Border Collies are some of the cutest dogs around. They’re ultra-smart, very energetic, and so so so fluffy.
You’re probably most familiar with rough coats, especially those adorable black and white medium coated ones, but they come in a variety of coats, colors and other popular mixes too.
Every one of them, however, will need careful grooming to prevent matting and keep shedding under control.
They’re bred to be working dogs, and if they don’t have a “job,” they’ll find one. The internet is full of owners laughing and lamenting their Border Collie’s antics, but all they need is regular exercise and mental stimulation.
They may be reserved when around strangers, but once they warm up, they are affectionate and loyal.
Why Quality Food Matters
Border Collies have high energy and higher mental acuity. Food for this breed should be nutrient dense and contain essential fatty acids to help keep that beautiful coat shiny.
Their high levels of activity mean that most normal adult dogs need about 1109 calories per day to maintain energy levels without gaining unnecessary weight.
Puppies and older dogs will need to alter that number, but overall, a Border Collie’s caloric requirements will need nutrient dense food that doesn’t add fillers or other artificial ingredients that can add calories and not nutrients.
Poor quality foods can cause weight gain and could potentially cause skin allergies that can affect the coat. Smooth and rough coats are profoundly affected by skin allergies, so foods should support the health of the coat.
Best Dog Food for Border Collies
We’ve put together a list of our top picks for the best foods for Border Collies. They all offer dense, quality nutrition that can help support your Border Collie’s high energy without all the empty calories.
1. Ollie Fresh Pet Food
First 5 ingredients:
Lamb, butternut squash, rice, lamb liver, green beans
Ollie is a pet food company that was founded in 2016 by Gabby Slome, Alex Douzet, and Randy Jimenez. This New York-based pet food company set out to turn the pet food industry on its head by offering fresh, custom meals for dogs similar to meal-prep services like Maple and Sprig for humans.
Their fresh food is made and hand-packed in the USA. They are partners with a veterinary nutritionist to formulate their nutritionally-balanced recipes in accordance with AAFCO standards. All of their food is cooked in small batches in their USDA-regulated kitchen.
They carefully source their ingredients from reputable farms in the U.S and Australia. Each partner must go through an extensive certification process to become a supplier. All of their food is made only with whole, organic & fresh ingredients.
Pros
Each recipe is vet-formulated
Made from fresh, natural ingredients
Exceeded the AAFCO nutritional standards
Improved oral/dental health
You can customize your subscription
Cons
Price a bit expensive
Fresh pet food has a shorter shelf life compared to kibbles and canned goods
This is a top-tier, nutritionally complete meal designed to support your dog’s health and well-being at every life stage.
Made with high-quality, human-grade turkey as the primary ingredient, this recipe features a rich source of lean protein to help build and maintain strong muscles.
It also includes nutrient-dense organ meats like turkey liver and heart, providing essential vitamins and minerals to promote overall vitality. Finely ground bone is incorporated for a natural source of calcium and phosphorus, essential for strong teeth and bones.
This recipe is carefully crafted by a PhD animal nutritionist, ensuring it delivers an optimal balance of nutrients tailored to your dog’s biological needs.
Free from fillers, artificial additives, and unnecessary grains, the Turkey Recipe Patty offers a clean, wholesome option for your pet. Packed with flavor and nutrition, it’s a perfect choice for pet parents who want the best in raw, natural feeding.
Pros
Easy to digest ingredients
Rich in zinc for better immune system
Ideal for pets with a beef or chicken allergy
High in phosphorus to support strong bones and healthy ligaments
This a thoughtfully crafted meal designed to provide adult dogs with complete and balanced nutrition.
This premium formula features high-quality poultry and fish as the primary protein source, offering essential amino acids and omega fatty acids to promote lean muscle development, a shiny coat, and healthy skin.
Enriched with wholesome grains, vegetables, and fruits, this recipe delivers a natural source of fiber, antioxidants, and key nutrients to support digestion, immune function, and overall vitality.
The Coastal Grill formula avoids common allergens like wheat, corn, and soy, making it an excellent choice for dogs with food sensitivities.
Carefully created to meet the nutritional needs of adult dogs, it combines flavor and nourishment in every bite, ensuring your furry friend thrives with every meal.
If you want to feed your dog a raw diet, but you don’t want to be responsible for it, you can outsource that responsibility to a company like Nom Nom. It produces excellent gently-cooked meals for your dog that can help clear up pickiness and skin issues your dog may be experiencing.
Whole veggies and fruits help with antioxidants and vitamins to promote bone health, coat health, and proper brain function.
You can design your dog’s meal plan directly on the website, and the meals are delivered to you to be frozen or refrigerated until you need them. They’re easy to do, and if you’ve got the budget, you may transform your dog’s mealtime.
Nom Nom teams up with canine nutritionists to help create the most fulfilling raw food diet for your pet. You have meals delivered, making everything simple, and you can fill out a questionnaire to find the right dog food for your Border Collie.
This is a premium quality dry dog food that is designed to provide complete and balanced nutrition to dogs of all breeds and life stages.
Made with real salmon as the first ingredient, this recipe is high in protein and provides essential amino acids that support muscle development and maintenance.
It is also grain-free and does not contain any artificial preservatives, colors, or flavors, making it a great choice for dogs with food sensitivities. The addition of sweet potatoes provides a healthy source of carbohydrates that are easy to digest and provide sustained energy throughout the day.
Pros
Made from real salmon
Supports a very active lifestyle
Ingredients are sourced from US and Canada
Supports overall health and well-being
Suitable for dogs of all breeds and life stages
Free of any grains, wheat, corn or artificial colors or flavors
Cons
Has Peas (may trigger sensitive dogs)
6. Blue Buffalo Wilderness Salmon Recipe (Grain-Free)
First 5 ingredients:
Salmon, Chicken Meal, Peas, Pea Protein, Fish Meal (source of Omega 3 Fatty Acids)
Blue Buffalo’s salmon recipe uses their famous LifeSource bits for essential nutrients and vitamins. Deboned salmon provides an excellent source of essential fatty acids and high-quality proteins essential for your Border Collie’s high energy. Fish is excellent at helping dogs maintain a beautiful coat and this one should be no different.
There’s no soy or corn, and it’s gluten and wheat free. It uses whole, quality products with none of our usual suspects with skin or other food allergies. It’s meant to mimic the ancestral diet your canine would have had before the days of human couches and apartment living.
Pros
Packed with the delicious real salmon
Grain-free food
LifeSource bits for extra nutrients
Excellent source of essential fatty acids
Whole proteins with salmon as the first ingredient
Cons
On the expensive side for a budget food
7. Iams Proactive Health Active Chicken & Turkey Recipe
This is a premium quality dog food formula designed to provide adult dogs with the energy and nutrients they need to maintain an active lifestyle. This recipe is made with real chicken and turkey as the primary protein sources, which are essential for building and maintaining lean muscle mass.
In addition to its high protein content, this formula contains a blend of wholesome grains and vegetables to provide your dog with carbohydrates, fiber, and essential vitamins and minerals. It is also enriched with omega-6 and -3 fatty acids to promote healthy skin and coat.
This formula is specifically designed for adult dogs that lead an active lifestyle, as it contains optimal levels of protein and fat to support their energy needs. Additionally, it contains a mix of antioxidants to help support a healthy immune system, as well as a blend of prebiotics and fibers to aid in digestion.
Overall, it is a great choice for dog owners looking for a high-quality dog food formula that provides their canine companion with the nutrients they need to maintain an active and healthy lifestyle.
Pros
Antioxidant-rich kibble
Usage of real meat as protein sources
Supports strong bones and joints
Zero artificial preservatives, colors, or flavors
Inclusion of healthy carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins, and minerals
Cons
May not be a hit for finicky eaters
Contains some grains (may not be suitable for hypersensitive pets)
8. Blue Buffalo True Solutions Blissful Belly Digestive Care Formula
First 5 ingredients:
Deboned Chicken, Chicken Meal, Brown Rice, Oatmeal, Barley
A specially crafted dog food that supports healthy digestion and gut health in dogs. Made with real chicken as the primary ingredient, this dry dog food is packed with wholesome and easily digestible proteins to support your dog's overall health.
This formula is also enriched with natural prebiotic fibers to aid in the growth of beneficial bacteria in the gut, promoting optimal digestive health. It also contains a blend of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants to support your dog's immune system and promote overall wellness.
The Blissful Belly Digestive is free from any artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives, making it a healthy and nutritious choice for your furry friend. It is also free from common allergens like corn, wheat, and soy, making it ideal for dogs with food sensitivities.
All in all, this a highly recommended option for pet owners who want to ensure their dog's digestive health is maintained while also providing them with a delicious and nutritious meal.
Pros
With LifeSource Bits
Helps nourish skin and coat
Protects and boosts overall immune health
Very gently on the stomach and maintains stool quality
Made by a team of animal nutritionists and veterinarians
No corn, wheat, soy or chicken (or poultry) by-product meals
Cons
Price point may be higher than others
Not suitable for pets who are allergic to grains
Puppy Food
Puppies have changing nutritional requirements, so it’s crucial for you to make sure consult your veterinarian before you start. They have higher caloric needs on average and need dense nutrition that doesn’t cause massive amounts of growth that can tax the skeletal system.
Merrick’s raw infused puppy food uses the same bits of freeze-dried meats to entice your puppy through taste and texture. It supports building muscle and bone structure. High-quality kibble using deboned chicken for whole protein helps control growth.
The puppy formula uses salmon oil for essential omega fatty acids, which can help with coat and skin. It has no gluten and no other fillers such as corn or soy that can inflame the digestive system and prevent puppies from digesting their meals thoroughly.
Merrick uses high-quality ingredients and mimics an ancestral diet your dog may have had if it were born well in the past. Real meat and whole protein is always the first ingredient, and the company proudly manufactures in the United States.
Pros
Affordable
Freeze dried raw meat
Whole proteins and quality meats are the first ingredients always
Cons
Uses potatoes in the first five ingredients
Raw bits tend to fall to the bottom of the bag
Senior Food
Seniors frequently have issues with weight gain and joint health. Border Collies may retain a lot of their energy up to the end, but it’s especially important that they maintain a healthy weight so they can continue doing things they love.
It’s also vitally important that those foods also have proper skin and joint support so that your Border Collie can live life fully.
Nulo’s Freestyle recipe uses proteins from fish sources including whole trout and salmon meal. It supplements with turkey meal as well giving senior dogs a high protein beginning to their kibble.
Sweet potato is a good source of complex carbohydrates to keep energy levels stable with the addition of L-Carnitine to help your senior dog digest the meal properly.
Glucosamine and Chondroitin offer joint and hip support while pure probiotic strains help keep the digestive system working well. Chicken and egg proteins further encourage muscle resilience and a healthy coat.
Fruits and veggies offer base nutrients while the whole kibble formula mimics an ancestral diet of a variety of foods found in the wild.
The company was inspired by the nutrition of world-class athletes, and the small company aspires to give pets a proper nutritional foundation in the way they would have consumed in the wild.
They have a patented probiotic that encourages adequate digestion, and over 80% of protein sources in Nulo foods comes from whole meats. It began in the search for better nutrition for animal diabetes and obesity caused by terrible food and is based in Texas.
Pros
Has egg proteins
Hip, joint, and digestion support
Multiple, whole sources of protein
Cons
Some seniors don’t like the taste
Name is misleading for dogs who have poultry allergies
3 Common Health Issues
Depending on how your Border Collie came into the world and what kind of genetics it inherited, there could be a few different health issues to be worried about. Here are three common ones that you should keep an eye on.
Canine Hip Dysplasia – Hip Dysplasia is a frequent issue with working dogs and bigger breeds. It’s primarily a genetic issue where the hip doesn’t develop properly. It can cause your dog a lot of pain and difficulty with movement if not treated or prevent ahead of time. Foods that contain ingredients like glucosamine and chondroitin can help keep your Border Collie’s hips in a healthier condition. You need to make sure the food has plenty of ingredients that can support the health of the joints and the skeleton.
Hypothyroidism – Also a genetic condition, but some of the ways you exercise and feed your dog can make the problem easier or harder. One cause could be an iodine deficiency which could be helped with a properly balanced diet. Some symptoms of hypothyroidism are lethargy, recurring skin infections, unexplained weight gain, and mental dullness. If you know the temperament of the Border Collie, you’ll know that something is wrong.
Skin Allergies – Border Collie coats are beautiful but food allergies can cause skin to become inflamed, affecting the quality of the coat. Avoid foods with fillers such as corn or soy because these are common causes of food allergies. Others might be wheat or gluten, and some dogs even have poultry sensitivities so it’s important to avoid poultry by-product meals.
One of the essential values of a Border Collie’s food is to make sure that there are no ingredients that can make any allergies worse.
Border Collie’s coats are very delicate and require a lot of maintenance. Things like corn or soy can be difficult for the dog to digest and may cause a lot of skin issues.
Food should also have ingredients that support bone and joint health. Glucosamine and Chondroitin are some excellent options for making sure your Border Collie’s joint health are healthy. Calcium and essential fatty acids can help build bone and keep skin and coats healthy.
Ingredients to Avoid
Corn and soy are some of the biggest offenders in skin and other food allergies. They’re frequently used in lesser quality foods to reduce cost and keep caloric contents high. Your dog is an omnivore, but corn and soy wouldn’t have been part of your dog’s natural ancestral diet.
Whole meats can be costly to process, so budget dog foods often work around using complete proteins by using by-product meals and other types of protein sources. Also, some use what’s called 4-D meats, meaning dead, diseased, dying, and disabled. These aren’t fit for human consumption, but they are available for pet foods.
Stay away from anything that doesn’t have whole protein sources listed in the first ingredient, and the subsequent ingredients should be a combination of whole fruits and veggies plus complex carbohydrates.
You may want to consider finding alternatives to potatoes and legumes for the future as well. Preliminary studies showed a link between a diet heavy in these ingredients and an uptick in a canine condition known as canine dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). Although the connection hasn’t been established officially, you should use your best judgment when choosing your food.
Purina Beneful brand is an excellent example of dog food you may want to avoid. The first ingredient is corn, and that could be difficult for your Border Collie to digest. Other foods to avoid could be the brand Ol Roy, which uses a lot of fillers, or Kibbles n Bits, which uses a low-quality kibble with artificial preservatives and plenty of fillers.
Feeding Chart
Border Collies need well over 1000 calories per day, but that can go up to nearly 1400 calories for true working Collies. You should always get the go-ahead from your vet before deciding precisely how much to feed your pet because lifestyle and health issues can change the recommendations.
In general, you should aim to feed your Border Collie the following amounts:
Puppies: check with your veterinarian because the nutritional requirements of puppies change rapidly.
Adults: 1.5 to 2 cups twice per day. Border Collies can burn through a lot of energy quickly, so feeding them twice a day can help keep energy up and stable throughout the day.
Seniors: generally, feed your aging dog the same amount it was receiving before, but you want to check with your veterinarian to make sure other plans aren’t a better fit.
Final Thoughts
Your Border Collie is the light of your life and keeps you on your toes, so feeding it with high-quality food is essential for better brain function and physical support. Your Border Collie will likely test the limits on how many calories it can burn in a day, so feeding a nutrient dense, high protein food is essential to maintaining those energy levels.
Even your senior Border Collie benefits from a lifetime of quality foods because the foundations for hip and joint support are there. Plus, keeping that coat shiny and healthy can help reduce shedding (not entirely but it can prevent hair loss from unhealthy, inflamed skin).
The biggest thing to remember about Border Collies is that they’re happiest with a job or task to do and a bored Border Collie can be quite a handful. Foods that support this energy allow your pet to get to work whether the task is herding sheep or patrolling your backyard for squirrels without losing strength.
A good food builds that foundation and the only thing you’ll have to worry about is how to keep your Border Collie busy.
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An individual with a profound affection for animals, who was brought up in an environment surrounded by dogs, cats, and chickens. A self-taught enthusiast in the realm of pet care. At present, the proud caretaker of two rescued felines and two lovely mixed-breed canines.
