Mini Collie? AKC says so.

"Little (or Toy, or Mini, or Wee) Collie" does make sense, especially if you think of "Collie" not as a breed but as a general category of useful dog, like "Terrier"... so we have Bearded Collies, Border Collies, Rough Collies, Smooth Collies, and (towards the end of the Herding Group lineup) Little Collies.
 
danisgoat said:
I am one of those people who really don't get upset when someone calls my girls a mini-collie. I tell them the correct breed, but honestly I am just happy they took an interest in my dog.

Anyway...I am resurrecting this thread, as I got an email this morning from tri-state sheltie rescue and I thought this was an interesting read. I wanted to share it here:

We thought this was pretty interesting - We had an email from a young girl wanting to not foster, but walk, hang out and play with the "collies' with her friends. WELL, turned out Chiara was not in the United States, but was from the SHETLAND ISLANDS! She told me that Shelties are oftentimes called little Collies there and I asked her to send me a photo of her last Sheltie whose name was Cassy for us to post. Look at Cassy coat - it seems so much more dense then our females and her ruff is so, so much lion like. The weather is very harsh most of the time in the Shetland Islands, Chiara said, lots of rain and wind, just like we read that the Sheltie coat is made for,

Just thought this was so cool, had to share! Thanks Chiara for sharing Cassy with us!
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That is so interesting, Dani! Thanks for sharing it. What a difference between the look of the "Shetland" sheepdogs and ours! Fascinating. I'm with you...it never bothers me when people ask about my mini Collies. It's an opportunity to introduce them to Shelties and what counts IMO is that they like my dog!
 
I am the same Ann. It doesnt bother me when someone calls them "mini collies". I just politely tell them that they are Shelties but do have Collie in their background..my feeling is that the person liked them enough to comment on my two and I leave it at that.
 
Annie Laurie says, "You can call me anything as long as you don't call me late for dinner!" :lol:
 
Chris said:
Annie Laurie says, "You can call me anything as long as you don't call me late for dinner!" :lol:
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Ha! :lol:

Yes, the collie and Sheltie temperament is different and the breed standard has different bone structure, but you can't deny that shelties and collies look a like. It's not like compacting shelties to greyhounds. Collies, border collies, Australian shepherds all have a similar appearance, especially to someone who isn't knowledgable about dog breeds. I take no offense in a stranger confusing my dog for a different breed. I just politely correct them and explain the difference.

In fact, there was a collie at my dog club yesterday. I was petting him and told his owner that have his mini-me at home. Because he does look like the giant version of my dog. And when I see Australian Shepherds or Border Collies, I say I have their cousin. :wink2:
 
Just as long as people are not saying loudly behind your back "What a horrible person for breeding such a tiny collie -- it's not the way the breed was intended".

Which is what I get every time my naturally bob-tail shepherd goes out. People have called me names behind my back for docking his tail. Sigh. I would take "what is it?" over "you are a bad person!"

I am really surprised that people don't know there are two breeds (collie/sheltie) even if the lines sometimes are blurry with large shelties or ones colored more like a BC or an aussie traditionally is.

You just wait -- I am sure someday I will have someone argue because shelties are brown and not black tri so Melli must be an aussie, aussies are tricolor like that. I haven't taken Melli that many places yet.
 
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