Collies are known as being clean dogs, without a doggy odor.  However, when taken care of, no dog, collie or not, should have an odor.  Dogs typically smell because their owners don’t pay attention to dog grooming.  Just like humans, if a dog is allowed to go for days and days without “cleaning”, they will definitely smell “like a dog”. 

 The biggest cause of smells are:

~ Buildup in the Ears:  mites, earwax, dirt, and infection can be hiding in the ears, especially ears of those breeds that droop down.  Dirty ears emit a rotton odor from many feet away!

~ Dirt on the fur:  during daily play, dogs accumulate dirt on their coat.  Not brushing a dog regularly leaves this dirt on the fur – and it travels down to the skin where it gets wet and begins to smell bad.

~ Infection:  a foul smell on a dog can mean an infection or disorder on the inside (clogged bowels, pus, worms, open wounds, etc).

~ Doggy Breath: buildup on teeth, improper digestion caused by bad settling food, a dead animal that the dog just found outdoors and chewed up, etc.

~ Uncleaned Urine on Carpets:  doggy homes usually smell bad due to urine that has seeped through to the carpet pad where owners cant clean – not because of the dog (although if the dog is unclean, he will add to the smell!)

~ Bits of dried poop stuck on the backends of long haired doggies – something rough collie owners must pay attention to!

99% of all so-called “bad” doggy smells can be eliminated by keeping the dog clean, brushed and healthy.   

You should consider your female collie to be “in season” for 21 days: 7 days coming into heat, 7 days in heat, 7 days going out.   Conception is most likely during the middle 7 days - but remember, Mother Nature doesn’t always follow the rules. Confine your pet for the entire 3 weeks, especially if it’s her first heat.  Due to their larger size, female collies typically come into heat 2 times a year, or once every 6 months or so.

While she’s in heat, you can have her wear a specially made store-bought doggy diaper with pad inserts or, in a pinch, you fashion one yourself with an old towel (be sure to cut a slit for her tail!), velcro, and an old balled up rag.

Actually, it is a myth that dogs are colorblind! In the past, it was assumed that since dogs weren’t able to distinguish between as many colors as humans, that they therefore only saw in black and white. However, recent scientific studies has shown that dogs do have a varied range of colored vision although it’s not as wide as the human’s color spectrum.

Collie Rescue is basically various no-kill animal shelters that are dedicated solely to the collie breed. Unfortunately there are collies, for one reason or another, who no longer have a home. Collie Rescue groups takes in those collies, tends to their housing / food / medical needs, and places them in a foster home of trusted volunteers until someone comes along to adopt the collie. To learn more about collie rescue, you can visit the rescue portion of our site which includes links to numerous rescue organizations around the USA.

Besides the general dog stuff (such as food, shelter, fresh water, companionship, and exercise), a collie owner would need to know that collies are sometimes very “nippy” due to their herding instincts, they love to “mouth” things and put their long lovely noses everywhere!  Some collies have also been reported to have a habit of herding everything they see - small animals, children, other pets, etc.  Because of the job they were bred to do (herd sheep) they also are a very vocal breed, given to incessant barking if not properly trained.  With proper guidance from a loving owner though, these collie traits should not be a huge problem.

Most definitely!  The collie is prized as being one of the friendliest, most adaptable, and most caring dog breeds. 
Their gentle nature, sweet spirit, and drive to please humans make them wonderful family dogs.

It is believed that the collie originated from the hills of Scotland centuries ago.

No. The rough and smooth collie are both judged using the same set of breed standards. Its just that one has long hair and the other has short!

No!  This is actually a smooth collie.  There are 2 main varieties of collie coats - the rough collie, which has the familiar long bushy “lassie” coat, and then the smooth collie which has very short hair like a Doberman or Dalmatian does. Featured below is a sable/white smooth collie.