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Border Collie: health, DNA tests and blood work

The Border Collie is a long-lived working breed. Its specific health problems are mostly inherited: a severe form of epilepsy, an eye disease, and rare recessive disorders that change the white cell count or the vitamin B12 level and that a DNA test can detect.

Black and white Border Collie standing on grass beside a street
Photo: Janesalway · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikimedia Commons

Written by the AI DiagAnimals editorial teamReviewed by the AI DiagAnimals TeamUpdated Our editorial policy

The essentials

Border Collies lived a median of 13.1 years in a large UK study. Epilepsy in the breed is often severe and resistant to drugs. Trapped neutrophil syndrome, neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis and Imerslund-Gräsbeck syndrome (vitamin B12 malabsorption) are recessive diseases with DNA tests, and collie eye anomaly has a DNA test too. The breed had lower odds of Cushing’s syndrome than crossbred dogs.

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Border Collie at a glance

TraitDetail
OriginGreat Britain [1]
Breed groupFCI Group 1 (Sheepdogs and Cattle dogs), section 1, sheepdogs; AKC Herding Group [1, 2]
Weight14–25 kg (30–55 lb) [2]
HeightIdeal 53 cm (21 in) for males, slightly less for females [1]; 48–56 cm (19–22 in) for males and 46–53 cm (18–21 in) for females in the AKC description [2]
Life expectancyMedian age at death 13.1 years in a 2024 UK study [3]
CoatTwo varieties, moderately long or smooth, with a dense undercoat; many colours, but white should never predominate [1]

Origin

The Border Collie is a British sheepdog, and its FCI standard still includes a working trial [1]. The American Kennel Club traces it to crosses between the herding dogs brought by the Romans and the smaller spitz-type herders of the Vikings, which gave compact, agile dogs for the hills of Scotland and Wales [2].

“Collie” is a Scottish dialect word for sheepdogs. Border Collies have dominated sheepdog trials in the British Isles for more than a hundred years, and the breed joined the AKC Herding Group in 1995 [2].

Common health problems

  • Epilepsy: in a German study of 49 Border Collies with idiopathic epilepsy, the course was moderate in 33% and severe in 49%, with frequent clusters of seizures; 71% of the dogs given more than two drugs were drug-resistant, and only 18% went into remission [4]. In UK primary care, 1.45% of Border Collies had at least one seizure recorded in a year [5].
  • Trapped neutrophil syndrome (TNS): an inherited recessive neutropenia caused by a VPS13B gene mutation [7]. Affected young dogs had fever, an abnormal gait and digestive signs; six of 12 dogs were alive six months after diagnosis [6]. In Japan, 11.1% of Border Collies tested were carriers [7].
  • Neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (NCL): a recessive storage disease that mainly affects nerve cells, caused by a CLN5 mutation; 8.1% of Border Collies tested in Japan were carriers [8].
  • Imerslund-Gräsbeck syndrome: a recessive inability to absorb vitamin B12 (cobalamin), caused in Border Collies by a CUBN gene mutation [9].
  • Collie eye anomaly: an inherited eye malformation. In worldwide genetic testing data, Border Collies showed a strong decline in affected dogs, carriers and the disease allele over time [10].
  • MDR1 drug sensitivity: rare in the breed: the mutant allele frequency was 1% in a German study [11].
  • Cushing’s syndrome: less common than in crossbred dogs, with 0.32 times the odds [12]. See Cushing’s disease in dogs and the ACTH stimulation test.

Tests and screening in Border Collies

  • White cell count in trapped neutrophil syndrome: neutrophils are not always low. In 12 affected dogs, the segmented neutrophil count was below the interval in seven, within it in four and above it in one [6]. A normal count does not rule out TNS in a young Border Collie with fever and lameness. See the white blood cell count in dogs.
  • Vitamin B12 (cobalamin): a low blood cobalamin in a young Border Collie can point to Imerslund-Gräsbeck syndrome, which a DNA test for the CUBN mutation can confirm [9].
  • DNA tests: genotyping tests exist for TNS [7], NCL [8], Imerslund-Gräsbeck syndrome [9], collie eye anomaly [10] and MDR1 [11]. They tell whether a dog is clear, a carrier or affected.
  • Routine blood work: no breed-specific reference values have been published; results are read with the laboratory’s usual dog intervals, starting with the CBC.

Related articles

White blood cell count in dogs

Neutrophils, lymphocytes and what a low count means.

Read the article

Cushing’s disease in dogs

A disease less common in Border Collies than in crossbreds.

Read the article

En français : Border collie.

Questions to ask your veterinarian

  1. Have my dog’s parents or my dog been DNA tested for TNS, NCL, Imerslund-Gräsbeck syndrome and collie eye anomaly?
  2. Is my young dog’s neutrophil count normal, and could TNS still be possible?
  3. Should we measure vitamin B12 (cobalamin)?
  4. What should I do if my dog has a seizure, and when is treatment started?
  5. Does my dog need an MDR1 test before certain drugs?
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Frequently asked questions

How long do Border Collies live?

The median age at death was 13.1 years in a 2024 UK study [3].

What health problems do Border Collies have?

Epilepsy [4], collie eye anomaly [10] and rare recessive diseases such as trapped neutrophil syndrome [6], neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis [8] and Imerslund-Gräsbeck syndrome [9].

What is trapped neutrophil syndrome?

An inherited recessive neutropenia of young Border Collies, caused by a VPS13B mutation [7], with fever, lameness and digestive signs; neutrophils are often but not always low [6].

What DNA tests should a Border Collie have?

Tests exist for TNS [7], NCL [8], Imerslund-Gräsbeck syndrome [9], collie eye anomaly [10] and MDR1 [11].

Do Border Collies get epilepsy?

Yes. In a German study the disease was often severe and drug-resistant, and pedigrees suggested a genetic cause [4].

Sources

  1. Fédération Cynologique Internationale. FCI Standard No. 297: Border Collie. fci.be/Nomenclature/Standards/297g01-en.pdf
  2. American Kennel Club. Border Collie: dog breed information. akc.org/dog-breeds/border-collie
  3. McMillan KM et al. Longevity of companion dog breeds: those at risk from early death. Sci Rep. 2024;14:531 (supplementary Table S3). doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-50458-w
  4. Hülsmeyer V et al. Epilepsy in Border Collies: clinical manifestation, outcome, and mode of inheritance. J Vet Intern Med. 2010;24(1):171-178. doi.org/10.1111/j.1939-1676.2009.0438.x
  5. Erlen A et al. Seizure occurrence in dogs under primary veterinary care in the UK: prevalence and risk factors. J Vet Intern Med. 2018;32(5):1665-1676. doi.org/10.1111/jvim.15290
  6. Suciu A et al. Clinical findings, treatment and outcome of trapped neutrophil syndrome in Border Collies: 12 cases (2011-2022). J Small Anim Pract. 2024;65(7):560-568. doi.org/10.1111/jsap.13726
  7. Mizukami K et al. Real-time PCR genotyping assay for canine trapped neutrophil syndrome and high frequency of the mutant allele in Border collies. Vet J. 2013;195(2):260-261. doi.org/10.1016/j.tvjl.2012.06.014
  8. Mizukami K et al. Novel rapid genotyping assays for neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis in Border Collie dogs and high frequency of the mutant allele in Japan. J Vet Diagn Invest. 2011;23(6):1131-1139. doi.org/10.1177/1040638711425590
  9. Owczarek-Lipska M et al. A frameshift mutation in the cubilin gene (CUBN) in Border Collies with Imerslund-Gräsbeck syndrome (selective cobalamin malabsorption). PLoS One. 2013;8(4):e61144. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0061144
  10. Clark JA et al. Global frequency analyses of canine progressive rod-cone degeneration-progressive retinal atrophy and collie eye anomaly using commercial genetic testing data. Genes (Basel). 2023;14(11):2093. doi.org/10.3390/genes14112093
  11. Gramer I et al. Breed distribution of the nt230(del4) MDR1 mutation in dogs. Vet J. 2011;189(1):67-71. doi.org/10.1016/j.tvjl.2010.06.012
  12. Schofield I et al. Frequency and risk factors for naturally occurring Cushing’s syndrome in dogs attending UK primary-care practices. J Small Anim Pract. 2022;63(4):265-274. doi.org/10.1111/jsap.13450

Laboratory methods and reference intervals vary. This article explains; it does not diagnose. For a decision about your pet, use the original report and talk to your veterinarian. Our editorial policy.

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