Johnson County Animal Clinic

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Breed of the Month
July Dog: Collie

As the breed’s primary focus is people, a Collie is equally happy to run in the woods with its family, walk on a lead with them in town, or herd a gaggle of geese on the farm and can adapt to suburban yards or large rural spaces. Collies bond easily with their families whether they are acquired as puppies or as older dogs. They are joyfully affectionate and playful, with a great sense of humor. With strangers they can be more dignified and reserved, a throwback to their herding origins in isolated parts of the British Isles where it was not common to see other people.

Collies have a well developed sense of “home” that revolves around the family, their schedules and routines, and the home’s physical surroundings. In fact, the breed is well known for its intuitive awareness of family activities, to the point where the Collie often senses what is going to happen before it actually does. The dog can recognize things like the step of a family member at a distance or the unique sound of an individual vehicle—even the approaching time when a family member is due home. The breed’s sensitive nature descends from its herding heritage, making the Collie a wonderful housemate, ever watchful and protective of the homefront.

COLLIE CHARACTER
The Collie is a lithe, strong, responsive and active dog. 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. It could be stated simply that no part of the Collie ever seems to be out of proportion to any other part. The four recognized colors are "Sable and White," "Tri-color," "Blue Merle" and "White."

There are two varieties of hair coat. The well-fitting, proper-textured coat is the crowning glory of the rough variety of Collie. It is abundant except on the head and legs. The Smooth Variety of Collie is judged by the same Standard as the Rough Variety, except that the references to the quantity and distribution of the coat are not applicable to the Smooth Variety, which has a short, hard, dense, flat coat of good texture, with an abundance of undercoat.

Dogs are from 24 to 26 inches at the shoulder and weigh from 60 to 75 pounds. Bitches are from 22 to 24 inches at the shoulder, weighing from 50 to 65 pounds.

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