Clever Aussie helps to build snowman:

[wnylib]

7. Thanks. I thought they must be

related due to similarities in appearance and behavior.

I've read that Aussies are less aggressive in their herding behavior. Some people say that border collie pets are too aggressive in trying to herd children at play. Never had that problem with mine. He only did his herding thing when it was definitely called for, like the time he saw a toddler stray away from her parents toward a high cliff above Lake Erie. None of the people present had noticed, but the dog barked an alarm and raced to grab and hold the kid until her father got there. No command given. He just saw the danger and acted. The family were strangers to us.

He also herded our beagle-basset mix who was an escape artist, always trying to get through our fence.

Wonder if Aussies are descendants of border collies brought from Scotland and Britain, mixed with ...? Who knows?