We are not trying to create a new breed but to define a very old breed which up until now, has been loosely classified as “Farm Collie” by many. This breed has, over the past 100 years or so split into, or been used in creating, many separate breeds, sub-breeds if you will, what we are attempting to do is to define the characteristics of the original parent breed with the intention of differentiating it from all the others which have evolved from this stock. You may want to read my Old Fashioned Scotch Collie FAQ.
Reading the old accounts of these dogs, four characteristics stand out as defining them and setting them apart from separate but closely related breeds like English Shepherds and Border Collies. These should be the predominant defining elements of the Old Fashioned Scotch Collie today, they are:
- Coat – Ideally, smooth on face but with longer fur at cheek and chest, indicating at least a suggestion of a collie ruff; fur long and dense over most of the body, and smooth legs below hocks, though feathers can occur.
- Muzzle – pointed and fox-like.
- Ears – semi-erect, sometimes fully erect, never low set or floppy.
- Temperament – sweet, gentle nature with no hint of aggressiveness or hyperactivity, sagacious.
Note: This is nothing more than a proposal, any and all comments, suggestions and criticisms are welcome here. The more input we receive the better, use the comment section at the bottom of this page to contribute to the discussion.
Head: Moderate length, neither too long like modern Rough Collies, nor too short like some lines of English Shepherd, with a moderate and well defined stop. No pick-headed types. Not overly narrow.
Muzzle: A sharp, fox-like muzzle should be the goal of any breeding program, however a moderately broad muzzle is acceptable as long as it is not overly short. Flews should show no sloppiness or drooping.
Eyes: Variable from round to almond with a slight oblique set, never should eyes be overly small. Eyes should express shrewd intelligence, and willingness to please.
Ears: Small, lying close to the head when relaxed and standing erect or partly erect when on alert. Never should ears be overly long or droopy showing any inclination towards hound or spaniel ears.
Neck: Strong, reasonable length and arched.
Body: Slightly long compared with height, back firm with a slight rise over loins; ribs well sprung, chest deep, fairly broad behind shoulders.
Tail: Moderately long with sweep toward end. Natural bobtails are acceptable up to eight inches long. Gay tails are acceptable.
Gait: Viewed from the front at a fast trot, front feet stay close together. Hindlegs powerful with plenty of drive. A reasonably long stride is desirable and should be light and appear effortless.
Coat: Over 2″ in length, most abundant on tail, breeches, mane and frill, smooth on face, front of forelegs and below the hocks. The longer and heavier coat is a distinguishing characteristic of the Scotch Collie helping to differentiate it from other, closely related breeds.
Color: Predominate colors are sable, tri-color (black, tan and white), black and white and blue merle, any combination thereof is acceptable.
Size: Height: 20 – 24″, weight: 35 – 65#, lean and fit condition.
Temperament: Gentle, caring, not high strung at all, friendly yet reserved with strangers, eager to obey, of above average intelligence. Content to lie about when not needed but ready to spring into action at a minutes notice. This is the most important item of all for it was the Scotch Collie’s temperament more than its beauty that made them so popular 100 years ago. This breed may serve well on a farm herding livestock for the same reasons it may serve well in town playing with children, bidability, sagacity and reciprocity. Any unjustified aggression should disqualify a dog.
More reading: Some of the historical sources on which this standard is based are listed below.
- The Shepherd’s Dog – 1829
- British Rural Sports – 1875
- What Did the Pre-Dog Show Scotch Collie Look Like?
A couple thoughts… I’m glad your size range only goes up to 65 pounds since all the early records suggest the original collies were pretty small. Selection for show and over here in the states where there were larger predators made larger dogs more common but in Watson’s The Dog Book and other places it’s obvious the early collies were large Sheltie size.
Why no black and tans. Again, that is probably the most common of the early collie color. Sable was quite rare. Merle was also common. But both in working and early show lines the B&T was very prominant.
Temperament – the original collies were quite sharp and generally unfriendly to people who weren’t their people. Treacherous was a word fairly often applied. Not that I’m advocating selection for this trait, mind you, but it is the historical temperament.
Jan
Thanks for the feedback.
You are right, collies today are much larger than in previous times, but so are humans, much of this can no doubt be attributed to better nutrition.
I don’t think black and tan was intentionally left out, it would no doubt be covered by the phrase “any combination thereof is acceptable”. But good luck finding one of these.
It is my belief that “treacherous” was nothing more than a negative stereotype that the breed had, and not an actual breed characteristic. As evidence I submit the wealth of stories about the scotch collie on this website, no evidence of a treacherous nature is found here. Some breeds in our day suffer with negative stereotyping, Rottweilers for example. However, being unfriendly to people not their people is certainly acceptable and quite common, I believe the phrase “reserved with strangers” would allow for a certain amount of that sort of behavior. I for one prefer my dogs to be unfriendly to strangers until I tell them it is okay.
What a wonderful site you have! I’ve so enjoyed exploring both the site and the origins of the modern collie breeds. I have a few comments on the draft, since you asked. I had shelties for 25 years, and despite the horrible overbreeding and poor breeding of these dogs, they are absolutely stellar when you obtain them from an ethical, responsible breeder. Re Temperment: A good sheltie is NOT yappy, excitable, nervous or genetically shy, and these are completely in opposition to the breed standard. Although many shelties are not good with children, the larger ones seem to be less skittish around toddlers. One of the nicest sheltie characteristics is that they’ll work or play as long as you will and can be trained to do almost anything around a farm including varmint hunting, but are happy to lie around and veg when not busy. They especially like piles of laundry…
Re Head Type: Shelties are supposed to have a head shaped like “a blunt wedge” either longer or more triangular, with a small but definite stop that looks much like the old scotch collie photos. I have seen exactly the head type you’re looking for in a few oversize shelties; modern rough collies were crossed into at least one sheltie line as recently as the 1960s, plus shelties do not breed true for size in the desired size range of 13-16 inches at the shoulder. If you are yourself establishing a bloodline and not just a registry, you might consider including some sheltie crosses should you come across a larger (16″ and up) dog that fits your mental picture. As for a foxy look, English shelties (and collies too?) have a much foxier look than those from North America. I would caution against having too “sharp” a muzzle – this can lead to undershot lower jaws which can cause health problems. You can have a sharpish muzzle and still have good underjaw. Re Gait: On many of the Farm Collie sites, it seems like a LOT of the dogs, whether English Shepherds or other, have very straight rear angulation. Dogs with a primary gait of the trot, like collies and most other shepherds, need some angulation in the rear so that they don’t tire as easily. You might consider stipulating some angulation, even if you don’t want to get too specific about it. The sheltie standard actually states what angles the bones should have in relation to each other for both front and rear conformation, but I don’t know that that level of detail is necessary. If a dog can work all day long, that’s the test. Re Eye shape: Personally, I find that a round eye is not nearly so expressive or pretty as an almond shaped eye. That’s just my preference, though. Re Color: Would you consider adding white as a color? Color-headed whites have no genetic defects and this is an established collie color (it’s also in shelties but due to politics in the ASSA a few decades back, they cannot be shown in conformation.) There are no genetic problems associated with color-headed whites. Your description above would imply that sable merles would be allowed, which is fine, but be aware that these are difficult to detect as adults; if bred to another merle, either sable or blue, then double merle pups can result and usually have vision, hearing or other serious health problems. I only mention this because it isn’t mentioned anywhere that I could find on your site. Like Jan, I also vote to have black and tan allowed! OK, I will stop now since I’m sure you’re tired of reading this!!