These two dog breeds originate from United Kingdom and in ancient times were known to be excellent sheep herders. Both stand out for the docility and good temperament of their specimens. Being almost the same size and color, many people confuse them, but they can be easily distinguished if we look at some details.
In this article on our site we explain the main differences between the bobtail and the bearded collie, to help you quickly distinguish them, ¡ even without seeing them! If you want to know how, keep reading.
The bearded collie and bobtail character
As has been commented, both were shepherd dogs in their beginnings, accompanying the sheep in the pastures of the British Isles. Therefore, their specimens were selected looking for characteristics that would make them active, obedient, intelligent, loyal, easy to educate, resistant to adverse weather conditions, and Bold enough to scare away the wolves, if need be.
This fact makes both races extremely docile, yet brave.
Despite these similarities, the bobtail, also known as the "Old English Sheepdog," is a dog with amore rustic character than the bearded collie , although this is not, by far, a delicate dog with a capricious character like dogs of other breeds.
The size and coat
Both are medium-large sized dogs, but, although they are similar in height, the bobtail is considerably more corpulent, a fact that accentuates his coat, thicker and less straight, which makes it look even more robust.
Although of a similar color, white with grayish areas, the hair of the bearded collie is smoother than that of the bobtail. In addition, although it is rare, there may be bearded collie dogs of various colors such as gray, brown or black. For its part, the hair of the bobtail is white with gray regions, which can present various shades, from bluish gray to almost black.
The tail
The tail is one of the most useful traits to distinguish between the two races. While the bearded collie's tail is quite long, specimens of the bobtail breed can be born without a tail In fact, its name (bobtail) refers to the absence of a tail.
On the other hand, traditionally, when they were born with it, they were amputated, something that, incidentally, in addition to being illegal, is contrary to animal welfare. Find out on our site why you should never dock your dog's tail or ears.
Head
Noticing the head is one of the easiest ways to distinguish between these breeds: the hair on the bearded collie's headfalls from the top of the forehead creating a kind of "eyebrow" over the eyes, and forms a characteristic "beard" around the mouth, making honor to its name, which in Spanish means "bearded collie".
On the other hand, the head of the bobtail lacks these features that we have mentioned and its hair usually forms a kind of"bangs" over the eyes , and, it's a head more rounded and more powerful looking.
The way you walk
Although there are other simpler ways to distinguish a bobtail from a bearded collie, their way of walking is different, since, while bearded collies walk like other dogs, bobtail usually do it with a step known as "ambling", this being an unusual feature in the canids and very typical of Bobtails.
For those who do not know its meaning, the amble is a way of walking on all fours that consists of supporting both limbs on the same side at the same time.
This, which is something common in certain species of animals, especially African ones, such as giraffes, elephants or camels, is extremely strange in dogs, as we have commented previously.
THE bark
Oddly enough, a bearded collie and a bobtail can also be distinguished from a distance, and even without seeing them, by paying attention to their barking.
The bearded collie's bark is of the pitch and intensity you would expect from a dog of that size and character, while the bobtail's has a special sound that makes it unmistakable. Although it is not easy to describe a sound using words, the bark of the bobtail could be said to be a loud, pitch. low, and with a harsh sound
Anyway, neither bobtail dogs nor bearded collies are very barking, on the contrary, they are rather quiet and don't usually bark unless they detect a real and serious threat in their territory.
