NPDD veterans know of our affection for old dog terms, many of them so descriptive as to all but paint the terms in vivid watercolors (who can’t love “bedroom slipper feet” or “old lady’s face?”).  Even more interesting are terms using actual names of breeds.

It’s thought to be a Scottish term, but the first time some people encountered “Collie Shangies” was from Queen Victoria’s diaries. The woman who had hundreds of dogs of many different breeds living in the kennels of her different estates chose as her favorite companions, her Collies. Specifically, the dogs “Sharp,” “Roy,” and “Noble” gave her great comfort in the years following the death of her beloved Prince Albert in 1861 until her own death in 1901.

In her journal, More Leaves published in 1884 (though other sources suggest that it was in Journal of a Life in the Highlands, published in 1869), Victoria wrote: “Misty early, then beautiful and clear and very hot. Got up with a bad headache. At five minutes to eleven rode off with Beatrice, good ‘Sharp’ going with us and having occasional “collie-shangies.” 

The term, also seen as “Collie Shangles,” is Scottish, and means quarrels or “rows” as taken from fights between “collies.” Whether this refers to Scotch Collies, Border Collies, or the Rough or Smooth Collies of today, we don’t know, but Wickionary indicates that a “shangie” is an object tied to a dog’s tail, and that the frustration of having it attached made Collies irritable and likely to fight. #YaThink?

We don’t like to see dogs fight, and we sure don’t like to see things tied to their tails, but we’re partial to the term and may adapt it for use in our own house. #NoPuliShangies!

Image of Queen Victoria with her dog, “Sharp” found on Pinterest and believed to have been taken in 1865