Your Questions About Rough Collie

admin answers:

Anywhere from 5 months to 15 months, but 8-9 is average.
While she is in heat–
For about 3 weeks, you will need b*tches britches, or doggie diapers. These are very expensive. You will also need a lot of carpet cleaner, and a good high quality carpet shampooer to clean up the mess that drips every where! AND she is giving off a very powerful scent that un-neutered males can smell for MILES around, and will jump fences to mate with her. (Spaying is cheaper.)

Please don’t breed.
Many people don’t realize how expensive and time consuming it is to breed. Breeders do NOT make any money. All breeds must have a series of health tests after they are 2 years old to determine if they are healthy enough to breed. If you don’t have this done, do not breed. PLEASE.

I bought a cute healthy dog, from cute healthy parents, and she only lived for a year before having MAJOR genetic health problems. It was very sad, and I truly wish that NO ONE goes through the same thing I did. Both of her parents are still alive and “healthy” according to the breeder– but they can still pass on genetic problems regardless. At only one year old, she became totally paralyzed in her hind legs, and could not control her bladder pr bowels. It was so sudden, and so unexpected. She has hip dyspasia, knee problems, and neurological problems. I am very angry with her breeder, and I’m sure you don’t want to be sued for selling bad pups.

admin answers:

The best brush for a collie, with that super thick, long, double coat, is going to be an undercoat rake. Like this: https://www.llamaproducts.com/assets/product_pics/soft_grip_undercoat_rake.jpg

A slicker brush is also good to use, more so when the dog is a puppy and the coat hasn’t grown in. The undercoat rake is better when the coat is long.

A pin brush isn’t a great choice for a collie. Pin brushes are better for coats that are more of a medium length or are wiry.

The steel comb is another great choice, as it will get all the way down to the skin. The comb will be useful on areas like the feathers on the front legs and the tail.

Mat splitters can be sharp, so you need to be very careful when using them. If you brush the coat on a regular basis and make sure it doesn’t get matted, you won’t need one of these. You can also get a pair of thinning shears to cut out the matting instead, but you need to be careful with these as well.

If you plan on bathing your collie yourself, a force dryer is a MUST. It doesn’t just dry the dog, it is also a great way to blow dead undercoat off the dog and separates small mats as well.

Using corn starch on the coat also helps when you are brushing out a lot of undercoat. The corn starch lubricates the fur, so it makes it easier to get undercoat and tangles out. Just take a handful, rub it into the fur, and brush. It is messy, so do this outside.

When you brush out a dog that has a lot of coat, it is easier and more effective to start lower, like towards the foot at the bottom of the feathers. Get the bottom part brushed out, then start working in little sections going higher up. If you start high and work your way down, you just brush more undercoat onto the undercoat below it.

Edit: Don’t forget the armpit areas and behind the ears. Due to friction, collies get a lot of matting in their armpits, and it is much harder to get them out of this delicate area. The fur behind the ears is soft and silky, so often collies get big mats that form here.

For the nails, you can use clippers or get a Dremel. A Dremel is a rotary power tool that groomers use to file the nails down. Get one that runs on a battery, or if it a better quality one, use the low speed. Just be careful not to get fur caught in it, because it is a rotary tool.

admin answers:

Australian Shepherds, we have an 8 yr old…the best dog ever. So smart, easy to train, and lays quietly in the house or plays ball outside.