We now have a definite Mrs G Olive Willison to thank for her opportune preservation of the bearded collie, a breed which works again no less than 500 years however just about dwindled into extinction within the Forties. Shaggy-coated, hairy-faced canine just like the bearded collie have been used for herding livestock and sheep within the Borders and Scottish Highlands for hundreds of years, and an reputable breed usual was once established in 1912. However for a fortunate revival in 1950, this breed would most probably have fizzled out.
The tale is going that at at time when the bearded collie was once extraordinarily scarce, with handiest 4 registered in 8 years, Mrs Willison asked a operating Shetland Sheepdog from a Scottish farmer. By way of glad twist of fate, he had no “Sheltie” to be had and despatched her a relatively other breed, a bearded collie, which she named Jeannie. Mrs Willison was once so taken via Jeannie that she set about searching for an acceptable mate. She discovered a Beardie-type canine on a seaside in Hove, who was once in fact searching for a house because of his proprietor’s drawing close emigration. Mrs Willison registered him as Bailie of Bothkennar, and he and Jeannie produced a muddle of domestic dogs that become the root of the fashionable bearded collie.
Nowadays’s bearded collie is a charismatic droving canine, coated from nostril to tail in a shaggy coat with lavish facial hair. There are some similarities with the Outdated English Sheepdog, even if the bearded collie is leaner and extra athletic-looking. Beardies are prone to have some roots in Ecu sheepdogs, together with the corded Hungarian sheepdog, the Komondor. Recognized for being amusing, outdoorsy, unbiased and pleasant.
Bearded collie: reality report
Kennel Membership breed team: pastoral
Dimension: medium
Day-to-day workout: no less than an hour an afternoon
Coat: lengthy, dropping
Colors: 17 other color combos, involving black, brown, blue, fawn, gray, slate – in simple, with white or tricolour.
Lifespan: greater than 12 years
Bark: Beardies use their voice when herding inventory, so this is a herbal intuition.
Unique options: the eponymous beard is shaped via the facial hair from the decrease lips, cheeks and chin expanding against the chest. All the coat is unique, being lengthy and considerable. It is composed of a comfortable, hairy, dense undercoat, with a flat, harsh and shaggy outer coat – no wooliness or curl.
Temperament: secure, sociable and clever, with a full of life, self-confident angle.
Issues to imagine: it is a lively, relatively boisterous operating canine that prospers on lots of out of doors workout: a hectic Beardie is a contented one, say breed lovers. As befits a canine that loves to be at the cross, they’ve a low boredom threshold and would possibly take pleasure in probably the most perfect long-lasting canine chews along quite a lot of task and a spotlight.
Their coats are high-maintenance. They want a handy guide a rough day by day brush to take away tangles, mats and any particles, and an extended weekly consultation with quite a few canine brushes to stay the coat and pores and skin pristine.
Coaching: Beardies have been bred to determine within the box independently, so they are able to have a cussed streak and wish quite a lot of certain reinforcement (check out coaching treats in addition to a number of reward). However like maximum sheepdog breeds, they’re clever and will readily be informed instructions with constant coaching. They flourish within the festival enviornment too, playing herding, agility and obedience competitions.
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