Fido's Breeds
Collie
A Rough Collie is a breed of dog developed originally for herding. It
is well known because of the works of author Albert Payson Terhune, and
was popularized in later generations by the Lassie novel, movies, and
television shows. There is also a smooth-coated variety; some breed organizations
consider the smooth-coat and rough-coat dogs to be variations of the same
breed.
Appearance
Collies come in four basic coat colors: sable and white, where the "Sable"
ranges from pale tan to a golden mahogany; white (which some breed standards
disallow); tricolor, which is primarily black edged in sable; and blue
merle, which is a mottled gray. All come with white chest, legs, and tail
tip and many have white blazes on their faces.
The desired size and weight varies among breed standards; male collies can stands 22 to 26 in at shoulder; the bitch averages 2 in shorter. The male can weigh 45 - 75 lb and bitches 5 to 10 pounds less
Temperament
By all accounts, this is an intelligent dog who loves to work, but in
contemporary times has little herding instinct, since its bloodline consists
of 50% bird-hunting dogs and 25% wolf-hunting dogs, which dilute the influence
of the 25% herding dog.
History
Both Rough and Smooth collies are descended from a localised variety of
herding dog originating in Scotland. [1] Originally, there were numerous
forms of these dogs. After the industrial revolution, dog ownership became
fashionable, and these early collies were crossed with the Borzoi (Russian
Wolfhound), to get a more "noble" head, which is today one of
the true characteristics of the rough collie. Continued breeding for show
purposes drastically changed the appearance of the dogs; it was in the
1960s a much taller dog than today. Earlier dogs were also more sturdy
in build.
This information brought to you from
Wikipedia.