WHAT IS A BEARDIE?

(Parts excerpted from The Bearded Collie, by Chris Walkowicz, © Alpine Publications)

Major James G. Logan, a Scottish authority on the breed, describes the breed as follows: "A Beardie is a dog of almost overpowering friendliness, extremely active, boisterous, an expert in escapology, a dog with a loud bark who is not afraid to use it. It is not a dog for the house proud or car proud or the fanatical gardener or for parents of nervous children or for those who are forced to leave it in the house all day, but for anyone who is prepared to train it and control it, to exercise it and to look after its coat, to put up with mud, sand or worse that it will bring into the house and can keep it occupied, there is no breed which will provide more faithful companionship or greater entertainment. "

This is a picturesque portrayal of Beardies in their element. To live with the beasties, though, we have managed to gain control and actually have dogs that are pleasant, albeit exuberant, companions. They are delightfully full of curiosity, persistence, playfulness and surprises. The herding instinct is strong, and if there are no sheep or ducks, Beardies are wont to herd what they have: puppies, other dogs, children, even adults.

Unusually intelligent, the Beardie’s natural independence and his tendency to make decisions give rise to his persistence. In their native Scottish Highlands, Beardies were required to work out of the shepherds’ sight, and so they had to be astute and able to make their own judgments. When asked if they’re good obedience dogs, I answer, “Only if the owner is smarter than the Beardie.” They are not robot dogs.

I give the following analogy: If you walked up to the edge of a cliff with a Border Collie, a German Shepherd and a Beardie and threw a ball over, telling the dogs to “Get it!”, the Border would jump off the cliff. (No insult intended -- they are just that responsive to owners’ directions.) The German Shepherd would find a path to the bottom if it took him three days. The Bearded Collie would bounce back as if to say, “Are you kidding?! Let’s go play!” 

HISTORY:

Wolves disappeared from Great Britain during the Middle Ages as the result of a tariff imposed for the express purpose of eliminating the predator from the islands. As the need for large, tough mastiff-type flock guardians faded, these were replaced by gentle, clever herding dogs.

Like other breeds, herding dogs were kept and bred for their talents and instincts rather than their looks or purity. Many of these evolved from the ancient Puli, Komondor and Kuvasz bred by the Sumer people to tend their flocks. Tales have passed through time, claiming that the Beardie is an ancestor of the Old English Sheepdog or a descendant of the Border Collie.

Researchers and cynologists have concluded that the Beardie resembles several European sheepdogs, including the Polish Lowland Sheepdog (PONS), Bergamasco, Portuguese Sheepdog and the Gos d’Atura(Catalan). And that it does. Probably the most popular tale is the following: About 1514, a Polish ship captain traded three Polish Lowland Shepherds (Polski Owczarek Nizinny) for a pair of valued Scottish sheep. These sheepdogs were crossed with the local herding dogs.

Whatever the breed’s origin, the Beardie enchanted the Scottish shepherd for its vitality and ingenuity. Bearded Collie types appear in artwork as early as the 1700s. Several breeds of herding dogs bearing various names and resembling the Beardie were found in Wales, England and Scotland. These were the Mountain Scotch Collie, Old Welsh Grey Sheepdog, Highland Collie, Loch Collie and the Hairy Moued Collie.

Because “collie” is included in the breed name, people are often surprised that the Beardie doesn’t look much like the Rough Collie. The explanation lies in the derivation of the word. “Collie” was a term bestowed upon many herding dogs in Scotland, for the Welsh word “coelio” means trustful and faithful. Both “colley” and “coaley” indicated the black-faced sheep found in Scotland.

“The Drove Roads of Scotland,” by A.R.B. Haldane, tells of drovers turning their dogs loose to find their own way home after long treks. The owners then returned home by sea or stay at their destination for a time to lift a mug or two. According to Major Logan, Beardies were likely used for droving as well as the herding chores for which the breed was developed. They do have the intelligence and stamina necessary for the chore although their herding methods usually exhibit gathering and circling, rather than droving at heel.

Two types of Beardies evolved. the larger Border type had a long slate-colored coat with straight, harsh hair, and the Highland type carried a shorter, wavy coat, usually brown. The Highland Collie had a reputation of being a quick dog with unusually good sense. These dogs were shaggy, rough-coated with less hair and leggier than modern Beardies.

“The Dogs of Scotland,” 1891, by D.J. Thomson Gray contains the earliest description of the Bearded Collie. “A big, rough-coated, clumsy-looking dog, with rather large head, sleepy look and a peculiar action when running,” is at odds with today’s agile, alert Beardie.

When WWI began, shows ended abruptly, but the breed survived as working dogs. The coat was ideal protection from the mist, rainy, cold climate. The dogs were adept on the rough, rocky ground. The demand was for a dog that was sturdy, quick and intelligent.

In 1944, Mrs. G.O. Willison, Bothkennar Grange, England, wanted a working Shetland Sheepdog and reserved one from a breeder. When there were none available, a Beardie was substituted, and Mrs. Willison succumbed to the breed’s charm. With that one little bitch, the modern Beardie was born. The brown Jeannie became the matriarch of Mrs. Willison’s Bothkennar Kennels and of all Beardiedom.

Because of the scarcity of the breed, Jeannie was bred to a Beardie-type male, who was thought to have a Border Collie dam. In this first litter, Jeannie had ten puppies, with one being of Border Collie type. All the puppies were placed and the elderly sire died before the breeding could be repeated. A planned breeding of Jeannie and her only son was thwarted when he died of distemper. After tracing Jeannie’s bloodlines, Mrs. Willison registered her with The Kennel Club and progressed with her search for a suitable mate. She finally discovered the gray dog who became known as Bailie of Bothkennar.

Additional working stock and unregistered dogs were used in breeding programs by Willison and other fanciers, but all pedigrees can be traced back to Bothkennar. Besides making the letter B the most popular letter in Beardiedom, Mrs. Willison brought Beardies to international attention.

It is not surprising that Beardies hit Canada with a flourish in 1963 and the United States in the 1950s, just ten short years after the breed was brought to the eye of the dog-loving public. The first Bearded Collies imported to the U.S. arrived in 1957. Serious fanciers began importing dogs and, in 1967, the first litter was registered. The BCCA was founded in 1969 and five years later Beardies were accepted to compete in Miscellaneous. In 1977 Beardies were admitted to the Working Group and, more recently, moved to the Herding Group, where they remain a popular addition to the show dog world, as well as delighting many pet owners.

© Chris Walkowicz

For information on Chicagoland Bearded Collie Club: Go to clubs & training

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