Country/Date of origin: Great Britain/1500s
An ancient breed of herding dog, the Rough Collie shares a common heritage with the Border Collie. In the 1860s the Rough Collie caught the eye of people interested in the beauty of the dog and bred it to increase body size and the thickness of its coat. Coincidentally, there was a increased popularity of the larger, slower English sheep (better wool) over the nimble, cunning Highland sheep. Now the bigger, slower Rough Collie could compete for the shepherd's favor and it began to find its way back into the fields.
With the patronage of Queen Victoria, the Collie became the vogue in the 1880s. And American royalty in the form of J.P. Morgan championed the breed across the Atlantic as well. In 1885 Collies were admitted into the American Kennel Club and great specimens were fetching more than the average man earned in ten years.
There are two varieties of the Collie. Everything that can be said about the rough coated Collie can be said about the smooth variety except for coat.