Collie Lassie, hands down, has got to be the most well-known collie in American history. It’s rare the dog lover that hasn’t heard of this movie screen icon. Elevated to the intellect of almost-human, Lassie’s ability to think and reason enabled her to save her ‘owner’s ‘ life, Tommy, over and over again.
What made collie Lassie so incredible? Lassie was so amazing because she was so well trained. ‘She’ came into this world a blank slate of instincts with no training whatsoever and would not have risen to the status she earned without a dedicated trainer showing her, teaching her how to behave. Everything she did on the set she was taught and directed to do.
Collies, in reality, are a very intelligent breed of dog and can therefore be trained to so some incredible things. Making a training investment in your collie pup is a smart course of action because those efforts will pay you back over and over in the following years to come. The result will be a dog that is great to be around, but can also obey many commands. However, you’ve got to put some time in and learn the proper training techniques.
The bottom line is that most owners of collies are perfectly happy to have a well socialized, well behaved dog – they are not interested into fancy tricks and high-performance, well refined behavior – just the basics. However, collies are capable of so much more and if you ever want to put the time in, you can have a dog who is not only obedient, but can rise to place of competing in dog shows, or even special service dogs to humans.
If you are looking for a dog breed with an incredible amount of potential, you might want to consider a collie.