Alt Names: Highland Collie Country of Origin: England

History: It is difficult to distinguish between fact and legend in looking at the history of a breed, but it is believed that in the 17th Century the Polish Lowland Sheepdog was bred into the local Scottish dogs, to give the typical appearance of the working strain of beardie, and that in the 20th Century Old English Sheepdog may have been bred in to produce the longer coat of the typical show beardie.

The Beardie nearly became extinct; the modern Beardies all originate from the Bothkennar kennel owned by Mrs Wilison, who began breeding from a small number of remaining working-type Beardies.

The breed became more and more popular over the last half of the 20th century, in part propelled by a Bearded Collie, "Potterdale Classic at Moonhill", winning Best in Show at Crufts in 1989. The Bearded Collie Club celebrated its Golden Jubilee year in 2005; where "Bumbleridge Original Oka" (Bred by Sue Nichols-Ward, Owned by Sue Unsworth & Andy Miller)won the "Most Handsome Bearded Collie" event.

Appearance: The Bearded Collie is a medium sized dog with a medium length coat that follows the natural lines of the body and allows plenty of daylight under the body. The body is long and lean, and, though strongly made, does not appear heavy. A bright inquiring expression is a distinctive feature of the breed. The Bearded Collie should be shown in a natural stance.

The ideal height at the withers is 21-22 inches for adult dogs and 20-21 inches for adult bitches. Height over and under the ideal is to be severely penalized. The express objective of this criterion is to insure that the Bearded Collie remains a medium sized dog. Basic colours are Black,Blue, Brown and Fawn. Each colour will also have white in places on the body to a greater or lesser degree.