Pit Bull or Rough Collie: A Gentle Family Dog With a Long Coat

Collie eye anomaly heads the breed's health list and it is unusual among inherited conditions in one important respect: it is present at birth rather than developing later, and the best time to look for it has passed by the time most puppies go to their new homes.

The condition is a malformation of the tissues at the back of the eye, affecting the choroid and sometimes the optic disc. Its severity varies enormously. Many affected dogs have mild changes that never impair vision at all. A minority have serious defects — colobomas, retinal detachment, haemorrhage — that cause partial or complete blindness, sometimes suddenly in a young dog.

The screening point is the one to act on. An ophthalmologist examining puppies at around six to eight weeks can see the changes clearly. As a dog matures, developing pigment in the retina can mask milder lesions, so a normal examination in an adult does not always mean the dog is unaffected — the phenomenon is well recognised in the breed. That is why litter screening at the right age matters, and why a DNA test is also available and worth asking about.

So the question to a Collie breeder is specific: was this litter eye-examined by an ophthalmologist at six to eight weeks, what were the findings for this puppy, and what is the DNA status of both parents. A breeder engaged with the breed's health schemes will answer without hesitation.

Progressive retinal atrophy also appears on the list, causing gradual vision loss beginning with night blindness, and it too has DNA testing available.

The practical reassurance is that a mildly affected Collie usually lives a completely normal life. The purpose of screening is not to avoid every affected dog but to make sure breeders are not doubling up severity, and to let a buyer know what they have.

The Pit Bull's eye entry is cataracts, picked up through routine certification.

Perianal fistula sits on the Collie's health list and it is the condition most Collie buyers have never heard of, which is unfortunate because early recognition changes the outcome substantially.

The condition produces chronic ulcerating tracts in the skin around the anus. It is painful and progressive, and it is now understood to be immune-mediated rather than simply an infection — which is why the treatment that works is immunosuppressive medication, most commonly ciclosporin, rather than antibiotics alone. Older approaches involving extensive surgery have largely been superseded.

What makes it easy to miss is that the early signs look like ordinary discomfort. A dog that strains or seems uncomfortable when passing a stool, licks obsessively at its rear, scoots along the carpet, holds its tail low, is reluctant to sit, or has a faint unpleasant smell around the hindquarters. Owners often assume anal glands, and vets treat for that first, which delays the diagnosis.

A long, heavily furnished tail carried over the area does not help, and keeping the hair around the rear trimmed is sensible in the breed.

The practical advice is simply to ask for the area to be looked at properly if those signs persist, and to raise the possibility by name. It is a condition where the right label unlocks the right treatment.

Bloat and gastric torsion appear separately on the list, which reinforces the same point for a deep-chested breed: split meals, quiet time around eating, a slow-feeder bowl for a fast eater, and a known route to an out-of-hours clinic. A restless dog retching without producing anything, with a swelling abdomen, needs surgery within hours.

Hip dysplasia, epilepsy, bone disorders, hypothyroidism and cancer complete the list.

The Pit Bull's list is orthopaedic and dermatological: hip and elbow dysplasia, skin allergies, heart murmurs, bloat, obesity, cruciate ligament disease, arthritis and cancer.

The Rough Collie's coat is the largest practical commitment of ownership and the thing most often underestimated from photographs.

It is a long harsh outer coat over a dense soft undercoat, with a pronounced mane around the neck and chest, feathering on the legs and a full tail. It rates 4/5 for grooming and 4/5 for shedding, with heavy seasonal blows during which the undercoat releases wholesale over two or three weeks.

The routine is an undercoat rake and a slicker worked in sections down to the skin, two or three times a week, and daily during a blow. The mane, behind the ears, the britches and the feathering are where mats form, and a mat on a double coat traps damp against the skin and becomes a hot spot. Skipping weeks is what turns a manageable job into a professional de-matting session.

The coat must not be shaved. It insulates in both directions and protects the skin from sun, and regrowth after a shave is frequently patchy and permanently altered in texture. Trimming feet, the sanitary area and the hair around the rear is fine and, given the fistula risk above, sensible.

A smooth-coated variety of the breed exists and is genetically the same dog with a short coat — worth knowing about if the temperament appeals and the grooming does not.

The Pit Bull's 1/5 is a rubber curry mitt once a week, a bath when needed, no matting, no appointment, no equipment. It sheds at 3/5, and short stiff hairs work into fabric, so it is not hair-free — but the time cost is essentially nil.

Over eleven to fourteen years that is a real difference in hours, and it is most of why the Collie's monthly figure is higher at $100–200 against $80–150.

The Collie's temperament keywords are intelligent, gentle, loyal and sensitive, and the last one is the key to training it.

At 5/5 trainability it learns quickly, retains what it learns and works willingly — the breed does well in obedience, rally, agility, scent work and herding. It is also soft. A raised voice registers, heavy correction produces shutdown and avoidance rather than resistance, and an unfair session sets progress back further than it would in a robust breed. Clear, upbeat, reward-based training is what this dog is built for.

Socially it is one of the easier large breeds: 5/5 with children, 4/5 with other dogs, 4/5 with strangers, and 4/5 for first-time owners. The caveat is herding instinct — circling, staring and occasional heel-nipping around running children — which is hardware rather than misbehaviour and redirects well onto ball work and structured games if addressed early.

Barking at 3/5 is the other herding legacy. Collies are vocal, alerting to movement and arrivals, and a quiet cue taught early is worth the effort in a house with close neighbours.

Exercise is 3/5 — around an hour a day, split, with mental work counting toward it. That flexibility matters on a bad-weather day and is one reason the breed fits ordinary households more easily than the working collies do.

The Pit Bull is warm with people at 4/5 with children and 3/5 with strangers, trainable at 4/5, and quieter at 2/5. Its 2/5 with other dogs is the permanent management task: no dog parks, no on-lead greetings with unknown dogs, careful neutral-ground introductions, and awareness that tolerance can decline at social maturity.

Only the Pit Bull carries the administrative layer — tenancy, housing and insurance restrictions on bully-type dogs — and it should be checked in writing before committing.

The Rough Collie is one of the more genuinely family-suited large breeds on this site. It is gentle, biddable, sociable in public, moderate on exercise, tolerant of a working day at 3/5, and forgiving of a first-time owner's mistakes. If a household wants a big, kind, trainable dog and does not mind hair, it is hard to argue against.

What it needs is a brush in someone's hand two or three times a week for a decade, and a buyer who insists on proper eye screening rather than accepting a general assurance about healthy lines.

The Pit Bull suits a different pattern: an owner who wants an hour of real activity a day, essentially no coat work, the lowest running costs here, and a dog that settles hard indoors — and who is willing to plan around other dogs and read the local rules before committing.

Both rate 2/5 for apartments, though for different reasons: the Collie for size and coat, the Pit Bull for exercise.

Lifespans are close at 12 to 14 years against 11 to 14, and in both breeds body condition and joint care decide the last third.

If the shortlist genuinely holds both, the question is almost never temperament, because both are people-oriented dogs. It is whether you would rather spend twenty minutes three times a week on a coat, or an extra half hour a day outdoors — and whether the households you walk past are full of other dogs.

One final note for either dog: keep it lean. It is free, it protects joints in both breeds, and it does more for the last years of a large dog's life than anything else an owner controls.