What You Did not Know About the Collie

For centuries, the Collie dogs were known only on the plains of Scotland, where they wrangled large sheep herds grazing freely. Than, in 1860, Queen Victoria spent a holiday at the Scottish Balmoral Castle and, seduced by these amazing dogs, on her return, she brought some exemplars to the Windsor Palace. Impulsed by snobbism, the Collies fashion launched. Both British and the Americans fell in love with the beautiful animals.

Even if these dogs accept staying in closed rooms, once outside they burst with vitality. They can cope with cold and rain, but not with heat and inactivity.

Sometimes, like a kind of ancestral instinct, the Collie crawls on the ground, as if trying to approach a sheep without scaring it. Sensitive and eager to be liked, Collie still does not trust the strangers and it turns extremely attached to its master and his/her family. It is affective with the children and his intelligence and sharp sense of belonging make it easy to train. Collies also have all the traits required by police or company dogs.

The ancestors of the modern Collie must have been a breed of ancient indigenous dogs from northern Britain and Ireland mixed with shepherd dogs brought by the Celts on the islands around 500 BC. In time, also Newfoundland and Deerhound could have brought their genetic contribution to Collie.

At the beginning of the 19th century, selective mating gave rise to Collie which, by 1850, was crossed with the Russian Borzoi resulting a supple dog, with prolonged head and beautiful coat.

When we think of the Collie, we have the Rough Collie breed (the Lassie dog) in our mind. But there are four additional breeds called Collie. Smooth Collie differs from Rough Collie as regards the coat only. Bearded Collie resemble dogs from the Old English Sheepdog breed. Border Collie is kept for its herding skills and it is very popular in Australia. The Shetland Collies are miniatures of the Rough Collie.

The Rough Collie is a graceful, dignified dog. It is 51-61 cm (1.7-2 ft) tall, 18-29 kg (40-65 pounds) heavy. The nose is black; the eyes are medium sized, oblique and almond-shaped. The ears are straight, with folded tips. The fur is thick, long and silky. The colors is sandy with white, mixed with red hues. If kept indoors, the Collie has the tendency to lose its hair. The young must be well looked after, for having well proportioned adult exemplars.

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