In 1951 I bought my first Collie named 'Tanja'. A sable bitch of the so-called Dutch type, but with a pedigree. She was the first Collie I had ever seen and it took me a lot of effort to get her.
She was not even a year old at the time and a special dog; very sweet and affectionate. That Dutch type was a different story. They were much heavier dogs with much wider and shorter heads.
The English type had already entered all European countries, but this was not possible here because the board of the Dutch Collie Club (NCC) always rejected it. It was also said that the English type would not be a sheepdog, and they could not walk to work properly as a sheepdog.
Foreign judges were certainly not asked here, because 'our' type was not recognized. If a champion went from here, to for example Belgium or Germany, he/she was very lucky to get a 'G'. So that was not a success.
On May 22, 1961, at the exhibition in Den Bosch, the Dutch judge Simon Fransen was asked to judge. To everyone's surprise he changed course by making the English Blue Merle male 'Ravensglen Silver Bullet' of the Kat family champion. That caused quite a bit of controversy.
All the people, who had not agreed with the board of the NCC about their policy for some time, also wanted to switch to the English type. However, that is sooner said than done. Dogs were imported by various breeders, but Dutch bitches also went to English males for mating. This was done to eventually be able to get to the new type.
Of course, it would take many years to reach that goal. In the end it all worked out, as the board continued to adopt a negative attitude about this matter, the newcomers soon started talking about a new club. Through the cooperation of the Raad van Beheer, the current SHV 'de Collie Club' was realized in 1965.
Meanwhile I don't think many people will have experienced this story personally, but it might be interesting for the current Collie lovers to know.