Coat, Ears & Tail

AKC Herding Group · No. 39 in 2025

How to identify a Collie

The Collie is a large herding dog standing 22 to 26 inches, ranked No. 39 by the AKC in 2025. Its head is a smooth, blunted wedge, and its ears are three-quarters erect with the tips folding forward. The Rough variety has a huge mane and frill. Colors are sable and white, tri-color, blue merle or white.

Photo of a Collie
Photo: Yasu w · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Field marks

These four marks are the ones the game gives you as clues. They paraphrase or briefly quote the AKC Collie standard.

  1. Head like “a well-blunted lean wedge,” smooth and clean in outline
  2. Ears “about three-quarters erect,” with the top quarter “tipping or breaking forward”
  3. Rough coat “very abundant on the mane and frill” with a smooth face (the Smooth variety has a short, flat coat)
  4. Sable and white, tri-color, blue merle, or white; 22 to 26 inches

Tell them apart

Collie or Shetland Sheepdog?

Check the size. A Sheltie stands 13 to 16 inches, while a Collie stands 22 to 26 inches. The two share the wedge-shaped head and the three-quarters-erect ears, so check the scale against anything nearby. Brindle never appears on a Sheltie, and a mostly white dog points to a Collie.

Collie

Collie

  1. Head like “a well-blunted lean wedge,” smooth and clean in outline
  2. Ears “about three-quarters erect,” with the top quarter “tipping or breaking forward”
  3. Rough coat “very abundant on the mane and frill” with a smooth face (the Smooth variety has a short, flat coat)
  4. Sable and white, tri-color, blue merle, or white; 22 to 26 inches
Shetland Sheepdog

Shetland Sheepdog

  1. Head shaped like “a long, blunt wedge” when seen from the top or side
  2. Small ears “carried three-fourths erect, with tips breaking forward”
  3. Long, harsh outer coat with a “standoff” quality; mane and frill “abundant”
  4. Black, blue merle or sable, marked with white and/or tan; only 13 to 16 inches tall

Collie or Border Collie?

Check the head and the coat. A Collie has a long, smooth, wedge-shaped head and, in the Rough variety, a huge mane and frill. A Border Collie has a broader skull, ears that vary from erect to semi-erect, a lighter coat and any color.

Collie

Collie

  1. Head like “a well-blunted lean wedge,” smooth and clean in outline
  2. Ears “about three-quarters erect,” with the top quarter “tipping or breaking forward”
  3. Rough coat “very abundant on the mane and frill” with a smooth face (the Smooth variety has a short, flat coat)
  4. Sable and white, tri-color, blue merle, or white; 22 to 26 inches
Border Collie

Border Collie

  1. One or both ears erect or semi-erect, with tips falling forward or to the side
  2. Any color allowed; ear color matches the main body color
  3. Low tail with “a slight upward swirl at the end like a shepherd’s crook”
  4. Rough or smooth coat on an athletic frame, about 10:9 length to height

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