Bearded Collie Article
The Modern Bearded Collie
By Denise Barley of Runival Bearded
Collies (Scotland) 2001
This working title that I was given begs the question of
whether there really is a "modern" as opposed to "old-
fashioned" type of Beardie. Since the term "old-fashioned"
does appear often in judging critiques, there must be
something to be said on this issue, so let us consider the
history and development of the breed.
HISTORY
This is an old British breed, a humble herder and drover only
occasionally documented in past centuries. Towards the end
of the nineteenth century interest in Beardies as show dogs
began to grow. A Standard was published in "Dogs of
Scotland" by D. J. Thomson Gray in 1891, and another more
like the modern standard was written by Mrs. Hall Walker in
an article that appeared in "Our Dogs" on 17th December
1898. The breed was first classified at the SKC show of
1897, and the President of the Club, H. Panmure Gordon,
was a Beardie enthusiast who owned several. The first
World War caused a hiatus in the progress of the breed, but
by the end of the 20’s Beardies were once again being seen
regularly in the show-ring, promoted particularly by Mrs.
Cameron Miller who bred many litters of her Balmacneil line,
but unfortunately parted with very few, and her line seemed
to die out with her. The photo of her "Balmacneil Jock"
shows a plainly-marked and very handsome dog who could
fit well into the modern show-ring.
Once more the Bearded Collie faded from view, with none
being registered from 1939 till 1948. There were plenty
around, but they were out on the farms getting on with their
work, unnoticed by all but their appreciative shepherds. The
next revival of the breed, from which all the modern strains
have developed, came about because in 1944 a lady called
Mrs. Willison ordered a Shetland Sheepdog puppy from
Scotland and got a brown Beardie by mistake. This little
bitch, who was not registered with the Kennel Club until
1948, was Jeannie of Bothkennar, and the slate male who
joined her, met by accident on a beach near Brighton, was
registered as Bailie of Bothkennar in 1950. The blood of
these two runs through all the modern registered strains,
mixed with another 8 outcross foundation dogs brought in
over the next 20 years.
During the 50’s Mrs. Willison’s Bothkennar breeding
dominated the ring, but other breeders such as Suzanne
Moorhouse (Willowmead) and Mary Partridge (Wishanger)
were also becoming established, and the breed was
allocated C. C.’s for the first time in 1959. During the sixties
other great kennels, many of them still producing today,
came into existence: Beagold, Brambledale, Broadholme,
Cannamoor, Charncroft, Davealex, Edenborough, Osmart,
Scapafield, Tambora, and Westernisles. Meanwhile Beardies
unrelated to the show strains continued to be bred and
worked on farms all over Britain, and kennels such as
Bredon and Sallen have done their best to use these
bloodlines and maintain the working lines. The breed is well-
established all around the globe, with many breed clubs in
Europe, America, Canada and Australia.
Nowadays the world of the Bearded Collie is a diverse one
with many successful breeders and big turnouts at the
championship shows, where Beardies are so numerous that
the onlookers could be forgiven for assuming they are bred
in large numbers. Thankfully, however, relatively few
Beardies are produced each year and indeed during the 90’s
annual registrations gradually dropped from nearly 2,000 in
1989 to 1,119 in 1998, less than half of those produced in
the more established Working and Pastoral breeds. It seems
that owners of Bearded Collies are nearly all convinced that
our dogs are so outstanding that they just HAVE to be
shown!
CHARACTERISTICS
So what IS a Bearded Collie? And is the modern Beardie
essentially the same animal that appealed to Mr. Panmure
Gordon, Mrs. Cameron Miller and Mrs. Willison? I would say
roughly yes.
A Beardie is a medium-sized, intelligent working dog, bred to
think independently, work with guts and enthusiasm
(necessary attributes when dealing with hill sheep and
cattle), and show stamina and fortitude in the face of
physical challenges. There is an unusual degree of
sweetness built into the Beardie personality too, more than
one might expect in such a tough worker. The need for
independent thought leads to a very "aware" and reactive
temperament. Beardies notice everything, and like to make
their own minds up. The conformation still has to be that of a
dog who can go out and work on a hillside or cover long
miles driving stock, so heartroom, balance and soundness
are still of high importance.
Coats have lengthened, partly through breeding choices and
partly through more careful grooming and maintenance, but
the shaggy, layered coat is still the preferred type for most
breeders. One does observe, however, that some judges
appear to view sheer length of coat as some kind of mark of
excellence, which is a dangerous trend in what should
always be an active outdoor breed. There were always
specimens with over-long coats, even among the foundation
stock, and Scottish shepherds dealt with any problems by
shearing their Beardies along with the sheep each year.
Markings have assumed greater importance in recent years,
in the constant pursuit of the "glamour" that exhibitors hope
will mark out a winner. More disturbingly, perhaps, some
finer points of type are getting harder to find – skulls are
getting weaker (the correct type being broad and flat), ears
longer, and barreled ribs, upright shoulders and short bodies
seem more common than they used to be. Very pale eyes,
short legs and faulty mouths are remarked on in judging
critiques. An unfortunate side-effect of the long coat is that
judges not sufficiently familiar with the Standard easily lose
sight of the correct type and body construction. However,
one also notices how often all-rounder judges exclaim that
they get great pleasure from judging Beardies because of
the depth of quality and soundness in the breed.
As in any other breed, we can produce a variety of
temperaments, some even nervous and cowardly, but the
typical Beardie temperament is overpoweringly friendly,
willing, forgiving and bursting with enthusiasm for every
aspect of life. They are marvelously entertaining and
companionable dogs, fond of human company and not
normally given to aggression, although many show the
herding "nip" when excited which is not the same thing.
Some can be irritating barkers, since this trait was always an
important part of their working style, but good management
and training will usually reduce this to a minimum. In my
suburban home, my seven Beardies bark a lot less than the
single Golden Retriever and GSD living either side of me.
They aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, and before taking one into
your home you really have to ask yourself whether you can
live with all the mud, moisture and undergrowth that the coat
will bring in after every walk; whether you really want a dog
that reacts to EVERYTHING going on around him; whether
you can bear to regularly apologize to passers-by in
previously smart suits who have just fought off the attentions
of an ecstatically bouncing Beardie who just knew they really
wanted him round their necks; whether you have the time to
groom your Beardie properly; whether you are willing to
spend the next 14 years being bounced at, barked at and
chivvied along to get out there and enjoy life. Don’t be fooled
by those calm poses, those glamorous flowing coats, those
pristinely gleaming white legs that you see in all the show
pictures. Ten minutes after that picture was taken, whatever
beardie you saw would have been sloshing through puddles,
chasing rabbits, filling his trousers up with a million twisty
bits of twig and rolling in horse manure, as mine do every
day. Then he would be a REAL Beardie. If you like that idea,
then welcome to our world!
I love working with Beardies, and in the past have done so in
all the disciplines – Obedience, Agility, Working Trials,
Mountain Rescue, Conformation – in the 1980’s I worked a
dog called Bob (Quinbury Stormdrifter at Runival CDEx) in
every one of these concurrently, winning Best of Breed at
Crufts with him while he was also working as Mountain
Rescue dog in the Scottish Highlands. I thoroughly
appreciate their enthusiasm, their joie-de-vivre and their
desire to communicate. As a working dog they are
tremendously rewarding providing you handle them in a
suitable fashion: they don’t do well with aggressive or
confrontational handling, and they like to be given a good
reason for everything. If you ask a Beardie nicely, he will
give you the world. Several Beardies have qualified at
Working Trials, some right up to WDEx and TDEx, and
although we have only one Obedience Champion in the
breed (Jeni Wiggins’ Ob. Ch. Scapa, who gained her title in
1969), more recently John Taylor has won two Obedience
tickets with Pipadene Keepsake. Many Beardies compete in
Agility and there are still plenty of Beardies out working on
the farms as they have always done, including many from
modern show lines. In America, competitive herding is a
popular activity for Beardie owners, but in Britain there are
few opportunities to let the dogs express their natural
instincts.
BEARDIES IN THE SHOW RING
The modern show Beardie is a very attractive exhibit, often
selected by Group judges for his sound, reachy movement
and glorious coat. In 1999, 6 different beardies won the
Pastoral Group at championship shows: Ch. Potterdale
Prophet, Ch. Chanderly Magic Sensation for Razkal, Ch.
Moonhill Does It In Style, Ch. Coalacre Lampoon, Ch.
Otterswish Bernadette and Otterswish O’Connor.
The pre-eminent kennel over the last 20 years has been the
Potterdale line of Mike and Janet Lewis, who have bred 26
UK champions and numerous more overseas ones. Their
line, begun in the mid 70’s, drew on the blood of Wishanger,
Osmart, Davealex and Willowmead, via Blumberg,
Pepperland, Tamevalley and Orora. From three outstanding
Beardies that they bought in – Ch. Pepperland Lyric John at
Potterdale, Ch. Blumberg Hadriana at Potterdale and Ch.
Tamevalley Easter Song of Potterdale with judicious
outcrosses, notably to Ch. Orora’s Frank, they created a new
classic blend that still produces consistent winners. Ten of
those twenty-six champions were sold outright, and one, Ch.
Potterdale Classic of Moonhill (Frank x Easter Song) took
her owner Brenda White to the dizzy heights of Best in Show
at Crufts in 1989. Their Ch. Potterdale Prophet, the Top Dog
all-breeds in the UK in 2000, has amassed at the
championship shows 39 C. C.’s, numerous Group 1’s, all-
breed Best in Shows and RBIS. He is now the second-
highest winning Beardie of all time after Ch. Potterdale
Privilege (43 C. C.’s).
The list of modern kennels producing good, sound and typey
Beardies is so large that I fear to try to name them all in case
I miss any out. My own award for Long Service and Good
Conduct in the breed would have to go to Suzanne
Moorhouse, who started winning C. C.’s with her
Willowmead Beardies back in 1959, and 41 years and 16 UK
champions later is still out there, still campaigning, still
winning!
Have these dogs come a long way from the Beardies of old?
A painting by Philip Reinagle, published in the "Sportman’s
Cabinet" of 1804, shows a rangy brown Beardie of a type
still produced by some kennels today. The 1937 illustrations
by K. F. Barker for the book "Owd Bob" show a Beardie
which would certainly not be out of place in today’s show
ring, so long as he had the chance to grow the hair on his
undersides – the length of coat round his shoulders and his
big white colour suggest a classic modern show type. The
Beardies I worked as Mountain rescue dogs were from
modern show lines, and a pup I bred from two Potterdale
champions is a much valued (and loved) stock worker at a
farm near here. A Beardie’s still a Beardie, for a’ that…….
Permission granted to use this article in 2013
Denise Barley -2014
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