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 collie is the one we are most familiar with due to Lassie - he has a long, flowy, textured outer coat and a short, fluffy inner coat. He has lots of hair everywhere except for his legs and head. The abundance of hair around his neck gives him a lion-esque type of mane. This hair is the crowning glory of the rough collie, and is considered by some a huge offense if it is cut off for any reason. The smooth collie’s fur lays flat, and is short (about an inch long) and dense - like you would see on a doberman.
In the US, they are both considered to be of the same breed and and rough to smooth coat breeding is allowed. In England the two varieties were made separate breeds in 1994, and therefore the two coats are not allowed to breed with each other. Due to this, and other European standards, the western hemisphere collies and the easter hemisphere collies can look strikingly different.
What Next? Read more!
- Intro to Collie Looks - 2 textures, 4 colors
- Breeding for Coat Variety
- I saw a shorthaired collie the other day. Did the Lassie dog have a haircut?
- One Breed.. Two Varieties..
- The Collie Coat
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One Response to “The Rough Vs. Smooth Coat Collie”
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November 14th, 2007 at 11:34 am
Our five mo. old collie puppy seems to be somewhere between rough and smooth. She has two inch long hair around her mane area, but doesn’t look like a rough collie (yet). Her mom was smooth, dad was rough. We were hoping for a rough coat. Could it still be in the proccess of growing out? I thought by 5 mos. we could tell. Thanks for any input!