Mary Allen
The Collie – a friendly, intelligent, and loyal partner. The most well-known form of the breed is the Rough Collie. It is listed in FCI Standard No. 156 and belongs to the herding and cattle dogs in group 1 and the shepherd dogs in section 1. According to this, the collie is a herding dog.
#1 Known as the Rough Collie in Britain, the history of the dog begins as early as the 13th century.
Initially, the breed was mainly distributed in Scotland. The dogs supported the shepherds in the Scottish high moors in tending the Colley sheep, which are typical in Scotland. This is also where the name of the herding dogs comes from. They were first called Colley Dogs, which later evolved into the name Collie.
#2 During a visit to Scotland, the British Queen Victoria became aware of the animals.
She discovered her love for the breed and encouraged her breeding. For generations, collies remained the ancestral dogs of the royal family. Queen Victoria regularly gave away dogs she bred to other European royal families and to diplomats. In doing so, she contributed to the international spread of the breed. British emigrants finally brought the Collies to America and Australia, where later their own lines and standards developed.
#3 The first Collie Club was founded in 1840 by members of the English nobility.
They promoted recognition of the breed and were successful in doing so in 1858. The first breed standards of British collies can be traced back to the male Old Cocki, presented at a dog show in 1871. His descendants in the fourth generation formed the basis for today's FCI standard.