AKA: Highland Collie; Mountain Collie; Hairy Moothed Collie; Beardie; ShaggyDog
The Beardie is the iconic Scottish collie dog. It has a long, shaggy coat and an outgoing personality. Although once commonly used to herd both sheep and cattle, nowadays they are predominantly kept as pets. The origin of the Bearded Collie continues to be debated - English Sheepdog, Polish Sheepdog, Hungarian Sheepdog (Komondor) etc. It's not that important. We know it was used in Scotland as a hill dog, we know it has a beard, hence it's various names.
Beardies can be black, brown, blue or fawn and have typical "collie" markings. They can be very vocal, in fact, they love to bark, especially when excited. This is something that should be borne in mind when considering sharing a home with one. They bark to tell you that someone is at the door, especially if the bell has already informed you. They bark because you moved towards the door and the chances are 100/1 that a walk might be in the offing - 100/1, wow!!, good odds as far as the Beardie is concerned. They bark just because they can and they love to do the things they can.
They need a fair amount of grooming. Sorry, that is not true! They need a lot of grooming! It is not unusual to find an entire forest, plus assorted seeds, for forests in waiting, hidden in the depths of a beardie's coat, when one gets home from a walk. It is much easier if one keeps on top of the grooming rather than lapsing and letting things slide. So a seed and branch check upon getting home will save more work later. These little seeds tend to grow into a matted undergrowth if not attended to.
They love to play and train but, they also love to play to avoid training, if the training becomes boring. Make training a joy rather than a chore, they learn fairly quickly. I firmly believe that reward based training works best. Bearded Collies don't take a scolding very well and nor should these wonderful personalities be expected to take scoldings. try to end training sessions on a high note. Leave them with a feeling of success.