Quick Links: Table of Contents
- Collie Breed Overview
- History of the Collie Breed. Where Collies came from
- What the Collie Looks Like
- How Much is the Collie Puppy?
- Best Collie Breeders
- Collie Growth
- What Colors do Collies Have?
- The Temperament of the Collie
- How Long Collies Live
- Collie Litter Size
- How Fast Collies Can Run
- Good Names for Collies
- How Intelligent are Collies?
- How Popular are Collies with New Dog Owners?
- Health Problems in Collies and How to Prevent Them
- How to Take Care of Collie
- Dog Breeds That Are Similar to Collies
- Other Things to Know About Collies
Collie Breed Overview
The Collie is a medium-sized dog.
The adult Collie stands 22 to 26 inches all at the shoulder.
The Collie belongs to the Herding Dogs group.
Dogs in the Herding Dogs group, like the Collie, were bred for moving livestock, including sheep, cattle, and even reindeer.
Herding dogs work closely with their human shepherds, and their natural intelligence and responsiveness make them highly trainable.
Herding dogs have high levels of energy, which needs to be channeled properly to prevent destructive behavior.
Herding breeds are protective of their people and property and make excellent watchdogs. Their intelligence, agility, and activity level make them well suited to dog sports.
The fact that the Collie belongs to the Herding Dogs group is one of the reasons why Collies have the personality and temperament that they have.
The temperament of the Collie is generally described as:
- Active
- Friendly
- Gentle
- Intelligent
- Loyal
- Protective
History of the Collie Breed. Where Collies came from
The Collie is a gentle and intelligent breed of dog that has its origins in the Scottish Highlands.
Collies were originally bred to herd sheep, and they are still used for this purpose today.
Collies are loyal and protective dogs that make great family pets.
They are also highly trainable and are often used in law enforcement and search-and-rescue operations.
Collies come in two varieties: the Rough Collie and the Smooth Collie.
The Rough Collie is the more common variety, and it is characterized by a long, thick coat of fur.
The Smooth Collie has a shorter coat, and it is more common in warmer climates.
CIf you are looking for a loyal and loving dog to add to your family, a Collie may be the perfect choice for you.
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What the Collie Looks Like
Collies are a type of herding dog that is typically medium to large in size.
They have long, fluffy coats that may be solid in color or may have distinct markings.
Collies are known for being intelligent and obedient, and they make great family pets.
They are also used in a variety of professional settings, such as police work, search and rescue, and assistance for people with disabilities.
Collies are typically very energetic and need a lot of exercise, so they are not well suited for small apartments or houses without a yard.
If you are looking for a loyal and loving companion, a Collie might be the perfect dog for you.
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How Much is the Collie Puppy?
The average price of a Collie puppy is $1480. The price of a Collie puppy ranges from $1000 to $1800.
A lot of factors determine the price of the Collie. These factors include what health records the Collie puppy has, the lineage of the Collie puppy, the US state the breeder is located in, etc.
To estimate how much you can expect to pay for a puppy Collie based on the many factors that determine the price of the Collie puppy, check out our calculator that lets you estimate how much you should expect to pay for the Collie puppy based on what you want in the puppy.
When looking to buy a puppy, look at buying a puppy only from well-established breeders that breed puppies primarily for the love of the Collie breed, and secondarily for profit. Do not buy a puppy from a puppy mill. Puppy mills mass-produce puppies in bad living conditions for maximum profit.
You may also consider adopting instead of buying a puppy. Adoption costs are very low compared to the price of a puppy.
Best Collie Breeders
We have researched reputable Collie breeders that you can buy a puppy.
Go to this page for our complete list of reputable Collie breeders in various states in the United States.
On this page, you will see how much these breeders sell their puppies for, and how many puppies they have available.
A few of these breeders are listed below.
Caublestone Collies
Puppy Price: Check with breeder
Zimmerman Collies of the Ozarks
Puppy Price: Check with breeder
Lovely Heart Collies
Puppy Price: Check with breeder
Hilltop Collies
Puppy Price: Check with breeder
Bedford Collies
Puppy Price: Check with breeder
Collie Growth
New Collie owners need to know about the growth of their Collies. This will help them plan their living spaces accordingly.
Also, knowing the typical growth pattern of the Collie will help new owners catch the abnormal growth of their Collie early.
See our calculator for predicting how big your Collie puppy will get. You will also learn about the typical weight of the Collie at different ages and how to catch abnormal growth in your Collie
What Colors do Collies Have?
Collies come in the following beautiful primary colors:
- Black
- Brown / Chocolate
- Sable
- Tricolor (Brown, Black, & White)
- Red / Chestnut / Orange
- White / Cream
- Apricot / Beige
- Golden
- Bicolor
- Yellow / Tan / Blond / Fawn
Collies come in the following lovely secondary colors in addition to their primary colors:
- White / Cream
- Yellow / Tan / Blond / Fawn
- Brown / Chocolate
- Black
- Brindle
The Temperament of the Collie
The temperament of the Collie based can be summarized as in the table below.
The table shows the scores of the Collie for 13 important dog behavioral factors.
We obtained these scores by analyzing raw data from the C-BARQ dog personality survey tool. The higher the score of a dog for a factor, the worse the temperament of the dog regarding that factor.
The C-BARQ tool was developed by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania, and it is a scientific tool that is used worldwide for reliably measuring the temperament of dog breeds.
See our complete analysis of the temperament of the Collie here.
| Factor | Score |
|---|---|
| Owner Directed Aggression | 6.5 percent |
| Attachment Attention Seeking | 41.1 percent |
| Energy Level | 38.7 percent |
| Dog Rivalry | 26.0 percent |
| Prey Drive | 23.9 percent |
| Stranger Directed Aggression | 19.3 percent |
| Nonsocial Fear | 17.7 percent |
| Touch Sensitivity | 17.4 percent |
| Separation Related Behavior | 16.5 percent |
| Dog Directed Aggression | 16.1 percent |
| Excitability | 14.0 percent |
| Stubbornness | 13.6 percent |
| Stranger Directed Fear | 13.0 percent |
| Dog Directed Fear | 11.4 percent |
How Long Collies Live
The lifespan of the Collie is typically from 10 to 14 years.
Moreover, a few years back, veterinarian researchers performed a scientific study to determine the lifespan of the Collie. In this study, the scientists collected data on how long 79 pet Collies lived.
From the study, it was found that Collies have an average lifespan of 12.6 years. Furthermore, the study found that it is not uncommon for Collies to live as long as 17.0 years.
Note that you need to put in some effort if you want your Collie to live long.
Collies live long if they eat well, drink well, exercise well, and visit the veterinarian regularly.
There are also dog supplements that you can give your Collie to improve your Collie`s quality of their life.
Click here to learn more about how to make your Collie live long.
Collie Litter Size
Researchers from the Norwegian School of Veterinary Science did a study where they counted the numbers of puppies in 101 different Collie birth litters.
From this study, the researchers found that the average number of puppies that Collies can have is 5 puppies. Also, the Collie can have as few as 1 puppies per litter and as many as 10 puppies per litter.
The number of puppies that the Collie will have depends on factors such as the age of the Collie, the method of pregnancy, etc.
Click here to see our calculator for predicting how many puppies your Collie will have and how the litter size of the Collie compares to the litter size of other dog breeds.
How Fast Collies Can Run
How fast a dog breed can run is a good measure of how athletic the dog breed is.
The American Kennel Club (AKC) regularly conducts dog running competitions. The AKC records the running speed of competing dogs in these competitions. These competitions are open to all dog breeds.
Based on our analysis of the speeds of 203 different Collies, the average speed of the Collie is 21.2 mph (34.2 kmph).
The fastest speed on AKC record that the Collie ran in a race is 28.14 mph (45.3 kmph) and the minimum speed on record in a race for a Collie is 6.31 mph (10.2 kmph).
Click here to see how the speed of the Collie compares to the speed of other dogs and other mammals such as cats, horses, humans, etc.
Good Names for Collies
Here are some really good names that are typical for the Collie ranked by popularity:
- Merks
- Corky
- Luka
- Copper
- Tucker
- Oscar
- Willy
- Tyler
- Shade
- Pike
How Intelligent are Collies?
| Collie | |
|---|---|
| Intelligence Rank | 16 out of 130 dog breeds |
| Trainability | Tend To Learn New Commands After 5 To 15 Repetitions |
According to Prof. Stanley Coren, a Canadian psychology professor/dog trainer, the total intelligence that a dog demonstrates is the addition of three types of intelligence. These intelligence types are:
- Instinctive Intelligence: This is the natural intelligence that comes from instinct. For example, dog breeds that have been historically bred to be guard dogs will have a high `guarding` intelligence compared to dogs that were not bred for guarding.
- Adaptive Intelligence (learning and problem-solving ability): This indicates what a dog can learn to do for himself or herself. Adaptive intelligence is specific to each dog, and not breed specific. You can improve your dog`s adaptive intelligence by investing time to train your dog.
- Working/Obedience Intelligence: This type of intelligence is breed-specific. Certain dog breeds tend to have higher working/obedience intelligence than some other breeds. This intelligence is the closest to what we might call school-learning ability and it is based upon what the dog can learn to do when instructed by humans. This type of intelligence can be measured for each dog breed and compared to that of other dog breeds.
Professor Stanley Coren measured and ranked the working intelligence of about 130 different dog breeds.
Prof. Coren found that the Collie has an obedience intelligence rank of 16 out of 130 dog breeds. Thus, Prof. Coren put Collies in the `Excellent Working Dogs` category.
This means that Collies tend to learn new commands after 5 to 15 repetitions.
However, we should mention that a dog should not be judged based on its intelligence alone. There are other important factors you need to consider when deciding on which dog breed to get. These other factors include sociability, adorability, and compatibility of the dog breed with your lifestyle.
See the intelligence ranking of some other dog breeds below:
| Breed | Intelligence Rank |
|---|---|
| Border Collie | 1 |
| Standard Poodle | 2 |
| Golden Retriever | 4 |
| Rottweiler | 9 |
| Australian Cattle Dog | 10 |
| German Shorthaired Pointer | 17 |
| Belgian Malinois | 22 |
| Chesapeake Bay Retriever | 27 |
| Samoyed | 33 |
| Dalmatian | 39 |
| Bedlington Terrier | 40 |
| American Water Spaniel | 44 |
| Bichon Frise | 45 |
| Scottish Deerhound | 47 |
| Boxer | 48 |
| Chinese Shar-Pei | 51 |
| Akita | 54 |
| Skye Terrier | 55 |
| Great Pyrenees | 64 |
| American Bulldog | 77 |
How Popular are Collies with New Dog Owners?
Every year, the American Kennel Club (AKC) publishes information on how popular a dog breed is in that particular year. The AKC gets the popularity information of a breed from how many dogs of that breed the owners register with the AKC every year. The AKC collects this data for about 200 dog breeds.
The graph below shows the popularity trend of the Collie.
The popularity of the Collie averaged over the years is Number 37 out of about 200 dog breeds.
Do not get a dog breed just because it is a popular dog breed. And do not reject a dog breed just because it is an unpopular breed.
Health Problems in Collies and How to Prevent Them
Every dog breed has its own set of health problems that it tends to develop. There is nothing like a perfect dog breed.
The Collie is prone to certain genetic health conditions. The Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) is an organization that keeps track of genetic health problems in dog breeds.
From the extensive records that the OFA keeps, the OFA knows what health problems each dog breed is naturally prone to develop.
Hence, the OFA recommends which health screening breeders should perform on a dog breed to make sure that the breeders won`t breed `defective` dog parents that can pass down defective genes to their puppy offspring.
If you want a Collie puppy that will grow up to be healthy, make sure that your Collie breeder screens your puppy or your puppy`s parents for the health problems that the OFA recommends for your puppy`s breed. This will increase the chances that your puppy is free from genetic defects.
The following are the health tests that Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) recommends that breeders should screen Collies for:
- Clear By Parentage
- Dermatomyositis
- Multiple Drug Sensitivity
- Progressive Retinal Atrophy (PRA) DNA Test
You can find out more about OFA`s recommended tests for Collies here.
How to Take Care of Collie
To take good care of your Collie, you need to make sure that you groom your Collie regularly.
Secondly, you need to find a veterinarian in your area that will routinely check the health status of your Collie regularly, and give you appropriate recommendations on your Collie`s preventative care.
Thirdly, you need to commit some time to exercise your Collie daily. Regular exercise helps improve the health and quality of life of your Collie.
Also, you need to feed your Collie high-quality dog food, and the food should be of the right amount to prevent your Collie from getting overweight or underweight.
See our recommendations on what to feed the Collie and how much food to feed the Collie at different life stages.
Finally, you need to make sure that your Collie has access to clean water all the time. See our recommendations on how much water your Collie needs to drink at different ages.
Dog Breeds That Are Similar to Collies
If you have not made up your mind on which dog breed to get, you may also want to consider some other dogs similar to the Collie.
We crunched the numbers and found that the following dog breeds that have similar behavior and temperament as the Collie:
- Keeshond (84 percent match with Collie). Learn more about the Keeshond here.
Other Things to Know About Collies
Here are some of the very important characteristics of the Collie that you need to know about the Collie breed: