Afghan Collie (Afghan Hound & Border Collie Mix): Info, Pictures, Care & More

The Afghan Collie is a combined breed ensuing from pairing an Afghan Hound with a Border Collie. This is a very distinctive hybrid, as these two canine differ in some ways. With the extraordinarily excessive vitality and eagerness-to-please traits of the Border Collie and the regal and noble stature of the Afghan Hound, this designer breed definitely calls for consideration. Read on to be taught extra about what potential house owners ought to count on when adopting an Afghan Collie.

Breed Overview

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The Afghan Collie is a hybrid canine breed that blends the loyalty and sensitivity of the Afghan Hound with the excessive intelligence and vitality degree of the Border Collie. They have a mischievous aspect to them and a humorousness that makes dwelling with them by no means uninteresting.

Afghan Collie Characteristics

Afghan Collie Puppies

Afghan Collies aren’t a extremely popular hybrid breed, a minimum of not like some designer breeds like Goldendoodles. For this purpose, discovering a breeder that focuses on this hybrid may pose a little bit of a problem.

Soon-to-be canine house owners with their hearts set on adopting an Afghan Collie might have higher luck scouring their native rescues and humane societies to see if there are any accessible puppies. We additionally advocate utilizing PetFinder.com to seek for Afghan Collie mixes. This web site permits potential pet house owners to browse animals from inside its community of over 14,000 shelters and rescues.

Afghan Collie Breed Origin & History

The Afghan Collie is a comparatively new hybrid canine breed, so little is thought about its origin. However, the dad or mum breeds are well-established and far cherished.

The Afghan Hound is an historical breed belonging to the Middle Eastern sighthounds. Their ancestors date again to the time of Egyptian pharaohs, and for hundreds of years, Afghan Hounds have been remoted to the Afghan Mountains. They have been first delivered to England in the course of the 20^th century and shortly grew to become a prized breed within the canine present world.

Border Collies are a a lot newer breed, initially developed for herding livestock on farms in Great Britain within the 1700s. Their ancestors are considered different collie varieties, together with the Bearded and the Scotch Collie. Early Border Collies have been exported from Great Britain to the United States to sheep farms and ranches, an exercise they nonetheless like to do in the present day.

Temperament & Intelligence of the Afghan Collie 🧠

The temperament of any hybrid canine breed could be a combined bag, given that every pet will take traits from each of their mother and father. However, within the case of the Afghan Collie, temperament might be much more unpredictable as Afghan Hounds and Border Collies are very totally different canine breeds. This could make it unimaginable to know what to anticipate temperament-wise, as every pet will likely be totally different from the following.

Afghan Hounds are recognized for his or her calm and considerably aloof nature. They’re barely reserved however very affectionate and constant to their human caretakers. They are usually blissful, typically goofy, and all the time aristocratic in nature. Afghan Hounds are considerably of a contradiction in that they are often fiercely courageous and in addition timid, flighty however sometimes lazy, and dignified however foolish. Their persona ranges from loving sidekick to standoffish. If they’re not correctly skilled or socialized, they’ll even turn out to be considerably feral.

Border Collies have been bred to herd sheep and work carefully with their handlers. They all the time make serving their house owners their prime precedence. Even those that don’t herd sheep are extremely wanting to please their people. Border Collies are recognized for his or her loyalty, excessive intelligence, and glorious sidekick capabilities. They thrive in environments the place they’re all the time given one thing to do. If a Border Collie isn’t stimulated sufficient, they typically discover themselves entering into mischief, a lot to their proprietor’s chagrin.

The intelligence of the Afghan Collie can go both means, too. The Afghan Hound is ranked as one of many least clever canine, whereas Border Collies are on the prime of the intelligence chart. While the latter isn’t recognized for his or her excessive intelligence, that doesn’t imply that they’re “dumb.” They simply don’t all the time succeed at following instructions after a single request like their Border Collie counterparts.

Are These Dogs Good for Families? 👪

The Afghan Collie could be a good match for some households, although these pups will usually do higher in households with older kids.

They can tolerate youngsters with supervision, although they is probably not overly playful, particularly in the event that they take after their Afghan Hound aspect. This breed is thought for his or her sensitivity, so they could discover the rowdy and loud nature of kids to be overwhelming.

Pups who favor their Border Collie aspect, nevertheless, will likely be a lot better suited to household life. Border Collies are extremely energetic canine with even temperaments, which makes them implausible for houses with kids. Don’t be stunned in the event that they attempt to herd your kids. It is feasible to out-train their tendency to herd people in the event you start instructing them it’s not applicable proper from the get-go.

Does This Breed Get Along With Other Pets? 🐶 😽 

The Afghan Collie can get together with different pets, particularly in the event that they’re equally sized and raised collectively. However, once more, it really depends upon which dad or mum breed your canine favors.

The Afghan Hound’s looking background might be problematic in households with smaller canine, cats, or pocket pets. Your pup might take a look at the opposite animals as prey, not as playmates, which might make getting alongside and dwelling collectively harmoniously virtually unimaginable.

Border Collies can take to each other with different canine and cats, although their sturdy herding instincts might imply they spend their day making an attempt to herd the opposite household pets.

All that stated, some canine are simply not meant to stay alongside different pets. You can improve the probability of a succession integration by guaranteeing your Afghan Collie is correctly socialized and skilled.

Things to Know When Owning an Afghan Collie:

Food & Diet Requirements 🦴

The Afghan Collie ought to be fed high-quality industrial pet food that’s been formulated for his or her life stage. Owners ought to contemplate diets with excessive protein content material to help their canine’s excessive exercise and muscle necessities, particularly if their pup has inherited the Border Collie vitality ranges.

Obesity is much less of a priority within the Afghan Collie, however that doesn’t imply that portion management ought to exit the window. You’ll wish to make sure you’re feeding your pup sufficient meals to help their well being and bodily exercise with out overfeeding them.

Puzzle feeders are an effective way to encourage your pup to decelerate whereas consuming and supply some much-needed psychological stimulation.

Exercise 🐕

An Afghan Collie’s train necessities are comparatively excessive, much more so in the event that they take after their Border Collie dad or mum.

Owners ought to count on to take their pups out for, at minimal, 90 minutes of train day by day. This might be break up throughout a number of walks, however it could possibly additionally embody enjoyable actions like enjoying fetch and agility. Playing video games together with your canine can enrich their lives and strengthen your bond.

If your pup has exceptionally excessive vitality like their Border Collie dad or mum, you’ll be far more bodily exercise each day. This breed can require as a lot as two to 3 hours of vigorous train to satisfy their vitality wants.

Training 🎾

Training is an absolute should for an Afghan Collie. How simple coaching them will likely be will rely completely on which dad or mum breed your pup takes after.

Afghan Hounds might be very difficult to coach as they’re cussed and really delicate to harsh correction. This can result in a refusal to obey and frustration on each events’ half.

Border Collies, then again, are quick learners and really wanting to please. These two traits make coaching them very simple. However, their excessive vitality and intelligence could make coaching periods difficult for his or her house owners at occasions.

The key to efficiently coaching your Afghan Collie is to realize their confidence, make them assume the coaching periods have been their thought, and change issues up persistently. Long, boring, repetitive periods will make each of your lives tough.

Grooming ✂️

The grooming necessities of an Afghan Collie will rely completely upon which dad or mum your pup seems to be extra like.

Dogs taking after their Afghan Hound dad or mum would require appreciable time for coat care. These canine are recognized for his or her thick, silky hair. They’ll want their coat combed and brushed commonly to forestall matting. Also, in the event that they inherit the Afghan Hounds floppy ears they need to have weekly checks and cleaning to prevent infections.

The Border Collie’s grooming necessities aren’t something to scoff at, both. Their medium-length, double-hair coats shed commonly and would require common baths with a quality shampoo and brushings to maintain them wanting their greatest and stop matting.

Health and Conditions ❤️

The Afghan Collie ought to stay a comparatively lengthy and wholesome life. This breed is just not significantly vulnerable to any vital well being issues, however they’ll develop a few of the similar circumstances because the dad or mum breeds.

Afghan Hounds can develop illnesses similar to hip dysplasia, cataracts, and necrotic myelopathy.

Border Collies also can develop hip dysplasia. The breed can also be susceptible to circumstances similar to epilepsy, collie eye anomaly, multidrug resistance mutation, trapped neutrophil syndrome, and neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis.

Male vs Female

The most vital distinction between female and male Afghan Collies is their measurement. Males are usually taller and heavier than their feminine counterparts in each Afghan Hounds and Border Collies, so the identical applies to their offspring.

Any character variations between sexes are purely anecdotal.

3 Little-Known Facts About the Afghan Collie

1. Afghan Collies might be delicate.

Both Border Collies and Afghan Hounds are delicate to sounds, so it is smart that their offspring can be, too. They might get anxious throughout fireworks shows or thunderstorms, and dwelling in extraordinarily loud environments might be difficult for them.

2. Afghan Collies might develop wanderlust.

Some canine breeds usually tend to wander than others. Unfortunately for Afghan Collie house owners, their pups might have a powerful need to discover their world in the event that they turn out to be fascinated with a scent path or discover a critter to chase after. The saving grace is the truth that Border Collies are much less seemingly than Afghan Hounds to develop wanderlust.

3. Afghan Collies don’t wish to be left alone.

Border Collies and Afghan Hounds bond very carefully with their people and usually don’t like being away from them for too lengthy. If left on their very own, they could panic, cry, whine, and even develop extreme separation anxiousness.

Final Thoughts

The Afghan Collie is a uncommon hybrid pup that outcomes from pairing two very totally different canine breeds. With that in thoughts, it’s virtually unimaginable for anybody to guesstimate not solely the temperament of an Afghan Collie pet however the look, too. Even puppies from the identical litter might be polar opposites.

However, the dad or mum breeds do have just a few related traits. They’re extremely loyal and affectionate towards their people. They forge very tight bonds—typically with only one individual specifically—and may get together with kids, although they could want quieter households. This is probably not the appropriate breed for houses with different animals, particularly cats or pocket pets, because the Afghan Hound’s excessive prey drive and the Border Collie’s tendency to herd could make life for the opposite pets disagreeable (and even downright harmful).

Finding an Afghan Collie breeder might show unimaginable, however that doesn’t imply there aren’t any pups in shelters or humane societies close to you. Use the web to scour your native rescue’s web sites to see if any Afghan Collies are awaiting their eternally houses in your space.

While this could be a difficult breed to boost at occasions on account of their excessive vitality degree and slight stubbornness with coaching, proudly owning an Afghan Collie will undoubtedly be a rewarding expertise with a lot of love and exquisite recollections to be shared.

Featured Image Credit: (L) Irma07, Shutterstock | (R) Anna Dudkova, Unsplash