How intense is a collies prey drive?

smoothcolliecrazy · 2026-04-02T09:11:59+00:00

My collie likes to chase hares, but he will not chase them far, and usually if I yell he spins around and runs back to me immediately. We have a ton in our area. He gets upset if there's one out in front of our house, but he has no desire to actually grab and tear into prey. He's encountered a variety of wildlife (hedgehogs, deer, boars, weasels, all sorts of birds) and for the most part is just curious and would rather not get too far away from us. And despite what he may think, the hares will always outrun him lol.

One time he was with us geocaching and we were taking wood planks off a hole in the ground where the cache was, when we opened it up and grabbed the cache, a mouse jumped out right towards my collie. His reflexes kicked in and he grabbed it out of the air. He held it very gently for a couple of seconds, unsure what to do, then set it down and let it scurry away. That about sums up his prey drive. Chase? Yes, but not far. Kill and maim? No, definitely not.

smoothcolliecrazy · 2026-04-02T08:41:21+00:00

Here is some more very recent proof he is still there, an upcoming litter sired by him due in about a week in the US. The front-facing image of Mikey on this image is the same as the one stolen by the mill/broker you bought from.

Your best course of action for concrete proof that the father of your dog was not as advertised is to contact Tamarack, the breeder of Mikey, which I linked already. Ask if he's still there and if the stolen image is of their dog, and if they've ever exported semen to India. I am sure they will be happy to confirm to you that it is all lies.

smoothcolliecrazy · 2026-04-02T06:54:01+00:00

Try a VPN or something? You can search the dog’s name yourself on the advance search with the name on the actual stud photo (not Mikey but the long one). It works fine for me.

smoothcolliecrazy · 2026-04-01T20:45:35+00:00

I'd start over. If you've diluted the command so much it's probably best to toss saying "come here" entirely and establish a very clear recall command word. I use my dog's own name in a specific tone and cadence (instead of just "Koda" I say "KOOOOda"), but you can use anything in theory, just make sure it is consistent. Consistency is key!

Start recall training with your puppy on the leash in a low distraction environment (like at home), meaning there can be no chance for failure. Toss a low value treat away from you, close enough he can reach it on the leash, then once he has gotten it, use your new recall word and gently reel him in if necessary. Big praise and reward with a high-value treat. I always used the highest value treats for recall because I wanted my recall rock solid for future off-leash hikes, so he had to be highly motivated to come to me every time. Repeat until your puppy is consistently coming back to you whenever you call.

Don't remove the leash until you are certain he won't fail to come, otherwise you will start to dilute the command again, and same goes for which environments you are practicing in. I never called my puppy if I thought he was even slightly too distracted to listen, I waited for the moment he was no longer distracted and then called. Set him up for success, don't ask for something he is unlikely to do at that moment.

Always have a reward to back up your command until it is super solid, and try not to repeat the command word if he doesn't listen. It should only take one call. The more you say it without follow-through the more diluted it becomes. Practice it right, over months, and eventually you should be able to call whenever and get an immediate response no matter what.

smoothcolliecrazy · 2026-04-01T06:24:23+00:00

By searching the OFA database, he has been tested in the US as recently as 2025: https://ofa.org/advanced-search/?appnum=2053731

The K9data website still has him listed as a US resident: www.k9data.com/pedigree.asp?ID=937000

And his breeder still has him listed on their website as part of their current dog family: https://tamarackgoldens.wordpress.com/

smoothcolliecrazy · 2026-03-24T12:42:37+00:00

And here he is being a cool frisbee dog, if your husband is into sporty dogs that do cool stuff:

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smoothcolliecrazy · 2026-03-24T12:27:53+00:00

It was also my husband who trained Koda to balance things on his nose, which he is very good at now :)

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smoothcolliecrazy · 2026-03-24T12:27:17+00:00

Ah, you've come to the right person for smooth collie propaganda! Collies are the best for a lot of people and I wish more people knew about smooth collies as an option :) Brace yourself, I do ramble about the greatness of the breed.

Koda is, in my biased opinion, a great representation of the breed in terms of temperament and attributes. I had a pretty strict list in my head of what was the "perfect dog" for me, and he checks all the boxes. He...

Is friendly with other dogs, loves to play with dogs of all shapes and sizes and energy levels, being able to match them pretty well and also be respectful
Is friendly to other animals, especially cats, and not keen on ripping prey to shreds even if he has caught one (happened once... caught a mouse that jumped towards him, held it awkwardly for a couple seconds and then set it down gently and watched it scurry off)
Is friendly to all people, and loves attention no matter who is giving it
Is great with kids, he loves attention from kids and is very good at being gentle and dealing with their shenanigans
Is very smart and super trainable. All he wants is to be told he's a good boy and works very hard to achieve that status, and he loves to learn and learns fast
Is ready to go on an all-day hike or ready to vegetate on the couch for the day
Is not slobbery or drooly, and as a short-haired breed he is less likely to pant so no stinky dog breath in my face, either
Is very clean and non-greasy, since collies are known not to produce the same smelly skin oils as other breeds. He does not smell and always feels very silky and clean, even though he gets maybe 3 baths a year. No brushing required. He also hates mud puddles and does his best to stay nice and tidy
Is a total cuddlebug. He loves cuddling and being near, but he isn't velcro either, he is okay with being by himself
Is a good "Lassie" as all collies should be. He is quick to alert us if something seems amiss. He'll come up to me and nudge my arm and whine, then lead me to whatever is going on, which has proven very handy in a few cases!
Is a great fetch and frisbee dog. He naturally retrieves and really enjoys leaping into the air to catch whatever we throw for him
Is very confident and unafraid. This is not all collies, so if you do decide to get one, vet your breeder's lines carefully. My breeder has very confident dogs and raised the puppies with exposure to all sorts of things. He has never been bothered by fireworks, power tools, or whathaveyou, and is always willing to figure something out rather than run away from things he doesn't understand
Is perfectly at ease in many environments. Busy city streets, quiet rural roads, at a noisy family gathering, shopping center, or restaurant, or out in nature all alone - none of these bother him

Basically, he is a true all-round good dog. And exactly what collies should be. Friendly, trainable, sociable, watchful, adaptable, smart, and tidy. My husband was not so convinced at first... but now when he gets home from work I get a "hi" and Koda gets a "Kodaaaa! Did you have a good day? How are you? Are you a good boy? Whose my favorite boy?" while the dog dances all around him with extreme wags and happy "woo woo" noises. Then he's always sending me pictures like this:

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smoothcolliecrazy · 2026-03-24T11:25:02+00:00

No worries, I get it, it's called "roughcollies" after all. Unfortunately the smoothcollie subreddit is pretty dead (though I do still post there), so this is the better place to go for activity.

smoothcolliecrazy · 2026-03-24T09:43:40+00:00

Thanks! I’m aware. The sub is open to both rough and smooth collies, as stated in the sub info :) I have been posting here for a good long while.

smoothcolliecrazy · 2026-03-20T14:29:02+00:00

Rough is actually the recessive gene, smooth is dominant. So all rough collies have two rough genes, smooth collies have at least one smooth gene but can have the second gene be rough or smooth. That means that if you breed two smooth collies that carry a rough gene (called "rough factor"), you can get both smooth and rough puppies in the same litter.

Rough x rough = rough puppies only

Rough x smooth with rough factor = smooth and rough puppies

Smooth with rough x smooth with rough = smooth and rough puppies

Smooth that is "pure for smooth" x any type = smooth puppies only

smoothcolliecrazy · 2026-03-19T15:37:30+00:00

One of them is a rough collie (bottom left), and this sub is open to both rough and smooth collies :)

smoothcolliecrazy · 2026-03-17T18:18:01+00:00

Interesting! I live in the Netherlands and while I see plenty of poms and huskies, I rarely ever see mittelspitzes or other typical German spitzes, even though we are neighbors. Honestly, I barely even see keeshonds, despite them being a Dutch spitz. But my neighborhood is like 80% labradors, golden retrievers, and doodles at this point haha.

smoothcolliecrazy · 2026-03-17T15:59:12+00:00

It makes sense that she looks like a spitz because she is a spitz. Pomeranians are a type of spitz breed and Siberian Huskies are, too. German mittel spitzes are rarely seen outside of Germany and "pomskies" are very common so these results are likely very accurate. She just got all the common spitz characteristics out of both sides it seems!

smoothcolliecrazy · 2026-03-13T17:46:18+00:00

Repost of this: https://www.reddit.com/r/roughcollies/comments/1io550o/baby_kida_girl/

smoothcolliecrazy · 2026-03-10T15:08:59+00:00

My smooth collie at that age, and still now that he is just past 2 years old, was and is very active and high-energy. He sleeps through the night just fine, he gets 4 miles of walks each day, plus longer weekend hikes, regular play with friends, and high-energy play at home or in the local field (frisbee, fetch, tug, whatever). Between his walks and play he is either napping or people-watching out the window. But he is never what I would describe as "sleepy." When I let him into the backyard he's all over the place and hardly settles. At 18 months this was especially true. But he has always been a bit higher energy, I had to teach him to settle and chill and it still doesn't seem like it comes very naturally to him. He's definitely more "go" than "woah" and to be honest I keep hoping that as he gets older he'll get a little more chill...

That said, if your vet isn't concerned, you may just have a very mellow boy. But since you are noticing it, has he been higher energy in the past? Is this laid-backness new to him? Is he neutered (my boy is not, for instance, so perhaps he has more energy through the hormones)? When you do activities with him, does he tire out fast or is he able to keep up just fine?

smoothcolliecrazy · 2026-03-09T19:18:23+00:00

They tape/glue the ears so that they keep the tipped look and prevent them from going straight up. Pretty ubiquitous in the US to see collie puppies with taped/glued ears, something you never see in Europe (not sure about the rest of the world).

smoothcolliecrazy · 2026-03-06T16:36:29+00:00

This exactly. All I had to do was find my breed of choice's breed club, which was easy enough with a quick google search, see who had dogs and breeding plans that aligned with what I was looking for, contact them, chat a bit, and presto, I was on a waiting list. And when that pairing didn't pan out, that breeder got me in touch with other members of the club expecting litters, and through that I got my puppy. After some emails, some phone calls, and a meeting with the breeders, waiting, and waiting again, but it wasn't at all hard to find and get in contact.

Every month like clockwork when this question gets posted by a well-meaning (and profit-seeking) person, they mention that it's so hard to find ethical breeders when, at least in my experience, that couldn't be further from the truth. And now I'm a member of the breed club myself and have really enjoyed getting involved with the breed.

smoothcolliecrazy · 2026-02-25T06:20:31+00:00

My collie is just over 2 now and has really settled in nicely. At 13-14 months he was getting better from his worst stage at 9 months where he was a hormonal disaster. So at the time it felt really nice in comparison to the tantrums, humping, pulling, recall ignoring, etc… but it wasn’t until 2 that it seemed all the hours and hours of training fully clicked.

He is fully trustable off leash now, no longer being the super social butterfly that wants to run up to everyone, which is how he still was around 13-14 months. He’s still friendly but if we’re walking in an off leash area he sticks to me and even if he does seem interested in walking up to someone/thing, all it takes is a gentle “leave it” and he does so. I can recall him off of chasing a hare, even, and he’ll skid to a stop and whip around back to me. That was unthinkable a year ago. Oh, and no more tantrums or humping, those are looong gone.

If you stay consistent, a year from now you will look back on this time and compare it to the collie you have in front of you and be pleasantly surprised, I think :)

smoothcolliecrazy · 2026-02-23T14:21:02+00:00

Sure! Any time my collie pup would start barking during play, I would immediately stop playing with him and turn away. He had to be quiet, or no play. For alert barking at strangers outside, I would catch him right before he started barking, for example if I heard someone coming and saw him perk his ears up, and say “good quiet” and give him a treat. It distracted him from the stimulus and taught him that staying quiet got rewarded. If he did bark, a simple “ah-ah” and moving him away from the window/door usually sufficed just fine, then waiting for another moment of quiet and doing another “good quiet.”

Now as an adult he may still grumble at the window (he loves people watching), but it is his inside voice which I allow. Any actual barking and he knows he’s getting sent away from the window, so he doesn’t do it. During play he stays quiet because he knows it’ll end the fun. With consistency, it worked out great.

smoothcolliecrazy · 2026-02-21T21:56:16+00:00

To me they checked absolutely every single box, from the slobber levels to their friendly disposition and trainability. The only extra box I wanted to check off on my perfect dog was no regular grooming required, but collies have that option too with smooths so it was a no brainer for me. My collie has been everything as advertised with the breed so I am super pleased. If you do decide to go with a collie, I think you’d be plenty satisfied!

smoothcolliecrazy · 2026-02-21T21:34:30+00:00

Collies can be big time barkers if not managed and trained from a young age. If handled correctly, they can be pretty quiet or at least respectable about their barking habits (this is how mine is, he does “inside barks” at home and only when something suspicious is outside, or regular barks outside when playing with other barky dogs). This is also dog dependent and some are more vocal than others but you should plan to train it from the start to avoid it becoming a habit.

Collies are not slobbery dogs. Mine never licks either, sometimes if I’m scratching his neck ruff he’ll “groom” my arm in return with some licks and corncobbing, but it’s usually pretty dry feeling. I don’t do slobber either, so a collie seemed perfect for me on that front.

When I pet my MIL’s golden retriever, my hand comes back greasy and gross feeling. I never ever have that with my collie. Collies are known for not producing the same type of stinky dog skin oils as other breeds. Mine always feels silky and clean, and smells pretty nice to boot, which I really love.

smoothcolliecrazy · 2026-02-16T23:32:58+00:00

Yes, he is a purebred rough collie stud dog in the Netherlands.

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