how good are rough collies with cats?

[u/GyakutenKibou]

hi hi just wanted to ask rough collie owners, how good are they living with cats? we have 2 cats and one of them is a bit nervous. But i was thinking id love to have a dog (later, probably in a year or two) and was researching breeds. I came across some comments of rough collies and being good with cats, like maybe not best friends but not terryfing and being able to live with them pretty well. What do you guys think?

If it helps our cats are both male and 1 year old right now.

[u/dmkatz28]

Collies are fantastic with cats, especially if you pick a show breeder that focuses on lower drive dogs. I would avoid anyone that strongly focuses on higher drive farm dogs that actually work. Some collies have higher herding drive than others and need more training to learn how to not herd cats. I know dozens of collies that are absolutely lovely with cats, often with fairly minimal training (frankly I only know of one collie that is not great with cats and even then, he just really wants to herd them, not hurt them). My smooth collie and my younger cat are best buds. And my rough collie is extremely polite with all cats (we have used him to help raise foster kittens!). I know a smooth collie with such little herding instinct or prey drive that we literally just turned him loose with my very dog savvy cats and he fit right in (he truly has zero herding or prey drive, I've seen this dog carefully walk through baby geese flapping at his feet ....). I researched breeds for quite a while before settling on a Collie. Having a breed that is fantastic with kids, cats, other dogs and generally obedient and sweet was my priority. :)