Smooth Collie - Crufts

I thought they were lovely. I like that they aren't 'pretty'. The bitch particularly was much smaller than I imagined, which I know MOC keeps telling me. 😊
 
I don't think she was pretty. She looked very intelligent. Bright as a button. Their nose is almost Roman, I love it.
 
I would agree with the pretty comment, I wonder if it’s perhaps why they aren’t as popular as they should be, because border collies are maybe considered prettier? I know I have this bias. I liken the smooths to Spanish horses with the more noble, handsome faces, but not always as pretty as say an Arab or welsh with a dished head. I think my PRE is stunningly beautiful, but he isn’t as ‘pretty’ as my sisters Connemaras.
 
interesting! I dont really think of dogs or horses as pretty (and think PREs/PSLs are the most beautiful of horses) I guess. I think both of my dogs are staggeringly handsome though :p maybe its because I don't do mares or bitches?
 
WorkingGSD said:
I really like the more workmanlike look of the Smooth Collie over the Rough. Do they have much drive for work?
Click to expand...

a few do, most do not apparently-and they were more droving dogs than herding. Some agility types reckon they don't have enough drive to channel for the higher levels of agility either. Fitz certainly has all the athletic ability in the world but he is the most easily distracted dog. I think he would like flyable actually, he's a fab frisby dog.
 
MotherOfChickens said:
a few do, most do not apparently-and they were more droving dogs than herding. Some agility types reckon they don't have enough drive to channel for the higher levels of agility either. Fitz certainly has all the athletic ability in the world but he is the most easily distracted dog. I think he would like flyable actually, he's a fab frisby dog.
Click to expand...

Thanks moc. I do like them but they probably aren't right for me at this point anyway. I know a girl who has a rough collie as a sheepdog and he is really impressive for the breed but he is not the norm.
 
There is a particular breeder that did use some of hers with sheep, can't remember her name. I think the reason they are such easy dogs to have around is because they lack drive :). Fitz probably isn't typical, he lacked quite a lot of early socialisation and had quite a high background anxiety when I got him-he's way, way better but would love one from a young pup.
 
My smooth was very drivey but was anxious with it. Really, really toy driven, fast at agility class and definitely had the herding instinct! But I think she was unusual as she wasn't a relaxed dog at all and I believe many smooth are more chilled?
 
PapaverFollis said:
My smooth was very drivey but was anxious with it. Really, really toy driven, fast at agility class and definitely had the herding instinct! But I think she was unusual as she wasn't a relaxed dog at all and I believe many smooth are more chilled?
Click to expand...

mine is toy driven but compared to the collies I've had, his chase/herding instinct is very watered down in comparison-it is there though. he's incredibly fast and as long as he doesn't think about it, can jump pretty much anything. He spends a lot of time upside down on my couch but he's more anxious than the other dog. Just not sure if thats a breed trait of lack of socialisation -I met all his relatives who are all show dogs and showed no sign of anxiety at all. He's not as neurotic as the border and bearded collies I've had, thank goodness (they were all rescues).
 
Mine was my family dog (I was 11 ish when we got her) and we were a bit shit and made loads of mistakes in her upbringing which made her more neurotic. Flooding with scary experiences at the wrong times rather than considered socialising, that kind of thing. All well meaning but just a bit useless overall. I think she was the "shy" pup in the litter too.

She definitely had a very, very strong "chase" instinct as the teenage (and clearly a bit stupid) me found out to my horror on a couple of memorable occasions... how effectively that would have been channelled into herding I don't know because I don't know enough about training sheepdog.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top