From my exp if a dogs of working stock and given the oppertunity 99% of the time they will do the job at hand.The main thing is giving them plenty of work as you can get the best bred dog in the world but if its stuck in a kennel most of time its not going to learn much.Ive had borders,patts,russels,lakeys and Xs of the for mentioned and they have all done the job at hand,some better than others.Best dog i ever owned was a larl border.