Difference Between Rough Collie and Shetland Sheepdog

Rough Collie vs Shetland Sheepdog

Rough collies and Shetland sheepdogs are very easily confused dog breed for any unfamiliar person. Therefore, it is very important to understand the small differences between these confusing dog breeds. As this article explores the differences between Rough collies and Shetland sheepdogs, it would be helpful to anyone who has an interest about dog breeds, especially these two.

Rough Collie

Rough collie is a medium to large size breed with a rough fur coat. They originated in Scotland, and originally they were bred for herding purposes. There are three main coat colourations found among rough collies such as sable and white, tri colour, and blue merle. However, mahogany sable, shaded sable, colour headed white, and double merle are present as well. Rough collies have a blunter head and elongated snout compared to many collie breeds. They are double coated with a smooth inner coat, which is covered by a long dense and a coarse outer coat, which makes a characteristic mane-like ruff around the neck area. In addition, feather hairs cover their legs. The height of a Rough collie at withers is about 51 to 66 centimetres, and the weight is about 18 to 29 kilograms. Their snout is long and wedge shaped, tapering smoothly from the ears towards the nose. The eyes of Rough collies are medium sized and almond shaped, and their ears are slightly large and semi pricked. Collie Eye Anomaly is a genetic disease occurs in some Rough collies that could end up with improper development of the eyes or sometimes in blindness. However, they are good with children and do not get nervous or become aggressive. They are normally vocal as other herding dogs. Rough collies require proper combing and grooming to maintain their beautiful and long coat of fur.

Shetland Sheepdog

Shetland sheepdog is a small to medium sized herding dog that originated in Scotland. They usually come in various colours such as sable and white, tri colour, blue merle, and few more. These dogs can work hard and very energetic with a loud vocal. Their height at the withers is about 20 to 25 centimetres and they have a weight that ranges between five and fourteen kilograms. Except for the size, they have a physique that much looks like the above described Rough collies. As in many collies, the coat is double-layered, the outer coat is rough, and the inner coat is smooth. Some of the Shetland sheepdogs have dark coloured eyes, while others have light coloured eyes. Usually, they keep their tail downwards and only lift it when they get excited. One of the important things about collies is that their slightly bent ears and it shows the real sheltie (same as Shetland pony) expression.