Collies are a man-made breed. Natural (wild) breeds have short hair and get enough excercise (in the wild) to keep their claws worn down. So, this man-made breed needs man-made care. Caring for your collie doesn't have to be difficult. Just remember one thing; don't put off until tomorrow what you should have done today. I groom my collies twice a month. I find this to be sufficient whereas I have several to groom. You should use the first of each month as your major care time because it's easy to remember. First, give them that all important monthly heartworm pill. There's very few areas with a low heartworm risk. I use the one-a-day pills because they're much cheaper when you have a bunch of dogs. If you decide to use the one-a-day pills, choose Carbam. Most vets can order it for you. Use at an approximate rate of 3 mg per pound of dog. Never use a product that has Ivermectin in it, that includes Heartguard. Some collies, although very few, may have a reaction to it that could even kill them. If you try it and it kills your dog, it's a little late to switch to something else.
Now we go on to grooming. First, cut the toe nails. If your dog has clear nails, you can see the blood vessel in it. Don't cut so low that you go into that blood vessel. It hurts and bleeds. So, make sure you leave a little space there. If your dog has black nails, be very careful. Only take a little at first until you get to know your dog's nails. Hopefully there will be at least one clear nail for you to judge how much to cut. One way to tell how close you are in adult dogs is by the softness of the nail where you cut it. If it seems brittle, there's room to take more off. If it cuts smooth and clean, without a brittle sound, you've probably gone far enough. Puppy nails are always soft. I advice you to buy a septic stick just in case. It will stop the bleeding. After the nails are cut, trim the hair on the feet so it's no longer than the nails. Then cut the hair off all around each pad and in the center of the foot. If you look at the front feet, you'll see another pad higher up the back of the leg. Using a long pair of scissors, cut the hair on the back of the leg up to that pad so it's length isn't much longer than what's on the front of the leg. On the back legs, do the same up to the hock joint. Doing this will keep your dogs legs cleaner and your house cleaner. With most of the hair gone between the toes, the feet won't clog with mud or get snow balls stuck in them. You and your dog will be happier.
What you'll need next is a combination fine and medium metal comb, a wide tooth plastic comb for people, a slicker brush, a large pin brush, and a plastic spray bottle. Avoid the pin brushes that have a brissel brush on the back. It just gets in the way and has no use. First, use the slicker brush. Start at the tail and work forward going with the coat. Make as many strokes as neccessary until it feels like all the snarls are out. Be sure to get all areas including the groin and the feathering behind their front legs. This causes less discomfort than a comb and gets the job done much quicker. Any larger mats will have to be combed or cut out. If you groom twice a month, you won't have any large mats. Next, mist the dog with the spray bottle. Use the plastic comb to work the moisture into the hair. Now, starting at the tail again, brush with the lay of the hair using the pin brush. When you've reached the head, start brushing against the hair and work your way back to the tail. When you're done, just level the hair off and you're done brushing. Use the comb to comb out the feathering on the front legs. That's it. From start to finish, you're looking at a half hour or so with a little experience.
If you do the brushing part every week, you should never have mats. You may want to brush behind a puppies ears, arm pits, and groin more often because the soft puppy hair mats quicker. When the dog is shedding, the slicker brush is a good tool to pull out the dead hair. Brush with and against the lay of the hair alternately. You may have to brush a little more often to keep it from falling off in your house. The wide tooth metal comb will pull out the more stubborn dead hair.
If you have a smooth, they too need grooming, but much less. Do the same about hair between the toes, some of them can have long hair there too. You won't need the plastic comb or the pin brush for them. Just spray them and brush using the slicker brush going with the hair. That's it. Boy, aren't the smooths easy to care for? About ten minutes will do it for them.
Hot spots are most often caused by an insect bite which includes fleas to spiders. In any case, the itching or pain causes them to lick the spot which eventually removes the hair and irritates the skin until it's infected. I've tried treating the area without cutting surrounding hair off, but it rarely works. So, my advice is to cut the hair around the infected area back far enough so it doesn't touch it. This will allow it to dry better, which is a neccessary part in healing it. Put some peroxide on it. When the bubbling stops, you can dab some tea tree oil on it. Tea tree oil can be purchased at most health food stores. I'm not a health food person, but the tea tree oil really works to sooth the area and it smells so bad, it helps deter them from licking it. Dab it on like you would perfume. Usually, one or two applications is all that's needed and they'll leave it alone and it heals. I never experienced hot spots until I moved to the south. It's hot in the summer and the dogs would lay under the trees. Apparently bugs would bite them and creat a hot spot. Air conditioning the kennel has pretty much eliminated this problem because they stay in to sleep. When they're out, they're moving. But, it taught me how to treat the problem the fastest and most effective way.