Collie Dog Owners


Written by CDO Member, Gene of Dune Collies

You have decided to buy your first show puppy, who we will refer to as a prospect. Why a prospect you ask? Well, no breeder can guarantee that any particular puppy will retain the beautiful features that you see at that particular moment when you choose. What they can tell you is how the line develops and how they hope your prospect will turn out.

Let’s start with the basics:

THE HEAD

• Is it balanced? The head shouldn’t be either too large or too small. It needs to fit with the rest of the body. It should also have two parallel planes.
• Is the stop correctly placed? The stop should be placed starting at the inside corner of the eyes.
• How much under jaw and finish does it have? The muzzle should be well filled with a full
under jaw. The finish should be blunt but not square.


• Are the eyes correctly placed? The eyes should be placed obliquely to give them the required forward outlook. Placement too close or too far to the side of the head will not give a pleasing expression.
• Are the ears correctly placed? The ears should be placed on top of the head, and be neither too large nor too small. If you look at your puppy head-on are the inside edges of the ears lined up with the outside corner of the eyes. If so, you have proper ear placement.
• Do the ears tip correctly? The ear should tip forward and not to the side. According to the standard ¼ of the ear should tip. Any more than that you may have low breaking ears. Ears that lay off to the side (hound dog-ears) are hard to correct. The leather of the ears should be supple and not too heavy.
• Is the head, face on, wedge-shaped? When looking at your puppy face on, you should be able to see a wedge shape. Place your hands on either side of the head and then look at the shape. If the picture is V-shaped then the
back skull is too wide. Slide your hands along the wedge, do the sides of the face feel smooth? If so everything is in it’s proper place. If not, you may have some ledgyness. This is not a huge fault. According to the standard, both in front and profile view the head bears a general resemblance to a well-blunted lean wedge, being smooth and clean in outline and nicely balanced in proportion.


• Is the bite correct? The standard requires the collie to have a scissors bite. That means that the top teeth slightly overlap the bottom teeth. An even bite is where the top & bottom teeth meet, undershot is where the lower teeth project beyond the upper teeth and overshot means that the top teeth project beyond the lower teeth.

THE BODY

• Is it balanced, not to long or short? This generally can explain it self. Just keep in mind, some people like a slightly longer back and some like a slightly square looking dog. This is your personal preference.
• Are the rear legs cow hocked? This means that the rear feet are actually pointing east and west and the hocks are trying to meet in the middle. Some puppies have a tendency to stand this way when relaxed, so remember to look beyond that and have someone move the puppy to see how they stand after stopping.
• Are the front feet facing forward? The front feet should face forward no matter what. If you have a puppy whose feet are facing east & west you could have a problem. They can be trained to stand correctly with a lot of hard work.
• Are the feet oval shaped? You are looking for a nice oval shape with the toes well arched and fitting tightly together. Flat feet, yes dogs do have them, or splayed feet are not desirable. When someone looks at your dog and says “nice feet” then you can be assured that they are correct. (Let me tell you the story behind that one sometime).
• Is the tail set correctly? Take hold of the end of the tail and pull it straight out behind the dog, level with the top of the dog’s back. Lay your hand on the top of the rump, palm down. Stroke from the rump out to the end of the tail. Is there a slight dip just before the tail joins the body, or just a straight line? A slight dip is necessary for a slanting croup and a good tail set. A straight line would indicate high tail carriage and choppy rear movement.
• Are the hocks too long or too short? In order to determine this, try this little test. Find the point of the hip, and then the butt bone (ischium). There should be a slight slope from the hip to the butt. Now fold the rear leg up tight. The hock joint should be on the same line as the ischium. If the hock comes out farther than the ischium, the hock is too long; if it does not come out to the ischium it is too short.
• Is the shoulder placement correct? From the withers (top of the shoulder), the shoulder blades should slope at a 45-degree angle forward and downward to the shoulder joints.

THE GAIT



While the puppy should single-track, at this stage of the game they could be doing almost anything. The best way to check is to place the puppy on pavement and get their feet wet. Then trot the puppy in a straight line, or as straight as you can get, then check the paw prints. The front feet should be one in front of the other with the back feet following. Until the puppy has grown up a little you will see all kinds of things that they do when gaiting. Just be patient and wait it out.



YOUR EYE

This is truly the only way to choose a puppy. Your Breeder may make his/her recommendations, but you are the one that has to live with the puppy. Listen to what they have to say, follow the few guidelines above, and then chose your puppy. Remember, there are no guarantees that your puppy will turn out to be a show puppy. There are just too many variables to deal with to make those guarantees. The most perfect puppy may not like to show, and one that isn’t perfect may have the world’s greatest showmanship. Genetics is a gamble, You role the dice and sees what you get.

Have fun choosing your puppy, if you don’t see one you like try somewhere else. I will offer this advice…..if you contact a breeder about looking at puppies and make arrangements to do so, keep that appointment! If for any reason you can’t, make sure you contact the breeder in plenty of time to cancel. If you decide not to buy from that breeder, be honest! Don’t say you’ll think about it. If you are serious about the showing game, the breeder is going to be your best friend. Therefore, don’t jerk them around. Playing games, kennel hopping and making promises that you aren’t going to keep will only get you in trouble…and believe me, breeders do communicate with each other!