Show Positivity,
Positive Stories from Around the Dog Show World
ADF is pleased to welcome this new column highlighting the best of our sport and community. If you would like to share and spotlight your recent positive experience, in our out, of the ring please submit via direct message our Facebook page. We hope you enjoy, find encouragement and inspiration in this new addition!
Smooth coat border collies are not very common in the breed ring, but are very much an accepted part of the breed standard. It states that neither coat type should be preferred over the other.
Coat: Two varieties are permissible, both having close-fitting, dense, weather resistant double
coats with the top coat either straight or slightly wavy and coarser in texture than the undercoat
which is soft, short and dense. The rough variety coat may vary in length without being
excessive. Proper texture is more important than length. Forelegs, haunches, chest and underside
are feathered and the coat on face, ears, feet, fronts of legs is short and smooth. The smooth
variety is short over entire body, is usually coarser in texture than the rough variety and may
have slight feathering on forelegs, haunches, chest and ruff. Neither coat type is preferred over
the other.
Only just recently has a movement began to breed for consistency and type in the variety, as well as push for more smooth coats to be shown. I’ve been showing the variety for three years now, and have been trying hard to encourage others to join me on the journey. I’ve come away with little success- some in UKC, and a few class wins over other dogs in AKC, but never a big win.
This past week in Louisville, Kentucky, the Kentuckiana Tartan Border Collie Club held their annual regional specialty. This year was the first time the new open smooth classes (open smooth black and white and open smooth any other allowed color) were added to the specialty, after the BCSA’s approval of the class last year. I came to represent the variety, with little expectation. There was another smooth coat border collie entered, which alone was an incredible. Little did I know, that I would be walking away with reserve winners bitch with my red tri smooth coat, out of a quality filled, huge five point major entry. When I tell you I cried, I sobbed like a baby when the judge pointed to me.
My point of this post is, if you believe in something, and most importantly, believe in your dogs, NEVER EVER give up!!
As a side note, I really hope that this is the start of more smooth coated border collies being appreciated in the ring. They are a huge part of my breed’s history, and deserve to be shown. I hope judges will start to look at them fairly and recognize the good ones.
Thank you to Kayen Barrett for sharing your experience!
