Doubtless the most famous collie in history is Lassie. I doubt seriously that there’s anyone who has not heard about Lassie.
In the Lassie come back home motion picture and in the TV series, Lassie was so smart that she appeared to be thinking and reasoning human in a dog suit.
Everybody who has ever seen the film or a series episode probably wishes that they may have a dog just like Lassie. Lassie must have saved Tommy’s life 100 times!
Like every other collie ever born, however, Lassie was born into this world without any skills in any way. She was never housebroken, and she had not got any idea what obedience was. She definitely failed to know any tricks, which Tommy was, or ways to save him on camera. She was trained! Everything that you see Lassie do on the screen, she is doing because she is being TOLD what to do. She does it because she has been trained.
Collies really are a smart sort of dogs. Because they are so smart, collies are easily trained. The training that you opt to give your collie puppydog will be the determining factor of how well behaved and how many commands that your collie understands. You may have an excellent and loving pet that’s well trained without spending 24 hours a day for two years on training. You can even have a dog like Lassie – IF you have the time, patience, and methodologies to coach your collie.
Most collie owners are perfectly happy to have a dog that just knows basic obedience, but other collie owners are attracted to the show ring, agility, rally, obedience, care work in hospitals, and more! What your collie can do is limited only by the time, patience, and training that you provide!
The AKC version of a collie is not the same as the collie that you know as Lassie. The dogs that play Lassie are bred to be bigger than the AKC standard. The AKC Collie breed is smaller and lighter by 10 to 15 pounds, and the standard for markings is different also.
Go to my Collie Training blog get more articles on Training a Chihuahua.