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Bearded Collie
Description:
The Bearded Collie or ‘Beardie’ is an animated and cheerful member of the working dog breeds. This medium-sized shaggy coated working dog is famed for its ‘Beardie bounce’ that represents its carefree and playful attitude. Beardies are lean active dogs with long, shaggy, waterproof outer coats and soft undercoats. This collie has short hair on its nose, widely spaced intelligent-looking eyes and a long beard. The Beardies colours range for black, grey, blue to brown, with or without white markings. Male and female collies are about 20 to 22 inches at shoulder height and weigh approximately 40 to 60 pounds.
Bearded Collies are members of the American Kennel Club (AKC) Herding Dog Group.
Bearded Collie Pictures:
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History:
Beardies were previously known as Highland Collies or Highland Sheepdogs. These dogs were developed in Scotland to herd sheep and cattle. The breed almost disappeared in the early 1900’s but has had a resurgence as a show dog and family companion. The Bearded Collie was ranked 101nd out of 154 dog breeds in 2005 AKC registrations.
Temperament:
Beardies are lively and playful and are very good with children. These collies need constructive activities such as herding, hiking, jogging, biking or watching over other pets to stop them from getting bored. If these dogs don’t get lots of attention and exercise, they start to dig holes, chew things and otherwise get into trouble. Despite their success as show dogs, Beardies have not lost their herding instinct and will keep trying to herd their ‘family’ and other pets. Male collies are more outgoing while female collies seem to be calmer. Beardies are quite trainable and should receive early obedience training. Training must be done using praise and food rewards. You must employ patience and a sense of humour when this intelligent and mischievous breed thinks up ways to thwart what you are trying to teach. Beardies love to be outside even when the weather is inclement. Novice dog owners seem to do fine with this breed as long as they are prepared to make a commitment to grooming and affectionate wet-dog greetings.
Exercise:
Beardies are definitely not apartment dogs and need a fair amount of exercise and lots of attention to keep them from getting bored. These collies, with their waterproof coats, love to play outside even in wet weather and then bring the water and dirt into the house.
Grooming:
The collie’s long shaggy coat requires brushing every day. Their coat seems to knot or mat easily and these tangles must be teased out. Some owners prefer to have their dog’s coat professionally clipped every couple of months. The dense undercoat should be checked for ticks on a regular basis.
Health Issues:
Beardies live for 12 to 15 years and have no common health problems except for hip dysplasia and some blood lines have shown eye disorders such as cataracts and corneal dystrophy. Information on these genetic diseases can be found in our article Hereditary Diseases in Dogs. Prospective buyers should ask for the breeding parents Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) test results for hip dysplasia and also the Canine Eye Registry (CERF) recent ophthalmologists report for eye disorders.
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