I read on another site that Lassie has a Roman nose. What is this and why are they saying it is bad?

Jenna asked us this question and we appreciate you asking this question.

A Roman nose is a term used in the dog show world. In the sport of Conformation Show competition, dogs are judged on how close they come to a "standard" of perfection. Since no collie is perfect, all collies have some fault of one kind or another. A Roman nose refers to the angle of the nose and jaw and it is not "perfect" like the "standard". Other head faults are Two-Angled Head Borzoi-Type High Over Wavy Profile Dish Face Drop-Off Shark Jaw Slack Jaw Farm ShepherdStraight Line Long Stop. There are also faults for the eyes, ears and the rest of the dog's body, his movement and even his size.

The perfect ears are rarely genetic and require months and months of "training" the ears while they are a pup to tip over at the top. Many products from glues to apparatus are sold to help this process. Nothing can be surgically altered to meet the standard. Thus, the last dog that Bob Weatherwax worked as Lassie, named Laddie would be disqualified because of his surgically altered ears. Lassie 8, Howard, was thought by some to be grossly large (the largest Lassie ever) and not possessing what the show world would consider, good movement. Every Lassie has had his "faults" and every Lassie has had it's share of critics from the show/breed world.

Only those involved in conformation competition really care about this because that competition is about breeding a dog that comes close to a physical standard. It does not judge the intelligence, stamina, health and soundness of a dog and the judging is subjective to each individual judge's interpretation of the "standard" and their likes and dislikes. Responsible breeders breed for the entire dog, coming as close as possible to the physical standard but also breeding for intelligence, stamina, health and soundness. Every breeder has dogs they pick to compete for titles such as Best in Show that they think are the closest to the standard. Every other dog in the litter came from the same parents but some will be "show dogs" versus "pet dogs". It's all very subjective and up to the individual breeders interpretation of the "standard"

Collies are not judged on these physical factors in performance competition such as agility, obedience, rally, freestyle, only in the conformation ring. No Lassie has ever met the "standard" for one reason or another, and no Lassie has or ever will compete in conformation because the dogs must be AKC registered dogs. The only "standard" Lassie adheres to is the description of Lassie in the International Trademark of Lassie. A dog without a blaze would be a "pet dog" versus a possible candidate as Lassie because the blaze is required.

The first Lassie, Pal, was deemed a pet collie by his breeder and sold to a pet home before he was used as payment for a training bill the owner owed Rudd and Frank Weatherwax! The Collie Club of America has invited Lassie to appear many times at their events and even inducted Rudd Weatherwax as an honorary member, and Lassie has never even had AKC papers! Most importantly, remember Lassie has never been about first in a competition or being better than anybody else. Lassie has always been about being yourself, being the best you can be and about seeing the best in others. Every Lassie has been loved by millions around the world, and Lassie has been the biggest ambassador for the collie breed that has ever lived and no other collie can say that!