2026 Breed Education Seminar * Tulsa, Oklahoma
“The Collie Standard: DECODED” featuring Laura LaBounty, Dan Cardoza and Patt Caldwell

Kelly Neeley –Breed Education Chairperson
Courtney Dowling, Laurie Jeff Greer, Pati Merrill, Lori Montero and Michelle Struble

If you missed the National in Tulsa, Oklahoma, you missed a special seminar hosted by your Breed Education committee. We want to remind everyone the name of this committee, as we continue to hear it wrong; the seminar and the committee is BREED Education, not Breeder or Breeders Education. The seminar is open to anyone and everyone who wants to learn about the Collie and the subject matter is not exclusively limited to “Breeders”.

Now, onto the seminar – The Collie Standard: DECODED.

This year we were offsite at the Doubletree Warren Place. With a limit of 101 seats we actually ended up with 103 registrations, which included 7 juniors, so we had to add seats. We had a few no-shows which allowed 2 walk-ins for a total of 105 attendees. We started with an 8:00am check-in which included a continental breakfast featuring fresh fruit, bagels, assorted pastries, juice and coffee. The seminar was scheduled from 8:30am to 12:30pm, with two scheduled breaks.

This seminar was broken into three segments and first was Laura La Bounty presenting the ‘The Whys Behind the Standard’. Laura dived into the standard . . . They are almond-shaped, of medium size and never properly appear to be large or prominent: Protruding eyes are prone to injury from a hoof kick. Almond shaped opening = protection to shut against the dirt, brambles, debris. The loin is powerful and slightly arched: Loin is for sharp turns when herding and protecting against predators. She explained the reasons for the words in the standard. Next time you read the Collie standard think of the ‘why’ behind the written phrase. Wise words.

Next was Patt Caldwell presenting her ‘Movement Undercover’. In the seminar booklet Patt highlighted in red all the parts of the standard that affect movement. Would you be surprised to learn that there is a section in General Appearance and Head that pertains to movement? We were. She reiterated ‘Breed to the Standard; form follows function’. Wise words.

Our final segment was Dan Cardoza’s ‘The Eyes Have It’. Unfortunately Dan was unable to attend the seminar last minute, however, he turned over his presentation to our own committee member Lori Montero to facilitate this segment. With big shoes to fill Lori did a great job filling in for Dan. One the most memorable statements in the booklet – ‘Type change is when an obvious fault becomes so concentrated it eventually appears to be accepted as a virtue. Rather than taking up the challenge of breeding (or judging) to the breed standard, it’s easier to flood the ring with the latest fad, thus making the “correct to the breed standard” dog look out of place’. Wise words.

The committee thanks Laura LaBounty, Patt Caldwell and Lori Monero for spending their morning with us. We thank Laura Weiss for her cute ‘Decoded Collie’ on the cover of our booklet. If you would like to view the 2026 Breed Education seminar – “The Collie Standard: DECODED” – there will be an opportunity later this year when the video is shared on the CCA Breed Education YouTube channel. Seminar booklets will also be available for purchase on the CCA website publication page. These booklets contain a wealth of information and are highly sought after. Our final thought:

“Let’s bring the breed UP to the Standard. Don’t bring the Standard down to suit what you are breeding.”

“A slight but definite stop is called for so that, if the dog is kicked by a beast, the hoof glances off the head.
Too pronounced a stop, if caught by a flying hoof, could result in serious, if not fatal, injury”
Australian Cattle Dog Society of New South Wales, Inc.