Acquired: Breeder (professional)
Gender: Female
Training: Books
I used to tell people that my beloved purebred collie, Tracey, was the world’s best dog, and she was! She was perfectly housebroken, never chewed things, didn’t bark excessively, didn’t beg at the table--she just never did anything wrong. Collies are smart: she won an AKC obedience title, and she could do fun tricks like sit up, play dead, crawl, speak, etc. She was very patient with children—she’d let my little nieces grab her fur without objecting. She was also nice to other animals, including my grumpy cat. She was protective but in a non-threatening way: if I was talking to a stranger, she’d position her body between us as if to say, “I’m here, so just behave yourself, friend.” A misconception about collies is that they need a lot of grooming, but this is untrue. I took her to a grooming school (it only cost $5 a session!) about twice a month, and that was it. Collies shed their winter coats in the spring, but Tracey shed much less than the lab that my friend had. I highly recommend collies for anyone!