Marvelous Facts About the Collie

Tap to Read ➤ Claudia Miclaus

The Collie is a herding dog with a lot of energy. It has a royal elegance, intelligence, and extreme loyalty. This breed was greatly popularized by the famous fictional dog, Lassie. Here is some more information about this breed.

History

The Collie is a dog that came to be in Scotland, and was originally bred to be able to herd and drive livestock. It was a favorite of Queen Victoria's in the 1800's, and was registered with the AKC almost a hundred years later, in 1885.

The professional breeding industry took over this breed and turned it into something that had little resemblance to the original dog. They bred it with the Borzoi to get a more elegant head, and over the years, the appearance of this dog changed a lot as compared to what it was before.

The original Collie was taller, had less hair, and was a hardier breed than the modern one. Despite all this, the modern Collie is an intelligent, well-balanced, and even-tempered dog.

Appearance

This breed weighs from 48 to 70 pounds. It can be either light-boned or medium-boned depending on the variety. The fur can be short or long, and the tail can be bushy, feathered, or smooth. The coat color varies for each breed, but the basic colors are black, red, black and tan, red and tan, or sable.

Due to the type of coat that this dog has, it needs to be brushed once or twice weekly, and even more so when it is shedding, which happens every two out of four seasons. Because it sheds so heavily during the year, this dog is not recommended for people with allergies.

There can be two different types of coats, the rough coat (with long hair) and the smooth coat (with short hair). Grooming can vary depending on the breed that you have.

Nature

This dog makes an excellent pet for the whole family. This breed has the tendency to like and love everybody, which means pets, strangers, and most importantly children. They are sensitive dogs that give a lot of affection, but they also need to receive lots of affection from their owners. They love to get involved in the family activities.

This is a very active breed that requires constant activity and mental stimulation, otherwise it gets bored. Four sub-breeds of collies rank in the top sixteen dog breeds in Stanley Coren's The Intelligence of Dogs , with the Border Collie at the top. This means that they all rank high in obedience training.

This breed is equally suitable for first-time dog owners as well as for those with a lot of experience in raising dogs. One thing to remember is to give your dog lots of socialization at an early age, so that the pup will not grow up to be timid, which can be a result of the dog's sensitive nature. This can be considered as a form of confidence building.

This is a good watchdog and will bark to announce the coming of a visitor. It does best in a quiet environment, because tension and a lot of noise will bother it, which is another result of its sensitive nature.

Health

There are various health problems that are associated with this breed. Some sub-breeds are affected with a genetic defect, which causes those dogs to be sensitive to certain drugs such as Ivermecitin, some antibiotics, opioids, and steroids, which totals to more than a hundred drugs.

Also, this breed may be affected by a stem cell disorder known as canine cyclic neutropania or Gray Collie Syndrome. The affected pups do not live longer than six months.

Although there are many sub-breeds in one breed, the Collie is a friendly, loving, sensitive, yet highly-intelligent dog which makes a very good family pet.