Bearded Collie

Beardie kin have been herding and droving in the Scottish Highlands and Lowlands, respectively, since the 18th and 19th Centuries. Collie means sheepdog in Scotland. If you look beneath the beard, you might find genes of the Magyar Komondor and the Polski Owczarek Nizinny, the Polish lowland sheepdog. We're as heavy as we appear look under all that coat -- just 44 to 66 pounds, standing 21-22 inches at the shoulder. And our ultimate coat coloration (black, slate, dark fawn, blue, shades of grey, with or without white) won't be certain until around the age of three. Besides herding, Beardies make good guard dogs, and our sensitive sniffers help us hunt for truffles -- not that we get to eat the fungal delicacies. The Bearded Collie was recognized by the AKC in 1876.

• Affectionate, devoted family friend
• Born to run, happy to walk
• Busy is better than bored
• Coat needs regular care
• Confident and self-assured
• Courageous canine
• Even-tempered, good-natured

• Intelligent and ready to learn
• Lives to work
• Loves kids and vice-versa
• Outdoors enthusiast
• Pleased to please
• Caters to the country, tolerates town
• Ready to romp
• Socialization and training must start early
• Sweet disposition
• Takes to training
• A welcomer, not a watchdog

Please be there when I play -- maybe a little rambunctiously and mindlessly -- with children. They can't resist my shaggy fur and goofy grin, and I can't help herding them together for some fun. After the romp, when we're all settled down, you can all help brush my coat.

Possible hip dysplasia, Addison's disease, allergies, and eye disorders.