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Smooth Collie	Rough Collie

Short History of the Breed

In the 19th century, the Collie was used extensively as a herding dog and hailed from the highlands of Scotland and Northern England. Some sources claim that the Collie's original ancestors were brought to the British Isles by Roman conquerors in the middle of the first century. Whatever the origins, by the late 1800's the Collie was firmly implanted in the British Isles as the Herding dog of choice! However the true popularity of the breed came about during the 1860's when Queen Victoria visited the Scottish Highlands and fell in love with the breed. Several Collies returned with her to her Balmoral kennels. From that point on Collies became very fashionable. The show Collie as we know it today, was developed by a handful of dedicated English breeders during the late 1880's in the district of Birmingham.

Physical Description & Size

Dogs are from 24 to 26 inches at the shoulder and weigh from 60 to 75 pounds. Bitches are from 22 to 24 inches at the shoulder, weighing from 50 to 65 pounds.
Collies come in rough - long coat and smooth- short coat. Both varieties are double coated and come in 4 accepted colors and white.
Sable -golden to mahoganey
Blue merle (see smooth dog above)- grey with black splotches or marbleling, may have blue eyes
Sable merle (see rough dog above)- light golden sable with or without blue/grey splotches, may have blue eyes. Sable merles can only be shown in sable class.
Tri-color -mostly black with white collar and/or legs and tail tip with tan tracings on muzzle, above eyes and on legs and
Color headed white -head and body splashes is any of the 4 accepted colors with a predominately white body.

Temperament

Collies are intelligent, friendly, loyal, loving and sensitive. They are excellent family dogs but also bond well with a single person. They are easy to train. In addition to being a very clean dog, they are one of the easiest breeds to housebreak. Most become housebroken at an early age, with very little effort. They are not recommended as a complete outside/backyard dog and under no circumstances should a Collie ever be chained or tied up.
Collies are people dogs, known for wanting to be with their owners, interacting with people and lounging around the house. If kept outside for long periods of time, they can become easily bored, as well as lonely. This can result in a noisy, unhappy dog.
A Collie should never be nervous or shy. Some may be reserved, but they should never be fearful. They love to play and retrieve. They also love going for long walks. In essence, they make great companions for young or old.

Needs (exercise, grooming, diet)

Active outdoors, couch potato indoors. Does well in an apartmenty as long as long walks or daily romps are provided. Collies do best if they have a job to do- be it fetching the daily papers or "babysitting" the kids or herding the chickens.

Roughs need a weekly brushing to the skin paying speacial attention to behind the ears, armpits, and feathering. Daily brushing needed during shedding season. Smooths benefit from a similar schedule though no worries about mats.

Collies benefit from a natural raw diet. If that cannot be provided, then a high quality kibble that is higher in fat without any form of corn, wheat or soy is acceptable.

Health Issues, Life Expectancy

Life expectancy is 10-13 yrs. Though the collie is normally a healthy breed certain anomolies can occur and tend to run in lnes such as bloat, hypothyroid, collie eye, progressive retinal atrophy, demodectic mange (immune problem), dermatomyositis, epilepsy, hip dysplasia. It is best when searching for a collie to buy from a reputable breeder that does hip xrays, eye exams by an ophtomologist, tests for thyroid function and breeds away from things that cannot be tested for.

AKC Group - Herding

http://www.akc.org/breeds/collie/index.cfm

Additional Resources
Collie - Online Community & Information

Collie Online Community - DogBreed.org
For more info on health, training and grooming:
http://willowyndcollies.tripod.com/Index.htm

Collies on WikiFido

• Mollie the Collie