Over the years, I’ve made mention of the fact that English shepherds are a very common breed in West Virginia. Indeed, I knew what an English shepherd was long before I’d ever heard the words “border collie.” English shepherds are pretty common in the Eastern and Midwestern US.
But only in the rural areas. In most towns around here, many people adopt “collie mixes” without ever knowing what they actually have.
They are derived from the farm dogs of the British Isles, with maybe a little bit of German, Swiss, or Native dog crossed in. They very strongly resemble the “shepherd’s dogs” that were commonly published in eighteenth and nineteenth century texts about dogs in the British Isles. He has the same broad head and curled tail, as well as the common black and white color. In America, they were used for livestock herding, but they were also used to guard properties and hunt game.
This dog came into area, probably because the gut pile from my deer isn’t 100 yards away in the woods behind the camera.
So Ol’ Shep was enjoying him a taste of raw green tripe, and no one had to spend a fortune on it.
Yes, these old dogs are pretty common, but I never thought I’d catch one on the trail camera!
There are three border collies in my neighborhood and none have that upright curled tail. Two of the three have a somewhat nasty disposition. The fact that you say they are “pretty common in the Eastern and Midwestern US, but only in the rural areas” and that this particular dog is out alone foraging at night makes me wonder if these shepherd dogs are where some of the “dog” in the “coydog” came from.
Probably the best way I can describe one of these dogs to someone living in the UK is they are very similar to the various sheepdogs of Wales. They aren’t super-driven like border collies but they aren’t as docile as a rough collie.
This is very cool. Now, my thought has been, that just about anyone who picks up a dog that resembles a “collie cross” as you mentioned, is likely to scream “ES!” or dub it as such, as soon as they hear of the breed/type.
When it could very well just resemble one superficially, but be any mix of a number of other breeds, or many many other breeds in addition to some BC, AS, etc.
The point of types or landraces is that the finer selection criteria modern breeders have succumbed to isn’t being used. So in a sense, one could say that one still has an ES simply because they are accepting the dog as one regardless of lack of a history on the animal over several generations.
But then, if that were the case, then it would be a breed based on looks only; something that’s been argued with show dog folks. As in, if you only care about looks, outcrossing for health should not bother you and should be embraced, as you can get back to “type” within a short time in most cases.
Having said that, the ES was originally valued for work, and many people still do value it that way. It’s a multi-purpose farm dog, so in a sense, crossing is fine, if you get what you need. But if you have a dog from the shelter, that you adopted without knowing what you have, then do you test the dog’s working skills to know if there is at least some of the old “useful” collie in there? Or do you just call it “ES” because it looks close enough?
The latter is what a lot of people on ES forums and FB pages seem to do.
When conversely, the farmcollie people, accept mixes, but generally of other types of working collie.
It’s an interesting situation. By and large, suburbanites who get a cute, well tempered looker like the dog in the cam won’t find any of this relevant. For their purposes, they shouldn’t.
The topic, discussion.. it’s for people like me who got sucked into it. :)