Rough Collie and Smooth Collie

There are many dogs that are of a Collie type, some of whom bear the name Collie and some don't. There are two that are simply referred to as Collies or what some might call Scottish Collies.. They are the Rough Collie and the Smooth Collie who are essentially the same except for the coat. The Rough Collie has a long coat and bears the look made famous by the movie and television adventures of a fictional dog named Lassie. The smooth Collie has a short coat.

Collies as pets

Collies are smart and adaptable to people. According to Pet Library's Collie Guide author Anne Young, “Many Collies teach themselves to be useful.” She also says that the Collie “is exceptionally faithful, very, very sweet natured.” With these statements she believes that the Collie is the ideal household pet.

She believes the Collie is strongly telepathic. She shares this belief with Albert Payson Terhume who wrote numerous books about Collies and bred Champion Collies. Whether the dogs are telepathic or not, I think there is little doubt that the are sensitive to their handlers and pick up on body language and other clues.

Scottish Collie:

According to the 19^th Century dog historian Rawdon B. Lee the word Collie was originally spelled colley. It is an Anglo-Saxon word for black “col. “ Scotland's black-faced sheep were once called “Colleys” so the dog became known as a “Colley Dog” There are other theories but this one seems reasonable to me.

Lee mentions that the Collie and presumably other sheepdogs from places other than Scotland were a times more ferocious dogs than Collies. That is because in some places the dogs have to protect the shep from wolves in those countries. thus more of a fighting dog was needed than n Scotland.

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The Collies as we know them originated in England. The first Collie shows in America were at westminster in 1878. In 1886 the Collie Club of America was formed. It is one of the oldest breed clubs in the world. There are some differences between the U.S. And England

Lassie

A public image of the Collie was created by the popularity of of the fictional Collie named Lassie. Lassie, a female dog, was originally played by a male dog by the name of “Pal.”

Smooth Collie

Essentially the Smooth Collie is a short haired version of the Rough Collie.According to Wikipedia, both the rough and Smooth Collie started with Queen Victoria when she got interested in the dogs. While at Balmoral Castle in Scotland in 1860. She acquired some Smooth Collies for her kennel and her interest in the breed made the Smooth Collie fashionable. Another source mentioned her owning a White. According to the White Collie website the Queen's Collies would resemble something like todays border Collie.

The rough Collie and the Smooth Collie in the United States are considered to be variations of the same breed. In some countries they are classified as separate breeds. Some of these countries are the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia, according to Wikipedia.

The size of the Smooth Collie according to Wikipedia ranges from 22 to 24 inches for the femal and 24 to 26 inches for males. Measurements are at the shoulder. Weight is from 45 lbs for females to 75 lbs for males. The book by Ms Young indicates the Smooth Collie to be a bit larger and heavier than the Rough Collie. The stats for both dogs are smaller than those in Wikimedia, probably because the book is older.

Collies have four colors, which are Sable, tricolor, blue merle, and white.

The Collie is a very regal looking dog, of gentle nature and generally easy to take care of. They can adapt to almost any environment, are good with children and good company.

Copyright 2012 Don Hoglund