- Scotch Collie
Country/Date of origin:
- Great Britain
- Females: 22 to 24 inches
- Males 24 to 26 inches
- Females: 50 to 65 pounds
- Males: 60 to 75 pounds
- Collies exhibit the qualities of loyalty , intelligence, and gentleness that are the stuff of hero dogs.
- Easy to train.
- A desire to please is hard-wired in the Collie’s genetic makeup.
- They are a noisy breed. Many owners, as a last resort, cut the vocal cords of compulsive barkers.
An ancient breed of herding dog, the Rough Collie shares a common heritage with the Border Collie. In the 1860′s, the Rough Collie caught the eye of people interested in the beauty of the dog and bred it to increase body size and the thickness of its coat. The bigger, slower Rough Collie was able to compete for the shepherd’s favor with the increased popularity of the larger, slower English sheep (more wool), and it began to find its way back into the fields. With the patronage of Queen Victoria, the Collie became the vogue in the 1880′s. American royalty, in the form of J. P. Morgan, championed the breed across the Atlantic as well. In 1885, Collies were admitted into the American Kennel Club (AKC) and great specimens were fetching more than the average man earned in 10 years. There are two varieties of the Collie. Everything that can be said about the smooth-coated Collie can be said about the rough variety except for coat. It has played Cinderella to its more glamorous rough-coated sibling except where it counts—in working situations. The Smooth Collie has shone as a military dog in the two World Wars, as a guide for the blind, and as a search and rescue dog.
- Identical to the rough Collie except for coat.
- The tail is long and carried low. It is never altered.
- The ears are erect and fold forward at the tips. They are never altered.
- The merle colored smooth Collie often has one blue eye and one brown eye. This is perfectly normal.
- Short, harsh, flat coat with a weather-resistant undercoat.
- Permissible colors are sable and white, tricolor, blue merle and white.
- Moderate grooming required.
Health and Wellness:
- Autoimmune thyroid disease.
- Gastric dilatation and volvulus syndrome (GDV, also commonly called bloat).
- Patent ductus arteriosis.
- Collie-eye anomaly.
- Cylic neutropenia.
- Invermectin toxicosis.
- Congenital deafness.
- Metabolic bone disease.
- Discoid lupus erythematosis.
- Idiopathic epilepsy.
- Progressive retinal atrophy.
- Skin tumors.
- Nasal tumors.
- Bladder tumors.
What you should know:
- Smooths and Roughs can be born in the same litter. In some countries they are shown as separate breeds, but in the United States they are considered varieties of the same breed.
- The wished for dog of many a child who has read the Lad books of Albert Payson Terhune or watched Lassie on television.