Collie

Under the tough weather of Scotland one the most beautiful breeds of sheepdogs was born, the collie. Its name comes from a breed of sheep that was raised in the 18th century in Scotland. These sheep with black leg and head were called colley and the dogs watched over them and protected the herds; therefore they were called after the sheep. The first picture goes back to 1790. Unlike the current collie, the hair of these collies was not that long and beautiful. The dogs born from the colley were cross-bred with the Irish setter and barzoï, from which they inherited certain characteristics such as the cranium, narrow chest and the way of walking. That is how the current collie was gradually born.

At the beginning of the 19th century, the collie was still a relatively unknown breed and its popularity did not start to grow until the first exhibitions. Thanks to the ups and downs of fashion, this breed gained popularity in several occasions, and even today, the collie is among the most known canine breeds.

The collie is intelligent and docile with an elegant and majestic way of walking. These qualities make it an excellent pet dog. With unknown people, it is reserved. It has an innate gift to drive and keep the herds. And its hair protects it from bad weather. Besides the long-haired collie, which is the most popular one and which hair makes a mane and collar around the head, the collie with short, hard and straight (3) hair is also raised although more rarely.

Size: male 56-61 cm, female 51-56 cm. Weight: male 20-30 kg, female 18-25 kg. Regarding its color, we classify the collies in one-colors, bi-colors or tri-colors. The one-color dogs are, for example, sandy without special patches or blackbird blue (2), the bi-color dogs are black and tan, black with white patches and sandy with white patches. The most common color is golden with a white collar and with white patches on the legs (1). The tri-color collies are black and tan with white patches. Now, the dogs with beautiful patches are the most popular. Whatever the dog's color is, the nose must be black. Its eyes must be chestnut almond-shaped or dark brown except the blackbird blue that must have dark eyes or with blue patches.