Collie question

[UphillDoc 278]

I notice when folks from the UK talk of colliex dogs its almost a given they will be soft. Are most your pure collies soft dogs? Here we have "sheep bred" and "cow bred" collies. The "sheep bred" dogs have a ton of eye and dont use their mouth much. The "cow bred" collies are much harder dogs, with less eye. Some have had Bull, Kelpie, Heeler etc...added at some point, but aside from working style are hard to tell apart from a "sheep bred" collie. I think a "cow bred" type colliex would make a dog plenty hard for fox, and anything else they might encounter over there. I wouldnt be afraid to use one on coyotes here, as they bring tons of brains and stamina. Hell I know of bear dogs with a dash of collie in them, and they got plenty of grit. Whats the story on your collies?

 

Take care.

[digger63 3]

Doc there seems to be a lot of variation in collie crosses here even in the same litter,i bred a litter of welsh hill collie x greyhounds about 8 yrs ago,we kept the biggest dog pup [rangey rather than heavy] he has the softest temprament you could imagine and hardly any fight in him.

 

His litter brother not quite as tall but heavier build is very game and nearly killed a full grown staffy when he was 2,although he isnt a really bad fighter as a rule im told.

 

After breeding a litter myself i wouldn't do it again if i had fox in mind,you just couldn't guarantee the tempraments to do it imo,

 

A mate had a collie x grey x pitt/grey and it was lethal on fox but brought rabbits back to hand alive,even when it had just killed a fox 10 minuits before,saw it a few times.

 

All in all collie can be a good ingrediant but personally i wouldnt want more than a 1/4 in my dogs,to variable.hope thats useful.

[Brimmer 220]

Get a good collie cross, and you have a crack at a dog which probably has more brains than the owner!

 

How many dogs will still walk off the hill at 14 yrs old without a scratch!

Edited April 10, 2009 by Brimmer

[Guest hornman]

spiderpig has a pure collie that will take out on ,abit old now but a handy dog

[digger63 3]

My post isnt supposed to be a dig at collie x's, we had dogs years ago with a fair bit of collie blood and they were very good allrounders,but even then the tempraments were very varied even in the same littermates.

 

Collies are good for creating tough hardy lurchers that are durable and trainable,but they do vary in temprement quite a bit in my experience.

 

Ive still got the collie cross i bred,he has got his uses and is well trained but the faults outweigh the advantages,in the right enviroment he could look like a very good dog,

but the first cross is very limited in my opinion,crossed again to say a beddlington/greyhound it would be a different story.

[Brimmer 220]

My post isnt supposed to be a dig at collie x's, we had dogs years ago with a fair bit of collie blood and they were very good allrounders,but even then the tempraments were very varied even in the same littermates.

 

Collies are good for creating tough hardy lurchers that are durable and trainable,but they do vary in temprement quite a bit in my experience.

 

Ive still got the collie cross i bred,he has got his uses and is well trained but the faults outweigh the advantages,in the right enviroment he could look like a very good dog,

but the first cross is very limited in my opinion,crossed again to say a beddlington/greyhound it would be a different story.

Everything you say is true there, but put a good beddy grey against a good collie grey and is there any plus points?

 

Yep the collie has a stamina background.

 

What was the beddie bred for in the first place?

Edited April 10, 2009 by Brimmer

[undisputed 1,664]

I notice when folks from the UK talk of colliex dogs its almost a given they will be soft. Are most your pure collies soft dogs? Here we have "sheep bred" and "cow bred" collies. The "sheep bred" dogs have a ton of eye and dont use their mouth much. The "cow bred" collies are much harder dogs, with less eye. Some have had Bull, Kelpie, Heeler etc...added at some point, but aside from working style are hard to tell apart from a "sheep bred" collie. I think a "cow bred" type colliex would make a dog plenty hard for fox, and anything else they might encounter over there. I wouldnt be afraid to use one on coyotes here, as they bring tons of brains and stamina. Hell I know of bear dogs with a dash of collie in them, and they got plenty of grit. Whats the story on your collies?

 

Take care.

 

None of the collie x's we used were soft

[Fieldsporthunter 1,864]

My post isnt supposed to be a dig at collie x's, we had dogs years ago with a fair bit of collie blood and they were very good allrounders,but even then the tempraments were very varied even in the same littermates.

 

Collies are good for creating tough hardy lurchers that are durable and trainable,but they do vary in temprement quite a bit in my experience.

 

Ive still got the collie cross i bred,he has got his uses and is well trained but the faults outweigh the advantages,in the right enviroment he could look like a very good dog,

but the first cross is very limited in my opinion,crossed again to say a beddlington/greyhound it would be a different story.

Everything you say is true there, but put a good beddy grey against a good collie grey and is there any plus points?

 

Yep the collie has a stamina background.

 

What was the beddie bred for in the first place?

 

the best dog i know is a 2/8 collie 1/8 beddy 5/8 grey, its a good alrounder.

[digger63 3]

"Everything you say is true there, but put a good beddy grey against a good collie grey and is there any plus points?

 

Yep the collie has a stamina background.

 

What was the beddie bred for ijn the first place?"

 

Personally i wouldn't want to run a collie x grey against a beddy x grey for money,day or night,rabbits or hares,weve got both types.

 

As for stamina collies do have stamina but a first x collie/grey would be 20 lbs heavier than the beddy first x and tire more quickly,beddy x's arent short on stamina either.

 

Bedlingtons were bred for ground work,but most beddy's today are not the same type,one of the main ingrediants in the modern bedlington especially gutch common is whippet so you have a little running dog blood to start with[ill not mention the other ingrediant].

Beddy blood adds "kill" and like most terriers their eyesight is very good.

 

Both crosses have their faults but putting the 2 types together in the right mixture can create very good dogs that couldn't be beaten by their f1 relatives at anything.

To be fair i think the dogs i mentioned earlier had a touch of deerhound in them,which would make a difference but the main ingredients were,collie grey and beddy.

atb steve.

[UphillDoc 278]

My question isnt so much are colliex any good, but rather are the collies, (that are being used for crosses), soft dogs themselves? Do you have collies more suited for working cattle than sheep?

 

Take care.

[stormrider8 59]

My question isnt so much are colliex any good, but rather are the collies, (that are being used for crosses), soft dogs themselves? Do you have collies more suited for working cattle than sheep?

 

Take care.

 

 

Yes mate, there are sheep dogs here that are to hard and are used for bullocks, and also cow dogs that are to soft and can only be used for sheep. This is one reason why the collie bred lurcher is so hit and miss..

Edited April 11, 2009 by stormrider8

[undisputed 1,664]

My question isnt so much are colliex any good, but rather are the collies, (that are being used for crosses), soft dogs themselves? Do you have collies more suited for working cattle than sheep?

 

Take care.

 

 

Yes mate, there are sheep dogs here that are to hard and are used for bullocks, and also cow dogs that are to soft and can only be used for sheep. This is one reason why the collie bred lurcher is so hit and miss..

 

The 3 main reasons collies are used in out crosses for lurchers are stamina, brains and coat....and the reason there are so many "hit and miss" with this x is the majority of the owners either dont use them to their full potential or ruin them by entering incorrectly

[bird 10,013]

My question isnt so much are colliex any good, but rather are the collies, (that are being used for crosses), soft dogs themselves? Do you have collies more suited for working cattle than sheep?

 

Take care.

 

 

Yes mate, there are sheep dogs here that are to hard and are used for bullocks, and also cow dogs that are to soft and can only be used for sheep. This is one reason why the collie bred lurcher is so hit and miss..

 

The 3 main reasons collies are used in out crosses for lurchers are stamina, brains and coat....and the reason there are so many "hit and miss" with this x is the majority of the owners either dont use them to their full potential or ruin them by entering incorrectly

 

Spot on, and with a dog that [Thinks] about things, regards [some] quarry , they Will or they Wont.

[Guest Catcher]

Hi mate .Where dose all this crap about the collie x being soft come from. ? Them. and name of there dog say,s it all.atb catcher.

[jack crowley 5]

i only ever owned one, he was a dinger on rabbits and hares would run all night bring everthing back alive but was no good on foxes he[to soft moughet] put me off collie hounds, prefer the pit n hound more ,all do i have seen a couple of serious collie hounds that would do everthing ,but the bull suits me better