The Collie for many years has been known as the farm dog. You may have had a good chance to get to know the Collie breed by the hit movie and TV series Lassie. This movie showed how good the Collie breed was with herding and being a good companion for their masters.
The origin of the Collie is Scotland. There are two different varieties of this breed. The first one is the Border collie and the other one is the Rough Collie. There used to be a great deal of similarity of these two collies. Through the years, the two collies have become different from each other. The Rough Collie is larger than the Border and more elegant. A Rough collie is a longhaired collie while there is the blue merle collie with a smooth coat of short fur.
Any breed of Collie is a wonderful companion for adults and is also very wonderful with children. This dog is a working dog, is known to be easily trained, and loves to work for their masters, but at the same time can be a wonderful friend for anyone. They know how to protect their family and still stay on track with working as well. Collies are very smart and love to play around with children and adults as well.
With any type of Collie, once you have one try not to give it another home when they get older. They are the type of breed that if they get a different home at an old age they better be fenced in at their new home or otherwise they will try to run away to get back to their old home. They like to be at their natural home and they do not like to get another home after being with the same family for so many years.
Appearance
The Collie is a beautiful dog. Just by looking at a Collie, you will fall in love with the long fur coat that just hangs down and sways when it runs. The Rough Collie has a double coat that forms a mane around its neck and around its chest. This mane sways when it runs and is long and beautiful. The Smooth Collie has only a 1-inch coat instead of the long coat so many people are use to associating with the collie. With both the Rough and Smooth variety, the hair on its head and legs is short and smooth. The coats on both varieties can come in the colors of sable and white, tri color (black, tan, and white), blue merle, and also white with sable, tri color, or blue merle markings. There are several different varieties of coat colors with the collie.
The Collie has a wedge shaped head and has the impression of lightness to it. The muzzle of the Collie is long, smooth, well rounded, and tapers to a beautiful warm black nose. The ears on a Collie are erect and only ¾ inches, and then the tips fold forward. Their eyes are almond shape and are a dark color. There are also in some cases of blue merles that may have blue or merle eyes. The tail on the dog hangs down and also has long fur. The body of the Collie is longer than the body is tall. Collies are very muscular and trim.
Personality
The personality of the Collie breed is one of the best personalities you can find in a dog. The Collie is one of the most devoted breeds of dogs you can find. They are loyal and give out more love to their family than any other breed. Many breeds give out love and companionship to their family, but Collies are extremely loving.
Collies can live in apartments as long as they get the proper exercise. Make sure to take them out every day at least a few times a day. Collies are not that active indoors, but as soon as they get outside, they are full of energy. A big yard is a good thing to have for this breed of dog.
Collies are very wonderful with children and can give kids the best friend that they always wanted. Collies can also very protective of their families, so this will be a great dog to watch over your kids.
Care
Collies are the type of dog that needs exercise as much as possible. They are known as a working dog, so they are used to running free in big yards or fields. So taken on daily walks or letting them run in a fenced in area is also very good for this breed.
The Rough collie needs to be brushed. They are known to shed dirt regularly so giving the dog a brush daily or a few times a week is a good idea. Bathing the dog as well is also a good thing. With this breed liking to be outside, they tend to get dirty. Therefore, a bath once a week or so should be good enough. Try to make sure mats do not come around in the dogs coat. If the dog is not being used as a show dog, then it can be cut out. This is good to keep the dog from being in pain when trying to comb it out.
History
The Collie breed comes all the way from Scotland. For centuries, the Collie breed was hardly known outside of Scotland, but as of today, the Collie is the worlds most popular breed. The Collie has been known as the herding dogs back in earlier days. They helped farmers, herd their sheep, and were also left to guard them at night. Because of this, the name probably came from the Scottish black faced sheep called Colley. The Collie was also used for water and rescue dogs as well as herding.
Queen Victoria had Collies at her Balmorals Castle. With her interest in this breed, their popularity began to grow quite rapidly. Members of the upper class including J.P. Morgan owned Collies, which meant this breed was mixed with the Borzoi. This meant a for sure win since all show dogs had to have Borzoi influence for them to win. After awhile, the working dogs became separated from the other breeds and became a class of their own. The beauty of the Collie is what makes it such a delight in dog shows around the world. The Smooth Collie is not very popular in the Untied States, but it is popular in Great Britain. However, the Smooth Collie is getting more recognition and there has been an increase in popularity recently.
The Smooth Collie is just about the same as the Rough Collie, but without the long fur coat. The AKC says that the Rough and Smooth Collies are varieties of the same breed. Both varieties are judged the same except for the coat. In 1860, the first Collie was presented in a dog show. In the AKC, this breed is shown as the herding and working dogs.
Collies are now one of the most popular breeds in the world. This is because of how loyal they are and how much of a great friend they make. They really became famous with the movie, books, and TV series of the hit television show, Lassie. After that, people learned how devoted Collies were to their owners and wanted one to join their family.