Rough Collie Breed Notes Whilst sorting out some papers, I came across this article, Are Collies Too Small? This was written by Mum, Aileen Speding, over twenty years ago, it is still quite relevant today: Our beautiful Rough Collie, especially the male certainly does APPEAR to be a lot smaller than many of the dogs of Yesteryear, and I for one mourn the lack of truly masculine, dominant males, who stand with impassive dignity and project their personality. Collies today are becoming stereotyped, characterless card-board cut-outs! Were actual measurements to be taken at the shoulder, I am sure that most would be in the range of 56-61cms, although more would be to the lower end of this scale. I know from my own dogs that those that looked big, like Ch Vicar and Ch Midnight Cowboy were only fractionally taller at the shoulder than MY “SMALL” dogs like Ch Haymaker and Ch Boyfriend. However, these “big” dogs certainly weighed a lot more than the smaller ones, but again, this was well within the weight range laid down in the OLD standard, of 20.5 – 29.5 kg for dogs. What seems to have happened is that whereas some years ago more of the bigger heavier dogs were shown and the smaller dogs not favoured, nowadays all the dogs being shown are the smaller ones, giving the impression that we have “Changed” the breed. I don’t believe this, and I think that there are still plenty of the bigger collies being bred but at the moment they are not “fashionable” so are not having influence on the show scene There are, in my opinion, several reasons for the overall lack of size in our present male show collies. The bitches have always been much smaller and most “experienced” judges expect the biytches to be smaller and very feminine compared to the males, and there are very few small collie bitches being shown and these remarks are confined to the MALE collie. One reason for the smallness may be due to the lack of variety in the available gene pool. We no longer have separate and distinct kennels producing their own strain of Rough Collie. Extend the pedigrees of ANY of today’s winners ands they are often in-bred to the same few dogs many of whom were small in stature. In Breeding is often characterized by loss of vigour and size and in ultra-refinement. Certainly a point to consider. Newcomers to our breed have never seen the distinct types that used to be within the breed, and going back even further, the Ladypark collies were quite different from the Mywicks and Pattinghams were quite distinctive from the Dunsinanes and the Jefsfires. The northern kennels of Danvis and Milburndene were as recognizable as were the Westcarrs and the Beulah’s along with the Laund and Alphingtons and all great kennels that preceded them. It was possible to outcross in those days if it became necessary to correct/improve a failing within a strain. Not now (and this was written 20 years ago) – as one can only choose a particular male or female line which is strong in certain breed characteristics desired in the progeny Another factor may well be that with the increase in the number of shows and the numbers of dogs being exhibited and the huge increase in breeders and exhibitors and in new judges for the breed has come a demand for INSTANT show success. This requires a rapidly maturing, heavy-coated collie that will stand motionless in the show ring, staring up at a piece of bait. Obviously it is the smaller, lighter boned quicker maturing collie that does all this winning (often from the lower age groups but do not appear as mature adults!), so these are the dogs that are being used in show-breeding programmes. The true male collie is a slow maturing animal, coming to its best at between 5 -7 years. Time must be allowed for muscle development and co-ordination, for the body to mature and for the mental outlook to become mature and for the self-assurance and indeed, arrogance of a dominant male to walk into the ring, to look around and to know that he is king and for the dog to expect to win on his outstanding merit on the day! A really great show dog KNOWS he is really a great dog and a good judge will recognise this and not expect such a dog to stand like a motionless statue but will expect him to project his personality especially when moving around the ring. This type of dog will have a high head carriage, will stand on his toes, crest his neck and will look elegant and dignified. This may well make him look bigger than other less self-assured males. Exhibitors should learn to be patient and wait for success to come, breeders should try to breed for the upstanding male with high head carriage and good lengthy neck and judges should try NOT to favour the showy youngster with the extra-sweet expression but should look for the correctly developed mature collie with more substance, always remembering that the Rough Collie, for all his beauty comes from a WORKING back-ground and as such must be mentally and physically sound. Having re-read this article, I would add that many of today’s exhibitors are not breeders but do tend to purchase stock to show, either from the UK or abroad, so breeding for a type is becoming more difficult for some. On a final point, having been told by many that my last 2 Champions, a male and female were much to big, I took the measure to them – lo and behold both fell to the lower limits. Both carry a good, fitted jackets. The dog is 22” (56cm) at the shoulder and the bitch is 21.5” (54cm) So, go off and measure you own and maybe you will be very surprised and, should you put them in a bath, you will see how small they actually are! Carole Smedley
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