BC Museum: Smooth Coated Border Collies

THE BORDER COLLIE MUSEUM Permanent Collection

SMOOTH-COATED BORDER COLLIES

Note on the Color Pages: --PLEASE READ--

Up till now, I have accepted photos of people's dogs and have put them up on the appropriate pages when I have had the time. However, these pages are getting enormously large, for which there is a cost associated in both time and money (space costs). Furthermore, I have accumulated an enormous backlog of photos that I have not had time to put up, and given the size of the website in general, and the fact that I would like to expand it in other areas, I have not had the time to update the color pages.

So, sadly, I have come to the conclusion that I must cut back the existing pages by removing some photos and leaving only those that best represent particular colors or patterns; and I will no longer be accepting photos of other people's dogs for publication on this website except from time to time if a perfect example and a great photo comes along. . To those of you who have sent photos that have not yet gone up, I apologize for never having gotten to them.

Still, I have to say that I enjoy getting photos of your dogs and seeing for myself the huge variety there is in the breed. So, if you would like to continue sending me photos, and continue to correspond with me, I would like that very much, and am still available to answer any color questions you may have to the best of my ability.

Thank you for your support on the subject of color genetics in the Border Collie.

-- Carole Presberg, editor and curator, Border Collie Museum

Border Collies come in two coat types, rough and smooth, but actually also everything inbetween (for example, if you breed a smooth-coated Border Collie with a rough-coated Border Collie that has a very heavy, long coat, all the pups will have coats inbetween the two parents' types of coats, so that you will get some that could be described as rough or moderate rough, and some that could be described as smooth. Both types of coat come in all the colors and color patterns that we show on our website. Here we have a very handsome smooth-coated tricolored dog named Willow, who belongs to Julie Poudrier of Eizabeth City, North Carolina. Of Willow, Julie says "We are currently competing at the novice level in ISDS-style trials and will soon be moving up to the pro-novice level. She's a very iintense dog who loves to drive."

Keeley is a 10-month-old semi-smooth red and white Border Collie belonging to 15-year-old Chloe Meeks from Napa, California. Notice how dark-colored she is. Most red Border Collies are born this dark but lighten with age and/or exposure to the sun. Some stay this dark all their lives. Chloe says that Keeley looks the same indoors and out. Keeley comes from a cattle ranch and her parents and littermates all work stock.

At left is Tiara, belonging to Ann Marie Hill from New York State. She is a smooth-coated, red and white 4-year-old female from herding lines. Ann Marie got her from a farm in Lockport, New York, in July 2000.

Left is Teddy, a very classic example of a smooth-coated tricolored Border Collie. Teddy is almost 2 years old and belongs to Bill and Marty Foss of Lothian, Maryland.

Black-and-white Fenn (Westwood Fenn), left in the photo at left, belonged to the editor of this site, Carole Presberg, but now belongs to Kathy and Craig Chittenden of Stephensville, New York. She earned her Flyball Dog Champion title (FDCh) while still with us, and with the Chittendens she is going on to excell in Agility.