Scotch Collie

Scotch Collie

Adult tri-color AKC Scotch Collie

Domestic dog (Canis lupus familiaris)

The Scotch Collie evolved as a landrace breed of dog that originates mainly from pastoral regions of England, Scotland and Wales. It is likely that they were descended from a variety ancient herding dogs dating back to the Rome occupation. Earliest references are spelled as "cooley", "coaly" and "colley" dogs, and there are varying opinions as to why they were called such.

A diligent review of dogs depicted as "Scotch Collie" leading up to 1900 reveals the nature of a landrace breed. The variety of types includes a broad spectrum, both in British Isles and across the western world. Images drawn by a vast array of artists seldom depict them identical. To a novice one might think the artists were wrong in their interpretation or that images weredrawn poorly however such is not the case. All landrace breeds of animals share a certain appearance, but never with the modern concept of "breeds". They had a different approach to their animals than the typical aristocratic breeder. Their dogs were a vital part of his survival, and were critical to the success in his work. The collie dog became the way it was because it was bred solely for purpose. The pedigree seldom went past 3 generations, and until the kennel clubs began they were never bred for appearance. These men couldn't afford to take a chance on investing years on a dog. Pups were only kept from proven dogs. Breeding a dog before being proven was too expensive. Modern AKC breeders will start a female at 6 months or 1 year. This creates a breeding style that circumvents the ability to have a dog proven in health and service. Landrace dogs become naturally hardy because their appearance means nothing to their survival, rather what they can provide, how easy they are to keep, and healthy they remain. This is called Function over Form and was how all dog breeds originated.

The AKC chose the name of Scotch Collie for their initial breed club. They chose from the existing population of landrace collie dogs then created an arbitrary breed standard that they chose to breed for. This standard was not a description of a typical Scotch Collie but was and is in fact, the breeders idea of what their ideal should be. These standards have changed constantly over the first hundred years of the kennel club. Eventually the AKC dropped the "Scotch" and chose to call them Rough/Smooth collies in an attempt to differentiate their dogs from the "common" Scotch collie.

Over the years, other breed clubs were created who chose to pick a variety of Scotch Collie from the landrace and breed them toward a narrow breed standard set forth by the organization.

Scotch Collie descendants include several breeds such as the Border Collies, English Shepherds, Australian Shepherds, and Shetland Sheepdogs. All descend from dogs pulled from the landrace of Scotch collie dogs and were bred using kennel club breeding practices to meet certain looks. While many branches of the scotch collie were pulled from the landrace breed, the original landrace dog began to suffer from a lack of stewardship, but luckily has still survived on rural farms and ranches across the world. These lines are usually from dogs who were never associated with the kennel clubs.