---jan <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> At 9:50 AM -0600 10/27/98, Steve Niedrauer wrote:
  Is this a widespread trait in the breed?
>
>         a lot of collies are pretty barky.
Obviously not all but overall I
> think they are considered a more vocal breed than
many.


I always refer to collies as "talkative". My dogs'
vocalizing isn't always barking, they make a lot of
noises I just don't hear other dogs make.

When someone says they would just love to have a
collie I always point out the obvious considerations:
hair, size, exercise, and barking. I don't consider
the barking "nuisance barking", but when they play
and chase they do bark at each other. They bark at
strangers, hot air balloons, cars playing loud music,
lawn sprinklers, weed eaters, lawnmowers, vacuum
cleaners, garbage trucks....you get the picture. Not
a problem in rural areas but in the suburbs it can be
a big problem. Who wants to have a cookout if your
neighbor's collie is going to bark incessently while
your guests try to play volleyball?

It is very commom for collie breeders to have their
dogs "de-barked", that is, the vocal cords are snipped.

So, I would not call collies barky in the sense that
they go on non-stop for no reason at all. But I would
say that they are very vocal and expressive about
their environment.

===
Amy Garner
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