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Saturday, November 5, 2016

Smooths are collies too!


Whenever we take the collies for a walk, people stop us to talk about them.  Ryder, in particular, brings a smile to people's faces and his happy nature invites people to stop and chat for a while.  I'm sure it's because Ryder is a rough collie, and he reminds people of Lassie or of their own childhood collie, or both.  We have even had people stop their cars in the middle of the street to tell us how beautiful Ryder looks. 



The girls, being smooth collies, are less recognizable.  But their sweet personalities, pretty markings, and beautiful faces also have people stopping us to ask about them.  We have been asked if they were shepherd mixes or grey hound mixes.  Some people even ask us "why did we shave our collies?"  We then explain about the smooth coat, and many are amazed because they never knew the smooth coated variety of collie existed.  Smooth collies have the same body type as rough collies, they just have short fur.  While many claim the smooths are more energetic than the rough coated collies, there are laid back smooths.  




Children flock to collies, like bees to flowers, and the admiration is mutual. Not only are our collies careful and gentle with small children, they are fascinated by them. I can't count how many times they have spotted a child and dragged us over to say "hello." The children we have encountered seem to know that the collies love them, often wrapping their little arms around a collie neck to share a hug. (Which sets our collies' entire bodies to wagging in delight!)  It doesn't matter if the collie is a rough or a smooth, when they see children it's love at first sight.



Older adults often reminisce with us about their childhoods, and how they grew up with collies.  And many tell us about how they watched the Lassie TV show every week.  We have also heard many times that "you never see collies anymore."  It's so strange, with so many people loving this breed so deeply, that collies aren't more popular.  I think many people hesitate about getting a collie because they imagine their coats will be too much work.  But few realize that smooths are collies too, and their coats are much easier to care for. 



Some days, during our walks, it feels like we are accompanying celebrities on a goodwill tour!  They never seem to tire of making new friends.  Which is why we have begun attending AKC "Meet the Breeds" events with our collies.  It is a great way to educate people about this wonderful breed, that has captured hearts for generations.  And it's also a great way to promote the smooth collie, to make the public aware that there are two varieties of collies.

Here are some fun facts about collies:

  • The collie originated in Scotland.
  • The role of Lassie, the most famous collie, was always played by a male collie.
  • Many collies dislike getting dirty, and some of ours even avoid stepping in mud puddles!
  • Collies are one of the most intelligent breeds, which makes them easy to train.  But they are also sensitive, so only positive training methods should be used.
  • Collies are talented and eager to please, which means they can compete in a variety of competitions – herding, agility, obedience, Rally, dance.  And they can also serve as search and rescue, therapy, service or guide dogs.
  • Collies are “nosey,” and are always checking on their humans.  If they can’t be by your side, they can be seen peeking around doors, shower curtains or windows, to see what you are doing or if you need their “help.”  They need to be with their families, so if you want an “outside” dog, this is not the breed for you.
  • Male collies typically weigh around 60 to 75 pounds, females are usually smaller and weigh 50 to 65 pounds.
  • Collies come in four coat colors – tri-color, white, blue merle, or sable and white
  • If you breed a rough and a smooth collie together, you can have both rough puppies and smooth puppies in the litter.  If you breed two rough collies together, you will only get rough puppies, as rough is a recessive gene.  If you breed two smooths together, and both the male and female have one rough parent , you can end up with a rough puppy in the litter.


We have had a few people recently comment, to ask about why some of the collies' coats are so short.  So we decided to share this post again, to explain the difference in coat types.  

23 comments:

  1. I had no idea there were "smooth" collies ... they are every bit as gorgeous too! I agree, it's weird that people react to collies so favorably, but the breed isn't more popular.

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  2. Once you get out into the world with any dog, one finds out how little the average human actually knows about dogs.

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  3. Smooth Collies are cool dogs! That's so cool you've participated in Meet the Breeds!

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  4. I didn't know smooth collies existed, either, until we met a lady in a park who stopped us while we were walking because she had a smooth collie with similar markings to Barley and she just had to say hi to Bar. I had to go google smooth collies afterwards so I could see what she was talking about :)

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  5. See?? I'm not the ONLY one who never knew about "Smooth" Collies, look at that!! You got a whole GREAT blog post out of it, all because of ME!!!! ;)
    DakotasDen

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  6. I find keeping up with the grooming of our golden retriever difficult, so I might avoid a rough coated collie for that reason. So I think it's exciting to find out about the smooth coat! They sound like such a wonderful breed, and who didn't love Lassie? It's true though, I don't see a lot of collies around either. I would definitely consider this breed when getting a dog in the future!

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  7. I first learned about smooth collies right here at your blog! Like so many others I only knew collies like Lassie.

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  8. There was a blue merle rough Collie on Halloween nigh, and he was only the third Collie I've ever seen in real life. I met a smooth with then-puppy Nola, and that dog was so amazing.

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  9. my dad remembers the "ooooh lassie" adventures when he walked with the collie of his mom,the name of the pup was lassie, it couldn't be better LOL

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  10. Very nice post you share!!! Your Smooth Collies are so beautiful!!! It is so nice to see you have got the chance to participated in Meet the Breeds! So cool!!!!!
    Riley

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  11. I love Collies too, both kinds! Your dogs seem wonderful, are they therapy dogs? If not, they probably should be!
    Love & biscuits,
    Dogs Luv Us and We Luv Them

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  12. First, your collies are beautiful -- I had no idea there were Smooth Collies. it's really fun getting to know this breed as I see and meet so few here in Oregon - it must be those puddles!

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  13. Your dogs are magnificent! Thanks for sharing this information on the smooth Collies. ☺

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  14. Crikey! You collie blokes sound a lot like we Whippets. We have a lot of the same traits. Maybe if you got shaved real short you'd be a whippet.
    You wanted to know what a spoodle is and how big our Moooooooriel is! A spoodle is a cross between a cocker spaniel and a poodle and Moooooriel is about the height of a male Great Dane. She's kinda thicker though if you know what I mean. The next time we are over there I'll get Mum to take a photo of me next to her.

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  15. Yes, we can see that you all are very huggable! "Meet the Breeds" is a great event. We do that too!
    Wyatt

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  16. Taking the rough with the smooth, so to speak!

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  17. I also love collies, and I really don't see them often in Oregon. Shelties galore, but very few collies. I miss them.

    Jean from Welcome to the Menagerie

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  18. Hi hi hi! Ojo here! Smooth or rough, you're all beautiful (and handsome)! Thanks for the fun facts, we learned some stuff!

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  19. You were the first one who told me about the smooth collies. I only knew a collie as Lassie. I've heard that Collie's don't like getting dirty, maybe I was a collie in another life. :-)

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  20. I think both the smooth and rough coated collies are gorgeous. Thanks for telling me more about them. One of my neighbors had a rough coated collie when I was a child. He was amazing. ♥

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  21. nice blog
    I am hoping to get a smooth female pup for my family, but I'm finding very few breeders in all of the Rocky Mountain region.

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  22. Arooo! We saw your message but Mom has been out of town. She is going to email you later today! Thanks for getting in touch with us, and sorry it's taking her so long to get back with you!
    Waggies,
    Braeden, Seth and Riley

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  23. Great information! We think you guys are all gorgeous no matter smooth or rough coated. :-)

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