I ran into quite a bit of that "Collies are Dumb" attitude from trainers, that is until they saw Oz and Gull in action. Then they rephrased it to Rough Collies are Dumb, which I don't think is true either. With any breed, poor breeding, leads to a poor representation of the breed and the more popular, the higher the probability for bad breeding. Since Roughs are still leaps and bounds more popular then Smooths, there's more opportunity to run into a badly bred, Rough. Judging from the Collie lists I hang out at, with both Rough and Smooth Collies excelling in agility, herding and obedience, etc., there are quite a lot of highly intelligent Collies running around out there. There's one breeder on the list, supplying Smoothes to one of the Guide Dog organizations. In Israel, the only breed that could pass the criteria to be an Alzheimer's Service Dog, was the Collie. Somehow, I'd think Collies would have to possess some level of brainpower for them to be sought after in these types of endeavors.

As to the energy level and behaviorial issues. I view them as moderate energy level. I'm not a very active person and I've easily been able to give mine enough exercise to be calm and well behaved in the house. If they are starting to get rambunctious in the house, that's my queue to go get the frisbee and head outside to play with them for 5 or 10 mins, then they're pooped and ready to lay around while I watch TV or surf the internet. As with obedience training, you have to train good house behavior and Collies wanting so much to please you, will conform to the boundaries you set, pretty quickly. The only training issue I've ever had to really work with them on is barking, but from my observations of Shelties, they're generally more barky then the Collies, so I don't think you're gonna gain anything in that area with a Sheltie.

One big difference I've observed between the two is that the Collie seems to be more outgoing with strangers. Shelties don't seem all that gung ho to be petted by people they don't know, at least all the ones I've met. They seem to be more standoffish and have more of a serious demeanor. Collies can be quite playful, even with strangers and have a bit of a sense of humor about them. I know my agility club was quite amused when Oz, clipped my legs out from under me when I crossed in front of him. Then as I was sprawled out on the grass, he ran back and jumped on my chest, and stood there nudging me with his nose to play. And Gull is even more of a character. I sometimes view him as having a 80lb terrier.

Anywho, I love Shelties too and would love to own one someday, maybe when I'm too old for as big of a dog as a Collie. So my talking up of Collies was in no way meant as a talking down about Shelties. I think they're great lil' dogs. Highly intelligent and devoted to their people.

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