Collie Looks

Learn what specific characteristics distinguish the rough and smooth collie from all other dog breeds - including other collies such as the Border, Australian, and Sheepdog.

Breeding for Coat Variety

In America, the collie is considered one breed and interbreeding between the two coat varieties is allowed (and will still produce a purebred collie). Understandably though, people still wonder how smooth and roughs are both born to in the same litter.
The best thing to remember is that

Coat Color - Blue Merle

*This color is recognized by the AKC
The Blue Merle is astoundingly beautiful. With a silverish blue predominant color that resembles a deep cool pool of water, it is hard not to fall in love with this color when introduced.
The easiest way to describe the blue merle is a “tri color dog who’s black has [...]

Coat Color - Sable & White

*This color is a recognized breed color by the AKC.
The most popular color of a collie is the sable & white as featured on the television, radio and book icon - Lassie. Although the rough sable coat is the most widely recognized, smooth collies can be sable white also.
In it’s basic form, this means [...]

Coat Color - TriColor

*This is a recognized color by the AKC
The Tricolored collie can make for a fascinating, and strikingly handsome dog. Tricolored means “three colors” and in this case the basic colors are black, tan, and white.
The black is the predominant color, spreading over their head / muzzle and then again over their body. As with all [...]

Collie Breed Traits and Health

Collie Breed Traits and Health

Photo by Tsuacctnt

Lassie, the popular series on television has made the Collie a recognizable breed to many. The Collie is noted for his intelligence and deep affection for the family.
Appearance - The Collie descended from dogs used for herding and this trait is still strong in them. The Collie is a wonderful dog for the household [...]

Collie Standard - American Kennel club

General Character
The Collie is a lithe, strong, responsive, active dog, carrying no useless timber, standing naturally straight and firm. 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 [...]

Intro to Collie Looks - 2 textures, 4 colors

There are two lengths of Collie Coats.

Rough

Smooth

Rough

The rough coat is the long, beautiful coat that is associated with “Lassie”.  The American Kennel Club describes the rough coat as “the crowning glory of the rough variety of Collie”. The outer coat of the rough Collie, is straight and harsh to the touch. The undercoat, is soft [...]

One Breed.. Two Varieties..

In America, the rough coated and smooth coated collie are considered to be the same breed of dog, and are just shown as two separate varieties of that same breed in the show ring. In Great Britain, however, the two coats are considered two separate breeds! Owners and breeders in both hemispheres are [...]

Pictures of 4 Rough Collie Colors

Blue merle

 
Tricolor
      
White
  
Sable White
 
                                                                
Photos courtesy of Wiki-Commons.  Published with allowance.

The Collie Coat

Rough and Smooth Collies are called that because of their visible outer coat. Both have the same inner downy undercoat. Although America considers this to be two varieties (rough and smooth) of the same breed (collie), other countries - especially in Europe - classify these as two separate breeds.
The rough collie’s downy undercoat [...]

The Collie’s Nose

A lot can be said for the collie nose.
It’s big, strong, dominant, and sometimes downright cute. The nose provides health and fresh air. It holds up their elongated mouth, and stands proud in tribute to the breed. Some are striped, some are light brown, and (unfortunately) sometime pink. It accepts kisses [...]

The Rough Vs. Smooth Coat Collie

The Collie breed that this site is dedicated to comes in two different varieties - the beautiful, flowing Rough Collie and the sleek, shiny Smooth Collie. Although some owners have claimed a slight difference in their temperaments, they are considered by AKC and those in the United States to be the same dog breed.
The rough [...]

To Tip or Not to Tip (Collie Ears)

To Tip or Not to Tip (Collie Ears)

Photo by Tsuacctnt
As long as there are Collies, there will always be ear tipping problems.
The collie ear.  It is an enigma in itself!  Some owners go through their collie’s whole life without realizing how important ear structure was in the development of collies.   For most collies, if left to its own, their ears will prick [...]