The Bearded Collie

This article was originally published in Showsight Magazine, October 2013 issue.

The Bearded Collie

There are many responses when people see a Bearded Collie for the first time. “What is that?” “How much time do you have to spend brushing?” “What a great dog!” That is the correct response and happily the one I hear most often. The Beardie is an aristocrat among dogs, which is quite something since their appearance thousands of years ago was as a lowly dog working livestock for the nomadic herding peoples of Central Asia. When those nomadic herders settled in the Middle East, believed to be where sheep originated, they kept their dogs with them. These dogs were selected for their skill in gathering and driving many kinds of animals: horses, yaks, camels, sheep, cows, for guarding herds and family, and for their hardiness.

The Armant of Egypt is possibly a working ancestor of the Bearded Collie. Shaggy herding dogs, travelling with migrations of nomadic settlers from the east arrived in Britain across a land mass, now gone. Then in the early 1500s a momentous event occurred and, more astonishingly, it was recorded. A Scottish shepherd, trading sheep for grain with a Polish ship captain, saw the captain’s Polish sheep dogs move only designated sheep from a huge flock onto his ship. A trade was made that brought the Polish Lowland Sheepdog into the lineage of the indigenous shaggy herders of Scotland. Hardy, intelligent, loyal and independent, the ‘Beard’ or Bearded Collie, emerged and became the dominant herding and driving dog of the hills of Scotland.

Ok, hardy you say? Yes, a lithe, strong dog, with a weatherproof harsh coat and warm undercoat. A coat that fends off burrs, rain and snow, and has shaggy bangs that protect dark mystical eyes. In fact, it’s common for male Beardies to wish to stay outside in wind and cold. The girls, not so much.

Intelligent are they? Oh my yes! They’re reputed to have been able to drive a herd of sheep 458 miles from Scotland down to Smithfield Market with a rally team of shepherds. Then, sent to find his own way home, the Beardie retraced his route, stopping at each pub he’d visited on the way south for a hand out.

Loyal? Absolutely. To his family, caring for each, watching over each, and protecting all with his alertness and vociferous bark. The Beardie’s independence is a categorical component of his many parts. For millennia he has worked both with and without his leader, bringing the entire flock from the steep, craggy hills-a job he does largely with his voice. He chooses his path in snow and storms, always considering his choices with or without guidance, these skills translate into a proud and sometimes strong-willed housemate and partner.

Yes? Well, how is he to live with? Ah, the Beardie at home. Lively? Perhaps rambunctious is closer. Friendly? After a very animated and vocal greeting, remember his ancient job guarding, he is delighted with everyone who visits and knows they came to see him. Good with children, puppies and kittens, he may herd them carefully to his chosen spot and have a cuddle. Beardies are clever and witty. Known to open gates, doors, and crates, then appear where you are with élan and delight in himself. When a Beardie smiles, which is frequently, he has an Irish twinkle in his beautiful eyes-makes it very hard not to smile with him. Those characteristics bring him big wins in the show ring and a huge fan following. Female Beardies have all the same abilities and characteristics, but exercise their skills with elegance and finesse that often mask wily subterfuge. Should an irate owner find the lamb roast reduced to a few gristly lumps, a Beardie girl’s adoring eyes and embarrassed demeanor usually beguile her owner. Clever wench that she is, she follows that up with a lavish show of devoted, meaty kisses. A Beardie bitch is Sarah Bernhardt and Anna Pavlova on four tidy feet, and expects to get her way.

Beardies excel at sports. Agility requires the sure-footed, devil-may-care abilities typical of these adroit athletes. In 2012, at the prestigious Eukanuba competition, a marvelous Beardie won the 20″ class over a competitive field of powerful Border Collies, a breed believed to have been developed from Scottish Beardies along the ‘border’ with England.

Despite their common ancestry, these two breeds are not alike in structure or temperament. They do share one outstanding characteristic; they need a job to do. They need to work or play or train five days a week. The drive and energy that makes them strong and bright and able, also makes them bored and frustrated if they are not thoroughly exercised most days, rain or shine, sleet or snow. Boredom results in destructive behavior. What they love best are games with an owner. Ball games, Frisbee, find the cookie, tug of war (they will win through determination), soccer, you invent it, they will play. If obedience is a sport, and I doubt it, they are less amenable. They do not care for repetition, for working too close, and for tasks they don’t see the point of. Nevertheless, a Beardie will do it, if it’s that important to the owner, and if training is full of games and excitement. It will take a bit more cheerleading to get a good result in training, and counting on regular practice to prevail in performance may lead to disappointment. Ever friendly with a crowd, a Beardie can be seen trotting gaily along ringside greeting fans while you’re conscientiously striding through the course the judge is calling out. At the end of an agility run, while onlookers clap and cheer a nice run, a Beardie has been known to race back onto the course waving his fabulous tail in glee, and risking an NQ. Mostly, judges are smiling tolerantly because “after all, it’s a Beardie!” They are adept herders, bred to use their voice, conscientious and plucky, and sometimes too enthusiastic. A Beardie may assert his own instinctual, embedded knowledge regardless of the trial course. Successful competition with a Beardie has to be built by mutual cooperation and respect, not forced.

A Bearded Collie can be very obstinate when forced, but completely amenable when he’s trained gently with praise and appreciation.

There is one event in the poignant history of the Bearded Collie that underscores the precarious gamble that brought him through an undistinguished heritage from trailing nomads in Central Asia to conquering the rugged hills of the Highlands gathering sheep, to conquering the show ring. Although the Bearded Collie was briefly glimpsed in dog book annals before the Great War, they were subsequently lost, disappearing back to working farms mostly in Scotland and Wales, unnoticed by dog fanciers. After the Second World War, because one woman became passionately attracted to the breed and determined to find them, the Bearded Collie reappeared, this time successfully brought to the fancy. Mrs. G. O. Willison rescued the Bearded Collie from obscurity in 1944 when a Bearded Collie pup arrived instead of the Sheltie she was expecting. It was five years before she was finally able to acquire a male and from these two, Jeanie of Bothkennar and Bailie of Bothkennar, all pedigreed Beardies are descended according to Mrs. Williston. Interestingly, Jeannie was brown and Bailie was black. Because of this genetic diversity, Beadies come in four colors: black, brown, fawn and blue. Pigment is to match coat, as is eye color.

A Bearded Collie must have an effortless, ground covering movement, balanced and beautiful to watch. Because he demands exercise, he is a lean well muscled dog. While the breed standard calls for him to be naturally presented, show ring competitors have begun to soften his harsh coat and trim him into an unnatural silhouette. Such dogs should be considered unfavorably with respect for his heritage and his archetypal breed standard. The Bearded Collie is an aristocrat among dogs exactly as he is and has been for over a century.

I was very fortunate to have gotten my first show Beardie in 1993 from Britannia kennel, the preeminent kennel in the US. BIS CH Britannia Good Day Sonshine willingly allowed me to succeed in conformation, agility, obedience, and herding, teaching me what I was to do, while he figured it all out with his remarkable intelligence. I made a thousand mistakes, he made none. He is a legend in the breed and irreplaceable in my heart.