Katilea Posted May 14, 2015 Report Share Posted May 14, 2015 Does anyone know of anyone who breeds their collies to be smaller and petite? I have a big boy (23" nearly 20kg) and really need to downsize for my next dog, but I've researched through all the smaller breeds and can't find any I love as much as a collie! Don't want it to be tiny, (as in toy breed sized) just smaller than my boy! ..he also has a really strong herding drive so was wondering if a show collie maybe better as a second dog, a much smaller female? Anyone producing collies on the smaller/lighter end of the scale so I know where to start looking? .. otherwise I guess I'd have to search rescues for a small collie cross that looked like a collie but was much smaller. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maralynn Posted May 14, 2015 Report Share Posted May 14, 2015 I would go the rescue route and get a teenage/young adult dog. You can't guarantee size with a pup. For instance, my dog is now 46#. Most of the males in his litter are over 40# but a littermate female is still just under 30#. A full brother from another litter is only in the low 30s. Show bred dogs nay be a bit more consistent but you still can get varied sizes. So if size was an important consideration I'd definitely look for a dog that was close to full grown. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katilea Posted May 14, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 14, 2015 I would go the rescue route and get a teenage/young adult dog. You can't guarantee size with a pup. For instance, my dog is now 46#. Most of the males in his litter are over 40# but a littermate female is still just under 30#. A full brother from another litter is only in the low 30s. Show bred dogs nay be a bit more consistent but you still can get varied sizes. So if size was an important consideration I'd definitely look for a dog that was close to full grown. does the # represent pounds or kg's? I'm in UK I don't use the # to represent other units so not sure? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurelin Posted May 14, 2015 Report Share Posted May 14, 2015 # = lbs = pounds I'm in the US and I agree rescue or adult rehome is a good option. I was just looking at a 22 lb smooth coated ticked dog at a nearby BC rescue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz P Posted May 14, 2015 Report Share Posted May 14, 2015 Get an adult. I bred my 32 lb bitch to a dog not much bigger. Got a pup who is still growing and looks like he will not stop until around 60 lbs. His dam could walk under him when he was 6 months old. My point is, you can't predict genetics. The only people trying to produce smaller Border Collies are sport people. Wouldn't want one of those dogs myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloria Atwater Posted May 14, 2015 Report Share Posted May 14, 2015 I'll say the same. No one with sense is deliberately breeding smaller border collies, and genetics being what they are, there's no guarantee. My Gael is 32 pounds, her brother is 48, and they have a younger full brother who has to be at least 55 pounds. All from the same mom and dad.If size matters, I'd recommend looking for a young adult in rescue, too. Good luck! ~ Gloria Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GentleLake Posted May 14, 2015 Report Share Posted May 14, 2015 I doubt you're going to get any help or encouragement here about looking for a Barbie collie or one bred for size (i.e a Barbie collie). Breeding for size or anything else that's not directly related to working ability is antithetical to everything these Boards stand for. If you want to know what the size will be, look for an adult. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbc1963 Posted May 15, 2015 Report Share Posted May 15, 2015 I happen to be in a position to know just about every rescue BC on the east coast right now. . Big Fluffy Dog Rescue and some other rescue groups just took in a bunch of very thick-coat BCs from a hoarding case... and I think some of the girls were very wee... Like 25 lbs. If you wrote them or watched their Facebook page you might be able to get a feel. I think a lot of the females were pregnant, so I wouldn't be surprised if there weren't a bunch of little pups coming up for adoption in 8 weeks or so! (They could probably give more info about who else took in dogs, too.). But if you took a young adult, you'd know the size. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aschlemm Posted May 16, 2015 Report Share Posted May 16, 2015 Typically a four month old pup will double their weight by adulthood. This doesn't work 100% of the time but it is a pretty good scale. I.E. my female BC at four months was 14 pounds, at adulthood she is a 27 pound dog. Her parents are both larger than she is and littermates that I've seen are 40 pounds. My male BC was about 22 pounds at four months and ended up a 45 pound dog. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbc1963 Posted May 16, 2015 Report Share Posted May 16, 2015 https://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/32021398 There's the link to one of the specific, little BCs brought in by Big Fluffy Dogs Rescue. I had thought this one got adopted... but she's back on their Petfinder page... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbc1963 Posted May 21, 2015 Report Share Posted May 21, 2015 https://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/32179742/ Another very small, lovely little BC girl! (Sorry to keep showing them... but I'm six weeks out from being able to bring one home and I can't help rooting for all the other ones I see!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue R Posted May 21, 2015 Report Share Posted May 21, 2015 She's located in the UK so I'm not sure any US-based rescue would be useful. However, there are a number of reliable UK-based Border Collie rescues that she could check with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gonetotervs Posted May 21, 2015 Report Share Posted May 21, 2015 As someone with a BC-terrier cross, I'd also suggest looking at them. They can learn to settle down, and are smart dogs who enjoy learning all sorts of things. And they would be the right size. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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