Farm Shepherds, rare dog breeds, protection dogs, livestock protection, family protection

OLD TIME FARM SHEPHERDS
Once the most popular dog in the country this dog was all but extinct when a few people decided to revive it. J. Richard McDuffie of Aiken, South Carolina and Erica DuBois of Nova Scotia began a simultaneous search for the old Scotch Collie type of dog in the eighties. This dog was a quite different dog from the show collie of today, although the AKC Collies are one of the breeds that descended from this type. In spite of being separated by distance, Erika DuBois and Mr. McDuffie have helped one another and have found four separate bloodlines of this type of dogs. Due to the efforts of these two individuals, there are now over fifty Old Time Farm Shepherds registered with the National Kennel Club, an organization that specializes in the registration of treeing hounds, earth dogs, and squirrel dogs as well as other rare breeds.

Mr. McDuffie in particular is interested in locating the dogs that show the hunting instincts of the Scotch collie, or "treeing farm shepherds" that were so common everywhere until the last half of this century. Mr. McDuffie is experienced in this type of endeavor, having successfully led efforts to locate and reestablish viable populations of two other breeds of dogs and one breed of horses. He also writes two columns for Full Cry.

Many descendants of the Old Scotch Collies were registered with various associations as English Shepherds, Border collies, or Australian Shepherds, and in Great Britain, the Border Collie, AKC Collie, and the Shetland Sheepdog continued to develop as other branches of this family. The Welsh Shepherd, or collie, still exists in Great Britain and there are currently efforts underway to form a registry and breed association for them. Many of these dogs today retain the instincts and intelligence of these forebears.

These dogs were a versatile breed, they excelled at herding livestock, guarding (both livestock and the family), hunting and predator control. Their duties varied from protecting the baby from snakes to moving the bull. As the focus of American life has moved from the homestead to the urban areas, the need for this type of all-purpose dog is dissappearing. People have abandoned the Old Time Farm Shepherd for more "exotic" specialized breeds, and show and trial dogs from Great Britain.

Today the descendants of these dogs are more often merely companions than herding partners, and even the dogs that are being entered in herding or agility competitions are not necessarily being selected for their ability to think on their own. Some are now being trained for search and rescue, and there is a movement currently underway to use this breed as guide dogs, endeavors that hope to use this superior thinking ability in a wonderful way!

Old Time Farm Shepherds exhibit an amazing intelligence and the combined instincts of herding and livestock guardians. They love to please their human partners, but can think on their own and think using choice and consequences to a degree that is often unbelievable to many canine training experts that are unacquainted with this breed. One owner of a farm shepherd said that he could tell his dog the name of the cow he needed, and the dog would fetch the specific one! Shep, an Old Time Farm Shepherd from Montana in the thirties, exhibited undying devotion.

Many modern English Shepherds still exhibit this amazing intelligence. Sue Lesly, reports that her English Shepherd dog, Abby, herded her goats into the barn and held them there until she could get home to fix the fence.Another fine example of this herding/guarding combination is Micki, owned by Val Dambacher and bred by Rick McDuffie. Ranger is the grandsire of Micki, as well as Traveler, Jake, and Jacob.

Others continue to help their families on the farm like Chico here.

The farm shepherds in this country quite likely also carry the blood of other types of herding dogs that were brought here by immigrants from other locations in Europe. Some of the breeds that very likely had an actual, but less significant influence on the genetic make-up of the American Old Time Farm Shepherd, are the French Beauceron, the various types of the Scandinavian Lapphunds, the various types of German Spitz and earlier types of the German Shepherd. Caucasian Ovcharkas very likely accompanied the immigrants from Eastern Europe and Russia as well. The farm shepherds in Kansas exhibited various types of this mixture. Delilah is said to resemble these midwest farmshepherds. Delilah came from Hearts United for Animals in Nebraska. Other farmshepherds that were described this way were from the Pacific Northwest. Dusty Copeland said:

". I have been trying to bring back the old farm Shepherd from the Pacific northwest. my husband's family, as well as most ranchers from the area had old fashioned farm shepherds years ago. They were descendents of dogs brought across the plains in wagon trains, used to guard the family and flocks. They were larger than the dogs that appear to be on your site, 80-130 pounds, rough coated, usually yellow with a black mask, or sable or light tan to white in color. Most of the other characteristics as described in some of the old articles were the same, including the double dewclaws. If you or anyone else is interested in these dogs please e-mail me at dustyc@cot.net"

Although his color is somewhat unusual, JJ is also said to be representative of a type of farm shepherd formerly common in the Pacific Northwest. Here are photos of JJ.

The predominant ancestor of the American Old Time Farm Shepherd was the "old Scotch Collie". These dogs originated in the north of Scotland, as evidenced by Bewick in 1790. Historical incidents, namely the Battle of Culloden and the subsequent immigration of numerous Scotsmen (including Flora MacDonald) to North Carolina around 1750, had introduced a viable population of this breed. Dunrovin's Old Shep was a dog of this type, and quite possibly this line is the last pure line of this type in the country today. Shep and his littermates are the backbone of the NKC Old Time Farm Shepherd genetic pool. Compare his picture to this photo from the Library of Congress.

After the Revolutionary war, many of the Scottish settlers in North Carolina lost their land, (due to their unfortunate allegiance to King George), and either returned to Scotland, or moved west.

The first Scottish families settled in Tennessee at about the same time as Bewick published his book of quadrupeds. Not surprisingly, the descendants of Dunrovin's Old Shep closely resemble these dogs in looks and function. This is due to the efforts of the family that was devoted to the careful breeding and preservation of this line for decades.

Queen Victoria was a dog fancier, and she had Scotch collies in her kennels. She crossed these dogs with Borzois that were imported from Russia. This initial cross had far reaching and long lasting effects. Throughout the first part of this century, the registered show collies had to have the look that this cross gave them to be competitive in the show ring. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending upon your perspective) the Borzoi blood did nothing to enhance the ability of the collie to earn his keep on a farm, and the term "farmcollie" became a derogatory appelation among the registered, show collie crowd, The placid, Borzoi temperament was deemed more valuable than the traditional Scotch Collie working ability. Nevertheless, there are some AKC collies of today that retain much of the original instinct of the working Scotch collie.

There is now a small group of Collie fanciers that want to locate registered AKC collies of this type, and encourage the preservation of the important functional, physical, mental,behavioral and aesthetic characteristics of this type for the future. They are the Classic Victorian Collie Club, and have a good library of historical collie pictures and information online. Tracy of Fordwich,is considered by many to be a beautiful variation of this type..

Another Scottish influence on the Old Time Farm Shepherd was the ancestral (pre-AKC) form of the Shetland Sheepdog. A small type of farm shepherd, called the midget collie, (about 30 lbs average), is known to have existed between the Oklahoma Panhandle and central Arkansas during the nineteen fifties and sixties. I have seen three of these that were white, two of the white dogs had sable caps or ears. Another was reportedly a grey and white, the grey being non-merle, like the color of a beardie. Those of us who are familiar with this breed agree that Daisy, a registered English Shepherd looks remarkably similar to these dogs, as does this "collie" from New Zealand. Here is Chipper a 45 lb "farmcollie" that was a registered "Shetland Sheepdog".

This is the story of Hanna,
And here are some pedigrees:

Belle

Scout (pictured on these pages)

Petunia, her correct pedigree

Gillie

if anyone has information
about or pictures
of these dogs, please
contact me at:

Elaine Reynolds
PO Box 204
Angel Fire, NM 87710
horses@newmex.com
This is Annie.

All references to the Old Time Farm Shepherd at this website refer to the North American landrace known by that term, and not the few that are currently registered with the NKC, unless otherwise specifically noted.

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Library of Congress Photos

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There are Farm Collies, http://izebug.syr.edu/~gsbisco/collie.htm
Farm Shepherds http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Valley/5755/
English collies http://www.collieclubofamerica.org/breed_history.html
English Shepherds http://www.englishshepherdhome.com/

Most of these breeds are interrelated, as is the collie dog you refer to , which was a cross between the “border” type collies of England and the Russian Borzoi. All use the hunting instinct, which is a focused prey drive. Any can revert back to “hunting” your chickens and will need to be trained against. Some are easier to train than others, but I don’t think it so much the breed as the individual.

The LGD’s on the other hand were bred for centuries to “bond” and protect. This does not use the prey drive, rather the “pack” instinct. These dogs usually have very blunt puppy type heads, while the collies have the wedge or more narrow head. You can get extremes in this from poor breeding; for example the Border collie’s can get lines of broad headed dogs, usually these make better obedience dogs while the sharp stopped, wedge faced dogs make better herding dogs (in general). No English or Welshman would ever buy a pup with a broad head, and my suspicion is that here in America the Australian Shepherd was crossed with the Border Collie to make a better obedience dog. Don’t be fooled by AKC papers; I once had a German Shepherd breeder come to me with one of “my” pups. The sire of the sitter had been dead six months prior to this litter’s conception. When I told AKC their response was “ the owners of these pups expect and deserve registered puppies” and they let it go. This breeder then changed the name of the breed to “Shiloh Shepherds” and is one of the biggest breeders in the US.

I was at a trial once in OR, the judge called me out of the stands on the side and asked me to watch the next dog, a registered Australian Shepherd. I watched that dog, then the rest of the trail; went up to the judge later and told her not only was that dog a Border Collie cross, but I could tell her the bloodlines of the Border Collies used. I then went on to name two other dogs that trialed that day to be most likely litter mates, or from repeat breedings. I knew nothing of the breeder, sire and dam are not listed on the forms; I knew all this from the working style of the dogs and it was later found that I had nailed it right on the head. The breeder was never chastised; and his dogs are still registered Australian Shepherds winning all the top herding trials.

I tell you all this to let you know that papers are worth nothing, it is the breeders integrity that must be trusted.

The Shepherd's Dog by Bewick

The Shepherd's Dog
From pages 284 through 285 in A General History of Quadrupeds, by Thomas Bewick. Printed at Newcastle upon Tyne, 1790.

This useful animal, ever faithful to his charge, reigns at the head of the flock; where it is better heard, and more attended to, than even the voice of the shepherd. Safety, order, discipline, are the fruits of his vigilance and activity.

In those large tracts of land which, in many parts of our island, are solely appropriated to the feeding of Sheep and other cattle, this sagacious animal is of the utmost importance. Immense flocks may be seen continually ranging over those extensive wilds, as far as the eye can reach, seemingly without control: Their only guide is the shepherd, attended by his faithful Dog, the constant companion of his toils: It receives his commands, and is always prompt to execute them; it is the watchful guardian of his flock, prevents them from straggling, keeps them together, and conducts them from one part of their pasture to another; it will not suffer any strangers to mix with them, but carefully keeps off every intruder. In driving a number of Sheep to any distant part, a well-trained Dog never fails to confine them to the road, watches every avenue that leads from it; where he takes his stand, threatening every delinquent: He pursues stragglers, if any should escape; and forces them into order, without doing them the least injury. If the herdsman is obliged to leave them, he depends upon his Dog to keep the flock together; and as soon as he hears the well-known signal, this faithful creature conducts them to his master, though at a considerable distance.

There is a very remarkable singularity in the feet of the Shepherd's Dog; All of them have one, and some two toes more than other Dogs, though they seem not to be of much use. They appear to be destitute of muscles, and hang dangling at the hind part of the leg more like an unnatural excrescence than a necessary part of the animal. But the adage, that 'nature has made nothin in vain,' ought to correct our decision on their utility, which probably may exist unknown to us.

This breed of Dogs, at present, appears to be preserved, in the greatest purity, in the northern parts of Scotland; where its aid is highly necessary in managing the numerous herds of Sheep bred in those extensive wilds.

The Old Time Farm Shepherd

A Dog You Can Trust!