COLLIES, COLLIES AND MORE COLLIES!

I *think* my dog is part Collie.  I'm quite sure his mother was half Collie. 

I have an acquaintance whose family has always had a Collie and she will never get any other breed.  According to her, they are smart, obedience, family-oriented, loyal, but not overly energetic, courageous, and drivey like some German Shepherds. She has lots of pics of her big Collie sleeping with her on the couch and sitting on her lap.  My German Shepherd is not so touchy-feely, but my possible Collie mix is definitely like that!  My husband carries him around like a baby (I can't b/c he's too big/heavy!).

Liesje

According to her, they are smart, obedience, family-oriented, loyal, but not overly energetic, courageous, and drivey

I couldn't have said it better myself.  My most previous dog was a collie, and she was quite simply the best dog I have ever had (with love and respect to all my other dogs of course!).  Liesje summed it up in her post.  They are intensely loyal and elegant, and really have that "sixth sense" for their family's needs.  Sadi (my collie), would always pick out the family members that needed her most, and gave them love and support by sticking by their side.  And although no collie is Lassie, there is a reason why Lassie was portrayed as she was.  Collies are devoted to their families, and are almost too intelligent for their own good!

As for combining a collie with a Lab, I think you would be just fine.  The breed is very good with other animals, and I never had any problems with Sadi and other dogs.  They are also good with small animals (cats, rabbits, etc.).  The only drawback I could comment on would be that they might have a tendency to "herd" children up, but most collies are gentle about it, and my siblings and I never minded it as kids (it kind of made us feel protected).

Collies are fantastic.  I know that I will have collies over the course of my life.  If you ever want to talk about collies, feel free to PM.    

I agree.  I worked in a Collie Kennel for awhile, and ZOMG, devoted loving dogs.  Even though they lived outside, when I would allow a couple of them to follow me around while I did my chores, they were RIGHT there.

The breed also has a very, very low incidence of dog aggression, which is great for multidog households :D  If you don't want to deal with a ton of coat (This is coming from somebody who groomed a kennel of 15+) you can always go with a Smoothie :D

Be warned...they are quite vocal, like the GSD.  But much higher pitched (they BARK where as a GSD will "warble";) 

Collies tend to be more laid back then their relatives the BC's and Shelties.  If you want a higher activity typically the AOC's tend to be more active than the Sables.  Shelties and Collies have similar temperaments with the sheltie tending to be a higher activity dog.  Both are wonderful to live with and make very good companions who will do just about anything to please you and adapt well to most situations.  Their main drawbacks are all that hair and the tendency to be vocal.  They will tell you whenever anything is out of place or wrong.  The "Timmy fell down the well" bark is real.  In collies it is really important to look for parents that not only have have hips and elbows checked but also eyes.  Many have the MDR-1 gene mutation so you have to be careful about the heartworm pills you give.

Here's a picture (albeit a small one) of Sadi.  5 years later, and I'm still insanely proud of her.  

Sadi was pet-quality due to the fact that her ears never tipped. But she was all collie in every other way.  Forgive me for rapturing about the breed, I just had such a good experience.  If you're looking to add a collie in with your Lab, I think it would be a good choice.  Like Xeph mentioned, they are not usually dog-aggressive, and make wonderful guardians for children.  I think the biggest drawback would be the barking.  Like most talkative breeds, you can measure some control by teaching "Speak" and "Quiet".  But telling you everything that's going on is what they're bred to do, so the big thing behavior-wise is being at peace with the chatter.
 

Infiniti

Sadi was pet-quality due to the fact that her ears never tipped.

Tell you the truth the ear tip is usually helped along by the owner when the dog is young.  That really isn't the determining factor if a collie is pet quality though you won't see a *** eared collie in the conf. ring.  But like I say people help that along when the puppy is young.  A perfect tip like they like to see in shelties isn't as important in collies though they like to see some tipping.

timsdat

Tell you the truth the ear tip is usually helped along by the owner when the dog is young.

Good to know!  Sadi was adopted at 2 years old, and they had told us that was the reason that she was pet-quality.  After I had researched the breed more as I got older, I had read about the different ways to facilitate the tipping, and had always wondered about Sadi's.  Now it makes me wonder what the real reason was...hmm.

Ah well.  She was an excellent family pet, ears and all!  And I'm discovering that I can't seem to stay away from this post, lol.  I just love talking about my favorite breeds.

Infiniti

Now it makes me wonder what the real reason was...hmm.

Could be a number of little thing that wouldn't make any difference to how good a dog she was.  Could be that she just didn't have what they are looking for in the ring at that time.  The standard is open to varied interpretation and isn't an exact blueprint but I am sure that she met the standard in general terms.

I would love to also have a collie but I want my dog to have a little more drive that what I see in collies but not as much as I see in BC's.

Well, when I used to hear Collie, the first and only image that used to pop into my head was Lassie!  Yes, I'm a Lassie fan, I used to cry at the end of each episode "Bye...Lassie!!!  Waaaaahhhh!!!"  LOL  But after being on here and learning so much about different breeds and dogs, there are a lot of different types of Collies.  Which one are you actually interested in?  Or doesn't it matter?  I'm gonna push, BC, since they are a collie.  They are energetic, family oriented, children friendly, pet friendly, and one of the smartest, if not the smartest breed of dog.  Misty's favorite dog pal is a Huge Black Lab, down where we boat!  He taught Misty to not be afraid of the water.  This summer I'm hoping his influence will help her jump off the dock going after a stick or frisbee!  I'd love to turn her into a dock dog!  LOL

Here's a couple pics of Misty...(couldn't resist, and besides, you asked for it!)  LOL

This is Misty catching a frisbee at 5 mos. old.

Misty enjoying a boat ride!

Misty learning to fish!

That's all, I can overload everybody w/ pictures!  But that would just be cruel!  LOL