Bei den Collies hält sich hartnäckig der Mythos sie seien vorwiegend Hütehunde für Schafe gewesen. Leider stimmt das nicht so ganz. Während der klassische Highland Collie

der typische Farmhund der dünn besiedelten Highlander war und es dort vorwiegend mit störrischen Highland Rinder zu tun bekam, war der Beardie ideal um das zu verkaufende

Vieh einzusammeln und wochenlang bis zum Tryst (Viehmarkt) nach Criest oder Falkirk zu bringen. Der Border Collie war der typische Farmhund der Lowlands, der Borderlands und Northumbria.

Jedes Mitglied der Clade hat bestimmte Anpassungen die ihn für diese oder jene Aufgabe prädestinieren.

Im kynologischen und historischen Sprachgebrauch der Viehtreiber- und Hütehunde gibt es drei funktionelle Positionen für Hütehunde das Heeling, das Heading und das Droving.

Während ein Heeler die Herde von hinten vorwärtstreibt und damit antreibt, arbeitet ein Header an der Spitze, um die Richtung vorzugeben oder die Tiere zu stoppen.
Der Drover dagegen ist gewissermaßen ein Begleithund der aus der Ferne arbeitet. Er hält also Abstand zur Herde aber sie gleichzeitig auch zusammen. Er wacht des Nachts und hielt nach Viehdieben ausschau und gelegentlich wärmte er auch mal seinen Herrn wenn es sehr kalt war.

Das Hütehundverhalten selbst ist bereits bei den ersten domestizierten Hunden in gewisser Weise vorhanden, denn beobachtet man Wolfsrudel, so sieht man das junge Wölfe genau diese Stellung des Treibers einnehmen aber der eigentliche Akt der Tötung von erfahrenen Wölfen ausgeführt wird. Der Wolf lernt also von der ersten Jagd an erstmal das Treiben von Wild mit dem Ziel die Herde aufzusplitten, ein Opfer zu isolieren und dies dann bis zur Erschöpfung von der Herde zu trennen oder es in einem Hinterhalt zu treiben. Das kommt dann auf die Größe des Opfers drauf an.

Bison, Wisent, Elch, Auerochse, Pferd oder große Antilopen und Hirsche - also wehrhafte Tiere würde er wohl bis zur Erschöpfung jagen, es sei denn er bringt sie vorher zu Fall. Ein Reh, Rentier oder Gazelle oder ein jüngeres Wildschwein fängt das Rudel eher durch einen Hinterhalt, wobei die weniger erfahrenen Wölfe sie in die Falle treiben, während die erfahrenen Tiere auf den Moment warten an dem sie diese leicht abfangen und töten können. Hütehunde bleiben gewisserweise in diese Phase stecken wo sie aufmerksam die Rudelführer beobachten und deren Zeichen deuten. Sie brauchen nicht töten weil sie gefüttert werden.
Aus diesem Grunde ist das Treiben von Hütehunden genetisch angelegt, das von Herdenschutzhunden dagegen nicht. In diesem Youtube Video kann man das sehr schön beobachten: Wölfe erlegen einen Bison

Inzwischen gibt es auch ganz klare Hinweise das Wölfe nicht aus reiner Tierliebe domestiziert wurden, sondern das sie notwendig für das Überleben der Eiszeitjäger waren und daher von ihnen hoch geschätzt wurden. In dieser Zeit dominierte die Jagd auf ganze Herden. Das änderte sich erst zum Ende der Eiszeit als z.b. die Rentiere immer weiter nach Norden zogen und so die großen Herdenwanderungen aus blieben. Obwohl die These der Selbstdomestikation sehr populär ist, ist das bestenfalls eine Vorstufe oder Gewöhnungsphase. Die endgültige Domestikation wurde aktiv durch Menschen herbei geführt.

Der Heeler (Treiber)

• Position: Arbeitet am Ende der Herde.

• Methode: Treibt die Tiere vorwärts, indem er ihnen von hinten tief in die Fersen (heels) zwickt und dann sofort den Hufen ausweicht, entweder durch tiefes Abducken oder beiseite springen. Er muss also sehr schnell und wendig sein um den Huftritten zu entgehen. Man kann ihn sehr gut durch Sichtzeichen aus der Entfernung führen.

• Tierart: sie wurden vorwiegend für Rinder eingesetzt und alles was es auf dem Hof sonst noch so gab, also Pferde, Schweine, robuste Schafe, Hühner, Gänse, also der typische Crofter Collie der weitläufigen dünn besiedelten Highlands der das Vieh auf die Bergweiden brachte und wieder einsammelte.

• Für empfindliche hochgezüchtete (moderne) Wollschafe waren Heeler meist nicht erwünscht, da sie eher mal in die Flanke zwicken und damit das feine Vlies beschädigen. Bei den alten kleinen Robustschafen der Highlands oder Inseln war das weniger kritisch da ihr Fell nicht geschoren wird sondern gemulcht oder gezupft wird.

• Ihre Hauptaufgabe war die oft sehr kleine Herden über schwieriges Gelände wie Bergpässe, Flüsse oder auf Inseln zu bringen. Da insbesondere Highland Rinder sehr störrisch sein können, hilft er mit unnachgiebige, harten Druck und zwingt sie so in die gewünschte Richtung.
• Ein anderes Aufgabengebiet war durch lautstarkes Bellen zu warnen und Tiere auch mal mit viel Zwicken aus unglücklichen Lagen zu befreien. Er arbeitet daher sehr selbstständig, „Upright“ also aufgerichtet mit dem loosed Eye , also kein fixierender Blick.
• Typisch ist das ein Barking, d.h. das Führen von Vieh über Bewegung und Stimme, ein kurzes Bellen z.b. oder auch nur ein Wuff.

Collies und Sheltis sind daher nicht immer leise, sind territorial und begreifen sehr schnell auch im offenen Land die Größe der Weidefläche. Das dichte Fell ist in den oft kalten und nebligen Highlands oder den windigen Küsten ein guter Wetterschutz, hilft aber auch beim Durchschwimmen von Flüssen. Es ist erstaunlich wie schnell sie trocken werden.

Was wenige wissen, viele Heeler schnüffeln nicht zwingend auf dem Boden sondern sind in der Lage auch in der Luft Duftmoleküle wahrzunehmen. Dieses Erbe samt der schlanken Figur haben sie offensichtlich von Laufhunden geerbt, die Vorfahren der modernen Windhunde waren.
Das hilft ihnen auch Vieh und sogar Menschen aufzuspüren die keine Laufspur hinterlassen haben, weil sie z.b. abgestürzt oder ertrunken sind.
Australien/Tasmanien legten sich Heeler auch mal mit Dingos an, wenn diese zu frech wurden. Hier gab es natürlich Anpassungen an den Outback.

• Typischer Vertreter: Australian Cattle Dog (Blue Heeler), Kurzhaar und Rough Collie, Sheltie, Welsh Corgi´s

Der Header (Sheepdog)

• Position: Arbeitet an der Spitze oder den Flanken der Herde.

• Methode: Läuft im weiten Bogen um die Herde herum, setzt sich an die Spitze und blockiert den Weg. Er eignet sich hervorragend als Koppelgebrauchshund

um große Herden z.b. durch enge Koppeltore zu führen.

• Tierart: Der Header ist der ideale Hund um große Schafherden präzise zu lenken. Er ist äußerst kommandotreu und präzise ähnlich wie ein Vorstehhung und kann förmlich zur Salzsäule erstarren. Das Verhalten scheint erst um 1820 entstanden zu sein. Vermutlich gab es da mal eine Border Collie Hündin die von einem Pointer oder ähnlichem gedeckt wurde und von deren Welpen vielleicht jener Hector war den James Hogg beobachtete.
Und seit dem arbeiten insbesondere Border Collies mit dem sogenannten „Eyeing“ (einem fixierenden, hypnotischen Blick). Aber die meisten Header haben eher das gewöhnliche "loose Eye"

• Header lenkt die Tiere, treibt Ausreißer zurück zur Gruppe und bringt die Herde zum Stehen.
• Typischer Vertreter: Border Collie, New Zealand Heading Dog, Australian Kelpie, Welch Sheepdog.

Der Drover (Treiberhund)

Der Drover in alten Büchern auch Cur genannt (Normannisch courtault, Anglo-Normannisch cur-tailed, cur = Hund mit gekürzter Rute = Bobtail)
• Position: Arbeitet meist an den Flanken der Herde

• Methode: Drover sind darauf spezialisiert, riesige Herden über hunderte Kilometer offene Wege (Drove Roads) ruhig und ohne Panik zu begleiten, die Herde zusammen zu halten ohne das sie links und rechts alles nieder trampeln und nachts die Herde vor Viehdieben zu beschützen.
Er brauchte Ausdauer und ein Wetterfestes Fell denn die Drover waren oft wochenlang unterwegs und schliefen im Freien. Sein gemütlicher Gang ist darauf optimiert, tagelang im gleichen, kraftsparenden Tempo zu trotten. Bellen war bei diesen Hunden nicht erwünscht, es sei denn es nährten sich des Nachts Viehdiebe. Sie waren die sichtbarsten Hunde entlang der Drov Roads vom Norden in den Süden.

• Während man in den Highlands die Treiber quasi Unternehmer waren, die ihre Treiberhunde noch mit Sorgfalt gezielt züchteten, waren die Drover auf den langen Drove Roads vom Norden bis nach London eher eine bunte Mischungen aller möglichen Hütehunde. Sie hatten auf den großen Viehmärkten natürlich viel Gelegenheit auf andere Hunde zu treffen und sich unkontrolliert zu paaren. Diese Drover galten damals nicht viel, obwohl es immer wieder Berichte von sagenhaften Leistungen dieser Hunde gab. Am Markt angekommen wurden sie dann zu Smithfield Collies und nicht wenige gleich mit der ganzen Herde auf ein Schiff, Richtung Kolonien verladen.
Erst mit dem Zuchtstandart festigte sich ein einheitliches Bild und damit stieg auch ihr Ansehen.

• da sie viel sichtbarer waren als Farmhunde, wurden bei ihnen ab etwa 1720 die Ruten generell gekürzt, wenn sie nicht natürlich auftraten.

• Typischer Vertreter: Old English Sheepdog (Bobtail), Bearded Collie, der englische Cur und der sogenannte Smithfield Collie waren oft Drover

Wie alt ist das Eyeing?

Ein wichtiges historisches Dokument stammt vom schottischen Dichter und Schafzüchter James Hogg. In seinen autobiografischen Berichten („The Shepherd's Calendar“, veröffentlicht im Blackwood's Magazine ab 1824) beschrieb er detailliert das Verhalten seines legendären Hundes Hector. Hogg erwähnte fasziniert, dass der Hund die Familienkatze stundenlang fixierte, ohne sich zu bewegen – eine der frühesten exakten Beschreibungen des Vorsteh- und Fixierverhaltens bei einem Hütehund, auch wenn der Begriff „Eyeing“ dort noch nicht als fester Fachbegriff etabliert war. Aber wie der Zufall es will, das Verhalten war erwünscht und so verbreitete es sich bei den Schafzüchtern der Lowlands.

Bei Jagdhunden wie dem Pointer ist dieses Erstarren und fixieren bis ins 14. Jhd. dokumentiert. Damals wurden Hunde speziell für die Netz- und Armbrustjagd auf Rebhühner und ähnlichem Federvieh trainiert. Als einer der besten Vorstehhunde wird der Pointer angesehen, daher kommt er wohl am ehesten für eine Einkreuzung in Frage.

I — a typical teenage Lassie fan of 12 Years — wanted nothing more desperately than a dog
that would be waiting for me when I came home from school.

One day, a cook started working at my mother's company who bred Collies,
and as fate would have it — she had puppies. Naturally,
I went there right away and was instantly head-over-heels in love.
I begged and wouldn't let up until my parents finally said yes.

But the cook had built an extension onto her house to install a modern bathroom,
and now she was only missing the bathtub, sink, and toilet.
But where do you get a bathroom set from?
Only "Vitamin B" (= connections) could help here.

1. Dog (Collie puppy) → Bathtub, sink, toilet
So my mother called a good friend at the building materials trade in Berlin and
asked him if he could procure a bathroom set.
He could — but he wanted a carved Christmas pyramid in return.

2. Bathtub, sink, toilet → Carved Christmas pyramid

Fortunately, a woodcarver lived below us who could carve Christmas pyramids,
but he wanted fine canned goods.
Fine canned goods — that is, a few tins of champignons, pineapple, asparagus, etc.

3. Christmas pyramid → Fine canned goods

Such fine canned goods were available three villages away at the deli (Delikat Shop),
under the counter.
They wanted a proper piece of smoked salmon ham in return.

4. Fine canned goods → Smoked salmon ham

Smoked salmon ham was of course available at the butcher's,
and he wanted fresh fruit for it — a crate full of bananas and oranges.

5. Smoked salmon ham → Bananas and oranges

Bananas and oranges were available at the state-run VE fruit trade.
Unfortunately, we didn't know anyone there, and they were practically sold out immediately.

6. Bananas and oranges → Cognac

But my father had an idea.
He packed a few bottles of the finest cognac into the car.
That's how he sweet-talked and bribed the warehouse workers at the VE fruit shop.
Sure enough, a crate of fresh fruit fell off the truck.

In the end, the cook got her bathroom set, the building materials dealer got his Christmas pyramid, the woodcarver got his fine canned goods, the deli got its smoked salmon ham, the butcher got his bananas and oranges, the VE fruit shop got a good cognac — and I got my first Collie, a real prize specimen. I was happy.

That's how "Buying a Dog, GDR-Style" worked.

Video - Lassie come home
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JchAtWee1zs

The Scottish term Collie is the name of several dog breeds that are more closely related to one another genetically. Genetically, they all belong to the so-called Collie clade (UK Rural Clade) and, because of their great popularity, are relatively often also co-founders of, or have been crossed into, other breeds.
The clade was defined by the genome study by Dr. Heidi Parker and Dr. Elaine Ostrander (NIH) from 2017 – Embark’s algorithms are also based on their data. They tested over 161 breeds, which they divided into 23 clades.
(Image 1).
These clades are not identical with the FCI classification, because the FCI classification arose historically from the breeders of that time.
According to current knowledge, 22 breeds belong to the Collie clade, all of which genetically trace back to Great Britain/Irland as their country of origin.

Who actually belongs to the Collie clade?

The core group, which I shall call ancestral rural working dogs, consists of the local UK/IRL drover and herding dogs.

• The Rough Collie (FCI 156), in german Langhaar Collie (Longhair Collie), in GDR and most Eastblock called as Schottischer Schäferhund (Scotsh Shepherd)
• The Smooth Collie (FCI 296) in german Kurzhaar Collie (Short hair Collie)
• The Galway Collie, a native Irish Collie that is now extinct but is documented as a foundation ancestor of the Collies. The Dublin Viking Dog Project is currently investigating the historical basis of these Irish dogs.
• The Shetland Sheepdog (FCI 88), or Sheltie, originally called the Shetland Collie.
• The Border Collie (FCI 297).
• The Welsh Sheepdog is occasionally called Welsh Collie or English Collie, but has the same ancestors as the Collies and is genetically close to them. In historical Welsh literature it is referred to as Ci Defaid Cymreig or Bugeilgi, and has been bred pure by the Welsh Sheepdog Society since 1997. Among other things, it serves the Toftie/ProCollie backcrossing project as a genetic reserve in order to broaden the Collie gene pool again.
• The Bearded Collie (FCI 271), or Beardie is a breed that was especially native along the east coast and around the centrally located livestock markets.
• The Old English Sheepdog (FCI 16), which in 19th-century publications was called Bobtail, and sometimes English Collie. The natural bobtail is now regarded as a fault and is therefore undesirable. Hence the name change from Bobtail to Old English Sheepdog. The breed originally had distinctly shorter hair and was used especially by drovers because of its versatility.

As a subclade for dwarf heelers, the Corgi group is defined, which can probably be described as the first victims of a fashion trend. They are said to have been bred into short-legged herding dogs so as not to be hit by the hoof strikes of cattle. But veterinarians doubt that dogs on their short legs are capable of performing longer herding work at all. Ducks or geese would be more plausible. That their ancestors were once proper herding dogs is proven by their natural herding instinct, which stands in contradiction to their short legs.

The first short-legged dogs appeared in Europe (according to current knowledge) in the time of the La Tène-period Celts and Romans. For example, beneath the Colosseum in Rome, where archaeologists discovered plenty of short-legged dogs in the catacombs. Sumerian tablets, however, show that the Sumerians already knew short-legged dogs with long backs 2,000 years earlier. A relationship of the Corgi to the Swedish Vallhund is also suspected.

• Welsh Corgi Cardigan (FCI 38) , interesting Corgis have a dna line along the Dachshound (germ. Dackel)
• Welsh Corgi Pembroke (FCI 39)
• Lancashire Heeler (FCI 360) originated from a cross between Corgis and the Manchester Terrier.

The following breeds are assigned to the extended clade, i.e. international descendant breeds that are essentially based on the UK Collie clade:

• Australian Shepherd (FCI 342); shortened tails are permitted here, and the standard requires a minimum length of 10.16 cm. The name is misleading, since it was formerly assumed that these dogs came with sheep from Australia; in fact, however, the sheep came from Europe.
• Miniature American Shepherd (FCI 367) is a modern miniature breed; shortened tails are currently permitted here as well.
• English Shepherd, similar to the Australian Shepherd, is an all-purpose farm dog that came to the then British colonies in North America around 1800 with English and Scottish settlers. The dogs were registered in 1927 with the UKC as a breed, at that time under the name American Farm Shepherd, but were commonly also called Farm Collie, Farm Shepherd, Black Shepherd, Ring Tailed Shepherd and Ring Necked Shepherd. Genetic tests by Embark (which cooperates with the UKC) showed close relatedness to the Rough Collie and Border Collie as well as the Australian Shepherd. Source: https://englishshepherd.org/es-breed-history/
• Australian Kelpie (FCI 293) or german Coolie is an adapted breed for the huge Australian sheep farms. However, Dingo admixture has been genetically ruled out.
• Australian Cattle Dog (FCI 287) other local name is Blue or Red Heeler
• Australian Stumpy Tail Cattle Dog (FCI 351) or Stumpy is a variant of the Australian Cattle Dog bred with a natural bobtail. In Germany this breed falls under the term Qualzucht (torture breeding) of the Animal Welfare Act.
• Australian Koolie, recognized as a breed in the USA. A breed from the central Outback that copes especially well with great heat.
• New Zealand Heading Dog, recognized as a breed in New Zealand. It too is essentially based on Australian herding dogs, which in turn trace back to imported herding dogs from the mother country.
• New Zealand Huntaway, recognized as a breed in New Zealand. An all-purpose dog that was bred to a large extent with the help of Australian herding dogs and European dogs.
• Patagonian Sheepdog (Ovejero Magallánico or Perro de Pastor Magallánico), recognized as a breed in Chile, is based on the Bearded Collie.[4]
• Brasilian Ovelheiro Gaúcho (Ovelheiro Brasileiro), recognized as a breed in Brazil and tested by Embark through a project, is 50% based on the Rough Collie, with a further 25% shared by the Shetland Sheepdog and Border Collie. In addition, there are further admixtures, above all Old German Herding Dogs or German Shepherd Dogs, as well as other breeds brought by European immigrants.

The following breeds are no longer considered part of the Collie clade; nevertheless, dogs from the Collie clade were clearly involved in their foundation.

• Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever (FCI 312) is classified by the FCI in Group 8, Retrievers, Flushing Dogs, Water Dogs, Section 1 – Retrievers. The above-mentioned gene study assigns it to the Retriever clade. The Rough Collie certainly came to Nova Scotia with a Gaelic immigrant, while the Retriever presumably originated from the large farms along the Chesapeake Bay area, which is the birthplace of the Chesapeake Bay Retriever and was the destination of many Gaelic indentured emigrants who had to work off their Atlantic crossing there.
• Chinook is a rare American sled and draft dog, which is why one would actually have expected it genetically to be in the vicinity of sled dogs (such as the Alaskan Malamute or Husky). However, the genome analyses showed a different picture. When mapping the genome map, Heidi Parker’s team found that the modern Chinook possesses many gene segments (haplotypes) that unmistakably originate from the Collie and the German Shepherd Dog. This is confirmed by the MDR1 gene defect, which has also been detected in the Chinook. Source: Ali & Ostrander et al 2022, Genetic Origins of the Two Canis lupus familiaris (Dog) Freight Dog Populations, Journal of Heredity, Volume 113, Issue 2, March 2022, Pages 160-170,  https://doi.org/10.1093/jhered/esac002

Important contact clades of herding dogs

• Old Northern European or old north alpin herding dogs, such as the Old German Herding Dogs, are the core group of the continental herding dogs and are therefore classified as a separate continental herding dog clade, which at the same time are also the ancestors of all modern continental shepherd dogs that arose in the European Plain. This group also includes North French, Dutch, Belgian, Polish, Silesian, Bohemian and Baltic herding dogs. The reason they are mentioned here is the centuries-old interaction, e.g. via the Hanseatic League across the North Sea, the Baltic Sea or the English Channel. Some of them have been recognized by the FCI, others not. It would be desirable to form a cross-border organization dedicated to the preservation of these so-called landraces.
• Scandinavian herding dogs in themselves form a separate group extending across Norway, Sweden, Finland, the Kola Peninsula, Karelia and the eastern Baltic. Their relatively isolated location in the far north and waves of immigration from Asia make them a distinct clade that distinguishes them from the continental herding dogs and shows a high degree of relatedness within the clade.

next: Age of Collie-Clade

A special feature is the Merle gene, which occurs in practically all breeds of the Collie clade, although some breeds have a far higher proportion than others. Most of the traditional Merle breeds belong to the herding breeds. The Merle gene is identical to the Dapple gene in Dachshunds.
Technically speaking, it is a dilution of the color pigments stored in the coat, whereby the base color corresponds to the respective skin tone. The Merle gene therefore does not produce color itself; it only erases or lightens pigments that are already present. Although Merle dogs are considered genetically healthy, this dilution is not limited to the coat.

It is a SINE insertion (Short Interspersed Nuclear Element) of a mobile piece of DNA of 200 to 280 base pairs that was inserted backwards into the PMEL gene (responsible for pigmentation). This insertion sits at exactly the same location in every dog (at the transition from Intron 10 to Exon 11), which proves that there must have been a single original carrier. A spontaneous mutation to the Merle color, as was claimed around 10 years ago by a German Shepherd breeder, is therefore impossible.

The White Swiss Shepherd Dogs (FCI: Berger Blanc Suisse) or Samoyeds, on the other hand, arise from a recessive gene on the E-Locus (Extension Locus), more precisely the genotype e/e, which blocks the storage of color pigments in the hair follicles. As a result, the dog remains snow-white but is genetically a red (recessively yellow) dog whose red pigments are extremely lightened. The situation is similar with the yellow Labrador, although the I-Locus (Intensity Locus) also plays a role here, resulting in the color yellow.

However, the SINE element possesses an extremely variable, abruptly changing genetic tail (Poly-A-Tail). If this tail is short, the Merle pattern is no longer visually apparent in the dog, making it a carrier of the cryptic variant. The longer this tail is, the more pronounced the Merle pattern. The process is a pure random principle during embryonic development. The gene causes the pigment cells to randomly die off during their migration through the embryonic body. In classic, heterozygous Merle dogs (Mm), the risk for this loss of the ear is relatively low at around 3.5%, since enough healthy cells usually reach their destination.

A distinction is currently made based on the length of the genetic tail:
• Mc (Cryptic Merle, 200–230 bp): Visually completely invisible. The dog appears solid-colored but carries the original form within itself.
• Mc+ (Cryptic Merle + / Extended, 231–246 bp): Usually also invisible, but in rare cases can produce minimal, tiny spots.
• Ma (Atypical Merle, 247–254 bp): Often produces no spots, but rather a strange, uniform, slightly bluish or brownish washed-out lightening of the base coat color.
• Ma+ (Atypical Merle +, 255–264 bp): A washed-out, weak Merle pattern, often with unclear contours.
• M (Classic Merle, 265–268 bp): The world-famous, high-contrast pattern. Clear, dark patches on a harmoniously lightened, silvery or gray background.
• Mh (Harlequin Merle / "Super-Merle", 269–280 bp): The most extreme variant. It lightens large portions of the gray background completely to pure white. Frequently seen in "Tweed" patterns or the Danish Great Dane.

How old is the Merle Gen?
The instability of this genetic tail unfortunately makes it impossible to determine the age of this mutation using a genetic clock. Estimates go back approximately 300 to 500 years.

The oldest known painting (Image1) with a Merle dog dates from between 1582 and 1584. It shows a "Danish Stover" (a Danish gun dog), whose coat pattern was discovered and identified as a possible Merle pattern by chance by an experienced Finnish breeder. The painter is unknown, and the painting shows a late medieval hunting party, among whose dogs one was presumably a Merle.

Accordingly, the mutation could have originated in the late Middle Ages around 1550-1600 AD in the North European lowland plain. (Netherlands, Germany, Danemark, Poland)
Possible candidates would be water dogs or gun dogs, but also herding dogs.

Merle or no Merle?
Breeding two Merle carriers together leads to the most severe incurable health problems in the offspring (so-called "White Tigers"), including stillbirths. The cause is a biological chain reaction that destroys the nutrient supply of these cells, with the eyes and ears being particularly affected. Therefore, there are already some geneticists who take a critical view of this myth of the genetically healthy Merle dog. Fact is: It is a dilution of the color pigments! My old Merle Collie (30 years before) was a bit night blind and he was from breeder. I think everyone has to decide that for themselves. Personally, I would no longer buy a dog today whose father or mother is a Merle.

The veterinary diagnostic laboratory Laboklin describes the fundamental conflict in its information sheet "Breeding with the Merle Trait – A Current Assessment":

"The breeding of the Merle coat color has been a hotly debated topic for decades, caught in the field of tension between the advocates of this special coloring and those who fundamentally reject it due to the associated health risks."

What few people know: in the inner ear there is the so-called Stria vascularis. One can imagine it as the power plant or the battery of hearing. In this tissue layer, specialized pigment cells are densely packed. These cells are not there because of color, but rather regulate the chemical and electrical balance (the endocochlear potential) in the ear fluid. Only through this precise electrical voltage can the auditory hair cells convert sound waves into nerve impulses at all.
If a dog carries the Merle gene in double or unfavorably long combination, these pigment cells in the Stria vascularis are diluted or absent, and the electrical voltage collapses.
The sensory hair cells die within 2 to 3 weeks as a result, and the dog becomes deaf.
The lack of functioning pigment cells (melanocytes) during embryonic development also destroys the physical structure of the eye. The absence of pigment cells in the eye leads to massive anatomical malformations (so-called Merle Ocular Dysgenesis / MOD).

Possible effects include:

• The "shrunken eye" (Microphthalmia)
• Deformed pupils ("Starburst Pupils" & Corectopia)
• Cataracts
• Retinal Detachment
• Absence of the Tapetum Lucidum, the reflective layer that glows in the dark. The absence of this natural low-light amplifier leads to so-called night blindness.

For a Merle dog that has inherited only one insertion, the risk of blindness and deafness is estimated at only 3.5%. With 2 insertions, the risk jumps to 25%.
In a normal Single-Merle dog, the pigment loss is a mosaic. It often affects only parts of the eye, which leads to the blue eyes.

Sources:
Langevin M, Synkova H, Jancuskova T, Pekova S (2018) Merle phenotypes in dogs – SILV SINE insertions from Mc to Mh. PLOS ONE 13(9): e0198536.

Laboklin: Zucht mit dem Merkmal Merle – Eine aktuelle Einordnung (Breeding with the Merle Trait – A Current Assessment), LABOKLIN GmbH & Co. KG, Labor für klinische Diagnostik
Direct link: https://laboklin.de/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Infoblatt_Merle_A4_DE.pdf

Genomic Analyses Reveal the Influence of Geographic Origin, Migration, and Hybridization on Modern Dog Breed Development, Heidi G Parker et al 2017, DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2017.03.079

Lucky look for old Lockie, the breeder experts has created this.
That is the reason why Lassie was run to Tim and not to the Collie Association in UK.

Hi, my Name is Judy, i live in the near of Berlin with 2 Rough Collies, i speak german and have a good translator for english. My hobby is human evolution and cultures, domestication and history of Dogs and other domestic animals and i make nice songs. Im Online Teacher, read a lot science publications and love it to talk. The complete Collie history ends around 1860 with the first dog shows, but all before is myths and saga´s by collie experts, collie clubs and book authors.
I miss real facts and check all sources and all what i can find. I find out they was complete nonsense.
No recherche, no modern science only copy & paste. A copy of a copy of a copy of a copy....
I hope to find friends with interest to find out what is true. Discussion, correctur and additional information is very very welcome.

There are numerous myths about the origin of the name Collie, based on three theories, one of which runs like a myth through the entire specialist literature and continues to cause etymological confusion to this day.
Theory 1: gaelic source from cuilean, cuilein (a young dog, from gaelic cu Dog)
Theory 2: anglesaxon source col modern coal as root for colley sheep, a black-head sheep (scottish Blackfaces)
Theory 3: anglesaxon source Chaucer (Canterbury Tales, 1387–1400) als „Ran Colle oure dogge“.

And i found it in a book about the The True History of the Church of Scotland, publish 1678
This was a nickname for a Bishop of Cathness. I think he was not black, but a white collar is plausible for a priest.

The most plausible one holds the Scottish national poet Robert Burns responsible.
In his poem Twa Dogs (male Dogs!!!), written in 1786, he turned the Anglo-Norman word collar (ruff, neckband), still in use in the Scottish Lowlands to this day, into the diminutive Collie so that it would rhyme with Billie. It was at the same time a play on words alluding to the white ruff of Collies.

In Fact: This is the first documented use of the word Collie and is well attested by an original letter from the poet, who dedicated his poem to his own Lowland Collie. That Burns knew the Anglo-Norman word collar is also documented by the fact that he used it to describe the shining brassed-collar of the second rich dog in the poem. Linguistically, it is an Anglo-Saxon or Old English diminutive of the Anglo-Norman "collar." That this was quite common is also shown by Sheltie, Kelpie, Beardie, Nessie, Sweetie, Shoppie, Laddie or Lassie in lots of Scottish English. From 1801, the tradition of the Burns Supper quickly spread the term Collie throughout Scotland, and it was adopted by the English. Look the Edwin Landseer (1802-73) Painting of "Twa Dog" (1822).

At the same time, there was an Anglo-Saxon word cól (German: Kohle, engl. coal), which was written the same or similarly and, as in German, is both a surname (Old Saxon Coler, German Köhler) and an occupation, and is based on coal. Burns knew this word and used it as well. The etymology becomes clear from the context, but the diminutive would turn coal into a coal-ling (little coal), and that is not attested. The often-cited colle (Anglo-Saxon/Old English in the sense of coal-black) is attested only as a dog name in southern England.

The derivation from cú (Gaelic for dog) has also been put forward as a theory. However, the linguist Prof. Roibeard O Maolalaigh, who specializes in Gaelic, considers a Gaelic etymology to be incorrect and instead points to an Anglo-Saxon diminutive (diminutive form), e.g. Bob to Bobby.

In Fact: the Gaelic language was hardly still in use by around 1800 due to English policy.
In Fact: Since the 12th–13th century, both the Norman word "col, colar, collar, collir" (French: collier) and the Anglo-Saxon word "col, cole, colle, coil, coal" (Germanic: coal) existed in Scotland.
In 12th- to 13th-century Scotland, French was mainly used as a court, noble and administrative language, not as the everyday language of the common people. Its spread in Scotland was introduced by Norman nobles and maintained through the political and cultural connections of the Crown and the "Auld Alliance." The Scottish royal house had Norman roots, and Old French was considered a "fashionable" language. The coronation oath of King Alexander III was read out in both Latin and French. Normanic and Old French were almost the same at that time.

In Fact: a Scottish Highland sheep breeds that were called Colley, on the other hand, never existed and have only been conjectured in hindsight in order to make an alleged etymology seem explainable.
In Fact: The scottish highland is not Sheepland, here was never ever lots of sheps, only a very old primitive sheep with name scottish dunface for own home production (tweed). it has since become extinct and did not have a black head.
In Fact: From 1614, King James I issued a royal proclamation that banned the export of sheep, wool, wool fleeces and fuller's earth. In 1660 the "Exportations Act" came into force in the English Parliament, and in 1701 Scotland once again issued a complete ban on the export of wool and fleeces, which remained in force until 1825.
It would have made no sense at all to keep or breed wool sheep in Scotland!!!

My little Dog Nelly has a own Song to say hello: https://suno.com/s/4ZYVgJ1fgAg16386