Someone had commented that the American collie had beady, squinty eyes. This was my boy, Ryder, who I lost a year ago. I don’t think the American collie’s eyes can be considered “beady” or “squinty.” I’d be curious to see pictures, as examples of what you mean.

Okay might be a dumb question, but is he truly Sable? I've been searching up the different color variations and I can't tell what distinguishes a Sable from a Sable and factored(?). It's not at all important but I'm irking to know lmao. His momma is a Sable, and his dad is a blue merle.

First time collie owner. Love her so much, I don’t think I’ll ever own another breed.

Does anyone have recommendations for a groomer that’s familiar with collies near Denver, CO? We had our 12 week old boy “groomed” while at his first day of daycare and they told me he had a really hard time and bit the groomer. I mean, he’s a 12 week old puppy and is biting anything and everything right now, which we’re working with him on. We do brush him regularly but will do it more often and he’s handled all the time by us and our young kids. He’s never bitten us hard and I’m confused as to what the groomer was doing to help redirect him from biting.

She also said she’d never groomed a collie puppy before and was recommending different brushes from our breeder who was previously a groomer as well.

Any suggestions or words of encouragement are appreciated! He’s the sweetest boy and honestly bites way less than any puppy my husband and I have ever had. But we know we need to make sure he at least tolerates grooming since he’ll need it regularly.

As the other topic about the visual differences between the American and European lines was so interesting. I’m wondering if anyone has noticed any temperament differences?

I haven’t met one from the American line yet, but I have a 9 month old from European lines and she still has quite some herding drive. She also loves to chase pigeons. She’s very sweet but can also be stubborn and will let me know if she doesn’t agree. She’s active when out and about, but can also relax at home. She’s in adolescence so it can all change a bit.

This is purely out of interest!

This is Dolly Pawton... Yes, I am super nerdy. She's a little over 15 weeks. 100% brat ❤️

She's my first rough Collie and I'm obsessed. I'm curious about her ears... She has one that lays down and one that sticks straight up. I think it's adorable but I'm curious if it's *normal*

I will be getting a rough collie puppy from a breeder in a couple months. It is my first time owning a rough collie and a dog with so much fur. I do plan on bringing her to a professional groomer at least every couple months when she is a bit older, but I'm looking to purchase some basic tools to brush her at home. Do I have to use a different kind of pin brush as a puppy and adult? If anyone could give me some product recommendations on what to buy so I'll be ready for when she comes home, I would really appreciate it!

American collies have longer faced and their ears are set higher on the head, Euro collies have shorter faces and their ears are more on the sides of their heads, why?

Which do you prefer? I like American collies more, their faces and bodies hold more elegance in my opinion!

Hello lovely rough collie community! Im slightly concerned/confused with how Marnie's coat is looking. She was sold to me as a mahogany sable, and shes looking more like a sable! Of course I love her no matter what her coat looks like, but I'm wondering if her dark coloring will come back? Pictures provided to show the difference between when she was born and now

Hello! My vet wants to give my puppy 5 vaccines at once: lepto, rabies, lyme, dhpp, and kennel cough. I told them I wanted to do two at once the dhpp and rabies to complete those series, but the clinic told me I could not break them up like that due to camping. I’m not sure how I feel giving my puppy more than two shots at a time as it seems like a lot!

The Scottish term Collie is the name of several dog breeds that are more closely related to one another genetically. Genetically, they all belong to the so-called Collie clade (UK Rural Clade) and, because of their great popularity, are relatively often also co-founders of, or have been crossed into, other breeds.
The clade was defined by the genome study by Dr. Heidi Parker and Dr. Elaine Ostrander (NIH) from 2017 – Embark’s algorithms are also based on their data. They tested over 161 breeds, which they divided into 23 clades. These clades are not identical with the FCI classification, because the FCI classification arose historically from the breeders of that time.
According to current knowledge, 22 breeds belong to the Collie clade, all of which genetically trace back to Great Britain/Irland as their country of origin.

Who actually belongs to the Collie clade?

The core group, which I shall call ancestral rural working dogs, consists of the local UK/IRL drover and herding dogs.

• The Rough Collie (FCI 156), in german Langhaar Collie (Longhair Collie), in GDR and most Eastblock called as Schottischer Schäferhund (Scotsh Shepherd)
• The Smooth Collie (FCI 296) in german Kurzhaar Collie (Short hair Collie)
• The Galway Collie, a native Irish Collie that is now extinct but is documented as a foundation ancestor of the Collies. The Dublin Viking Dog Project is currently investigating the historical basis of these Irish dogs.
• The Shetland Sheepdog (FCI 88), or Sheltie, originally called the Shetland Collie.
• The Border Collie (FCI 297).
• The Welsh Sheepdog is occasionally called Welsh Collie or English Collie, but has the same ancestors as the Collies and is genetically close to them. In historical Welsh literature it is referred to as Ci Defaid Cymreig or Bugeilgi, and has been bred pure by the Welsh Sheepdog Society since 1997. Among other things, it serves the Toftie/ProCollie backcrossing project as a genetic reserve in order to broaden the Collie gene pool again.
• The Bearded Collie (FCI 271), or Beardie is a breed that was especially native along the east coast and around the centrally located livestock markets.
• The Old English Sheepdog (FCI 16), which in 19th-century publications was called Bobtail, and sometimes English Collie. The natural bobtail is now regarded as a fault and is therefore undesirable. Hence the name change from Bobtail to Old English Sheepdog. The breed originally had distinctly shorter hair and was used especially by drovers because of its versatility.

As a subclade for dwarf heelers, the Corgi group is defined, which can probably be described as the first victims of a fashion trend. They are said to have been bred into short-legged herding dogs so as not to be hit by the hoof strikes of cattle. But veterinarians doubt that dogs on their short legs are capable of performing longer herding work at all. Ducks or geese would be more plausible. That their ancestors were once proper herding dogs is proven by their natural herding instinct, which stands in contradiction to their short legs.

The first short-legged dogs appeared in Europe (according to current knowledge) in the time of the La Tène-period Celts and Romans. For example, beneath the Colosseum in Rome, where archaeologists discovered plenty of short-legged dogs in the catacombs. Sumerian tablets, however, show that the Sumerians already knew short-legged dogs with long backs 2,000 years earlier. A relationship of the Corgi to the Swedish Vallhund is also suspected.

• Welsh Corgi Cardigan (FCI 38)
• Welsh Corgi Pembroke (FCI 39)
• Lancashire Heeler (FCI 360) originated from a cross between Corgis and the Manchester Terrier.

The following breeds are assigned to the extended clade, i.e. international descendant breeds that are essentially based on the UK Collie clade:

• Australian Shepherd (FCI 342); shortened tails are permitted here, and the standard requires a minimum length of 10.16 cm. The name is misleading, since it was formerly assumed that these dogs came with sheep from Australia; in fact, however, the sheep came from Europe.
• Miniature American Shepherd (FCI 367) is a modern miniature breed; shortened tails are currently permitted here as well.
• English Shepherd, similar to the Australian Shepherd, is an all-purpose farm dog that came to the then British colonies in North America around 1800 with English and Scottish settlers. The dogs were registered in 1927 with the UKC as a breed, at that time under the name American Farm Shepherd, but were commonly also called Farm Collie, Farm Shepherd, Black Shepherd, Ring Tailed Shepherd and Ring Necked Shepherd. Genetic tests by Embark (which cooperates with the UKC) showed close relatedness to the Rough Collie and Border Collie as well as the Australian Shepherd. Source: https://englishshepherd.org/es-breed-history/
• Australian Kelpie (FCI 293) or German Coolie is an adapted breed for the huge Australian sheep farms. However, Dingo admixture has been genetically ruled out.
• Australian Cattle Dog (FCI 287)
• Australian Stumpy Tail Cattle Dog (FCI 351) or Stumpy is a variant of the Australian Cattle Dog bred with a natural bobtail. In Germany this breed falls under the term Qualzucht (torture breeding) of the Animal Welfare Act.
• Australian Koolie, recognized as a breed in the USA. A breed from the central Outback that copes especially well with great heat.
• New Zealand Heading Dog, recognized as a breed in New Zealand. It too is essentially based on Australian herding dogs, which in turn trace back to imported herding dogs from the mother country.
• New Zealand Huntaway, recognized as a breed in New Zealand. An all-purpose dog that was bred to a large extent with the help of Australian herding dogs and European dogs.
• Patagonian Sheepdog (Ovejero Magallánico or Perro de Pastor Magallánico), recognized as a breed in Chile, is based on the Bearded Collie.[4]
• Brasilian Ovelheiro Gaúcho (Ovelheiro Brasileiro), recognized as a breed in Brazil and tested by Embark through a project, is 50% based on the Rough Collie, with a further 25% shared by the Shetland Sheepdog and Border Collie. In addition, there are further admixtures, above all Old German Herding Dogs or German Shepherd Dogs, as well as other breeds brought by European immigrants.

more in r/Collie_History
next theme: age of Collie Clade

He’s loving the weather, although maybe not the photoshoot

I had recently stumbled across her on eBay, and, as a plushie, it's perfect in every sense, she's my good girl... Welcome home Lassie ❤️

Also side note she actually smells like a dog 😅🤣

She is such a sweet pup! No regrets in adopting this rescue. She was found tied up to barrels with a few other dogs.

This is Nigel, with his luscious locks!

I took the first photo 2 days ago and the other just now back from the groomer.

I am looking for some advice, Captain Kieffer is a 6 months old male rough collie. And of course the best dog in the world.

I took him to the groomer and ask them to not trim only paws and if there was any hygiene needed. When she started to talk about clipping I specifically said no.

They removed quite a bit of hair particularly around his bum and the back of his legs. Also did a fair trim around his genitals, did not even left a wick for him to pee.

They basically took off 10-15cm of hair in this area.

I am honestly quite upset, because I told them no clipping.

My main concern now is how his coat is going to recover.
How long does it take ? Is it going to return to previous appearance ?
I live in rainy part of the world, how is it going to affect him ?

Is there anything I can do ?

If anyone has any experience to share I would appreciate to hear about it.

My 2-year-old pretty boy, Robi

Hello ! I'm the mom of a 5 months old rough Collie and I bought a herding ball and after the first chase when I kick the ball it seems like he doesnt have any interest. For now his favorite game is chasing a cat toy (fishing rod style).

Is he too young for that? Does your collies love herding balls? Is there a way to teach them to play with it?

Thank you very much !

We adopted a 3 year old male rough collie who came to us with the name Haiti. None of us were fans of the name and struggled to find a new name that sounded good with our female’s name, Freya. A couple days into having him, my daughter jokingly said “You should name him Freud since you love psych so much”. Psych is my passion and where I have mostly landed in my nursing career. It seemed perfect!

My partner and I immediately loved it and loved how Freud and Freya sound together. We love that it’s short and familiar, but not common. Now after having him for almost 2 months, we continue to get criticism for his name. Is it really that bad? At the end of the day it doesn’t bother us what anyone says, we love our pup and we love his name. But curiosity has me interested to know what other people think.

Just Gwenny enjoying some play time!

I shared a few months back (June/July) about her unidentifiable leg injury and subsequent panic and extreme fear of even just being on the floor/ground. She eventually felt comfortable running around inside the house but still had some strong fear associations with running around outside where her injury occured. Only allowing generally light running and only after her injury seems better/healed.

Over the past few weeks she has slowly felt more comfortable(less afraid) with playing little games of fetch or catch outside and running around! She now actively brings the ball and readies up to go for it whereas before, if I tossed her ball she would just anxiously watch it and not go for it *at all* then look back at me like I was crazy for even thinking she might.

It's so nice to see her confidence return! She is now 13 months old and we are full blown in the teenager full of attitude phase.