Founded 1955 JUDGES GUIDE 2 CONTENTS FOREWORD....................................................................................................... 5 HISTORY............................................................................................................ 7 THE SMOOTH COLLIE STANDARD – AN ELABORATION................................... 8 JUDGING THE BREED.................................................................................. 24 SOUNDNESS, TYPE AND MOVEMENT ............................................................. 28 3 4 FOREWORD All judges began as exhibitors and breeders. While some have become full- time judges, the majority of judges travel to events all over the country and adjudicate for little more than their expenses. Judges participate at this level of the sport because they are dedicated to the improvement of the sport of pedigree dogs. This Judges’ Guide has been put together to help you enhance your knowledge of the Smooth Collie. No single written guide is ever comprehensive enough to be the only learning tool used in preparation for judging any breed. We urge you to seek other educational opportunities to broaden your base knowledge and to see and examine as many Smooth Collies as possible. I am grateful to Pat Lister for leading this work, to Jane Howells for producing the excellent drawings which illustrate our breed and its finer points so well. Finally, thanks to Bev White for editing and collating the final document. Trevor Hayward Chairman, Smooth Collie Club of Great Britain Copyright © 2006 The Officers and Committee of The Smooth Collie Club of Great Britain Text by Pat Lister and drawings by Jane Howells unless otherwise stated The copyright © of the Standard of the Collie (Smooth) belongs to the Kennel Club and is reproduced by kind permission of the Kennel Club 5 6 HISTORY The history of the breed’s origins is not clear and authors over the years have put forward a number of theories. What appears certain, however, is that the Rough and the Smooth Collie are the same breed but whilst the Rough Collie developed a long, heavy, thick coat to cope with the harsh Scottish Highland weather, the Smooth Collie's short coat is better suited to the milder, wetter Lowlands. It is this short coat which separates the two varieties and which therefore judges should consider a priority in their assessment. Most people believe that the Smooth Collie was bred to herd sheep or drive cattle and so it needed to be fit and mentally and physically agile, with the capability of being able to work for long periods at varying speeds in different weather conditions. As with all Collie breeds, their history has ensured they enjoy a close bond with people. 7 THE SMOOTH COLLIE STANDARD – AN ELABORATION In 1986 the Kennel Club published the current format of Breed Standards. This was as a result of the Kennel Club wishing to have an identical consistent format for all breed standards. While in the case of the Smooth Collie the present version covers the essential points, some additional elaboration of these will certainly be required by the serious breeder, exhibitor and judge. The unified layout of the current Standard differs from previous Standards in its layout and grouping of sections and requirements. In the following elaboration, some of these qualities have been brought together in order to add clarity or emphasis. GENERAL APPEARANCE Appears as gifted with intelligence, alertness and activity. Stands with dignity governed by perfect anatomical formation, with no part out of proportion, giving appearance of working capability. CHARACTERISTICS Physical structure on lines of strength and activity, free from cloddiness and with no trace of coarseness. Expression, most important. In considering relative values, it is obtained by perfect balance and combination of skull and foreface, size and shape, colour and placement of eye, correct position and carriage of ears. TEMPERAMENT Gay and friendly, never nervous or aggressive The American Kennel Club Standard has this to say about the general character of the Smooth Collie: “The Collie is a lithe, strong, responsive, active dog, carrying no useless timber, standing naturally straight and firm. The deep moderately wide chest shows strength, the sloping shoulders and firm, well bent hocks indicate speed and grace and the face shows high intelligence. The Collie presents a proud picture of true balance, each part being in harmonious proportion to every other part. Timidity, frailness, sullenness, viciousness, lack of animation, cumbersome appearance and lack of overall balance impair the general character.” In addition, good temperament is paramount. When considering breeding a litter, it is of prime importance in evaluating the suitability of stock. 8 HEAD AND SKULL Figure 1 - an example of correct head and expression Head properties of great importance, must be considered in proportion to the size of dog. Viewed from front or side, head resembles a well blunted, clean wedge, being smooth in outline. Skull flat. Sides taper gradually and smoothly from ears to end of black nose, without prominent cheekbones or pinched muzzle. Viewed in profile, top of skull and top of muzzle lie in two parallel straight lines of equal length divided by a slight but perceptible stop or break. A mid-point between inside corner of eyes (which is the centre of a correctly placed stop) is centre of balance in length of head. End of smooth, well- rounded muzzle blunt, never square. Under-jaw strong, clean cut. Depth of skull from brow to underpart of jaw never excessive (deep through). Nose always black. 9 Although a flat backskull is desired, this does not mean that the bony skull is flat, as the correct flat backskull is due in great part to tissue and muscle which is determined by condition and development of the dog. The use of these muscles can be seen when evaluating expression, as the dogs moves the eyebrows to show interest and pulls the ears tighter together on the skull. Expression is an elusive characteristic. It is an angelic look, serene but keen yet interested and questioning. It is hard to explain - it comes from the perfect combination of eye shape and placement, ear carriage, correct stop, the blending of the muzzle into cheeks and foreface, which should not be overfilled, too flat, too wide or narrow. There may be many other words that could describe expression. In contrast, there are several words which define a lack of expression: dull, blank, deadpan, empty, glassy – these are all undesirable in the Collie. Figure 2 - Parallel planes 10 EYES Very important feature, giving sweet expression. Medium size (never very small), set somewhat obliquely, of almond shape and dark brown in colour, except in the case of blue merles when eyes are frequently (one or both, or part of one or both) blue or blue flecked. Expression full of intelligence, with quick, alert look when listening. EARS Moderately large, wider at base, and placed not too close together nor too much on the side of the head. When in repose carried thrown back, but when alert brought forward and carried semi erect, that is, with approximately two thirds of the ear standing erect, top third tipping forward naturally, below the horizontal. Figure 3 - Relationship of ear set to eye placement Ear carriage is correct when the inside edge of the ear is in line with the corner of the eye. The proportions of the tipped ear are very important. This should be a third tipped over – never a half which gives a houndy expression (especially with a wide set ear), and not tightly folded. Always feel the ear for banned substances 11 Figure 4 - The Stop a– deep stop, b. no stop, c.-long stop, d. Roman nose, e. 2-angled head, f. deep through & high over and between the eyes a. b. c. d. e. f. 12 Figure 5 - The Profile a. – wavy profile, b. dished profile, c.-dropped off nose, d. Roman nose, e. 2-weak underjaw & slack lip a. b. c. d. e. 13 Figure 6 - Head Faults a. wide back skull, low set ears, wide set ears, large round eyes; b. wide back skull, low set ears, wide set ears, snipy, short foreface, large round eyes a. b. 14 MOUTH Teeth of good size, jaws strong with a perfect, regular and complete scissor bite, i.e. upper teeth closely overlapping lower teeth and set square to the jaws. There should be 42 teeth: Upper Jaw: 6 incisors, 2 canines, 12 molars Lower Jaw: 6 incisors, 2 canines, 14 molars a. b. c. d. e. Figure 7 - Canine Dentition a. Collie skull; b. pincer bite, upper and lower teeth meet; c. correct scissor bite, front teeth closely overlap lower teeth; d. undershot mouth, lower jaw projects in front of upper; e. overshot mouth, upper jaw projects over lower. 15 NECK Muscular, powerful, of fair length, well arched “..of fair length” - this means balanced. True balance is each part being in harmonious proportions to every other part. This is what a judge is looking for. References to a swanlike neck are incorrect – if the neck is swanlike, there cannot be the required strength, only a long, thin neck. FOREQUARTERS Shoulders sloping and well angulated. Forelegs straight and muscular, neither in nor out at elbows, with a moderate amount of bone. Forearm somewhat fleshy, pasterns showing flexibility without weakness. Figure 8 - Correct Forequarters 16 Some find shoulders difficult to assess, which is presumably why the upright shoulder is a common fault. In fact a good shoulder is not difficult to recognise and should be easy to see in a Smooth without the need to over handle the dog. The poor shoulder is even easier to recognise as it is likely to produce obvious faults both standing and moving. The well laid back shoulder (scapula) goes diagonally from well defined withers to meet the upper arm (humerus) at what is generally called ‘point of shoulder’. The upper arm should go back at an angle of approximately 90 degrees from shoulder to elbow.