Rough collie is one of the most interesting and universal dog breeds. It is an outstanding beauty, genuine nobility, a gentle and intelligent and noble animal with a sense of dignity and superiority with top intellect and at the same time, it’s a working dog, sturdy, healthy and absolutely undemanding to the living conditions.
A collie will look splendid both in the aristocratic sitting-room, sitting up on its place and conquering the hosts and the guests with its tranquility and grace, and on a patch near a country house, as a guard, a sheppard or simply as a companion.
Collies come from Scotland, where up to the 19th century they were used exclusively as working sheppard dogs. The severe climate of Scotland made collie very sturdy, able to endure substantial physical loads and most unfavorable weather conditions. The various nature of work developed the natural intellect of collie.
Looking after the herd made a collie a dog with a profound understanding of its own utility and a feeling of utter happiness carrying out some job. A collie is a calm, patient dog, a kind of dog-philosopher - that has a subtle insight. It is a personality that chooses to think on its own rather than to obey orders in a difficult situation.
In my opinion, a rough collie is an ideal family dog, especially for a family with children. Collies are very convenient to keep.
The puppies of this breed don’t need tail or ears reduction, as well as all other cosmetic operations. Taking care of the gorgeous fur of the collie is surprisingly simple and not onerous at all. You only need to brush the hair once a month with a massage brush. You shouldn’t wash a collie more than 1-2 times a year. The structure of hair is such that frequent washing and brushing does harm, not good to the dog. A collie’s hair consists of thick and dense undercoat and relatively rough, straight barb. The undercoat is closely attached to the skin protecting it from soiling, moisture, cold and heat. The thick, long barb completely covers the undercoat forming the shape of the dog. It is, actually, one more barrier to dirt and moisture. The barb structure is such that if never makes plicas and it tends to self-clean.
That is why a collie always has a presentable look. Very often the passers-by think that you have just spent a few hours, doing the hair of your dog. You can imagine their surprise when they learn, that you last combed your dog 2 weeks ago and it never had a wash!
A collie molts once a year and it is absolutely harmless for the apartment or the owners. The first to come off is the undercoat. But it doesn’t fall at once; it stays hanging on the barb, thus keeping for up to 2 weeks. The owner should only get a brush fluff-stripper and take the undercoat off the hair. The undercoat of a collie is very valuable. It can be spun and used to knit very warm, medical and beautiful things. You can’t do it? Don’t get upset. There will be no end to the people willing to purchase the fluff of collie from you. The barb falls out completely only after a bitch has given birth to puppies. The young dogs at the age of 12-15 months lose it partly. In other cases (concerning males) the loss of barb is very slight.
The high mental ability of collie is legendary. They say collies’ brain is next to a human’s. Indeed, most of collie owners literally humanize their pets. They treat them as a family member, have talks with them and even ask for their advice. A collie enjoys playing the role given. It easily remembers a lot of words and phrases. It has a fantastic insight into intonation. The collie owners never communicate with their pets through orders; they use only common words and phrases.
Bringing up a collie is next to bringing up a child.
We can’t but mention one more peculiarity of a collie – its temperament is amazingly plastic and fluent. A collie puppy grows up just the kind its owner wants him to be willingly or unwillingly. Collies adore being pleased with and they are eager to foresee the wish of their master. Besides, they adjust to the way of life of the family they live with.
If the owners are retired people even a young collie will be dignified and phlegmatic.
In the young, active family with children a collie will be playful, active up to its old years.
Living in a city flat even a small puppy fries to keep clean and to observe order. Collies are not fussy and don’t bark much, they don’t tend to spoil the things and make a mess of a flat when the owners are away. In rainy weather they will patiently wait in the corridor for their master to take off his overcoat and wipe their feet. Only then will they enter the room.
You can keep your collie outdoors all the year round in an open-air cage if you live in the country. Russian winters are no fright for them. It’s good to give a collie much freedom, ideally the whole patch. You should never keep a collie chained!
Continuous communication with a man is crucial for this breed.
Collies are excellent guards. They have a very subtle hearing. A stranger in your patch will be noticed at once. He will be barked at and even bitten. Collies are very tender and gentle dogs but only for their nearest and dearest, for those who they know and remember. A rough collie is loved and enjoys popularity in various countries, as well as in Russia.
We have been keeping and breeding them for several years. We can’t help being amazed at the variety of virtues these dogs have. In our house there have always lived and are living various breeds, but collies are always come unrivalled.
Our hearts have long been conquered; collies have gained their place in them forever!
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