Collie Club of America 2026 National Specialty Results Revealed, Tulsa Hosts Top Rough Variety Competition

The Collie Club of America's most competitive annual event wrapped up in Tulsa, Oklahoma after a seven-day run from March 28 through April 4, delivering class-by-class results that breeders and handlers in the rough variety circuit have been parsing ever since. Conformation judging ran Wednesday April 1 through Saturday April 4, with Candace Ardizzone evaluating the Dogs, Amy Gau on Bitches, and Phyllis Autrey handling Intersex competition, a three-judge panel that drew significant entries from kennels across the country.

The rough dogs division drew a total entry of 18, with granular results logged across every age subdivision and color class. In the 6-9 month Sable and White puppy class, three young dogs stepped into the ring and Aurealis Tuscan Gold came away with the first-place ribbon, followed by Aryggeth's Val Hi Salt Of The Earth and Creekwood Denby Relish The Moment. All three placements are now part of the searchable record breeders use to trace early competitive results from specific bloodlines, and the Aurealis kennel name showing up this early in a national puppy class will get noticed.

The open and championship-level classes brought out the heavy hitters. Dogs like GCHG Southland Aurealis Island Nights, GCHS Maverick Folklore, GCHS Gambit's Wind in My Sails, GCH Barksdale Skydancer I Declare, and GCH Fantasy's Look to the Stars all appeared in the cut groups, competing through multiple rounds of judge evaluation. On the bitches side, GCH Fantasy's Autumn-Sun Written in the Stars, GCH Cyndella's Call Me Bad Girl, GCH Nor'Loch Larkspur Angelique, and GCH Aurealis Cotillion were among the named entries working through the group progressions. The depth of titled competition in both divisions reflects the national draw Tulsa attracted under event chair Lis Johnston.

Before conformation even began, the specialty's performance schedule ran the full gamut: herding under Kelly Fonkalsrud and Jennifer Patton D.V.M. opened the week on March 28 and 29, agility under David Nauer followed on March 30 and 31, with obedience and rally under Terry Thornton and Janice Anthes running concurrently with the breed ring, and scent work judged by Khara Schuetzner rounding out the performance slate. For anyone who follows the breed as a working or sport dog rather than strictly a show dog, that schedule reflects what serious collie people already know: the rough collie is not a breed that peaks in front of a judge and then goes home to the couch.

For handlers and breeders tracking lines that perform in both the conformation ring and the field, the step-by-step cut documentation from Tulsa is exactly the kind of field data that informs breeding decisions for years after the ribbons are handed out. Kennels like Aurealis, Barksdale, and Fantasy appeared across multiple classes and multiple days, and their placement patterns under a panel of this caliber carry real weight heading into the rest of the 2026 specialty season.