Breeds 101: Meet the Collie

The Collie is the featured dog in today’s “Breeds 101” series. The devoted and proud Collie is a loving family dog with a strong work ethic, they have been helped to fame by the Lassie spinoffs.

Descending from dogs brought over by Romans to the Scottish Highlands interbreeding with local herding dogs, the ancestors of the Collie dog were born. Queen Victoria played a key role in the popularity of Collies. One very popular theory for how Collies earned their name is it is derived from a strain of black-faced sheep that were called colleys.

According to the breed standard from the American Kennel Club, the Collie is a “s a lithe, strong, responsive, active dog, carrying no useless timber, standing naturally straight and firm. The deep, moderately wide chest shows strength, the sloping shoulders and well-bent hocks indicate speed and grace, and the face shows high intelligence. The Collie presents an impressive, proud picture of true balance, each part being in harmonious proportion to every other part and to the whole.”

Collies are seen in a variety of coat colors including: sable and white, tricolor, blue merle, and white. These colors can be seen in a variety of approved combinations on the Collie.

Seen in both rough and smooth varieties, the Collie is easily recognizable and loved for its friendly demeanor, eagerness to please, and intelligent nature.

Collies typically stand at 24-26 inches (male), 22-24 inches (female) and weigh 60-75 pounds (male), 50-65 pounds (female). These pups have an average life expectancy of 12-14 years.

Ranking at 40 out of 195 on the American Kennel Club most popular breeds list, Collies are still a highly sought breed even after its introduction to the American Kennel Club in 1885.

Both eager to please and friendly, the Collie is a dream to train. Collies loves to learn, starting early with puppy classes and continuing through adulthood makes a happy dog. Collies have been seen excelling in obedience classes. They are also excellent at a variety of other dog sports.

As members of the herding group, Collies require regular exercise to keep them happy. They are very attached to their family just leaving them out in a backyard isn’t the ideal exercise. Long walks, play sessions, training, or actual herding work are great ways to get out their energy.

The Collie comes in two coat variations: rough and smooth. Thanks to the Lassie movies, the rough coated variety is the more well-known variation. The smooth coated variety still requires brushing to help control shedding of the undercoat. The rough coated variation needs more grooming to remove loose undercoat and to avoid mats especially behind the ears and elbows.

The Collie Health Foundation has a “primary function of addressing the breed’s major health problems. Its main purpose is to issue grants to worthwhile organizations for research in breeding, genetics and health issues of all dogs, with the primary emphasis on Veterinary research as it relates directly to the Collie.” They have helped to minimize a lot of health concerns for them but two tests still recommended by the Collie Club of America are: MDR1 and PRA.

Collies were skyrocketed to fame by Eric Night, creator of the novel “Lassie-Come Home” which was later turned into a movie produced by MGM, as well as a long-running TV series and several other projects. Lassie was played by a rough coated Collie named Pal. The Collie has also made its way into the White House, as the 23rd president, Benjamin Harrison, owned a one named Dash.

In the realm of social media, one of the most popular Dogs of Twitter is Wilma the Snoopervisor, and the breed is also quite popular as a subject for paintings and statues.