Afghan Hound & Border Collie Mix: Info, Pictures, Characteristics & Facts
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Height:
22 – 27 inches
Weight:
52 – 64 pounds
Lifespan:
12-14 years
Colors:
White, brown, black, blue, reddish-brown, grey.
Suitable for:
Guarding, large homes, families
Temperament:
Gentle, lovable, eager to learn
The Afghan Hound Border Collie Mix is a medium-sized dog with a dense undercoat and a long, thick outer coat. It has a long body and long floppy ears, a long muzzle, and a black nose. It also has large padded feet and a long curly tail.
The Afghan Hound and the Border Collie were both created before the 1800s and brought to America in the early 1900s. The Afghan Hound Border Collie Mix is suitable for companionship as well as various other tasks, including rescue, tracking, narcotics detection, and retrieving.
Afghan Hound Border Collie Mix
You can purchase an Afghan Hound Border Collie Mix for a fairly reasonable price. Both parents are popular dogs, so it shouldn’t be too hard to find a breeder capable of producing an Afghan Hound Border Collie Mix. Better breeders will often charge more because they have a better chance of creating a healthy puppy that doesn’t carry the genetic deficiencies commonly found in the parent breeds.
Many other factors need to be taken into consideration, such as vet visits, food, toys, and other accessories required to keep your pet healthy and entertained.
3 Little-Known Facts About the Afghan Hound Border Collie Mix
1. The famous painter Picasso owned an Afghan Hound parent breed and sold a painting of one for more than 10 million dollars.
2. The Afghan Hound parent was made popular as a toy Barbie pet.
3. Experts consider the Border Collie parent the most intelligent dog breed.
Temperament & Intelligence of the Afghan Hound Border Collie Mix 🧠
The temperament of your pet will depend somewhat on which parent it takes after. Both parents are friendly, intelligent, loyal, and dependable. Your Afghan Hound Border Collie Mix will make a great family pet, watchdog, and companion. It will likely retain the Border Collies urge to herd, so you’ll have to watch them around small children because they may nip at their ankles and scare them.
Both parent breeds are smart, but the intelligence of the Border Collie even surpasses that of the Poodle, so you can expect an easy time training them new tricks. The Afghan Hound Border Collie Mix is also suitable for search and rescue missions and other police and military work.
Are These Dogs Good for Families?🏡
The Afghan Hound Border Collie Mix is a great family dog because it’s loyal and protective. It can tell friend from foe before it sees them and it doesn’t bark unless it needs to. The Border Collie in it can cause it to nip at your heels, but proper training can keep it to a minimum. It’s an energetic dog that likes to play games and entertain family members with acts of intelligence or goofing around.
Does This Breed Get Along with Other Pets?🐶 😽
The best way to get your Afghan Hound Border Collie Mix to get along with other pets is to socialize it a lot as a puppy. The more familiar it is with your other pets, the less likely it will try to herd them. It won’t be aggressive toward animals; it will just try to herd them as it does with children and even adults.
Things to Know When Owning an Afghan Hound Border Collie Mix
Here are a few things to consider before you purchase an Afghan Hound Border Collie Mix.
Food & Diet Requirements🦴
The Afghan Hound Border Collie Mix is a medium to large size dog, and it will require a considerable amount of food each day. You can expect to feed your pet two to three cups of food, and you will want to spread that food out over three or more meals to prevent digestive troubles and weight gain. The most important thing to look for when choosing a brand of dog food is that it has chicken, beef, turkey, or lamb listed as its first ingredient. We also recommend brands fortified with antioxidants and other important nutrients your pet needs to develop into a healthy dog. Make sure you follow the instructions on the package to prevent overfeeding.
Exercise🐕
The Afghan Hound Border Collie Mix is an active dog that will require a considerable amount of exercise. We recommend devoting at least 60 minutes per day to helping your pet expend excess energy. Long walks, running laps around the yard, frisbee, and fetch are all great ways to help your pet stay fit and healthy.
Training🦮
The Afghan Hound Border Collie Mix is extremely easy to train and will be a lot of fun for you and your pet. It likes to please its master and will happily learn tricks very quickly to keep the training session going so it can keep receiving the attention it craves. Positive reinforcement with plenty of praise and treats is the best way to keep your pet focuses on the task at hand, but once your dog starts to catch on, you will need far fewer treats. Make sure you schedule the training sessions for the same time each day to help your dog get into a routine where it comes to expect training and can be mentally prepared.
Grooming ✂️
The Afghan Hound Border Collie Mix is a moderate shedder and will require regular brushing to keep its coat looking nice and free from tangles and knots. Vacuuming can also help remove shedding fur to prevent it from ending up on your furniture and floor. Baths may be required every month or two to keep away doggie smell and help keep the coat shiny.
You will also need to brush the teeth of your Afghan Hound Border Collie Mix as close to daily as possible. Make sure you only use doggy toothpaste because many human kinds of toothpaste contain ingredients that can be deadly to dogs. You will also need to trim the nails when you hear them clicking on the floor.
Health Conditions❤️
The Afghan Hound Border Collie Mix is a fairly healthy dog, but several conditions might pop up, so we’ll go over some of them here.
These are the less dangerous, or less common health conditions that can affect your Afghan Hound Border Collie Mix
- Cataracts
Cataracts can affect all dog breeds, and though it is considered an old age condition, it can affect dogs of any age. Cataracts is a condition that causes the lens of the eye to become cloudy, impairing the vision of your pet. If it’s left untreated, the lens can become detached, which often leads to Glaucoma and possible blindness. If you notice your pet’s eyes looking cloudy or blueish grey, take them to see a vet immediately. The vet can often restore your pet’s vision with surgery if your pet is a good candidate for success.
- Bloat
Bloat is an extremely dangerous condition that can affect any dog breed but more common in dogs with deep chests. This condition causes your pet’s stomach to fill with air, which can cut off blood circulation to the back legs and many organs. It can also cause the stomach to twist on itself resulting in an emergency and possibly permanent damage to the stomach lining. No one’s sure what exactly causes bloat, but many believe that eating large amounts of food too quickly can bring on the condition. If your dog looks anxious and has a swollen stomach, take it to the vet immediately.
Whether extremely dangerous or extremely common, these are the major conditions associated with the Afghan Hound Border Collie Mix.
- Deafness
Several things can cause deafness in your pet, including genetics, trauma, chemicals, and many more. If your dog is suffering from this disease you may notice it doesn’t come when called or ignoring your other commands. It may also sleep deeply and become confused by its environment. Unfortunately, there is usually no cure for deafness, but there is training available to help you and your dog learn how to cope and manage the disease. Often, dogs go on to live long happy lives relying on their other senses
- Ear Infections
The large floppy ears of the Afghan Hound Border Collie Mix often get infected because they can hold moisture and wax, which will allow bacteria to grow. Symptoms of an ear infection include scratching the ear, shaking the head, a foul odor, a dark discharge, pain, and scabs in the ear. In most cases, medication will take care of the infection, but being vigilant about cleaning and drying the ears will help reduce the frequency at which infections occur.
Male vs Female
Besides the male being slightly larger than the female, it’s hard to notice any difference between the two.
Summary
The Afghan Hound Border Collie Mix likes to herd small animals and children, but besides that, it makes an excellent family pet that doubles as a fast and attentive watchdog. It’s highly energetic and loves to play, but it also likes to sit on the couch with a family member and catch a movie. It’s not overly barky unless it detects an intruder, and it’s never aggressive.
We hope you have enjoyed reading our look at the Afghan Collie as it’s sometimes called and have decided to purchase one of these pets for your home. If you think it can be helpful to others, please share this guide to the Afghan Hound Border Collie Mix on Facebook and Twitter.
Featured Image Credit: Anna Krivitskaya, Shutterstock
