An adult Border Collie needs a complete food and a portion matched to the work it really does: for a neutered, moderately active collie of 18 kg, that is about 618 kcal a day. Its tireless reputation is misleading: Border Collies working sheep burn about a third more energy than pet dogs, yet agility dogs, with Border Collies the most common breed among them, eat barely more than any other pet. And in young dogs there is a little-known, breed-specific reason for a poor appetite: an inherited inability to absorb vitamin B12.
There is no special food a Border Collie needs because of its breed: what it needs is a complete food, in an amount that matches the work it really does. The same name covers dogs that gather sheep for hours every day, weekend agility dogs and town dogs, and in the studies it is the kind of work that moves the calorie count.
Working sheepdogs. In a meta-analysis of studies on the energy needs of adult dogs, working sheepdogs, all of them Border Collies, needed on average about a third more energy than pet dogs, relative to metabolic body weight. That means dogs genuinely working stock, not dogs on a long walk.
Agility dogs. Sport is a different story. In a survey of 494 agility dogs at 18 competitions in the United States, the most common breed was the Border Collie, with 107 dogs. Dogs in ideal body condition ate on average barely more than a typical pet dog, with no difference between novice and elite competitors. The bigger variable was treats: 99% of owners used them, they supplied on average 15% of the day's calories, and for 29% of dogs they supplied over 20%.
In practice: if your collie works sheep every day, choose high activity in the quiz; if it does a few hours of sport a week, start from moderate activity and take training treats out of the daily ration. Either way, check the ribs now and then: if its shape changes, retake the quiz and the portion updates.
The FCI breed standard (no. 297) gives only a height at the withers, 53 cm for males and "slightly less" for females, and no weight at all. The American Kennel Club gives a wide range of 30 to 55 lb, roughly 14-25 kg. With a spread that wide, body condition tells you more than the scales: on the WSAVA 9-point scale, 4-5 is ideal, with ribs easily felt under a thin layer of fat and a waist visible from above. So are Border Collies supposed to be skinny? Lean, yes; skinny, no. If the ribs are visible and you cannot feel any fat, the dog is below its ideal weight.
Does such an athletic breed stay lean on its own? Not necessarily. In the VetCompass study of 22,333 dogs seen by UK vets in 2016, 48 of 514 Border Collies, about one in eleven, were recorded as overweight, a share no lower than the 7.1% recorded across all dogs. Once the authors had accounted for age, neutering and the other factors, the Border Collie was not among the eight breeds with higher odds than crossbreeds (the Pug, Beagle and Golden Retriever were): not a predisposed breed, then, but not an immune one either. Across all dogs, the odds of being overweight at 6 to 9 years were about three times those of dogs under 3, and for a collie that may also be when work or sport winds down. A ration sized for a working dog can then become too much: when its activity changes, retake the quiz.
Many owners wonder why their Border Collie is so skinny or such a fussy eater. Activity or temperament can explain it, but in young dogs there is a breed-specific cause worth knowing: Imerslund-Gräsbeck syndrome, an inherited malabsorption of vitamin B12 (cobalamin). It is caused by a mutation in the gene for cubilin, the receptor the gut uses to absorb B12: the vitamin is in the food, but the dog cannot take it up.
In the Border Collies described by the universities of Zurich and Bern, the signs were a fussy appetite up to refusing food, a thin body and poor growth, sometimes with intermittent diarrhoea, lethargy and anaemia; the median age at diagnosis was 11.5 months (range 8 months to three and a half years). The point that matters for the bowl: changing food is not enough, because the problem is absorption, not how much B12 is on the plate. Every dog made a full recovery with regular B12 injections from the vet.
It is rare: in a sample of about 200 randomly chosen Border Collies, 6.2% were healthy carriers of the mutation, about one in sixteen, and a puppy is only affected if it inherits it from both parents. A DNA test exists, useful both to confirm the diagnosis and to avoid mating two carriers. If you have a young collie that eats little and is not growing, ask your vet to check its B12 before you try yet another food. For growth in general, see our puppy feeding guide.
Border Collie collapse (BCC) is typical of the breed: after 5-15 minutes of strenuous activity, especially in warm weather, the dog becomes disoriented and unsteady on its feet. It is tempting to blame low blood sugar, but that is not it: affected dogs have normal blood sugar and electrolytes (sodium and potassium) before exercise and after collapsing, and in a study that put 13 collies with BCC and 16 healthy ones through ball retrieving or sheep herding, the changes after exercise in body temperature, blood pH, lactate and blood gases were no different between the two groups. The cause is still unknown. So a snack or an electrolyte drink is not the answer: the University of Saskatchewan's veterinary centre, where the condition has been studied, advises limiting trigger activities in warm weather and cooling the dog down during an episode.
Idiopathic epilepsy also tends to be serious in the breed: in a German study of 49 affected Border Collies, almost half had a severe course, and of the 24 treated with more than two drugs, 71% were drug-resistant: their seizures continued despite treatment. If your dog is on medication, do not change its food without talking to your vet.
Every Pappa Fresh recipe contains one meat only and lists the percentage of each ingredient on the label, so you always know what your dog is eating:
They are cooked in the pouch and keep outside the fridge until opened; once opened, keep them in the fridge and use within 2-3 days. On the Complete plan a Border Collie of 18 kg eats about 542 g a day, so an opened 400 g pouch does not stay long in the fridge. If your dog already eats a kibble it likes, the Mix plan replaces half the ration (€4.93 a day for a neutered collie of 18 kg); the Topper, a quarter of the ration, is offered only when it fills at least 10 pouches a cycle. Turkey is poultry: if your dog has reacted to chicken, ask your vet before trying it.
An adult Border Collie of 18 kg, neutered and moderately active, needs about 618 kcal a day: with our Chicken recipe that is about 542 g, with the richer Beef 454 g. An intact dog needs more, about 773 kcal. The table covers 14 kg to 22 kg, within the range the AKC gives for the breed.
The figures assume moderate activity: for a collie that works sheep every day, choose high activity in the quiz and the calculation adjusts. For the method in general, see how much should a dog eat.
| Weight | Energy need (kcal/day) neutered / intact | Grams per day neutered / intact | Complete plan | Mix (½) | Topper (¼) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 kg | 512 / 640 | 449 g / 561 g | €8.04/day | €4.15/day | — |
| 18 kg | 618 / 773 | 542 g / 678 g | €9.85/day | €4.93/day | €2.59/day |
| 22 kg | 718 / 898 | 630 g / 788 g | €11.41/day | €5.70/day | €2.87/day |
Grams based on the Chicken recipe (114 kcal/100 g); with Beef, which is richer (136 kcal/100 g), you need about 16% less. Prices for a neutered dog.
Figures calculated with the same method as our quiz (FEM×K: maintenance energy adjusted for breed, activity, neutering and body condition). They are an estimate: take the quiz for your dog's exact plan, and talk to your vet about any health concern.
Two minutes: enter weight, age and activity, working dogs included, and get the exact portion, with 30% off your first order.
An adult Border Collie of 18 kg, neutered and moderately active, needs about 618 kcal a day, which is about 542 g of our chicken wet food; a collie of 22 kg needs about 630 g. A dog working sheep every day needs more: the quiz calculates the exact portion, and body condition confirms it.
A neutered, moderately active Border Collie of 18 kg needs about 618 kcal a day, or about 773 if intact. In a meta-analysis, working Border Collies needed about a third more energy than pet dogs; in a survey of agility dogs, those in ideal condition ate barely more than pets. Count training treats in the total.
The FCI standard sets no weight, only a height: 53 cm for males, slightly less for females. The AKC gives roughly 14-25 kg. Body condition matters more than the number: ribs you can feel without excess fat and a waist visible from above, which is 4-5 on the WSAVA 9-point scale.
Lean, yes; skinny, no. In a fit collie the ribs are easy to feel but not visible. If you can see them and feel no fat, the dog is below its ideal weight, and a young dog that also eats little and grows poorly should have its vitamin B12 checked by the vet.
Some are, for reasons of temperament or activity. But the breed has a rare inherited condition, B12 malabsorption, whose first signs in young dogs are a fussy appetite, thinness and poor growth. Changing food does not fix it; the vet can confirm it by measuring B12 and with a DNA test.
Written by the Pappa Fresh editorial team from published veterinary studies (see sources). Not a substitute for your vet's advice.
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