-human partnership may have been severely damaged in them, or destroyed, and it may take a long time to get it back again.
When Border collies are got as family dogs, it can be rare for them to bond to every family member with exactly the same level of intensity. There will nearly always be one person whose presence becomes more vital to them, and this is not always something you can control. But generally the person who puts the most time into the dog – in terms of training, exercise etc. – is the one they become most attached to.
BUILDING THE EARLY BOND
Whenever I have a new dog or puppy, I spend an incredible amount of one-to-one time with them during their first year with me, building a strong bond of mutual respect and trust, and sharing lots of adventures and play with them. And it can be extra hard work, when you also have other dogs. But I do it because I know that later, even when they become part of a bigger pack with my other dogs, that earliest bond I made with them will still stick and never be forgotten for the rest of their lives. And it’s the same story for every dog I have owned.
Meanwhile, we’d be really interested to hear about other followers’ experiences of the collie-human bond. Why some relationships with collies worked or didn’t, and whether your collie is also mostly attached to one family member, or half of a couple, or is able to bond with everyone equally. And sometimes dogs are not ‘extra special’ just in themselves. They only became that way through being owned by you. It was just the perfect match.
All text ©Carol Price 2026
Carol Price books on Border collies:
In the UK from: https://performancedog.co.uk/?s=carol+price In the USA from: https://www.dogwise.com/ # and In Canada from https://4mymerles.com/collections/books In Australia from: https://gameondogs.com.au/ And in the Netherlands and Belgium from: https://mediaboek.nl/border-collies-a-breed-apart-book-1.html
The books are also available through most Amazon outlets
